Genealogy Chat

Hi all, I just wanted to share with you what I have just found on Ancestry, I knew my grandfather served in France during WW1 and I have in my possession 2 of his original army papers, but today I have found him on WW1 Ancestry and there are 17 pages about him online, when I first found him I only found his Attestation papers, then went back later on and clicked on the next key and there was a further 16 pages about him. So to anybody searching those records make sure you click the next page, you might have a nice surprise. Sorry to blab but I am buzzing at the moment Sarah

Hi Linda I also found my grandads WWi records on Ancestery that also gave me the details of his previous army service which was a real bonus. My cousin had got some WW1 records from Kew . and she had been told there was no further info about our Grandad available In amongst the records she got from Kew was a letter written by him and the writing was identical to my Dads Bren

I found some more since then, another record for someone with the same name in leeds but a different address, enlisted just a week after G grandad (the man in question) was discharged, it's a query into a pension claim that was subsequently turned down becuase they couldnt find any enlistment papers, in fact nothing at all, for him at the second address, the last letter is worded severely and accompanied by copies of his discharge papers saying, 'this man is not entitled to anything for service after 22-10-1914'......it looks very much to me and hubby like G grandad was making bogus pension claims.....which again caused much hilarity becuase my husband remembers him selling matches on the steps of the town hall complete with 'buy from an old soldier sign' !!!......he was only inthe army for 22 days lol We know he was a wood turner by proffesion but we're now thinking of adding proffesional con man to the notes in the tree lol. On a serious note, this is only funny to us because he's family and my hubby remembers him so well, we also have found records for very brave members of the family and our amusement at G grandads antics is'nt meant in any way to offend descendents of those brave men who fought and died in that terrible conflict x

Hi Sharon, I know what you mean. It gave my Grandads height as 5' 9'. I always thought he was really tall. He didn't die till I was 19 so it wasn't because I was particularly small. I also found my other Grandads brother. My Mum always said 'Uncle Arthur was a bit loopy when we were kids' No wonder, poor man was injured terribly and had a metal plate in his head. Like you loved all the extra info. like addresses, tattoos, scars etc. I feel I know him now. Linda

I found my husband grandad for him, and it turned out to be very interesting. Firstly the record gave us two addresses, the names places and dates of baptism of some older children we didnt know, but also things like he had a tattoo, and a heart condition, the colour of his hair and eyes, size and weight etc, all things that my husband just cant remember and you cant tell from black and white photographs. The best thing was though, my husband remembers that his grandad had no legs, now he died when my husband was about 10, many years ago, but he always told him he lost his legs in the great war, then would wink and say really i lost them because i picked my toenails so dont let me catch you doing it!!! He was, as my husband remembers, a bit of a lovable rogue and was actually well known in Leeds as a bare knuckle boxer in his youth....his army record revealed that he was in the army, enlisted on 20-9-1914........and served for exactly 22 days! then he was discharged becauseof a heart complaint....he was then placed in the reserves , where it appears he discharged himself shall we say after just over a year. There were so many letters going backwards and forwards i just couldnt beleive the amount of info i got about him from the one file. My husband has never laughed so much, he wasnt at all upset and said ...yep that sounds just like him, in fact we spent the whole evening talking about him and looking at old photos, its just so exciting to find info like this thats so personal to the person.

Are the records on Ancestry complete? Well they may well be even if you can't find someone you know served because they don't cover all WW1 soldiers. These are pension records and only cover non-commissioned officers and other ranks (ie not officers) who were discharged from the Army and claimed disability pensions for service in WWI. (so you won't find records here of men who were killed in action, nor of those who did not claim pensions. These were also men who did not re-enlist in the Army prior to World War II. (if they did their records will be held at the MoD and you have to be next of kin to apply for them). Many service records from this era were badly damaged or destroyed during WW2 but may be lucky and find records for other WW1 soldiers at TNA in the burnt records - I have copies of my grandfather and great uncles records from there, neither of whom were entitled to a pension so don't appear on the Ancestry database.

I can't either Sheila.... tut! Can't find my granddad or my great uncle. Sylvia

Gary Thanks I had another look and used the regimental number then searched through but still nothing :( Sheila

That's brilliant, what a lovely album to have. We don't have many old photos. After my Gran died my Grandad had a 'home help'...and she certainly did help... herself to lots of photos that were in frames on Grans dresser, some of them were silver so I suppose that's why. Grandad wouldn't have a word said about her and quite a lot of things went missing. Horrible woman. I can see her sitting there now. Still mustn't get bitter and twisted lol Linda

Beware Sheila, some of the indexes are poorly transcribed so look closely. One record had place of birth listed as 'leoon' but when I checked the original image, it clearly read Devon! I remember reading somewhere that the transcriptions were done overseas. My great grandfather was killed in France just two months before the end of WW1 in 1918, having survived being gassed in the trenches the year before. I'm pleased you have been able to find your grandad's records Linda. Gary

Thats a shame because my Grandfather was sent to a hospital up north somewhere and my aunt has a whole album of pictures taken of everyone that was there at that time. (by my Grandfather) I'll have to start up another thread as soon as I can borrow the album again and scan all the pictures. It would be fantastic to be able to match up people who were there to people on here. Sheila

Hi Sheila, There was so much to read and I am going to print it all off tomorrow but I know it said it was in Cardiff, and they lived in Hastings in Sussex at the time. Just went back for a quick look, it was Great Western Hospital, Cardiff Linda

Did it say which hospital your Grandfather was sent to Linda?

Hope he's on there soon Sheila. Just to remind people that there are usually lots of pages, there were 14 on my Grandad so keep going to the next page till you come to NEW FILE Linda

I've just checked and my Grandfather's not on there and he received a pension and lived until 1955. So.. it's not yet complete despite what it said in the newsletter.

Hi Joan At the moment it's only people who received a WW1 pension. My Grandad didn't die till I was 19 and I saw his a couple of times a week and they lived in the next road to us. Linda

My Grandfather was also injured in WW1.. at the battle of Somme. I never knew him but those men were awfully brave.

I've just read all about my Grandad and found it interesting but very sad. He was blind but I never really knew what had happened....but I do now. Injured in France, had one eye removed got an infection in the other had went blind in that eye. My Dad was the youngest of four and he was a few months old when this happened. My Grandad was a lovely man who had a braille typewriter (which fascinated me) and never let his blindness get in the way of anything. I remember when I was little going to Brixton Market with him in charge!!!! My Mum must have really trusted him........ God Bless You Grandad........ Linda..... x........ P.S and his signature is just like my Dad's. Weird seeing that