ASHBURY VILLAGE WW1 PROJECT

[DMcL]

Hello

Ashbury Village, at the time of the Great War, was in the County of Berkshire. Since that time boundary changes moved it into Oxfordshire. To commemorate the brave men of Ashbury Village who fought in WW1 I have investigated, using a variety of web sites, the names inscribed on our War Memorial and our Church Roll. The names are not consistent between these two sources. Moreover, some of those commemorated in Ashbury are also commemorated on war memorials in nearby villages which lie within Wilshire and Berkshire. I gather this inconsistency is not an uncommon occurance.

I have posted the results of my research on our village web site: http://www.ashbury.org.uk/ww1page.php

The first paragraph above is really only background to the main aim of this post.

I would like to ask if anyone reading this post can add any additional information on, anecdotes about, or photographs of any of the Ashbury men remembered in the Ashbury WW1 Project. If so do please contact me.

Similarly, if anyone knows of:

a) Ashbury soldiers who fell in the Great War who have not been identified thus far,

Ashbury soldiers who were wounded in the Great War and returned to the UK for treatment,

c) Ashbury soldiers who survived the Great War I would be delighted to hear from you.

I have been fortunate to be contacted by one relative to date who has sent me several photographs which I have now uploaded to our Village web site. They add so much the project and I am very keen to receive more.


With grateful thanks for any help anyone can give.

Regards

DMcL

[horatio2]

Just in case you are interested in naval ratings, as well as soldiers, who served and survived:-

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=D6710668

[KevinBattle]

Is this chap from your village?

DICCOX, ALBERT. Rank: Private. Service No: 22313. Date of Death: 14/04/1917. Age: 26.

Regiment/Service: Devonshire Regiment. 2nd Bn.

Panel Reference: Pier and Face 1 C. Memorial: THIEPVAL MEMORIAL

Additional Information: Son of John and Sarah Diccox, of Idstone Ashbury, Wilts.

There also appear to be Pension/Service records for these Ashbury men

British Army WWI Pension Records 1914-1920. NAME: William Charles Bunce. BIRTH: abt 1880 - Berkshire.

British Army WWI Pension Records 1914-1920. NAME: Raymond Lawrence. BIRTH: abt 1886 - Ashbury, Berkshire

British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920. NAME: James Coghill. BIRTH: abt 1892 - Berks

British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920. NAME: Edgar Read. BIRTH: abt 1895 - Berks

British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920. NAME: Stanley George White. BIRTH: abt 1893 - Berks

[DMcL]

Thank you both very much for your valued replies and help.

I will certainly look further into Albert Diccox. I knew that he is commemorated in Bishopstone/Hinton Parva and had not previously found evidence of him in relation to Idstone which is in Ashbury parish. That's a really good spot. I will look too into the pension records which I clearly had not paid enough attention to previously.

Henry Thoma Chivers is also a new lead that I will look into.

Best regards

Diane (DMcL)

[Bavaria]

Diane

Thank you for a most interesting article. I am about to embark on something similar for a village here in Devon and your work I will use as a template. I am about to post a question to the forum - but I wonder of you have the answer: Why would a soldier borne in Norfolk be on a Devon memorial when there is no obvious connection? If you can spare the time to answer this I would obviously appreciate it - if not - my best wishes.

Everett Sharp

Bideford, Devon.

[HeatherC]

Why would a soldier borne in Norfolk be on a Devon memorial when there is no obvious connection?

Everett Sharp

Bideford, Devon.

Hi Everett

I've been involved in something similar for a Gloucestershire village. Possible reasons for your Norfolk-born man being in Devon include:

• He or his family had moved there after the 1911 census but before the war started. Look for family wills or entries in telephone directories for clues to this.
• His wife had moved there during the war while he was away maybe to stay with family (it's worth looking back a generation and sideways in both families to see if anyone came from or moved to Devon)
• His family had some other connection with the Devon village and had paid for him to be remembered there. We have found aunts and brothers/sisters doing this where no parents or wife survived the decesased and he had no real "home" village.
• It was somewhere he'd spent time as a boy - we have at least one born nowhere near the parish who had spent holidays with his grandparents there

Think laterally with this one and if you have Ancestry access (or similar) search for records of his family back a generation or two and also for his surviving siblings to see where they came from and where they went.

Good luck!

Heather

Edited 3 July , 2014 by HeatherC

[KevinBattle]

Everett

You may find you get more assistance from all of us if you start a completely new thread of your own for Bideford.

That way you attract people to your specific project (and thus make it easier for future searchers to find)

I assume you already have the info from http://www.devonheritage.org/Places/Bideford/BidefordWarmem1914GtoI.htm

which contains information about many of the Bideford casualties, although some are still to be resolved (as is always the case!)

If you are working to a separate List/Roll of Honour/War Memorial, can you provide a copy of the Names and what you have so far and what you still need?

Presumably this is for August, so you haven't given yourself much time!

Good luck