Borrill family from Belchford, Horncastle

[fordofcrows]

For any military experts, I have enlarged the picture of the soldier in hope that someone can make out the cap badge in order to identify it.

many thanks,

David

[fordofcrows]

Wow!  I am so elated that I have to share this with you good people - without who's help I would not have found this!

John Thomas Borrill from Louth in Lincolnshire, was in fact serving under the 7th Battalion Australian  Commonwealth Horse for service in South Africa.  I found his service records on the Australian National Archives.  (Accessing the records are free - why do we have to pay for them in this country?)

He enlisted May 1st 1902 so it is very likely that the soldier in my photo is him - especially as he's the oldest of the male Borrill children.  He is 25 years old and lists his next of kin as his father, William Borrill.  Shame there's only one page of his records - the Attestation sheet.

How on Earth did a young lad from Lincolnshire end up fighting in an Australian regiment?

Well, I am very proud of my great-grand-uncle.  There you go John soldier - you were nearly forgotten but now you have your face on the internet for all to see!

If anyone has anything else to add - theories on how he ended up in Australia or a positive id of his cap badge etc., then please do so.

Thank you all for your help.

David

[macintosh]

David,
That's great info, I assume you have googled Australian Commonwealth Horse,? wikipedia has an article on the raising of the unit in 1902, What puzzles me is that Australian troops then usually wore the slouch hat and the cap badge your man wears does not look like the Australian Horse primitive rising sun badge. and his shoulder titles don't look "Australian"
As to an Englishman being in an Australian Unit it was quite common in Commonwealth countries were young men had emigrated and then joined the military of their adopted country to help out the "mother country" in times of crisis, Canada being a prime example with it's "Scottish Regiments".
I still feel this is WW1 era, maybe he returned "home" prior to ww1 and reenlisted in a local regiment

Regards
James

[fordofcrows]

Thanks for the reply, James. 

Yes, I found the ALH website through typing in his name into Google - using inverted commas so that it stuck to the exact search term.  The ALH website has all details on this regiment but it is quite a trawl with it having so much indepth information.  I will check out the Wikipedia info too, thanks.

I agree that his uniform looks nothing like the ALH.  I can find no service records of his service in the UK though.  I think you are right about it looking like the Lincolnshire Yeomanry.  He looks tanned so could have returned from Australia/Africa.  It's a shame the rest of his service records don't exist and he's missing from all UK census from 1891 onwards.

So, I need to determine whether it's 1902 - or if it's 1914, so that I can get an idea of the ages of the other people in the photo.  If it's 1902 then that makes the older woman, 37 and the older man, 54.  If it's 1914 then it would mean that my grandmother isn't in the picture because she  would be 22 by that time.  The older couple would be in their fifities and sixties - which I must admit they do look a bit older than my previous calculation.

If it is 1914 then the soldier could be Roland Borrill.  Roland would be 17 in 1914.  I have his service records and will re-examine them later.  Do you think this soldier looks older than 17 though?

What a puzzle!  Heh! Heh!

David

[Ermintrude46]

Did Roland have a slightly older brother called Harry?? If so, I think it's possible that the soldier could be Harry.  You mentioned a Walter Borrill earlier - is he also Roland and Harry's brother?  Have you checked out the free search on the 1911 census website for Walter & Roland and the various other Borrills - if not, it's worth following up http://www.1911census.co.uk/
Ermy

[macintosh]

David,
 Another thought, if he was in the South African Campaign against the Boers in 1902 he would have been awarded a Queens South African Medal or a Kings South African medal, either would have been with clasps for various actions, he may have been in, he doesn't seem to be wearing a medal ribbon of any kind, perhaps this isn't the soldier who was in South Africa?
This is beginning to grow arms and legs.
It may be the right moment to put this topic on the Armed Forces ww1 Board

James

[fordofcrows]

Thanks for the reply Ermy.  I was so engrossed last night in the military history of John Thomas Borrill that I haven't had chance to check out the 1911 census but I am hearing what you are saying and will do just that, later tonight.

Until you mentioned the 1911 census, I wasn't aware that it was available yet - not without paying for it, anyway.  I have already spent my `allowance' for this month on my Ancestry subscription - my partner will have a duck-fit if I spend any more on this!  

Anyway, yes, Roland did have an older brother, Harry Borrill.  Here is the list of the Borrill boys..

John Thomas - 1877
Walter - 1889
Harry - 1895
Roland - 1897
Herbert Edward - 1901
George - 1903
Joseph Brymar Borrill - 1906

I wonder where the `Brymer' bit comes from in the last boy's name?

The only Borrill I have found service records for, apart from JT, is Roland.  I will study his records later tonight.

Thanks again,

David

[fordofcrows]

James, you make an excellently valid point about the absence of medals!  I'd best stop calling him `John' until I am more certain!

How do I put this on the armed forces ww1 board?

David

[Ermintrude46]

You can do a free name search on the 1911 website and with a bit of playing around can also find out who else is in the same household as a named person in a named place.  Seeing you've named everyone (except sister Lily) I don't think there's any harm in saying I could see they were all in the same household with Walter and his new wife in Louth, Lincolnshire.   Didn't see the parents, but they may have been away from home or had their names mis-transcribed.  Word of mouth can be a bit inaccurate when trying to identify who is in a particular photo, the family make up you give above (plus Lily but minus John Thomas) is a very good fit for the photo if it is taken around 1914/15, I would say.  If this isn't your direct line it's likely that copies were given out to the extended family of uncles/grandparents etc and that it has come down to you that way.
Ermy