Tracing Charles Henry Grimes....

[stepandr]

Hi, I am hoping that someone might be able to give me some recommendations to help trace my great grandfather. He was born Charles Henry Grimes in 1887 in the parish of St Marys in Staffordshire - his parents were James and Eliza Grimes. He married my great grandmother in 1913 and they had a daughter (Phyllis, my grandmother) shortly afterwards. The story in our family has always been that Charles Henry was killed in WW1 and my grandmother moved back to her family in Ireland shortly afterwards. This doesnt seem to be the case as I have found Charles Henrys enlistment in the Territorial Force - 6th Staffs bty (6th staffordshire battery) - in 1913 and also located a short service enlistment (6 years) as a shoeing smith in the Royal Regiment of Artillery (RFA) dated 1920. At the time of this enlistment he mentions that he currently belongs to "Z reserves 3rd st mid RFA" This would indicate he was still alive. I have been unable to locate any further information and cant find a death record. I think his regimental number was 610375 (could be 810375). It would be a great help if anyone could advise how best to proceed with the information that I have.

Thanks in advance,
Steve.

[avm228]

Hi Steve and welcome

Presumably this is the marriage?

Marriage Dec qtr 1913

Charles H GRIMES
Sarah J PRATT

Stafford 6b 56

If you can't find a death, have you searched for a divorce?

Anna

[avm228]

I agree there's no sign of a war death on CWGC (http://tinyurl.com/35utdq4), or a divorce file in the National Archives' J77 series (http://tinyurl.com/35qu3rg).

[avm228]

His service records appear to show that he discharged from the RFA on 4 August 1920 suffering 40% disability due to otitis media (middle ear infection) aggravated by his service.  He was paid a single man's pension between 5 and 22 August 1920, and an enhanced pension including wife & child allowance from 23 August to 9 November 1920.

[stepandr]

Hi Anna, thanks for the speedy reply! Yes that is the marraige - I have the original marraige cert dated Christmas eve 1913. My grandmother was born May 1914 which would indicate that her mother Sarah was pregnant when she got married. Not sure how these things were viewed back then but could suggest they got married for the wrong reasons which contributed to a breakup. I looked on ancestry.co.uk for death and divorce records and no joy. The trail seems to go cold after this. I do know she had another daugther, Kathleen Grimes, but could find no record of birth. Kathleen may have been born here in Ireland but again have had no luck tracing her here.

Appreciate the feedback.
Steve.

[stepandr]

AVM - that is very interesting and the dates do seem to match up. The pension information is very interesting. I do know my grandmother was enrolled in primary school here in Ireland in May 1920 so Phyllis and her mother Sarah were definitely not living in England. I also know that my grandmother always believed her father died in the war so that would indicate that Charles Henry did not travel to Ireland to be with the family.

Is it possible to get access to his service records anywhere? Thanks agian for the help.... the plot thickens!!

Steve.

[avm228]

The service record is available on the pay site Ancestry.  It may assist you to know that the address given for him on the "first payment of pension" record is 16 Isaac Walton Rd, Tillington, "Stratford" (must be an error for Stafford).

Perhaps he never got the pension because they'd noted down the wrong address!

Earlier records show that 16 Izaak Walton Street, Tillington, Stafford was his parents' address.

[stepandr]

16 Izaak Walton street was the address of Charles Henrys parents house and the address given on the marraige cert. I think Sarah may have worked in the house next door as her address was 17 Isaac Walton street. I checked number 17 on the 1911 census and there was no record of Sarah although the owners of number 17 (Benjamin and Violet Ramsden) were down as witnesses on the marraige cert.

I must have a look again on ancestry.co.uk. I have been stuck on this part of my family tree for a long so this has been a great help and much appreciated.

Steve.

[stepandr]

Anna - With your help I managed to locate Charles Henrys full service record and theres a lot of interesting information here. Looks like he was posted in France and Sarah came home to live with her family in Ireland. They were in touch for a period of time and looks like things broke down and they went their separate ways. I would be very interested to find out what happened to Charles Henry after 1920. Are there any resources that you would recommend? Is it unusual for someone not to have a death cert?

You managed to find more information in a few minutes than I have done for the past 6 months!

Thanks again,
Steve.