First World War ancestors in the news

I'm publishing a list of newspapers (below) which cover the period 1914-1918 and which are available to search online.

I have long been a fan of the British Newspaper Archive. Military service records, where these survive, are all well and good, but actually how much of the actual service do you ever glean from looking at a service record? There is a tendency amongst historians to hold up service records as the ultimate archival treasure, and whilst I would argue that these are essential to our understanding of where and when a man served, unless correspondence survives in the file, they are unlikely to actually tell us anything about what he went through. Neither do the service records put a man's service into the context of the time.  Step forward then, the British Newspaper Archive.

There are riches to be found in this archive of 15.9m pages - and counting.  This blog post deals only with the First World War, but what follows also holds true for other conflicts both before and since - and remember that the archive covers the period from 1710 right up until the end of the last century. That's nearly 300 years at your fingertips.

As far as the First World War is concerned, you'll find casualty details (men reported as wounded, prisoners of war and missing as well as those killed in action), and also mini obituaries - sometimes with photos - of men.

Take the example of 17166 Corporal Harold Meadowcroft whose obiturary in the Manchester Evening News includes a photo plus details which simply would not appear in a service record. Harold was an original member of the 20th Manchester Regiment or 5th City Battalion; an original Manchester Pal. He appears in the photo below, proudly taking his place in No 3 platoon of A Company.

No service record survives for Harold but even if it did, it would not have mentioned that he was an amateur footballer or that he been shot by a sniper. The newspapers add the meat to the bones and are still, in my opinion, a much under-used and possibly under-valued resource.  Anyway, enough of the waffle. Here's a current list of all those newspapers on the British Newspaper Archive site which cover the period 1914-1918, Unless otherwise noted, all five years are covered. Papers know to have published portraits of soldiers are also noted.

The links below will take you directly to the paper concerned - but you'll ned to pay for access to view the reports.

Aberdeen Evening Express [soldier portraits]
Aberdeen Journal
Aberdeen Weekly Journal
Aldershot Military Gazette [1918]
Arbroath Herald and Advertiser for the Montrose Burghs
Ballymena Observer
Banbury Advertiser
Banbury Guardian
Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette
Bedfordshire Times and Independent
Belfast Weekly News [1914]
Bellshill Speaker
Belper News
Berwick Advertiser [1915-1917]
Berwickshire News and General Advertiser
Beverley and East Riding Recorder [1914-1916]
Bexhill-on-Sea Observer
Biggleswade Chronicle
Birmingham Daily Gazette
Birmingham Daily Post
Birmingham Mail
Buckingham Advertiser and Free Press
Bucks Herald
Burnley Express
Burnley Gazette [1914]
Burnley News
Burton Daily Mail [1915-1917]
Bury Free Press
Cambridge Daily News [1917-1918]
Cambridge Independent Press
Chelmsford Chronicle
Chelsea News and General Advertiser
Cheltenham Chronicle
Cheltenham Looker-On
Cheshire Observer
Chester Chronicle
Cornishman
Cornish Telegraph [1914-1915]
Coventry Evening Telegraph
Coventry Herald [1915-1916]
Coventry Standard
Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough
Daily Herald
Daily Mirror
Daily Record
Derby Daily Telegraph
Derbyshire Advertiser and Ashbourne, Uttoxeter & North Staffordshire Journal [1914-1916, 1918]
Derbyshire Courier
Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald [1914-1917]
Derry Journal
Diss Express
Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser
Dover Express
Driffield Times
Dublin Daily Express [1914-1917]
Dumfries and Galloway Standard
Dundalk Examiner and Louth Advertiser [1914-1915]
Dundee Courier
Dundee Evening Telegraph
Dundee, Perth, Forfar, and Fife's People's Journal
Edinburgh Evening News
Essex Newsman
Evening Despatch
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette
Falkirk Herald
Fife Free Press, & Kirkcaldy Guardian
Fifeshire Advertiser
Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald
Framlingham Weekly News
Gloucester Citizen
Gloucester Journal
Gloucestershire Chronicle
Gloucestershire Echo
Grantham Journal
Hamilton Advertiser
Harrogate Herald [1915 & 1917]
Hartland and West Country Chronicle
Hastings and St Leonards Observer
Hawick News and Border Chronicle
Hendon & Finchley Times
Hertford Mercury and Reformer [1916-1918]
Huddersfield Daily Examiner
Hull Daily Mail
Jarrow Express
Kent & Sussex Courier
Kirkintilloch Gazette
Kirkintilloch Herald
Lancashire Evening Post [1916-1918]
Larne Times
Leamington Spa Courier
Leeds Mercury [1914, 1916]
Leicester Chronicle [1914-1915]
Lichfield Mercury
Lincolnshire Chronicle [1915-1918]
Lincolnshire Echo
Liverpool Daily Post
Liverpool Echo [soldier photos]
Liverpool Evening Express [1914]
Luton News and Bedfordshire Chronicle [1917-1918]
Luton Times and Advertiser [1914-1916]
Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser [1914-1916]
Manchester Evening News [soldier photos]
Middlesex Chronicle
Monmouthshire Beacon
Morpeth Herald
Motherwell Times
Nantwich Guardian
Newcastle Evening Chronicle
Newcastle Journal
North Devon Journal
Northampton Mercury
Nottingham Evening Post
Perthshire Advertiser
Portsmouth Evening News [1914-1916]
Preston Herald
Reading Mercury
Rochdale Observer
Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser
Sheffield Evening Telegraph
Sheffield Independent
Shepton Mallet Journal, City of Wells reporter and county advertiser
Shields Daily Gazette [1916]
Shoreditch Observer [1914-1915]
South Bucks Standard [1914]
Southern Reporter
Sporting Times [1914-1917]
Sports Argus
Staffordshire Advertiser
Stirling Observer
Sunday Mirror [1915-1918]
Sunday Post
Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette
Surrey Advertiser
Surrey Mirror
Sussex Agricultural Express
Tamworth Herald
Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser
The Era
The Scotsman
Thetford and Watton Times
Walsall Advertiser [1914-1915]
Walsall Observer, and South Staffordshire Chronicle
Warwick & Warwickshire Advertiser [1914-1917]
Weekly Freeman's Journal
Wells Journal
West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser [1915-1916]
Western Chronicle
Western Daily Press
Western Gazette
Western Mail
Western Morning News
Western Times
Whitby Gazette
Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald
Yorkshire Evening Post [soldier portraits]
Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer

572 Sergeant Richard Gray, Leinster Regiment

Above, unknown sergeant from Richard Gray collection. 

I bought some photos on eBay recently which were from a larger collection of photos that had once belonged to Richard Gray. The vendor of the photographs had broken the collection up and some had already been sold elsewhere. Having been together for well over a hundred years, I always find it deplorable that collections are thus distributed, and so if the buyer of those other photographs should happen to read this, I will be very happy to buy back the missing photos.

The notes which follow are from my research into Richard Gray. Numbers in square brackets refer to the last four digits of his service record which happily survives in series WO 363 (now available on Ancestry and Findmypast). I shall be happy to receive information about this man. 

For help researching your own soldier ancestor, contact me.

23rd September 1865

Born at Aharn, Fermoy, County Cork [2821 & 2829]; son of William Gray of Portlaw, County Waterford

3rd December 1865

Born [1939 Register]

23rd August 1884

Attested, aged 18 years and 11 months [2821], a teacher [2829]

24th August 1884

Birr. Accident off duty. [2826]

27th August 1884

Depot. Joined Leinster Regiment, regimental number 572 [2825]

28th October 1884

Depot. Obtains First Class Certificate of Education [2833]

15th November 1884

Posted to 2nd Battalion [2832]

21st February 1885

2nd Battalion. Appointed lance-corporal [2832]

23rd July 1885

2nd Battalion. Promoted corporal [2832]

19th September 1885

2nd Battalion. Fermoy [2826]

14th December 1885

Posted to 1st Battalion [2832] 

INDIA: 15TH DECEMBER 1885 - 13TH JANUARY 1895

15th December 1885

HMS Malabar [2826]

10th January 1886

Landed in India [2826]

25th January 1886

Faizabad? [2826]

1st May 1886

India? [2826]

8th November 1886

Calcutta [2826]

19th November 1886

Assistant Instructor in Army Signalling [2833]

1889

Silver Medal for Mathematics [2818]

16th March 1890

Transferred to the Unattached List for employment in the Public Works Dept. Promoted Sergeant on the Unattached List [2832]

21st March 1890

Agra [2826]

15th May 1891

Resigns appointment on Bengal Unattached List [2832]

Corporal [2832]

23rd September 1891

Passed fit to extend service to 12 years [2826]

21st May 1892

Passes class of instruction in Divisional Transport [2833]

6th November 1892

Appointed Orderly Room Corporal [2831]

9th December 1892

Dessa? India [2826]

31st December 1892

Appointed Lance-Sergeant [2831]

12th October 1893

Appointed Acting Sergeant [2831]

I believe this photo - not one of those which I purchased - dates to this period

3rd March 1894

Poona  [2826]

Deolali [2826]

HOME - 13TH JANUARY 1895 - 18TH OCTOBER 1900

14th January 1895

Tipperary [2826]

22nd April 1895

Clonmel [2826]

16th September 1895

Tipperary [2826]

11th December 1895

Promoted Sergeant [2831]

27th February 1896

Re-engaged at Navau to complete 21 years [2831]

1st March 1896

Transferred to 5th Battalion [2831]

16th September 1896

Marries Alice Edith Slade at St Mary's Church, Navan [2833]

1st October 1896

Birr [2826]

25th September 1898

Son, William F D Gray born at Navan, Meath [2833 & 1911 Census]

1st March 1899

Posted to Depot [2831]

8th April 1899

Shorncliffe [2826]

I believe this superb photo dates to around this time. All of the men pictured appear to be senior NCOs, mostly from the Royal Artillery.  Richard Gray is standing, third from left. 

5th September 1899

Fermoy [2826]

17th January 1900

Birr [2826]

20th June 1900

Daughter, Alice Edith Gray born at Birr, King's County [2833 & 1911 Census]

24th August 1900

Sentenced by DCM to be reduced to the ranks for drunkenness on duty [2831]

25th August 1900

Reduced to Private [2831]

SOUTH AFRICA - 19TH OCTOBER 1900 - 20TH SEPTEMBER 1902

19th October 1900

Transferred to 1st Battalion [2831]

20th September 1902

S S Englishman [2826]

1st September 1902

Appointed paid Lance-corporal [2831]

HOME - 21ST SEPTEMBER 1902 - 22ND AUGUST 1905

28th October 1902

Fermoy [2826]

18th July 1903

Son, Richard Bruce Gray born at Fermoy [2833 & 1911 Census]

1st March 1904

Obtained Acting Schoolmaster certificate [2833]

18th June 1904

Shorncliffe [2826]

30th October 1904

Promoted corporal [2828 & 2831]

22nd August 1905

Corporal Richard Gray. Discharged at Shorncliffe, aged 39 years and 11 months, on the termination of second period of limited engagement [2818]. Intended place of residence is Military Avenue, Cheriton, Kent [2833]

1908

Son, Thomas Alexander Gray born at St-Peter's-in-the-, Kent [1911 Census]

1910

Daughter, Eleanor Dorothy Gray born at Chelsfield, Kent [1911 Census]

April 1911

Recorded as "Army Pensioner - Schoolmaster. Not employed" Living at Ivy Dene, Green Street Green, Orpington, Kent [1911 Census]

Detail from a larger photograph - not mine - which may date to around this time.

11th August 1914

Attests for General Service at Maidstone with Royal West Kent Regiment, aged 48 years and 9 months; a teacher. Posted to regimental depot, regimental number G/659 [2835]

11th September 1914

Attestation date incorrectly noted [2821]

12th September 1914

Promoted sergeant [2821]

23rd October 1914

Posted to 9th Battalion, RWK [2836]

30th August 1915

France [2837]

22nd September 1917

Transferred to Labour Corps, sergeant [2836] Reg No: 378453 [2837]

19th December 1918

Discharged [2821] no longer physically fit for war service [2836]. Address, Ivy Dene, Green Street, Orpington, Kent [2836]

This photo - not mine -must pre-date the award of Richard's First World War medals. The cap and collar number suggest an omnibus or tram company but I would welcome further thought on this.

29th September 1939

County Hospital, Farnborough, Orpington. "Incapacitated. Retired civil servant. Army Pensioner. Wife Alice is also a patient  [1939 Register]

23rd January 1940

Died, County Hospital, Farnborough, Orpington, aged 74. Address given as Ivy Dene, Worlds End Lane, Chelsfield, Orpington. Death registered by son, Richard B Gray, of Southlands, 148 Park Avenue, Orpington [2822]

Unnatural Behaviour - Queen's West Surrey Regiment "bun-punchers"

This rather nice photo shows men of the 1st Battalion, Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) in India in about 1907. This belongs to a larger collection I bought earlier in the year relating to the service of 8374 Pte George Anderson who had enlisted with the regiment in May 1905.  There are a number of photos that came with his medals - and those of his son, Lewis Robert Anderson - and as a result of studying these photographs, I believe George Anderson to be the man in the back row, fifth from left.

In the group photograph, the men wear Army Temperance Association and Indian Army Temperance Association medals. 'George Anderson' wears three medals for six months, one year and two year periods of abstention; "unnatural behaviour" according to Old Soldier Sahib, Frank Richards who had this to say about the army's teetotallers in his eponymous memoirs:

"To be a member of the Army Temperance Association, a man had to sign the pledge and contribute four annas a month to the funds, which gave him the use of the ATA room, where there were a number of newspapers and magazines not to be found in the Library. Members who kept their pledge were entitled to ATA medals. One was awarded after six months, and I believe they continued to be dealt out at yearly intervals, but a man would have to be back in civil life before he could appear in public wearing these certificates of unnatural behaviour. [Obviously not true, judging by the photo on this page].

"Every six months the members elected a new barman and secretary, who were each paid £2 a month out of funds. These were coveted posts because if an additional £20 or £30 a month could not be made between the two of them, and a handsome profit still shown, this meant either perfect incompetence or, what was less likely, perfect honesty. A percentage of the profit shown was sent to the headquarters of the ATA, the remainder was spent on card tournaments, dances and concerts. 

"I knew about the money side of the business from one barman who, during the time he was on the job, often held cheerful card parties in his bunk after eleven o'clock at night: they were made cheerful by the whiskey and soda which he provided for the party. He was very fond of whiskey and soda, though the staunchest of teetotallers in other respects. Tea, which we called "char", mineral water, cake and bread and butter were sold at the ATA. The main profit was made out of the char, which was sold at two annas a pint. Genuine bun-punchers or char-wallahs, as they were called, would drink char all day: summer and winter they drank it. The Prayer-wallah often said that if the bodies of the ATA men who had died in India from causes known or unknown were to be assembled in one grave, the finest tea-garden in the world would soon sprout up from between their bones."

Group photographs like this are helpful because they can help you work out when a man might have enlisted. George's three temperance medals indicate that he must have been a member of the Army Temperance Association for at least two years but there are men in this photo who must have joined up a good deal earlier. The gymnastics sergeant instructor on the left, below, has medals denoting nine years' abstention whilst his colleague - who also wears the medal ribbon of the Queen's South Africa Medal - has medals which are certificates of five years' abstention. 

Some of these medals can be seen in the photo below. This particular collection was sold at auction by Dix Noonan Webb in February 2016 (photo courtesy of DNW) and have just now re-appeared on the Aberdeen Medals site:

My guess would be that George's six month and one year medals are for the Army Temperance Home Organisation, whilst his two year medal is certainly the commemorative Queen Victoria medal which was issued in India and which appears fifth from left in the image above. 

George also appears in all ( I am guessing) of the photos below. The first one dates to Aden in 1909 and a football match against a team from HMS Perseus.

The photo below is undated .

The photograph below presumably dates to George's time with the Army Ordnance Corps after he had transferred out of the Queen's.

This last photograph may ne a good deal later, and perhaps George is one of the men by the vehicles. 

Apart from his temperance medals, George Anderson went on to serve with the Queen's in 1914, earning a 1914 Star trio (with clasp). His son would also later serve as a regular with the Gordon Highlnders and would die in 1943 as a prisoner of war of the Japanese whilst working on the Burma-Siam railway.

I research soldiers. Contact me if you need help.

80th Foot - South Africa 1878-1879

There's a fantastically creative and  artistic memorial in Lichfield Cathedral which must have cauised quite a stir when it was unveiled. It comes in the form of a metal gate comprised of spears and adorned with Zulu shields, which commemorates the men of the 80th (Staffordshire Volunteers) Regiment, who lost their lives in South Africa in 1878 and 1879. On the shields are the names of those who died. A tablet at the base of the gate explains what it's all about.

Here are the same men  - in the same order - on the South Africa 1877-1879 medal roll. They were all killed in action at the Battle of Intombe on the 12th March 1879. Knowing their regimental numbers would now enable a researcher to work out when they must have enlisted:

Lichfield Cathedral is awash with military plaques and memorials, the vast majority of these pre-dating the First World War. The cathedral is well worth a visit to Lichfield in its own right.

Note the detail of the corn on the cob in the centre of the panel below; presumably a reference to the terrain where the men lost their lives.

There are five Zulu shields in all, each of them uniquely decorated. This is a truly wonderful and eye-catching memorial to what has become largely a forgotten campaign.

I research soldiers. Contact me if you need help.

Royal Artillery gunner - efficiency prize-winner

Here's a nice photo which I bought the other day and which shows an artillery gunner with the crossed cannons and five pointed star which indicate that he won second prize as the most efficient gunner in his battery or company. Had he been the most efficient gunner, he'd be wearing a crown in place of the star.

There is no date on this photo but it must be 1902 onwards as the worsted badges were not introduced until this year. This man also wears a good conduct chevron indicating two years of 'undetected crime' and carries a swagger stick as part of his 'Walking Out' dress.

Albert Franklin, an Oxfordshire volunteer

My thanks to Jennifer Madden in the USA, for sending me this superb photograph of men of the 4th (Territorial Force) Battalion, Oxfordshire Light Infantry. Along with this photo there was also the certificate of service, below, which was issued to Albert Owen Franklin of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Oxfordshire Light Infantry.

The Volunteer Force ceased to exist from 31st March 1908 and the following day the Territorial Force came into being. Certificates like this were issued to men who had served with the Volunteer Force, and we can see quite clearly that Albert had originally joined on the 9th January 1908 and had served for eighty-three days by the time the VF was wound up at the end of March.

But what of the man? I checked various online resources which lead me to conclude that Albert Owen H Franklin was born in Banbury, Oxfordshire on the 23rd July 1890. He appears on the 1891 census as an eight-month old baby, the son of Owen Franklin (aged 28, a tailor) and Cecilia Franklin (aged 23, his wife). At the time the census was taken, the family was living at 21 Queen Street, Neithrop, Banbury.

Ten years on and the family had expanded. The 1901 census shows Owen and Cecilia living at 6 Milton Street, Neithrop, with Albert by now ten years old, and accompanied by a sister, Ethel Franklin, aged eight.

Ten years on again and by now, Albert, aged 20, is also working as a tailor and still living at home - given as 9 Castle Street West, Banbury - with his parents and Ethel (working as a fancy box maker), as well as another sister, Kathleen Franklin, aged 18 months.  The census also notes that Owen and Cecilia had been married for 22 years and had had four children, one of whom had died. This was probably another daughter, Florence Edith Franklin, who was born in the first quarter of 1905 and whose death was registered in the same quarter.

By the time, the 1911 census was taken, Albert was almost certainly a member of the 4th Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, the regimental name having changed on the 16th October 1908. I am assuming that the photograph at the top of this post was taken within a year or two of the battalion's formation in April 1908 and as Mike Briggs points out, none of the men wear Imperial Service badges (introduced in 1910) and so the photograph almost certainly pre-dates this.  I was unsure whether this photograph showed men of the VF or the TF but again, as Mike points out, the men wear metal shoulder titles and not the cloth titles commonly seen on VF uniforms.  The shoulder title would have looked like this (courtesy of British Military Badges):

There are a number of other interesting points of note on this splendid photograph.  For a start there are 83 men pictured. We known that Albert was based in Banbury and so this suggests that the photograph shows men of C or G Company, 4th Ox & Bucks, which were the two Banbury companies. 

Seven men in the photograph wear efficiency stars on their lower right sleeves:

Each star was awarded for four years' service which means that the youthful looking chap on the left had served at least eight years in the TF/VF whilst his companion on the right had served at least four years. Some men, like this partially out-of-shot private, had served even longer:

The only officer in the group looks as though he's about fourteen years old. On his right sits a colour-sergeant instructor and Boer War veteran. On his left sits another colour-sergeant. This second colour-sergeant also has at least one efficiency star which is partially visible.

Apart from the badges of rank, there are also skill-at-arms badges visible. The sergeant seated to the Boer war veteran's right has the crossed musket's denoting a marksman's qualification:

whilst the man in the centre of the group below, had qualified as a signaller, hence the crossed flags on his lower left sleeve:

One of the men in this photograph is presumably Albert Owen Franklin, but which one? It is impossible to tell. The photograph was taken by Norman Taylor of Oxford but there are no other marks of identification on this photograph.

If Albert went on to serve in the First World War, I have yet to find him. He does not appear on First World War campaign medal rolls for the 4th Ox and Bucks and there is no surviving service or pension record for a man of this name born in Banbury.  Joining the TF in 1908 and attesting for four years' service, he would have been discharged by 1912 and may not have re-engaged for further periods of service. If he did serve in the First World War - and I would think it likely that he did so - this part of his life is a mystery to me.

Albert appears on the 1939 Register, still single, still living with his parents and two sisters, and still working as a tailor. When the Register was taken, the family was living at 9 Castle Street West, Banbury.

Albert Franklin died in 1974, his death registered at Banbury in the first quarter of that year. He is presumably buried in Banbury. How his photograph and Volunteer Force certificate ended up in North America is currently a mystery, and I shall be pleased to hear from anyone who can shed more light on this man and his life.



New military releases on Findmypast

Findmypast has recently made some major changes to its military collection.

For a start, the two service record collections which were previously known as British Army Service Records 1760-1915 and British Army Service Records 1914-1920 have now been merged into a single collection called simply British Army Service Records. This is a great improvement a) because the British Army Service Records 1914-1920 collection contained records going back a good way before 1914 anyway, and b) because it is now possible to see men who have files in more than one WO category.

Furthermore, Findmypast has also added to its store of WO records. New releases launched at the same time include the following series:

WO 76 - Regimental records of officers' services 1775-1914
Information varies but usually contains brief details of service. I found this particularly useful when I was looking at officers who had served in the Scottish Rifles.

WO 339 - Officers' services, First World War, regular army and emergency reserve officers 
This series is presented on Findmypast as index-only. The transcripts were created from records and correspondence related to officers in the regular army and the emergency reserve during the First World War. These records have not yet been digitised but can be viewed in their original state at The National Archives, Kew, London.

WO 374 - Officers' services, First World War, personal files 
This is an index of men who served as officers in the British Army during the First World War. Original papers for these men can be viewed in their original state at The National Archives, Kew, London. 
  
WO 400 - The Household Cavalry 1801-1919 
The Household Cavalry comprised the 1st Life Guards, 2nd Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards. During the First World War, a fourth regiment, The Household Battalion, was also raised, and this collection contains the service records of non-commissioned officers and men who served with all four regiments. 

Findmypast also has also indexed WO 363 and WO 364 more comprehensively than Ancestry, although you'll still need Ancestry for medal index cards, medal rolls, soldiers effects register and war diaries (if you can find what you are looking for on their perplexing index, I might add).

I say it again and again, but there probably has never been a better time to be a family (or military) historian - and next week will probably be better still. And to think I used to have to trek up to Kew thirty years ago. The youngsters today, they don't know they were born!