William & Frederick BLOOMFIELD

[wheelsjbl]

Hello all.

I have recently been helping a friend out by scanning and repairing images from a collection of old glass negatives he has dating from the late 1800's through to about the 1930's. They are part of an archive of photos taken by his father and grandfather who were both professional photographers way back in the early days of photography in England.(A lot of shots are from the ESSEX region)

It has been fascinating looking at some of these rare old shots. As part of the collection I came across these two shots dated "1915". They show a William & Frederick BLOOMFIELD who were probably brothers.

The cap badges for both appear to be the same and I was wondering if anyone could identify the Regiment and possibly supply anything else which I could pass on to my friend about these two gents.

Unfortunately apart from the names, the date and the photos I know very little about these two men.

Thanks in anticipation

Regards

Brian

[wheelsjbl]

Previous shot was William. This is Frederick

Here is the capbadge. Both appear to be the same!

[jay dubaya]

I'll have first stab at it then, Army Pay Corps, any chance of a close up of the badge, also look to be wearing a ribbon around the hat, but could be the light,

Jon

[wheelsjbl]

Jon

Quite possibly Pay Corps, or non-combat/ home detachment unit. Both uniforms are of the "early" style if I understand correctly with rifle pads, and pleated pockets.

There are no ribbons on either hat as far as I can make out and looking at my original high res versions. Frederick appears to be a Lance Corporal and there are some

badges on the shoulder eppaulette but I cannot get them to come up in any detail so am unable to provide them as an aid to unit ID.

There are no service ribbons or anything else I can see which would indicate that either of them had seen any combat or overseas service....well at least at the time the pics were taken.

Brian

[jay dubaya]

Army Pay Corps cap badge

Jon

[grantowi]

Brian,

There is a Frederick G Bloomfield listed on the N/A MIC's :

Medal card of Bloomfield, Frederick G

Northamptonshire Regiment 88086 Private

Labour Corps 453044 Private

Army Pay Corps 3638 Private

And from the 1891 census:

BLOOMFIELD, Henry Head Married M 45 1846 Printer Compositor Holborn London

BLOOMFIELD, Elizabeth J Wife Married F 30 1861 Kennington London

BLOOMFIELD, William J Son M 10 1881 Scholar Camberwell London

BLOOMFIELD, Frederick G Son M 8 1883 Scholar Tottenham Middlesex

BLOOMFIELD, Grace E Daughter F 6 1885 Scholar Tottenham Middlesex

BLOOMFIELD, Minnie Daughter F 2 1889 Tottenham Middlesex

BLOOMFIELD, Edith E Daughter F 0 (3M) 1891 Tottenham Middlesex

FORD, Frances Mother In Law Widow F 68 1823 Retired Laundress Brighton Sussex

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RG number:RG12

Piece:1069

Folio:100

Page:22

Registration District:Edmonton

Sub District:Tottenham

EnumerationDistrict:9

Ecclesiastical Parish:St Paul

Civil Parish:Tottenham

Municipal Borough:

Address:21, Manor Road, Tottenham

County:Middlesex

Hth

Grant

Ps there are quite a few William & Frederick Bloomfield's listed

[wheelsjbl]

Thanks to Jay & Grantowi I have managed to track them both down.

As it turns out they are related to my friend and both served from 1914 through to 1920.

Both ended up in the Pay Corps but Frederick served in France for over a year, early on, before getting posted "home"

It is funny now I suppose but the reason for Frederick's discharge (pardon the pun....you will see what I mean) was because of a boil on his bum!

He had a couple of different skin diseases but that was what is noted as the main reason for being "demobbed" as it were, after being hospitalised for quite some time.

(Just for everyone's info. I DO realise that a LOT of skin diseases and general maladies were common due to the conditions, particularly in the trenches, so although I am making light of THIS instance I certainly am not belittling

the men and their dreadful conditions, so if you are going to throw things at me, make them light! )

I also found a letter from Frederick's employer to the army asking for him to be released into civvy street to help with business which was severely undermined (as were a lot of businesses) due to the

manpower shortage during and after the war.

William does not appear to have served in France and he also was discharged in 1920, with poor eyesight being sited as a cause.

Searching through some more of the old glass negatives I found the below picture (Taken after the war????) of a family wedding where a lot of the Bloomfield clan identified by Grantowi are present. It was this that clinched the ID for me.

Thanks to everyone for their help, I will pass along everything I have found to my mate.

Regards

Brian

[jay dubaya]

There's a likely MIC here for Frederick, it's possibly also on ancestry.co.uk,

Jon

[DMannus]

here's the MIC

David

[NickMilt]

Hello,

This is my first 'proper' post on here, because in the course of my research into our family tree I came across this site.

Frederick Greenham Bloomfield is, or was, my great grandfather.

I knew he had served in France and survived the war (he died in 1955 at the ripe old age of 73 - he was actually buried on what was to be my birthday (some 14 years later), which struck me as a bit of a coincidence). My grandmother had letters and cards sent back by him from France, but at the moment all I know is that they're sitting in a drawer somewhere at my aunt's house.

The fact that there may be photographs and other letters out there relating to his time in the army was, frankly, very surprising. I know of a photograph (but haven't seen it) which was taken at his sister's wedding and that may be the family gathering referred to in the posts above.

In any event, I'd be extremely grateful if the people who posted could get in touch with me (I'll try to do the same once my post-count gets high enough).

Thanks everyone

Nick

[NickMilt]

Thanks to Jay & Grantowi I have managed to track them both down.

As it turns out they are related to my friend and both served from 1914 through to 1920.

Searching through some more of the old glass negatives I found the below picture (Taken after the war????) of a family wedding where a lot of the Bloomfield clan identified by Grantowi are present. It was this that clinched the ID for me.

My research has also turned up a reference to a family wedding which, if the same, would have been Frederick's sister's wedding (Grace). Would be fascinating to find out if that is indeed the case so would very much like to get in touch with your friend to find out the connection.

Many thanks.

[wheelsjbl]

Nick

You should have a PM (if the system works!) I am getting in touch with my mate to see if he will "converse" with you

Regards

Brian

My research has also turned up a reference to a family wedding which, if the same, would have been Frederick's sister's wedding (Grace). Would be fascinating to find out if that is indeed the case so would very much like to get in touch with your friend to find out the connection.

Many thanks.