RootsChat.Com
General => Armed Forces => World War One => Topic started by: DeeFM on Thursday 13 June 13 00:31 BST (UK)
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Do the UK enlistment records include details of next of kin? I'm trying to confirm whether one of my great uncles was involved during WW1. If there were others of the same name, born in the same year in the same town, how do I know if the record relates to him? He has no second name so there is no help there.
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Hi
I have sometimes seen a N o K on WW1 records - but I have seen a lot more records that don't show it.
Did you know that over 60% of WW1 service records were destroyed by fire in the WW2 blitz
Can you give us what you know about him - name/birthyear, birthplace
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Working out the correct man is quite a tricky thing to do especially with common names.
Many of the papers - especially later ones - have very little information.
As you say, Next of Kin - parents, marriage or children etc is one way to work it out but there are other bits of info which can prove useful too..eg
Birth year , birth place, address at enlistment, sometimes there is an address on discharge, occupation is sometimes listed and sometimes has info of where they worked (not often). And there may be distinguishing marks noted which just once in a while can show you have the right chap
Pension records if there are any have more info on them than basic enlistment (attestation sheets) eg about where they intend to work and correspondence about any injuries or medical treatment etc.
First thing is to see if there are any papers which may be his... and often the only way is to open every single one of the right name and look through them (not ideal if he is called John Smith) ::)
As Carole says - let us have some detail and we can advise further.
Milly
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CaroleW and millymcb
Thanks for your quick replies.
Name: Ernest Greaves (sometimes Graves)
DoB: Reg Jan-Mar 1889
Birthplace: Hanslope, Bucks
He disappears after 1911. I've found no marriage or death records that I suspect might be his except for a 29 year old whose death was registered Oct-Dec 1918 in Nuneaton. I have found that there was an auxiliary hospital at Nuneation during the First WW so I wondered if he died there as a result of wounding.
I have found a few Ernest and E Greaves records on www.forces-war-records.co.uk but wondered if there would be enough information on the records to make it worthwhile. There seems to be no way of isolating records so would need to look at each record to see if it is even relevant.
Of course he may not have even been in the military. I really am clutching at straws.
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Hi
Surviving WW1 Service Records are on Ancestry not Forces War Records.
The only way to know if the Ernest Greaves death in 1918 was him would be to purchase the certificate and hope there is information on it that either confirms it is him or rules him out.
Andy
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I thought I might have to go that way, Andy. Thank you.
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Hi
I don't know whether it's your Ernest but an Ernest Greaves aged 21 departed London for Freemantle Australia on 20.9.1911 aboard the "Australian" which was part of Australian Steam Shipping Co Limited
There are no other clues on the passenger list unfortunately but you may want to consider posting this info on the Australian board to see if anybody with access to Australian records can find him and either eliminate him as the wrong one or confirm it's him
Include details of his parents in case a marriage is found
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Last known whereabouts he is staying with his brother Arthur (1874) a General Dealer and wife Julia (1864)at High Street Hanslope Bucks as Farm Labourer
Eddie
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Hi
There are a lot of Ernest Greaves listed for WW1 and nothing obviously showing for that birth year and place.
Once you have eliminated or confirmed that death I think the only option is to check all the service/pension papers that exist at Ancestry (online if you have a sub - or at your local library/records office if not). You will have to open each one that looks possible and see if any of the facts match.
Given that only 30% survive and not all have useful info on it is not ideal but there isn't really another way to go - unless you can find a marriage and children during WW1 and there is more info on the certificates or you turn up some photos or medals which can help identify a regiment.
Milly
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Thanks to all who replied. My first time on rootschat and I've managed to make headway on two lines in my family thanks to the kind people who inhabit this space. (I've made contact with an unknown-to-exist-until-yesterday 2nd cousin on another forum.)
Thanks Eddie, I have him in the 1911 census where his age is given as 22.
I have searched for an immigration record unsuccessfully so thank you CarolW for that lead. We were told that one of my grandfather's brothers (he came from a family of 15 children) came out to Australia but no-one seemed to know which one. One we suspected I eventually found had died in Hanslope so we had to eliminate him. Since Ernest is the only one I have not been able to locate in UK after 1911 I'm now thinking it may have been him. Wish the age was 22 (his birthday was Jan-Mar) on the passenger list I'd be feeling more confident but what's a year here or there. I'll start an electoral roll search asap which might flush him out. Have just looked at WA marriage records and have found a marriage in 1913 that just might be our man. I think I'll check on that first.
Andy, I thought Forces War Records would be the way to go but I will have a look on ancestry just in case.
So many avenues to explore.
Thanks All
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Hi
The Ernest Greaves who married Edna Murgatroyd in Western Australia in 1913 looks to have returned to England in 1926 with his wife and children, returning to Western Australia in 1927. The UK address on the passenger lists for 1926 and 1927 was Great Horton, Bradford, Yorkshire. There is a death for an Ernest Greaves age 74 in Western Australia in 1965, father Joshua, mother Ann.
The 1901 census has an Ernest Greaves born Pudsey, (which is in the Bradford Registration District) Yorkshire in 1890, son of Joshua and Ann. I think this is the Ernest Greaves who emigrated in 1911.
Andy
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Well the Ernest who married Edna is definitely not mine. My man's parents were Thomas and Mary Greaves/Graves. So looks like that death certificate from Nuneaton might be my best option. Oh well, we still don't know which brother came to Oz and if he stayed or returned or if it was all just a rumour.
Thanks Andy for taking the trouble to follow through further with that.