KathrynWhite Posted 23 May , 2014 Posted 23 May , 2014 I am currently helping my grandad to search for records pertaining to one of his relations who he believes to have served in the Great War. The name is Samuel Webber and he was Canadian (we don't know which area he was from). Looking on Ancestry, we have found his marriage record to Mabel Hood in 1919 in Swindon, Wiltshire. We have also found information that his birth year was 1875 which my grandad thinks is accurate. Military searches for Samuel on Ancestry and other databases have, however, been fruitless and I can't find any trace of his service. My grandad is convinced that he did serve, saying that he suffered in a gas attack which shortened his life, although he did survive the war. Could it be that there are no surviving records of Samuel or is it that this story is fictitious and he didn't fight? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Phil Evans Posted 23 May , 2014 Posted 23 May , 2014 I can only see Attestation Forms for two Samuel Webbers on the CEF database: One was born in Hamilton, Ontario in 1892 and the other was born in Russian in 1894 and was living in Halifax, New Brunswick. Phil
KathrynWhite Posted 23 May , 2014 Author Posted 23 May , 2014 Thanks Phil, they're the two that I found but I think both are too young to be him.
Ken S. Posted 23 May , 2014 Posted 23 May , 2014 There is a Samuel Weber, #3324784 - unfortunately attestation paper has not been digitized. The regimental number is one that would have been issued later in the war and is in the number block allotted to 2nd Depot Battalion, Eastern Ontario Regiment, which took recruits from Military District #3. He is not listed on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial. Full service files are supposed to be digitized and will be available for free by the end of next year, from what I understand. So it's only a matter of waiting to find out if it's him. Another possibility is that he served under an alias or simply used a different first name. This was fairly common. Or he went to the UK to enlist or was in the UK when war broke out. There's also the possibility that he went down to the USA and joined the AEF.
Ken S. Posted 23 May , 2014 Posted 23 May , 2014 1911 Census shows a Samuel Weber in Toronto who was born in March 1875 in Russia, immigrated to Canada in 1899. http://automatedgenealogy.com/census11/View.jsp?id=52468&highlight=1&desc=1911+Census+of+Canada+page+containing+Samuel+Weber
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now