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Spen Valley Advertiser Friday 18th August 1928

A few lines stating that your man had been taken to Leeds General Infirmary with head injuries following a collision late Wednesday at East Ardsley  he succumbed to them on the Thursday

Spen Advertiser week later.

Inquest etc
Your man was killed in a collision with a car
The vehicle was an Austin owned by  a Mr Robinson of Manningham driven at the time by Thomas Hobkirk of Victor Rd Bradford.
The bike pulled out of an inn on the Leeds Bradford Rd with a man on pillion (John Sandom) and also one in a sidecar he was possibly on wrong side of road and had to swerve to avoid the car when he lost control.

Accidental death was recorded and the car driver exonerated of any wrong doing.

Spen Advertiser 24th August 1928
I tried to take a digital photo of report but kept getting flash of screen of reader!


Ady

Ady

Sorry for the late reply, thanks so much for your time. Gives me a bit more information about his death now, seems he should have been giving the road more attention than he did! Was that found at the Batley or Dewsbury branch? I think I might contact them to get a copy of the page.

I also found that rather odd that Cyril's WW1 draft card isn't around considering I found his WWII draft card, you can see it here: http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/4056/cyrilsmithww2regcard.jpg

He's definitely in the States just after the Great War as he appears in the 1920 US Census living with parents and his brother. You can see their listing here:  http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/5986/1920census.jpg

What made me question the earlier listing of them as American citizens is that cleary states that William H Smith didn't naturalise until 1918 and it appears his two sons naturalised through what looks to be the Army. There's a suspicion that this might be Norman, as it tallies up with his military experience, where he lived in 1920 and 1930 and his listing as a clerk for a telephone company in the 1930 census:

Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA) - July 10, 1988
Deceased Name: NORMAN SMITH, OF FOX CHASE
Norman Smith, 89, a decorated veteran of World War I, died June 29 at his home in Fox Chase.
Mr. Smith, who was retired, had spent most of his career working in the real estate offices of Bell Telephone Co.
Mr. Smith was an Army cavalryman and rode into battle with the first U.S. contingent to enter the fighting in France in 1917. He took part in a number of major campaigns, including the Battles of the Marne and the Argonne Forest.
He was a Mason.
He is survived by his wife, ^(*); two sons, ^(*) and ^(*); a daughter, ^(*), and six grandchildren.
Services were private. Funeral arrangements were by Fletcher Funeral Home, 9529 Bustleton Ave.
Edition: PENNA
Page: N06
Copyright (c) 1988 The Philadelphia Inquirer

Other than that I have no knowledge of what happened to Norman and William H. Smith. Their last appearance is in the 1930 US Census. This is one of the mysteries I'm trying to solve. Firstly how and when did William get into the States and secondly what ultimately became of them, other than my grandfather who I know came back to England served in the military in some form and died here in the early 80s.


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I've been trying to track down my great grandfather's movements in the states for a while now but I've hit an annoying roadblock. He was born in Liversedge, Yorkshire in 1869 and was resident in England right up until 1901/1902.

He then moved to the States in roughly 1901/1902 from information on censuses. He moved to the states with his two sons Norman and Cyril and I believe his wife Sarah Ann was pregnant as I found a record for a baby Mable Smith born in Philadelphia in 1902 who unfortunately died. He ended up in Philadelphia by 1910 (may well have started there aswell,, his daughter being born there suggests he was) and appears in the 1910, 1920 and 1930 censuses as being resident in Philadelphia. He had my grandfather in 1926 (when he was 57!) in Philadelphia with a new wife after his first wife had died in 1921 (I found her funeral notice in the Philadelphia Inquirer). Also he apparently naturalised as a US citizen in 1918 according to the 1920 US census, although I've been unable to find the actual documentation for this.

What I'm struggling to discover about him is how he entered the United States and what became of him. I didn't find any reference to him on the Ellis Island website so that makes me think that he came through Philadelphia but I'm not sure how to check Philadelphia passenger lists? Also how would I go about trying to find out about his death in Pennsylvania?

Any help on this would be much appreciated.

It really is more likely to be as Trish suggests ...

Is this him in the Guildford District ?

Births Sep 1914 
 
Potter  Eric S S  Stratton  Guildford  2a 218


If so, there is this very likely Potter to Stratton mariage in the same District.

Marriages Jun 1905   

DOBELL  Charles    Guildford  2a 149   
Potter  Harold Sidney     Guildford  2a 149   
SCARFF  Frances Elizabeth     Guildford  2a 149   
STRATTON  Katherine Charlotte     Guildford  2a 149   



Harold Sidney was about 21 when he married.

Births Mar 1884   
 
Potter  Harold Sidney    Hambledon 2a 136

Yup thats him, interesting I wonder if my father had got it wrong all this time then. Would certainly make much more sense than the convoluted story I was trying to construct to make sense of it. He seemed certain that the 'Stratton' part had been passed down through his grandfather rather than his grandmother however.

In reverse order the MOD only retains the records of men still serving in 1921 or later. The papers for his first period does not appear to be on Findmypast, although they still haven't published records of men discharged 1900 to 1913. Where did you get the information that he enlisted 1884? If correct he would have been discharged from the Army Reserve in 1896. So maybe his papers have been lost.

The Queen's Own (Cameron Highlanders) did have a single regular battalion from 1881 to 1897. They served in Eygpt/Sudan in 1882 to1887. They were also there in 1897 to 1900. Have you found him in any census (as an adult) and did he have any children in this period?

Ken

Sorry about the very very late reply. I discovered he served in the Queen's Own Cameron's through his WW1 service papers. The very first paper in that set details him enlisting in the Cameron's in 1884. He got married and had a number of children however he was married before the enlistment date and all his children were born in a time period that doesn't conflict with his supposed service in the regular Cameron's (the births are 1892 onwards).

Heres a copy of that document: http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/7096/jamesfarrarcameronhighl.jpg

and also something about his reserve payments which interestingly end in 1896 as you suggested: http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/7397/jamesfarrararmyreserve.jpg