Alfred Gitsham (b 1883)

[Grandpa Canuck]

Regarding George Gitsham:

My Dad was only 1 when his father (George) died and his mother (Veronica Spenceley) remarried John (Jack) Evans in 1945.  My grandmother has since passed on and we are finding it extremely difficult trying to go back further then Alfred.

I was told the transport he was on was sunk while crossing from Libya to Italy.  My uncle Gordon was also a POW and was friends with George.  The group were all taken prisoner after the battle of Tobruk.  I heard the story several times when I was young from my uncle, father and mother.  I believe my uncle and George were all in the 6th Durham Light Infantry, a Territorial unit that was part of 50 Division.

[gitch]

John Vesey Gitsham & Mary ann Berry marr: 2/6/1873

Alfred Gitsham Born: 1/11/1883
died: 4/6/1969 aged 86 years.
marr: 1908 @ Devonport.
|Florence Collins
Born: 18/11/1884
died: 28/11/1974 @ East Fortune Hospital,Scotland. aged 90 years.lived in Longniddary in Scotland.
Children:
William Alfred March 1906
Twins: Elsie May and James June 1910
Florence 1911 (died in infancy)
Thomas Charles 10/1/1913
George 1915 died: 1944
Alex 1917 died: 12/11/1945
Frank 5/9/1919
Charles 19/2/1924

[gitch]

John Vesey Gitsham born: 1/6/1851
died: 1897 (son of John & Elizabeth(Vesey)Gitsham marr: 9/12/1838
marr: Mary Ann Berry 2/6/1873 (born 1855 died: 13/3/1895
Children:
Emily Elizabeth born: 26/9/1874
Lousisa  1875
John(Jack)Charles born:26/12/1876 died: 14/2/1958
Frederick George born: 1879 died: 7/9/1940
William Henry Born: 14/6/1881 died: 15/8/1947
Alfred born: 14/6/1883 died: 4/6/1969
Frank born:5/1/1892 died\; 22/5/1892 aged 6 years
Charles Berry born: 22/11/1887 buries: 5/1/1888
Albert: born: 22/7/1890 died: 1890
Thomas John born:1891
Minnie Born: 7/3/1892 bapt: 23/6/1892 died: 1957
Twins: Annie May born:29/7/1893 went to USA
Florence Mary born:30/7/1893 died:11/3/1982
Albert Edward bpt: sept 1894

[Gail2005]

Thank you for this information. Very much appreciated.

[gitch]

I have the family tree going back to 1480 and daily diary of Alex when he was an oderly in the POW, if you want any more info just ask

[ewan gitch]

Hi there Gail (and Gitch)

I am Ewan Kerr Gitsham, a great grandson of Alfred and the grandson of Thomas Gitsham, son of Graham Gitsham.

Alfred moved with Florance to a village called Longniddry in Scotland where George and his siblings William, Tommy (my grandfather), Elsie, Alex, Frank and Charles all grew up.

Alex, George and William are all inscribed on a memorial in Longniddry Parish church (see link http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/warmemscot-post-40420.html) and there is a headstone to them in nearby Aberlady church graveyard.

My father was born and brought up in Longniddry as were myself and 3 other siblings and my brother Stephen recently (2010) got married in the church next to the memorial.  

Myself I moved away from the village over 22 years ago and now live in New Zealand but I still visit on a regular basis as my parents are still there and will always consider it home. The original house George was brought up in still exists if you were ever interested in visiting (10 wemyss Terrace) although it is vastly changed over the years.

Gitch I am glad to hear you still have Alex's original diary he kept in captivity. We always wondered on our side what happened to it and thought it may have been lost over the years. The official army records show that Alfred signed for it along with 3 notebooks and other papers following his death. After Tommys death I received a copy of it along with one of the original Notebook of prisoners names and addresses he kept whilst at Karenko prison.  I would love to meet up with you the next tiome I am back in the UK and compare papers etc if that was ok with you.

Good luck to you both.

Ewan

  

[gitch]

Hi Ewan, Nice to hear from you,Yes Alfred was my granddads brother John (Jack) Charles.  I went to stay with Uncle Alf and used to help collect the eggs with him.
I would love to meet you sometime when ever you are passing through Sherwood Forest,(I do live in Sherwood Forest, )
I have traced the coat of arms and apparently I forget his name he lives in Blackpool as a bus driver, he had a photo of a coat of arms that was inside a plastic dish.  But when I started to trace it it came back as the one I use and it was as near as dam it.  If you want to use it you are quite welcome to,it comes from our side of the Gitsham tree.

Take care,

regards,  gitch

[gitch]

Alfred Gitsham is my uncle, he was born in Exeter my grandfather was his brother.  Alfred and Flo went to live in Scotland and two of their sons were lost at sea and Alex was taken a prisoner of war in Japan.

[gitsham_aus]

Hi Gitch,

I'm a Gitsham from Australia and read in this forum you have a copy/picture of the Gitsham coat of arms. i was wondering if you would be willing to share it with me?

Jarrod