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Can anyone help regarding his WW1 Army records. I do not have his Army Number nor his Regiment.
I assume he was with the Herefordshire Regiment.

His birth was neither registered and he was not baptised either.
He celebrated his birthday on 5th March each year so he would have been 16 in 1914.
I can't find anything on Ancestry nor Find My Past so I'm guessing his records may have been destroyed in the Blitz WW2.
Help definately needed please.
Regards
Elizabeth

Are you sure about his year of birth please?

1911

Name: William Hull
Age in 1911: 11
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1900
Relation to Head: Son
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Sollers Hope
Civil Parish: Eaton Bishop
County/Island: Herefordshire
Country: England
Street address: Warlow Cottage, Eaton Bishop, Hereford
Occupation: At School
Registration district: Hereford
Registration District Number: 337
Sub-registration district: Dewchurch
ED, institution, or vessel: 12
Household schedule number: 22
Piece: 15676
Household Members:
Name Age
James Hull 40
Agnes Hull 39
William Hull 11
Benjamin Hull 6
George Hull 11/12

Is this where his date of birth comes from please?

Name: William Hull
Birth Date: 5 Mar 1898
Date of Registration: Sep 1983
Age at Death: 85
Registration district: Stroud
Inferred County: Gloucestershire
Volume: 22
Page: 1948


Did he marry? If so who did he name as his father?

The above William appears to be James in 1901?

1901

Name: James Hull
Age: 30
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1871
Relation to Head: Son-in-law
Gender: Male
Spouse: Agnese Hull
Birth Place: Payloe Seintwardine, Herefordshire, England
Civil Parish: Madley
Ecclesiastical parish: Madley St Mary and Tyberton St Mary
County/Island: Herefordshire
Country: England
Street address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Education:

Employment status:

View image
Registration district: Hereford
Sub-registration district: Madley
ED, institution, or vessel: 2
Neighbors: View others on page
Piece: 2483
Folio: 21
Page Number: 11
Household schedule number: 71
Household Members:
Name Age
William Elton 61
Eliza Elton 63
John Elton 34
Florence Elton 7
James Hull 30
Agnese Hull 29
James Hull 4/12


His birth

Name: James Thomas Hull
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 1901
Baptism Date: 1901
Baptism Place: Madley, Hereford, England
Father: James Hull
Mother: Agnes
FHL Film Number: 1594326
Reference ID: - 2:2GTNN0S

As the 1901 census was taken on 31 March, he can't be your man as he would be born around November 1900

I would be surprised if an 1898 birth would be unregistered. More likely he wasn't born when you thought he was or where you thought. His birth may be registered under a different surname even.

Elizabeth, can I just ask how you know where he was born?
Jan

I do wish people would stay online for a wee bit after they post to answer questions.

Never mind Jan, we can perhaps carry on with this when Elizabeth comes back :-)

Hi Everyone,
Sorry, for not staying on line.....

Here's all I have on William.
Census 1911, with his parents James & Agnes Hull nee Elton in Warlow Cottage Eaton Bishop Herefordshire William is aged 11.
Census 1901 James and Agnes are with her parents in Jitnal Madley with son James born 22 Feb 1901 he died 19th Dec 1901.

Agnes already had an illegitimate dtr. Emily Florence Beatrice ELTON born 8th March 1894.....whether she is James' cannot be proved but she did marr as HULL naming him as her father.

Census 1901 in Village Ferry Rd Fownhope Hereford with Blacksmith John DREW and wife Rose is WILLIAM HULL born 1899 in Manchester Lancs a visitor
Fownhope is very close to Madley/Eaton Bishop..
James was a Blacksmith / Journeyman its a possibility this William is James' son as both men were Blacksmiths.

In Census 1901 ,younger brother of James, Edwin Hull, born 1873 in Leintwardine Heref. is living in Lancashire with wife Fanny at 2, Park Street N. Manchester Lancs. They had a child ARTHUR A/J 1895 Prestwick reg their next child was also reg in Prestwick in 1902. Whether James & Agnes were visiting and William was born in Lancs ??

JAMES & AGNES married on 16th Dec 1899 in the Reg.Off. two months before baby James was born in 1901.

All the other children born to Agnes were registered and baptised, Florence under Elton. That's what makes this out of character.

William Hull born 17th March 1898 was admitted to Madley Primary School on 23.4.1907 by his father James, address Warlow Eaton Bishop.
We have a discrepancy with dob here....5th to 17th March but year is consistant.

When William married Maggie Clarke on 9th Oct 1923 he was aged 24 and named his father James Hull a Blacksmith.

I think the evidence puts William as James & Agnes' son. His marriage age at 24 could mean a birth about March 1899 a year later which is a possibility.
I realise his age at death would be 85 provided by the family.

I confess to "giving up " on finding a baptism or birth reg. but would love to know his Army Service. I know he was in WW1 I have several German trophies he returned home with......he never spoke of his experiences.

Sorry for the late response to you all.

Elizabeth


:-)

No problem, Elizabeth. You're back now and that's the main thing.

1901 for ref.

Name: William Hull
Age: 2
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1899
Relation to Head: Visitor
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Manchester
Civil Parish: Fownhope
Ecclesiastical parish: Fownhope St Mary
County/Island: Herefordshire
Country: England
Street address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Education:

Employment status:

View image
Registration district: Hereford
Sub-registration district: Fownhope
ED, institution, or vessel: 3
Neighbors: View others on page
Piece: 2478
Folio: 33
Page Number: 8
Household schedule number: 52
Household Members:
Name Age
John Drew 37
Rose Drew 25
Leah Morris 10
William Hull 2

Leah is described as Niece to the Head of house but William is a visitor so possibly not related to either John or Rose.

Name: John Drew
Registration Year: 1897
Registration Quarter: Oct-Nov-Dec
Registration district: Hereford
Inferred County: Herefordshire
Volume: 6a
Page: 1058

Records on Page:
Name
Rosa Emily Cross
John Drew
Stephen Wyndham Evans
Alice Mary Hook

Hi,
I always felt the Drew connection was a strong possibility. several years ago I looked into the births in Lancashire....time for a revisit I think.

After I posted my reply earlier I suddenly thought if William was born in 1899 the he would have been 15 in WW1, not impossible but unlikely ?
Bye
Elizabeth

Like you I think it is only just possible that he served in WW1.

Interestingly John Drew and James Hull both give birthplace as Leominster on some census. On the 1901 William's birthplace is given as Manchester.

His birth must surely be registered somewhere but I can't see anything at the moment but will try a little longer although I have to go out shortly.

Hi,

William was definately in WW1. His son, my Uncle is still alive but has no interest in Fam. Hist. His memory is good but all he knew about his fathers war service was.....

William was in Gallipoli where he sustained an injury to his hand but wasn't discharged. There were no medals.

Thank you for your help.

Elizabeth

He was very young then when he was in Gallipolli. Gallipolli was 25 April 1915 – 9 January 1916


Conscription was introduced in January 1916, targeting single men aged 18-41. Within a few months World War 1 conscription was rolled out for married men.

So if he was at Gallipoli, he must have volunteered for enlistment.


‘Boy Soldiers’ fighting in World War One remained a controversial issue throughout the war. By the time World War One had ended many thousands of youths too young to legally enlist had been either killed or wounded.

When World War One was declared in August 1914, a huge number of men wanted to enlist. Their enthusiasm was shared by many aged 15 to 18. The war was sold to the general public as a war that would be over by Christmas 1914. Therefore recruitment offices had to handle tens of thousands of men and youths who wanted to show their patriotic fervour. Few, if any, of the recruitment officers had time and probably the inclination to check the age of the volunteers. The rule of thumb seemed to be perfectly simple: if the volunteer wanted to fight for his country and was physically fit enough to do so, why stop him? In this way it is thought that as many of 250,000 ‘Boy Soldiers’ were recruited and fought in World War One.

Recruitment rules were simple. To enlist and fight abroad, you had to be nineteen or over. If you were eighteen, you could enlist but you had to remain in the UK until you were nineteen before being posted abroad. No one could join the army under the age of eighteen.

Oh Dear ! These younsters were really "sold" an adventure.

Three of his wife's,( my Nan's) brothers were killed within 18mths. It is amazing William returned reasonably unscathed. It's no wonder he never, ever mentioned the war.
I was unaware he had a hand injury, so I'm guessing it wasn't serious as he became a Farm worker after his return to Herefordshire.

Thank you for all the information.

These young men really didn't know the terrible times ahead of them. Even those who did manage to come home had sacrificed so much for our freedom. I feel blessed that all my ancestors who served were able to return home. My husband's grand uncle was less fortunate. He had emigrated to America before the war but enlisted with the Canadian Forces. He was killed two weeks before the end of the war. His poor mother was heartbroken as he was the only son although she had four daughters. Sadly he never knew his father as his father died of TB when his Mum was six months pregnant.

It's when I look at my grandson, just 18, to think he would be in the trenches back in 1914.
Or in my grandad's case at just turned 16. We owe them everything.

As a mum I wonder how my Nan's mum coped with the loss of her 3 young sons, a 21 year old in Aug 1916, 23 year old in March 1917 and the last was 28 in April 1918.
Her next son died of TB aged 26 in 1927. So out of 5 boys only one lived to old age.
She passed away in 1926 aged 63, I should buy the death cert. I should imagine it was a broken heart.
It was humbling to see their three names on the War memorial just inside the Church Yard.