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Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: halcyon.64 on Sunday 07 May 17 15:07 BST (UK)
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Hello. I hope this is the right spot for this. I am trying to find out information about Alexander Will who was born in Forfarshire on 17th March 1896. He joined the Royal Irish Constabulary as a Temporary Constable (Black and Tan) in 1920. His appointment was 30th March 1920. He was killed on 11th July 1920 by an IRA bomb while defending the Rathmore Barracks in County Kerry.
I have recently purchased the Constabulary Medal (Ireland) that was awarded posthumously to him at an auction in Western Australia (where I live).
Is there an historical society that I could contact which may have family photos or other records?
Many thanks,
Kathryn.
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Alexander Will
Bachelor
aged 28 years
policeman
date of death 11th July 1920
place Rathmine
cause laceration of the brain,how sad
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Maybe contact https://irishhistoricalmilitaria.com/ ??
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so you hav no idea how the medal came to be auctioned where you live
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Thank you for the reply. I thought it was Rathmore and that he was 24 at his death. May I ask where you got your information? We agree on one thing though - it was very sad. He had literally only just completed his 3 months training.
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I have no clue as to how how it ended up in WA. Would the website listed give me information or are they more likely to want to buy the medal? I did get some information about Alexander Will from another forum about the RIC. At the time of his death, his mother was already a widow so she had a very sad time of it.
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Irish civil records online gives his death
if you require a death cert you can apply for one for a small fee
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Alexander Will
Bachelor
aged 28 years
policeman
date of death 11th July 1920
place Rathmine
cause laceration of the brain,how sad
Not sure where that information came from but it is incorrect. Alexander Will died Rathmore NOT Rathmine (there is a Rathmines, Dublin area) but Rathmore is Killarney district in co. Kerry-
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1920/05114/4406353.pdf
Irish civil records online gives his death
if you require a death cert you can apply for one for a small fee
... or you can view the certificate online for free- see above link
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Aberdeen Press and Journal, 13 July 1920-
BRECHIN CONSTABLE KILLED IN IRELAND. Information has been received that Constable Alexander Will, who lately resided at 28 Darn acre Road, Brechin, has been killed while duty in Ireland. Constable Will, who joined the after demobilisation, was on duty at the Rathmore Police Barracks, Co. 'Derry, on Saturday night, when an attack was made by a large number men, and it was during this attack that Constable Will lost his life. Much sympathy is felt in Brechin for his mother, who is a widow.
Constable Will originally came from the Aberlemno district.
Note: newspaper report does say Co. 'Derry [Londonderry] rather than Co. Kerry.
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oops I misread sorry aghadowey
my dyslexia kicks in from time to time
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No problems Radcliff. I thought I may have been wrong. Not living in the UK, most of the names are not associated with places in my mind.
Thanks for the tip about the death certificate - will follow that up. Thanks also for the newspaper article. Perhaps that is what the fellow from the other forum had seen since it mentions Alexander's mother as being a widow. It also confirms he served in WWI so I should be able to locate his service records.
I feel like I am making progress with all of your help - many thanks.
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Just looked at the Irish records and can see where you got your information, Radcliff. it does say he was 28 years at his death. My birth and death information came from findmypast - Royal irish Constabulary service records 1816-1922. The trouble is that there are appear to be many transcription errors - dates, names - when researching, although I'm sure I'm not telling anyone anything new there!
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Not sure what you mean by following up death certificate- just click on the link (reply #7), follow the next 2 steps then view.
Alexander Will should appear in both 1901 and 1911 census- hopefully that will get you mother's name, father's name and any siblings.
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I did follow the link in Reply 7 and found the death record. When I searched for birth records, none appeared. How do you access the Census records? I am new to this. I assume that he doesn't appear on the Irish genealogy site for birth as he was born in Scotland? His death is there as he died in Ireland.
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Scottish birth and census records available on Scotland's People site (pay per view). Ancestry (and perhaps Find My Past?) have transcriptions of 1901 census but 1911 only from Scotland's People. I did notice that there was an Alexander Will around the same age in Brechin so be careful when lookign for the one you want.
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Thanks for the information Aghadowey.
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The Weekly Irish Times of 17th July 1920, further adds that as he was a member of the Scottish Presbyterian church, then initially his remains were taken to Abbey Presbyterian Church in Dublin. A service was held at the church and attended by a large number of the constabulary and some military. His remains were then returned by steamer for interment in Aberdeen.
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That is great information. Thank you Scotmum.
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who lately resided at 28 Darn acre Road, Brechin
Note there is a slight error in the Newspaper transcript (as often happens with FindMyPast). The address should read Damacre Road, so 'm' rather than 'rn' and no gap before 'acre'.
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Thank you again.
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This link will bring you to an account of the attack on Rathmore Barracks from Irish Central of 5th July 2018
https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/black-tan-killed-ireland?utm_campaign=Best+of+IrishCentral+-+2018-07-07&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Mailjet
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That's fantastic! Thanks so much Sean.
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Confirmation of his burial site here:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/178973456/alexander-will