dead mans penny

[oldson]

hya,can i pick peoples brains pls,have just purchased a as small dead mans penny,it was minted in the woolwich foundry,as they was no rank on them,just a name have looked on cwwg website and found four names,is there any way of finding  out more ? do not have the scroll that accompanied it 

[jay dubaya]

Welcome to the forum oldson, providing a name would help, where did you purchase the plaque?

 

J

[oldson]

it was in an antiques shop in cornwall,purchased it along with cardboard envelope,and princess mary tin 

[jay dubaya]

Still lacking a name here.... do any of the names from CWGC have a Cornwall connection?

[oldson]

will check name anp post on here,nothing sprang up on cwgc site will have a  re check 

[jay dubaya]

Do you have access to SDGW?

[oldson]

sdgw ? soffy if sound tad thick new to this 

[jay dubaya]

No worries, SDGW - Soldiers that Died in the Great War is a HMSO publication which appear around 1920 and lists most but not all UK casualties, the personal details most often include the town of birth and enlistment, the counter part ODGW (officers) tends to omit this information, the database is available on ancestry if you have subs.

[oldson]

ah follow now,new to this,will check CWCG  site again and see if any connection to cornwall,ask person in shop if any provenance or info on it an reply was no 

[GWF1967]

59 minutes ago, oldson said:

ah follow now,new to this,will check CWCG  site again and see if any connection to cornwall,ask person in shop if any provenance or info on it an reply was no 

A name would allow folk to check a range of sources for a lead 

[oldson]

Have attached photo all help much appreciated 

[Jim Strawbridge]

According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission there were 95 men with this name that are commemorated by them and therefore likely that is the number of death plaque that were issued. Unless you have the outer envelope that was used for posting (it would have his next of kins address on it) then I fear that you will never be able to identify to whom it relates. That doesn't take away the fact that it was issued to commemorate the sacrifice made by someone.

[oldson]

Have a white envelope that came with it along with card board envelope,could be nothing ? It's written in pencil  198940 cud this be issue number ? 

[GWF1967]

4 hours ago, oldson said:

Have a white envelope that came with it along with card board envelope,could be nothing ? It's written in pencil  198940 cud this be issue number ? 

Can you post a picture of the cardboard envelope please. 

 

 The postal envelope carried a reference number, here is one from my collection.

 

The inner stiff cardboard envelope is shown here.

The reference number is sometimes copied onto the inner envelope. 

 

 

 CWGC lists 95 men under a search for Henry Russell, of those only 12 are named "Henry Russell" 

I had a trawl through the 95 looking for a Cornish connection; the nearest I came was a man from Dorset named Harold Stanley. 

  Of the 12 named "Henry Russell",  3 came from, or are commemorated in  Portsmouth; 

 

  2Lt. Henry Russell. D.C.M. -  7th Field Coy. Royal Engineers.  Died 12/7/1916,  Aged 34.  Husband of Ethel S. Russell, 55 Empshott Rd. Southsea. "Till The Last And Brightest Easter Day Be Born";  

 

Plumber. Henry Russell, 344095. H.M.S. "Good Hope" Royal Navy.  Died. 1/11/1914. Commemorated on Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

and,

 

Driver Henry Russell, 58725. 109th Battery, 281st Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. Husband of Daisy Russell of Portsmouth. Died. 23/4/1917.

 

According to a thread from  1916 by 303 Man, a plaque with a reference number in the 198000 range would be issued for a 1917 casualty. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 20 September , 2019 by GWF1967

[jay dubaya]

1 hour ago, GWF1967 said:

According to a thread from  1916 by 303 Man, a plaque with a reference number in the 198000 range would be issued for a 1917 casualty. 

 

CWGC record 29 casualties for 1917 (search Henry Russell, 1st January 1917 - 31st December 1917) 20 UK, 5 Australian, 2 Canadian and 2 New Zealand. 28 served with the army and 1 with the Navy. Looking closer 16 do not have a first name of Henry - Harry, Harold, Herbert, Hubert and Hugh. 3 have just the initial 'H', it turns out 2 are Harry albeit one was an alias and the other a Hugh. Narrowed down to a possible 10 Henry Russels', of these 10 Henrys' 5 have middle names and none of the 10 I can tie into a Cornwall connection.......the wall is looming

 

J