198152 Gunner J Norris, 6th Reserve Brigade, Royal Field Artillery

[Don Regiano]

I'm having great difficulty in finding anything out about the above soldier.

 

What I do know, is that he died on 11 May 1917, buried at Aldershot Military Cemetery, taken from CWGC records giving his mother as Mrs E Norris of 11 Wellington Street, Forest Gate, London.

 

Not found any soldiers effects or other record.

 

Would like to know his first name, if at all possible.

 

Thanks.

 

Reg

[clk]

Hi Reg,

 

I think that the CWGC may have got the wrong surname. Fold3 have a pension index card for a 198152 James Morris RFA (DoD 11.5.1917) - mother Mrs Elizabeth Morris of 11 Wellington Road, Forest Gate. If he were to be the same man, there is a SWB record that would seem to fit.

 

Image sourced from Ancestry

 

Regards

Chris

Edited 4 April , 2020 by clk

[PRC]

59 minutes ago, Don Regiano said:

giving his mother as Mrs E Norris of 11 Wellington Street, Forest Gate, London

 

Google tells me there isn't a Wellington Street in Forest Gate, but there is a Wellington Road..

 

The head of the household at 11 Wellington Road, Forest Gate on the 1911 Census of England and Wales is a 43 year old widow, Elizabeth Morris.

Elizabeth states she has had 4 children, all then alive and living with her. Her only son is the 14 year old James Morris, still at school and born Forest Gate.

 

This was the first census return to be completed by a member of the household, and it looks very much like both form completion and signature of the declaration have been done by the same hand. However while the return itself shows the surnames of all five members of the household quite clearly as Morris, Elizabeths' signature on the return looks more like Norris.

 

The death of a 20 year old James Morris was recorded in the Hartley Wintney Civil Registration District, (which included Aldershot), in the April to June quarter, (Q2), of 1917.

 

Hope that helps,

Peter

[George Rayner]

Its certainly not Norris-having checked Census, Ancestry, FMP and FWR!

 

George

[George Rayner]

Courtesy of Ancestry...

 

George

 

[Don Regiano]

3 minutes ago, clk said:

Hi Reg,

 

I think that the CWGC may have got the wrong surname. Fold3 have a pension index card for a 198152 James Morris RFA (DoD 11.5.1917) - mother Mrs Elizabeth Morris of 11 Wellington Road, Forest Gate. If he were to be the same man, there is a SWB record that would seem to fit.

 

Image sourced from Ancestry

 

Regards

Chris

 

Hi Chris.

 

Thanks for that.  It answers all the questions I think.  We had a terrible time trying to track him down but the mis-spelling explains it.  Looks like his headstone will need amending!

 

Thanks again.

 

Regards.

 

Reg

[George Rayner]

He appears to have been discharged...

 

Again Ancestry

 

George

[Don Regiano]

4 minutes ago, PRC said:

 

Google tells me there isn't a Wellington Street in Forest Gate, but there is a Wellington Road..

 

The head of the household at 11 Wellington Road, Forest Gate on the 1911 Census of England and Wales is a 43 year old widow, Elizabeth Morris.

Elizabeth states she has had 4 children, all then alive and living with her. Her only son is the 14 year old James Morris, still at school and born Forest Gate.

 

This was the first census return to be completed by a member of the household, and it looks very much like both form completion and signature of the declaration have been done by the same hand. However while the return itself shows the surnames of all five members of the household quite clearly as Morris, Elizabeths' signature on the return looks more like Norris.

 

The death of a 20 year old James Morris was recorded in the Hartley Wintney Civil Registration District, (which included Aldershot), in the April to June quarter, (Q2), of 1917.

 

Hope that helps,

Peter

 

4 minutes ago, George Rayner said:

Its certainly not Norris-having checked Census, Ancestry, FMP and FWR!

 

George

 

Thank you Peter and George.

 

Yes, we did a fair bit of checking on Ancestry and the census (my wife is the expert on the latter).  No wonder we couldn't find him!  I should have realised it I guess as we did come across others who were really a Morris or a derivative of Norris.  I did find a Wellington Road in my searches on Google but didn't pursue it as I got diverted onto some other streets in Forest Gate.  I have actually visited there once or twice many years ago but don't know the area..  I wasn't sure if, maybe, Wellington Street had been demolished.

 

Thanks both for your help which has cleared up matters greatly.

 

Reg

2 minutes ago, George Rayner said:

He appears to have been discharged...

 

Again Ancestry

 

George

 

So presumably discharged and subsequently died.  Still trying to figure out why he is buried in Aldershot.

[PRC]

The key bits of the 1911 Census return, courtesy of Genes Reunited.

 

Cheers,

Peter

 

[Don Regiano]

Thanks Peter.

 

Reg