keithmroberts Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 This one has been puzzling me for ages. below is a photograph of a private grave marker from st Luke's Church, Eccleshill in Bradford. Neither son features on the church war memorial. I have traced the one son, Herbert beyond reasonable doubt to be PRIESTLEY, H Rank: CorporalService No: 2059Date of Death: 11/04/1917Regiment/Service: Royal Warwickshire Regiment 1st Bn. Grave Reference I. B. 2. Cemetery BROWN'S COPSE CEMETERY, ROEUXAdditional information from SDGW Born Bradford, Enlisted Bradford, formerly 140437 RFA But to date I cannot find the second son Fred Priestley. Born approximately in 1887, In 1901 he was in the family home at 7 Providence Row Eccleshill, and in 1911, aged 26 he was probably lodging at 1 Airedale Road Bradford, within a couple of miles of his parents and Herbert. So can anyone find a record for Fred, or Alfred/Frederick having died or been killed? Turkey might suggest a pow from the Dardanelles, or could be imprecise. Any help will be welcome Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 No Priestley's recorded as being buried in Turkey/Gallipoli This man may have been at Gallipoli with the West Yorks. Name: Alfred PriestleyBirth Place: Bradford, Yorks Residence: Shipley, Yorks Death Date: 15 Mar 1918 Death Location: France & Flanders Enlistment Location: Bradford, Yorks Rank: L/Corporal Regiment: Corps of Royal Engineers Number: 130690 Type of Casualty: Killed in action Theatre of War: Western European Theatre Comments: Formerly 222, W. Yorks Regt. ("B" Spec. Coy., R.E. This man was buried in Greece but the parents are wrong [quote PRIESTLEY, ALFRED ARTHUR ]PrivateService No:13772Date of Death:07/12/1915Age:21Regiment/Service:Dorsetshire Regiment 3rd Bn. Panel Reference MemorialDOIRAN MEMORIAL Additional Information: Son of William and Florence Priestley, of 22, Oakleys Rd., Long Eaton, Derbyshire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithmroberts Posted 5 February , 2012 Author Share Posted 5 February , 2012 Yes, I saw him, but excluded him on the basis of the parents not fitting. The census for 1911 shows them with a son Alfred Arthur Priestley aged 15 in 1911, and Ancestry has a service record listing him as in the Dorset Regiment as missing on 7/12/15 in the Balkans. The record is badly damaged, but even has his father's signature for his medals. it looks as if two or even 3 records records may have been mixed up. CWGC has PRIESTLEY, ALFRED ARTHUR Rank: PrivateService No: 13772Date of Death: 07/12/1915Age: 21Regiment/Service: Dorsetshire Regiment 3rd Bn. Panel Reference Memorial DOIRAN MEMORIAL Additional Information: Son of William and Florence Priestley, of 22, Oakleys Rd., Long Eaton, Derbyshire. And that tallies with the full service record on Ancestry, They also have a 1911 census record for William and Florence at Long Eaton at the address above. PRIESTLEY, A Rank: Lance CorporalService No: 130690Date of Death: 15/03/1918Age: 37Regiment/Service : Royal Engineers "B" Special Coy. Grave Reference III. B. 12.Cemetery FOSSE No.10 COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION, SAINS-EN-GOHELLE Additional Information: Son of Benjamin and Maria Priestley, of Bradford, Yorks; husband of Christina Priestley, of 3, Fairbank, Windhill, Shipley, Yorks. The 1911 census has Benjamin and Maria Priestley living in Bradford also, with a 10 year old Alfred. So I am still confused. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grantowi Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 PRIESTLEY, A Rank: Lance CorporalService No: 130690Date of Death: 15/03/1918Age: 37Regiment/Service : Royal Engineers "B" Special Coy. Grave Reference III. B. 12.Cemetery FOSSE No.10 COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION, SAINS-EN-GOHELLE Additional Information: Son of Benjamin and Maria Priestley, of Bradford, Yorks; husband of Christina Priestley, of 3, Fairbank, Windhill, Shipley, Yorks. The 1911 census has Benjamin and Maria Priestley living in Bradford also, with a 10 year old Alfred. According to SDGW he was formally 222 W Yorks Regt Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithmroberts Posted 5 February , 2012 Author Share Posted 5 February , 2012 Grant yes, but his records check out, and I am looking for someone whose parents were Fred and Martha Priestley from Eccleshill, Bradford.The family can be confirmed from census records! Unfortunately the name priestley is very much a west Yorkshire name, and pretty much a Bradford one. I have just worked through Ancestry looking at all the MIC's for Alfred, Fred and Frederick in the hope of a clue. My only hope now is the Bradford Roll of Honour, but I shall have to make special arrangements to check that as the library is 250 miles away, and virtually closed. They will have quite a few Priestleys, so an email request is not too good an idea. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithmroberts Posted 6 February , 2012 Author Share Posted 6 February , 2012 A quick update. I cracked and emailed the Local Studies team at Bradford Central Library with a request for them to check the Roll of Honour, and an explanation. They replied within hours, although unfortunately apart from providing another address for Herbert Priestley, they couldn't offer much. I should say that they have always been a really helpful team, and I do hope that the extended closure of most of the bradford Library is not costing any of them employment. Thanks also to Roger Popeye, who offered to visit the library for me. Dear Mr Roberts Thank you for your e-mail to Local Studies. I have checked the Bradford Roll of Honour for both Priestley brothers, but could only find a match for Herbert: Herbert Priestley – 70 Dover Street, Otley Road – Cpl. 4th Royal Warwicks. – enlisted August 1914 – killed 11th April 1917 There are two entries for ‘Alfred Priestley’ – one, a driver with the R.F.A. from 98 Hustler Street, Bradford, and the second, rather mysteriously, a private in the Australian Forces, with no address and no enlistment date. I have also checked in our various indexes of war memorials and newspaper notices, but couldn’t find an entry for either Priestley brother. I hope this information is at least partly helpful – and thank you for acknowledging that although family history can be a matter of life and death in a way, there is no urgency when tracing ancestors (“as these two brothers have been dead for ninety something years”)! That made us smile J name deleted by me Customer Support Assistant Following that email I have checked the various Australian records, but none of the Alfred Priestleys listed seem likely to be my man. So, I am still stumped. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grantowi Posted 6 February , 2012 Share Posted 6 February , 2012 Keith, Did you ask them to look under Fred and Frederick as well ? Iv'e had a look on FMP and I'm non the wiser Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithmroberts Posted 6 February , 2012 Author Share Posted 6 February , 2012 Yes Grant. I have requested those options, as well as repeatedly working through them on CWGC, SDGW and Ancestry. The RFA Driver has surviving service records and was not only too young, but survived the war. Like I say, it is proving challenging. He doesn't appear on any of the local memorials either, but neither does his brother. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grantowi Posted 6 February , 2012 Share Posted 6 February , 2012 Have you had a look for his marriage ? I did find a Fred going off to USA in 1911, married to a Rose. But when I traced it back, they had been married for 22 yrs in 1911 Ho Hum Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithmroberts Posted 7 February , 2012 Author Share Posted 7 February , 2012 I think I found either two or three possible marriages, and decided against forking out for the certificates. I think this will have to go back into my "open problems" file for now. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Thompson Posted 8 February , 2012 Share Posted 8 February , 2012 Good evening Keith, Its driving me nuts as well, I did what you probably did and searched all the Turkish CWGC cemeteries, there are a lot of unknown or unfound ones in them, I even looked to see wether he was a Merchant seaman or civilian died or killed out there but no joy(wrong word I know). I'll have another look later. Cheers Roger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithmroberts Posted 8 February , 2012 Author Share Posted 8 February , 2012 Roger I really am stumped, as we just don't have any other candidates in the CWGC register, and unless he served under a false name, I don't know where else he could be found. Thank you for your efforts. I know how long these checks sometimes take. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinBattle Posted 8 February , 2012 Share Posted 8 February , 2012 For what little it is worth, I've tried looking for any who had Preistl..... in the Additional Information field on GSE, just to see if he served under a different Name and came up with 120 UK Names. The bulk were obviously Priestly or Priestley, some had Priestl in their address but a few had wives etc.... None seemed to fit the criteria of having either a Christian Name beginning with A or F, or a Bradford link, father Alfred or mother Martha....... Sorry can't help solve this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithmroberts Posted 9 February , 2012 Author Share Posted 9 February , 2012 Thanks kevin. When I took the photograph a couple of years ago I never expected it to be such a challenge. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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