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Messages - overlandermatt

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 ... 37
1
England / Re: William Armstrong b1852 Ireland but British soldier
« on: Sunday 02 November 25 19:47 GMT (UK)  »
Thank you all for uncovering the details here. I had wondered whether he followed daughter Emily to Canada but seemingly he died shortly before or after they emigrated...

I am interested in the army details. I have had a few relatives in Plymouth who married soldiers, presumably as the unit passed through the city at some stage. What is unclear in this case is the unit - I couldn't really find anything about a 3rd Derbyshire Battalion in the 1880s and the 52nd Regiment in 1878 at the time of the marriage. I need to renew the FindMyPast subscription...   

2
England / Re: William Armstrong b1852 Ireland but British soldier
« on: Sunday 02 November 25 19:35 GMT (UK)  »
Quote from: ShaunJ on Sunday 02 November 25 16:40 GMT (UK)
Army records from 1868 to discharge in 1889:
https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=GBM%2FWO97%2F2211%2F111%2F001&parentid=GBM%2FWO97%2F2211%2F11123

He was in Malta at the time of the 1871 census

Thanks for sharing that Shaun. I will need a FindMyPast subscription to look at that - currently just have Ancestry. The wrong one when the time comes!

3
England / Re: William Armstrong b1852 Ireland but British soldier
« on: Sunday 02 November 25 15:17 GMT (UK)  »
Thanks Tony.

He's been a bit of a pain to find but I think I found him in East Stonehouse in 1911 at the same street address that was on his daughter's wedding certificate.

What is a bit strange is that his daughter is listed under her maiden name and there is no mention of the husband. The census only has initials rather than first names so this strangely enough proved to be quite helpful given there are quite a few William Armstrongs around the country... Less helpful was that the whole family were incorrectly listed as having been born in Stonehouse.

Just need to find him in 1861, 1871 and 1891. I did find an army record for W Armstrong from Shankhill, Belfast 1851 and Derbyshire regiment which sort of ties in with the story but that suggests he left in 1883 which was 3 years before one daughter was born in Derbyshire and he resided at the barracks...

4
England / William Armstrong b1852 Ireland but British soldier
« on: Sunday 02 November 25 00:08 GMT (UK)  »
I posted recently about my grandfather's brother, Albert Pope who emigrated to Canada and then the US with his new wife Emily Elizabeth Armstrong. They married in 1910 and the wedding was attended by the father William Armstrong.

I was interested to find out more about Emily and her family. Coincidentally, Emily's birth in 1886 was registered in Shardlow, Derbyshire where I live these days and a long way from the normal Plymouth stomping grounds. Her father William Armstrong, a soldier/bugler born in Ireland, had married her mother Emily Luscombe in Plymouth in 1878 and there were two brothers on the 1881 census when William was in Chatham. The family must have moved to Derbyshire where 3 more children were born before they returned to Plymouth. Emily senior died in 1900 but I don't know what happened to William. He was there at the wedding in 1910 but deceased on his youngest daughter's wedding certificate in 1922.

I found him on the 1881 and 1901 censuses but I've not found him elsewhere. I have wondered if he was away on military service. If he was born in Belfast in 1852, he might have joined the army by 1870 and gone overseas.

Any clues on this man and his family would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

5
United States of America / Re: Albert Pope 1890 in California
« on: Thursday 23 October 25 10:43 BST (UK)  »
Quote from: shellyesq on Thursday 23 October 25 00:19 BST (UK)
Gordon's obituary is here - https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-obituary-for-gordo/183500262/  Sounds like he had an interesting life, as he was an oboe player and played on a number of famous films.

Thanks Shelly - that's really great to see and a very interesting obituary. I think there is still a bit to piece together for Albert - quite a bit of information to gather in the UK and then Canada before he gets to the US. I see the family lost a baby daughter at birth after they had Gordon. I think he was the first Pope relative to head to the Americas to settle. I don't think he ever returned to the UK to visit - my father born in 1937 tells me he never met him.

Very interesting details to add to my grandfather's wider family story so thank you.

6
Armed Forces / Re: Royal Marines and ships' bands
« on: Thursday 23 October 25 10:16 BST (UK)  »
Thanks Neale. Yes that is the man and I have collected as much information on Arthur as I can find - the service record and attestation pack (which was very informative). You have found his father Benjamin too. He set off from Plymouth for Australia at 16 and didn't return for 5 years! I've looked at the ships movements through the Australian papers and the desertion rate was pretty high!

On the subject of the bands, I can see that at Jutland, there were 16 formal bandsmen aboard HMS Duke of Edinburgh which presumably would have been enough for a decent band! Whether anyone else could join in, I have no idea...

7
Armed Forces / Re: Royal Marines and ships' bands
« on: Thursday 23 October 25 09:34 BST (UK)  »
Quote from: tonepad on Thursday 23 October 25 06:32 BST (UK)

If your grandfather was not trained at Eastney Barracks Portsmouth, then presumably he may have augmented an official Royal Marines Band or played in an amateur band.


Thanks Tony. I suspect that you are right about augmenting a more formal band or participating on a more informal, ad hoc basis. I couldn't see any formal record of HMS Duke of Edinburgh, his ship for WW1 having a formal band in terms of its crew list but I have read that there was a band that would play when taking on supplies or re-coaling.

8
Armed Forces / Re: Royal Marines and ships' bands
« on: Thursday 23 October 25 09:11 BST (UK)  »
Quote from: Neale1961 on Thursday 23 October 25 01:11 BST (UK)
Did your grandfather have a name and date of birth that you want to share?

Arthur George Pope b1893 East Stonehouse, Devon is my grandfather. I have never come across anything in any of his military records that indicates a musical connection - other than a picture of the drum and fife band in the Greenwich Hospital School magazine in 1907. 

9
United States of America / Re: Albert Pope 1890 in California
« on: Wednesday 22 October 25 23:42 BST (UK)  »
Thanks Neale1961. I will look at that further - I had seen a different naturalization record card from 1930 on the FamilySearch. There's quite a bit to go on - I haven't looked at the census records just yet but will do.

Thanks again.

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