Find Ancestors

I have 2 great uncles who appear in the 1901 census at Topsham Barracks Devon in the Royal Artillery 120th Ba.

Their names are: Frederick John King (21) and Albert Francis King (18) and I can't find them anywhere beyond that.

As far as I can make out they did not die in the Boer War or WWI according to the casualty lists. I can't find them on the WWI records on Ancestry either. I found an Army address on these boards at one point and emailed but have had no reply so don't know if I got the address right.

Does anyone know of anywhere I can get information from as to what happened to them after 1901?

I know there are a lot of helpful people out there and I really would appreciate being pointed in the right direction. Thanks in advance.

Juliet

NB Have to go out will be back about 11 am so please don't think I am ignoring you if you reply to this before i'm back. Thanks.

They could've been discharged, gone home & got married, but I'm assuming you know they didn't.

Could they have emigrated?


Ozi.

Thanks Ozi,

I can't find marriages for either of them but I don't know if they did. Their brother emigrated to NZ in 1886 and I don't think they followed him there as I have found the brother's family. I don't know about anywhere else though. Where would I look?

Juliet

Do you know what area they came from? There a lots of marriages for Frederick J. King's on the partially transcribed marriage index for after 1901, and probably even more on the complete index.

Kath. x

There are these two marriages for Albert F. King on the partially transcribed index:-

Name: Albert F King
Year of Registration: 1915
Quarter of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec
Spouse's Surname: Chittick
District: West Ham
County: Essex, Greater London
Volume: 4a
Page: 40

and:-

Name: Albert F King
Year of Registration: 1919
Quarter of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep
Spouse's Surname: Halliday
District: Halifax
County: Yorkshire - West Riding, West Yorkshire
Volume: 9a
Page: 1200

Kath. x

Hi Kath,

They originally came from Gravesend Kent as listed on the 1891 census. 1901 in Barracks Devon. I haven't a clue where they went from there.

It's a case of trying everything. Their father was a career soldier in the Royal Artillery but as I don't know when they were discharged I honestly don't know where to look.

The marriage in Essex looks promising. Which is more than I could find. Thank you.

Juliet

Two of the marriages for Frederick J. King are also in West Ham, so could be one of them. If you don't have Ancestry then look on FreeBMB.

kath. x

Thanks for that Kath, I will have a go. Trouble is I won't know for sure unless they give parents name. I feel a big spend coming on!

Juliet

You can give the groom's father's name as a checking point when ordering a marriage certificate.

Kath. x

Didn't know that. Does that mean I wouldn't get charged if the groom's father didn't match the one I said? Still fairly new at this so please excuse my ignorance.

Juliet

When you order online from the GRO, there is a page called "reference checking". If you put the groom's father's name on this page (not on the page where you give the groom's details), they will check the father's name for you.

If the name matches what you give then they will supply the certificate and still just charge you £7.

If the name does not match, then they do not supply the certificate but charge you £3 for doing the search and refund you £4.

If the groom's father had more than one name it is best to just give one name to check just in case the groom only gave one name for his father and not his full name.

Kath. x

Thanks for that Kath, that's well worth knowing.

Juliet

To be more precise they are in the Royal Field Artillery, there are a couple of possible medal cards for them on TNA Documents online.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/

Make sure you put Royal Field Artillery in the search box, not Royal Artillery.

Jennifer

Their service records may have survived, which will be at Kew, if so.

Thanks Ann and Jennifer, at this point I will give anything a try. Does the medal card show parents or date of birth to confirm I've got the right one?

Juliet

No, there will be no date of birth or parents names on the medal cards. The service records if they survive, should give year and place of birth, address and next of kin.

Thanks Ann.

Juliet