MERRYWEATHER - tracing relatives

[tony buchanan]

I have had in my possession for the last 65 years a world war 1 medal awarded to MERRYWEATHER - I believe it is a standard service medal of no intrinsic value, however it would be good if I could return it to his descendants - I purchased it from a junk shop in 1955 - a waste to see it tucked away in a draw. Have tried the forces war records but they were of no assistance when it comes to tracing family/relatives, in fact they were not particularly helpful at all other than to keep chasing me to take out a subscription. Any ideas where/how I should start the search ?

[tullybrone]

Hi,

 

If you can post the details that will either be recorded on the back of the Medal - if it is a “Star” - or on the rim - if if it is a British War Medal or the Victory Medal then it may be possible to glean some more information. A photo of the Medal and the above were details would be helpful.

 

Steve 

[PRC]

Hi Tony and welcome to the Forum.

 

First of all our parent site, the Long, Long Trail has this on the standard British Empire Service Medals that were issued in connection with the Great War which hopefully will help you identify which type your have.

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/how-to-research-a-soldier/campaign-medal-records/the-british-campaign-medals-for-the-great-war/

 

If it's the 1914 Star or the 1914 Star then the name and service number should be on the back. If its the Victory Medal or British War Medal then the name, service number and regiment\corps \ service should be on the rim. If in doubt then post a picture here, (the "choose files" option) and the real experts will kick in :-)

 

Once that information is known then the collective brains trust of the forum can get to work on who he was and while we are not a genealogy site, hopefully provide some pointers as to how to track down any surviving family.

 

Hope that helps,

Peter

[Jrmh]

59 minutes ago, tony buchanan said:

I have had in my possession for the last 65 years a world war 1 medal awarded to MERRYEATHER - I believe it is a standard service medal of no intrinsic value, however it would be good if I could return it to his descendants - I purchased it from a junk shop in 1955 - a waste to see it tucked away in a draw. Have tried the forces war records but they were of no assistance when it comes to tracing family/relatives, in fact they were not particularly helpful at all other than to keep chasing me to take out a subscription. Any ideas where/how I should start the search ?

Hi Tony, It wouldn’t be to 553328 Archibald S would it?

Edited 30 April , 2020 by Jrmh

[tony buchanan]

On 30/04/2020 at 13:48, tullybrone said:

Hi,

 

If you can post the details that will either be recorded on the back of the Medal - if it is a “Star” - or on the rim - if if it is a British War Medal or the Victory Medal then it may be possible to glean some more information. A photo of the Medal and the above were details would be helpful.

 

Steve 

 

On 30/04/2020 at 13:48, tullybrone said:

Hi,

 

If you can post the details that will either be recorded on the back of the Medal - if it is a “Star” - or on the rim - if if it is a British War Medal or the Victory Medal then it may be possible to glean some more information. A photo of the Medal and the above were details would be helpful.

 

Steve 

Steve - apologies for the delay in replying - photos attached

Regards

Tony

[Michelle Young]

What you have there  is the 14 star for Ernest Merryweather. He as RAMC 7 th field ambulance. Also entitled to the War and Victory medals, and clasp and roses to the 14 star. He arrived in a theatre of war 18th August 1914. 

 

Michelle 

[tullybrone]

2 hours ago, tony buchanan said:

 

Steve - apologies for the delay in replying - photos attached

Regards

Tony

Thanks for posting the pics. I was hoping you would be a bit quicker off the mark and I could use the free ancestry access last week to look for your man but it has now closed. Fingers crossed a member with paid for access may be able to assist further. 
 

Good Luck

 

Steve 

[PRC]

Ernest appears to have survived the war, although unfortunately his service papers didn’t survive the Blitz – the usual situation.

 

Given how early he went out and with a Regular Army unit, he would have been a pre-war soldier, either currently serving or a recalled Reservist. The question is whether he would have enlisted early enough to have been recorded on the 1911 Census of England & Wales, taken 2nd April 1911. The scope of that Census included soldiers serving with their unit anywhere in the world unless there was an equivalent British Empire census being taken at the same time – principally Scotland & Ireland.

 

Unfortunately the only serving Ernest Merryweather I can see was a Royal Garrison Artillery Reservist then stationed at Hound, Near Southampton. He was then aged 27 and was born Farnham, Surrey. His civilian occupation was Carter on a Farm. There is no obvious Medal Index card for an Ernest Merryweather, Royal Garrison Artillery, but that could be because he didn’t serve outside the UK during the Great War.

 

There is no obvious record of an Ernest Merryweather serving in the Boer War.

 

A check of Medal Index Cards in the National Archive catalogue brings up a few potential guides.

 

4141 Private Richard Walters also received a Silver War Badge. The Silver War Badge Roll, (on Ancestry) should show date of enlistment. That will give a clue as to likely age of Ernest Merryweather, as a good working assumption would be aged between 17 & 25.

 

4142 Private Patrick Duffin is also shown as 7th Field Ambulance on his Medal Index Card. No RAMC man matches on the 1911 Census of England & Wales.

 

4144 Private John Haines is also shown as 7th Field Ambulance on his Medal Index Card.

 

4145 is Private George W.S. Headlam. The only likely birth in England & Wales, (assumption as to birthplace), was a George William S Headlam born Wandworth District Q2 1885. If he enlisted in 1903 at the age of 18 on a standard 12 term, (probably 7 years in the colours, 5 in reserve, although the Army was swapping over round about this time to pushing 3 years in the colours and 9 in reserve), then he would have been back in civvy street by the time of the 1911 Census. But there is no obvious match on the census, and the most likely match in the civil death record is in Q3 1937 in the Battersea District. Even if he wasn’t in the colours at the time of the outbreak of the war, he would still have been liable to be mobilised as a reservist up until 1915.

 

4156 Private John Doherty. Discharged Medically unfit 9-3-17. Received the Silver War Badge. The Silver War Badge Roll, (on Ancestry) should show date of enlistment – taken together with 4141 Richard Walters this should bracket the date Ernest Merryweather enlisted.

 

Couldn’t see any likely Pension records for Ernest Merryweather, (Pension Ledger Card \ Dependants Pension Card), but I can only see the Public Search screen on Ancestry. There may be something there if a Ancestry \ Fold3 \ Wester Front Association subscriber takes a look.

 

Between 1870 and 1896, (assuming youngest he could have been in 1914 was 18), then there are 12 Ernest Merryweathers, three with no middle names recorded as born in England & Wales - again, as assumption as to where he was born..

 

So the first step in this approach is we need a Pal with a subscription to Ancestry to check out the enlistment date for 4141 Richard Walters & 4156 John Doherty.

 

Cheers,

Peter

Edited 12 May , 2020 by PRC
Typo

[TEW]

August 1903 for Doherty. August 1904 for Walters.

TEW

 

[tony buchanan]

17 hours ago, PRC said:

Ernest appears to have survived the war, although unfortunately his service papers didn’t survive the Blitz – the usual situation.

 

Given how early he went out and with a Regular Army unit, he would have been a pre-war soldier, either currently serving or a recalled Reservist. The question is whether he would have enlisted early enough to have been recorded on the 1911 Census of England & Wales, taken 2nd April 1911. The scope of that Census included soldiers serving with their unit anywhere in the world unless there was an equivalent British Empire census being taken at the same time – principally Scotland & Ireland.

 

Unfortunately the only serving Ernest Merryweather I can see was a Royal Garrison Artillery Reservist then stationed at Hound, Near Southampton. He was then aged 27 and was born Farnham, Surrey. His civilian occupation was Carter on a Farm. There is no obvious Medal Index card for an Ernest Merryweather, Royal Garrison Artillery, but that could be because he didn’t serve outside the UK during the Great War.

 

There is no obvious record of an Ernest Merryweather serving in the Boer War.

 

A check of Medal Index Cards in the National Archive catalogue brings up a few potential guides.

 

4141 Private Richard Walters also received a Silver War Badge. The Silver War Badge Roll, (on Ancestry) should show date of enlistment. That will give a clue as to likely age of Ernest Merryweather, as a good working assumption would be aged between 17 & 25.

 

4142 Private Patrick Duffin is also shown as 7th Field Ambulance on his Medal Index Card. No RAMC man matches on the 1911 Census of England & Wales.

 

4144 Private John Haines is also shown as 7th Field Ambulance on his Medal Index Card.

 

4145 is Private George W.S. Headlam. The only likely birth in England & Wales, (assumption as to birthplace), was a George William S Headlam born Wandworth District Q2 1885. If he enlisted in 1903 at the age of 18 on a standard 12 term, (probably 7 years in the colours, 5 in reserve, although the Army was swapping over round about this time to pushing 3 years in the colours and 9 in reserve), then he would have been back in civvy street by the time of the 1911 Census. But there is no obvious match on the census, and the most likely match in the civil death record is in Q3 1937 in the Battersea District. Even if he wasn’t in the colours at the time of the outbreak of the war, he would still have been liable to be mobilised as a reservist up until 1915.

 

4156 Private John Doherty. Discharged Medically unfit 9-3-17. Received the Silver War Badge. The Silver War Badge Roll, (on Ancestry) should show date of enlistment – taken together with 4141 Richard Walters this should bracket the date Ernest Merryweather enlisted.

 

Couldn’t see any likely Pension records for Ernest Merryweather, (Pension Ledger Card \ Dependants Pension Card), but I can only see the Public Search screen on Ancestry. There may be something there if a Ancestry \ Fold3 \ Wester Front Association subscriber takes a look.

 

Between 1870 and 1896, (assuming youngest he could have been in 1914 was 18), then there are 12 Ernest Merryweathers, three with no middle names recorded as born in England & Wales - again, as assumption as to where he was born..

 

So the first step in this approach is we need a Pal with a subscription to Ancestry to check out the enlistment date for 4141 Richard Walters & 4156 John Doherty.

 

Cheers,

Peter

Absolutely fascinating - so kind of you to go to this trouble

Tony

[CSegar]

Name:	Ernest Merryweather
Military Year:	1914-1920
Rank:	Private
Company:	WO 329
Regiment or Corps:	Royal Army Medical Corps
Regiment Number:	4150
Medal Awarded:	British War Medal and Victory Medal

[CSegar]

Possibility 

 

Name:	E Merryweather
Service Date:	1899-1902
Service Place:	South Africa
Campaign or Service:	South Africa - Second Boer War
Regiment or Unit Name:	2nd Battalion Bedfordshire
Regimental Number:	6805

[Michelle Young]

Please acknowledge source of images as per forum rules. 

 

 

[CSegar]

Sorry I've only just joined, I got them from ancestry

[Madmeg]

Ths chap is intriguing- but he's in the officer's quarters so can't be PVT Ernest- unless he got demoted? https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWQT-1PR

 

I ca find him in 1891 but not in 1901......

 

Name:	Earnest Merryweather
Event Type:	Census
Event Date:	1911
Event Place:	Farnborough, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom
County:	Hampshire
Parish:	Farnborough
Sub-District:	Farnborough
Sub-District Number:	2
District Number:	109
Enumeration District:	13
Registration District:	Hartley Wintney
Age:	26
Marital Status:	Single
Marital Status (Original):	SINGLE
Institution:	CONNAUGHT HOSPITAL MEDICAL OFFICER'S QUARTERS
Birth Year (Estimated):	1885
Birthplace:	Bedford Sandy, Bedfordshire
Schedule Type:	9999
Page Number:	2
Registration Number:	RG14
Piece/Folio:	535
Affiliate Record Identifier:	GBC/1911/RG14/06263/0535/4

Edited 16 May , 2020 by Madmeg

[chaz]

a check on the 1939 census throws up 2 possibilities for Ernest ( Bedfordshire and Hampshire), one Ernest A (Essex) and one Ernest H (Yorkshire) all born 1883/84 , the other 5 would be too young for WW1 service. occupations being 3 labourers and a rector

[PRC]

On 12/05/2020 at 23:45, TEW said:

August 1903 for Doherty. August 1904 for Walters.

 

Thank you - much appreciated

 

So if he signed up under on the most likely terms, (7 years in the colours , 5 in the reserves, or 3 years in the colours, 9 in the reserves), he would have been out of the Army and a reservist by the time of the 1911 Census of England & Wales.

 

Unfortunately neither he or the other men with nearby service numbers can obviously be tracked down on the census. This raises the prospect that he (and they) had either opted for the full twelve years in the colours or had signed up for 20 years to get a pension, and was stationed in Scotland & Ireland.

There are no Ernest Merryweathers showing up on the National Archive of Ireland site.

https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/

Same with Scotlands People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

 

So I then I tried to work out where the 7th Field Ambulance might have been stationed.  Harts Annual Army List for 1911 & 1912 doesn’t actually give that information, and most of the RAMC Officers are shown by location, not unit.

 

The 7th Field Ambulance went to war in August 1914 with the 3rd Division. Although a Divisional unit it was loosely tied to the Divisions’ 7th Brigade.

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/3rd-division/

I then tried looking at where the units that made up the 7th Brigade in 1914 were located on the 1911 Census of England & Wales.

 

However, while the 3rd Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment were stationed at Western Heights, Dover.

http://www.worcestershireregiment.com/cen_3Worc_1911.php

and so were the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in the 1911 & 1912 edition of Harts, the 1st Battalion Wiltshire Regiment were at Pietermaritzburg, South Africa according to the same publications.

The 2nd Battalion South Lancashire Regiment were at Buttevant, Ireland in 1911 & the start of 1912, before moving to the Curragh, (Harts).

 

So looks likely there had been a Divisional re-organisation between 1911 and 1914.

 

I then tried downloading the 7th Field Ambulance, 3rd Division War Diary for August 1914 and worked my way through the officers mentioned, checking for MiC’s to confirm a date of entry of the 18th August 1914 and then tried to track them down on the 1911 Census. They were there, most already in the RAMC, but spread all over the place. Intriguingly their commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Kennedy turns up on the 1911 census with a number of NCO’s and Privates in some kind of Military institution at Hound, near Southampton.

 

Unfortunately not the same institution where we came across an Ernest Merryweather, a reservist with the Royal Garrison Artillery. And looking at the bigger picture the Civil Parish of Hound in Hampshire was the location of Netley Military Hospital. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netley_Hospital

 

Without finding him on the 1911 Census of England & Wales, no indication that he was discharged from the Army at the end of the war, and no trace as yet of him receiving a war pension, the most likely route to finding out more about him is if:-

•      He stayed in the Army after 1920 and so the Ministry of Defence still hold his service record. It costs to get a copy, so even if you find a likely candidate with a post 1920 service number taken from the block allocated to existing RAMC men, it’s still an expensive shot in the dark.
•      By a process of elimination he can be identified from the 1918 or 1919 Absent Voters List
•      He gets a mention in a newspaper – even just in the casualty list as that will give the home town for next of kin. The online British Newspaper Archive, usually included as part of a premium subscription or a bolt on package to the main subscription Genealogy sites, is a good starting place. If you live in the UK its also normally available for free at your local public library, but that’s a bit of a non-started at the moment.

Looking at those dates of enlistment, if you assume he was born in England & Wales, if Ernest Merryweather was the name his birth was registered as, and that he was no older than 30 in 1873, (and that’s on the high side) and no younger than 16 in 1904 then you’d be looking at a birth registered between 1873 & 1888.

 

Your choices from England & Wales in the records of the General Registrars Office of England & Wales are:

 

Q2 1878 Ernest Alfred Chippenham District – possibly died Q2 1879 aged 1. No subsequent mention in Censuses for England & Wales.

 

Q2 1878 Ernest Henry Reading District. Mothers’ maiden name Cross. Also entry in the British Civil Service Evidence of Age Register. On the 1911 Census as a 32 year old Warden, born Reading in the Cook & Bakers area at Reading Gaol. There are exisiting service papers in the WO97 Series for an Ernest Henry Merryweather who attested in 1896 in the 9th Lancers. He was born circa 1878 at Reading. Parents were George Ernest and Clara – he was the oldest child. He completed his term of engagement in 1908. He cant’t therefore have joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1903/04.

 

Q2 1878 Ernest James Reading District. Mothers’ maiden name not transcribed in the sources available to me. No obvious match in subsequent censuses of England & Wales records or death records. I couldn’t find an online baptism record.  If his mother was a single parent she may have married before the 1881 Census and young Ernest was known by his fathers’ surname in the civil records. Or she may have given up for adoption either within the extended family or elsewhere or he grew up in an institution. Just the kind of scenario where a young man might have reverted to his birth name at the time of enlistment and just the kind of scenario where a young man might have ended up in the armed forces.

 

Q2 1880 Ernest John Droitwich District – died Q1 1881.

 

Q1 1882 Ernest Biggleswade District. Mothers’ maiden name Tassel. There is a 26 year old single ‘Earnest’ Merryweather, born Sandy, Bedfordshire, who was recorded as a Private in the 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, in Barracks at the Marlborough Lines, Aldershot on the 1911 Census. He did 12 years in the colours, completed in 1912. There are surviving records in the WO97 series for this period of service. He seen service in South Africa. He cant’t therefore have joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1903/04.

 

Q3 1883 Ernest Farnham District. Mothers’ maiden name Whatmore – almost certainly the Royal Garrison Artillery Reservist recorded on the 1911 Census as “Earnest”, aged 27, single, born Farnham. He could have joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1903/04, but if he joined the Territorial Force while in his reserve period with the Regular Army, he wouldn’t have kept his original number. However not a scenario I’ve come across. The death of an Ernest Merryweather, born 8th June 1883, was recorded in the Trafford, Lancashire District in Q2 1979.

 

Q1 1884 Ernest Henry Hartlepool District. Mothers’ maiden name Kay. The baptism of an Ernest Henry Merryweather, born 12th January 1884, took place at the Burbank Street Chapel, West Hartlepool on the 5th February 1884. Parents were James and Charlotte.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JWS2-Y41

On the 1901 Census the 17 year old Ernest H., an Apprentice Iron Turner, born West Hartlepool, was living in the household of his widowed step-mother Hannah at 6 York Road. West Hartlepool.

No obvious match on the 1911 Census.

Most likely death was that of an Ernest H Merryweather, aged 72, which was recorded in the Wensleydale District of Yorkshire in Q1 of 1956. No obvious Civil Probate.

 

Q4 1884 Ernest Augustus Evesham District. Mothers’ maiden name Tinker. I could not find an online baptismal record. On the 1901 Census as Ernest A., aged 16, born Great Hampton, Worcestershire, living with parents Henry, (41, Railway Station Master, born Grantham, Lincolnshire) and Eliza (47, born Upton, Nottinghamshire) at the Station House, Wigston Magna, Leicestershire. By the time of the 1911 Census his father was the Station Master at Belper, Derbyshire. He and Eliza state they have had five children, all then still alive. No obvious match on this census for Ernest Augustus. No obvious marriage in England & Wales. The death of an Ernest A Merryweather, aged 80, was recorded in the Colchester District in Q3 of 1965. The 1965 Probate Calendar records that the Reverend Ernest Augustus Merryweather, clerk in Holy Orders, of Langhoe Lodge, St Peters Road, West Mersea, Essex, died at Essex County Hospital, Colchester on the 28th September 1965. Probate was granted to John Allen Gill, solicitor.

https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=Merryweather&yearOfDeath=1965&page=2#calendar

Part of the dedication in this online book on the (unrelated) Merryweather Geneology is dedicated to the Reverend Ernest Augustus Merryweather.

http://www.rawes.co.uk/merryweather/harvest.htm

Possible partial family tree here including a wife:-

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/MLWH-NTQ/beryl-constance-merryweather-1918-1991

He was living in West Mersea at least as early as 1945.

http://www.merseamuseum.org.uk/mmpeopledetails.php?&tot=64&rt=Baptism,Burial,Electors,Tithe,WW,DOC&typ=address&ord=date&syn=all&add=St.+Peter's+Road&wds=Chatters%2C+Fred+Harry&pid=WME_1945_008_1057&hit=64

Looks like he was vicar at Pelton in 1929.

http://reed.dur.ac.uk/xtf/view?docId=ark/32150_s2xw42n790q.xml

 

Q3 1887 Ernest Frederick Salford District. Mothers’ maiden name Beckett. On the 1901 Census the 13 year old Ernest, born Salford, was recorded in the household of his widowed mother, Jane, at 407 Bolton Road, Pendleton, Lancashire. Private 75662 Ernest Frederick Merryweather, 12th (Duke of Lancaster’s Own Yeomanry) Battalion, Manchester Regiment, died of wounds in France on the 5th November 1918. He was aged 31 and was the son of Mrs Jane Merryweather, of 405, Bolton Rd., Irlams-O'th'-Height, Manchester, and the late Frederick J. Merryweather.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/571887/merryweather,-ernest-frederick/

 

No obvious Australian or Canadian service files.

 

So two potentials – Ernest Henry and Ernest August and one possible Ernest James and one mystery choice – Ernest from Farnham.

 

I understand Ancestry has an index of surviving Army Records held by the Ministry of Defence for men born before 1901.

 

Both Ancestry and FindMyPast have an extensive selection of UK electoral registers from the 1920’s. If you can match those remaining candidates to their appearance of the electoral register, it might prove possible to have a better guess as to where they might have turned up on the 1918 & 1919 Absent Voters list.

See https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/how-to-research-a-soldier/finding-soldiers-through-the-1918-absent-voters-lists/

It’s then a question of tracking down where the relevant list might be held.

 

I couldn’t see any likely marriages in England and Wales in the period 1911-1921 – a marriage certificate would show husbands’ occupation and if he was a soldier, at a minimum rank and regiment\corps, and sometimes much more.

 

That’s about as far as I can go at this stage – I don’t subscribe to Ancestry or FindMyPast.

 

Hopefully a pal will be able to check those dates of birth against the list for the MoD records to if the list can be whittled down any further.

 

If you can get it down to one or two left then I’ll take another look.

 

Hope that helps and good luck with your search,

Peter

 

Edit - @tony buchanan - do any of those locations tie in with where you purchased the medal?

 

Edited 16 May , 2020 by PRC
Typo

[chaz]

checki

10 hours ago, Madmeg said:

Ths chap is intriguing- but he's in the officer's quarters so can't be PVT Ernest- unless he got demoted? https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWQT-1PR

 

I ca find him in 1891 but not in 1901......

 

Name:	Earnest Merryweather
Event Type:	Census
Event Date:	1911
Event Place:	Farnborough, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom
County:	Hampshire
Parish:	Farnborough
Sub-District:	Farnborough
Sub-District Number:	2
District Number:	109
Enumeration District:	13
Registration District:	Hartley Wintney
Age:	26
Marital Status:	Single
Marital Status (Original):	SINGLE
Institution:	CONNAUGHT HOSPITAL MEDICAL OFFICER'S QUARTERS
Birth Year (Estimated):	1885
Birthplace:	Bedford Sandy, Bedfordshire
Schedule Type:	9999
Page Number:	2
Registration Number:	RG14
Piece/Folio:	535
Affiliate Record Identifier:	GBC/1911/RG14/06263/0535/4

the 1911 census this record refers to is the "Return for all Commissioned Officers, Warrant Officers, Non Commissioned Officers, Trumpeters or Drummers and Rank and File on the night of 2nd April 1911". so not exclusively officers, that said, being recorded as 1st Bedford Regt , is more likely to be Pte Ernest Merryweather 7455 Bedford Regt.

interestingly there is a Ernest Merryweather recorded under Bedfordshire Petty Sessions, using obscene language, in Sandy 24th Jany 1914, would that be a servicemans trait?

Edited 16 May , 2020 by chaz

[PRC]

@chaz

 

He is the 1st Bedfords man who I believe can be discounted – see my post above. He’s not on the 1901 census as he was in South Africa. Joined up in 1900, did the full 12 years in the colours with the Bedfords – relevant service records are in the WO97 series.

 

Crop of the 1911 Census sourced Genes Reunited.

 

Cheers,

Peter

[chaz]

Peter

just pointing out the first line of the quoted posting, where its mentioned   but he's in the officer's quarters so can't be PVT Ernest- unless he got demoted?

[Madmeg]

Just a thought sparked by PRC's comment- "no obvious Australian or Canadian files" what about NZ files? 

 

A second thought- could he have been born abroad come back to the "home country" and then joined up? Especially during the Boer War?  An underage Aussie or Kiwi who left home and joined up in England to fight? There were "colonial forces " as well in the Boer War I believe? 

 

My  NZ born grandfather went to England from Australia where his family was living in 1913 to run the family business. He joined up at the start of the War. His PoB is not recorded in the files I have been able to find for him and if I didn't already have that information it would have been very difficult to track down. His medals ended up in England.

[PRC]

22 minutes ago, Madmeg said:

Just a thought sparked by PRC's comment- "no obvious Australian or Canadian files" what about NZ files? 

 

To be honest I was looking because a couple of the English born Ernest Merryweathers 'disappeared" after the 1901 Census but don't turn up in the death records. There are however E. Merryweathers of about the right age who go to Canada and Australia (but not anywhere else) between March 1901 and April 1911. No clue what the E. stands for and for the one who went to Canada don't even know if it is male or female.  It could probably be resolved with a great deal of digging around - I was just hoping the service records would throw up a quick and dirty solution.

 

Once you move beyond the assumption he was born Ernest Merryweather then all sorts of possibilities open up. Ditto born in England & Wales.

 

My suggested approach is to concentrate on the four remaining individuals in post 17 and rule them out first before expanding the net -  unless anyone can think of a way to cut straight to the right individual.

 

Cheers,

Peter

Edited 16 May , 2020 by PRC
Typo

[chaz]

 

Ernest James Merryweather – birth registered Q2 1878. No subsequent census records or death records. no record for 1939 there is a Jim Merryweather born estimated 1878 from Sandy Beds.in the 1911 census

 

Ernest Merryweather – born 8th June 1883.

 

Ernest Henry Merryweather – born 12th January 1884.

 

Ernest Augustus Merryweather – birth registered Q4 1884. 1929 was Vicar at Pelton. 1945 was at West Mersea, Essex.  born 29/11/1894

 

[PRC]

15 minutes ago, chaz said:

Ernest James Merryweather – birth registered Q2 1878. No subsequent census records or death records. no record for 1939 there is a Jim Merryweather born estimated 1878 from Sandy Beds.in the 1911 census

 

Thanks for checking. The birth of Ernest James Merryweather was registered in the Reading, Berkshire District. I suspect mother was either a single parent and married before the 1881 Census, with Ernest James taking his step-dads surname, or his mother was widowed and remarried before the 1881 census. Of course just the kind of circumstance in which Ernest James might have reverted to his birth name on joining the army, and the kind of circumstance that could have driven him towards choosing the army.

 

In the absense of a service record that's all just speculation.

 

Now do we have anyone with Ancestry access who can check for MoD files held for:

 

Ernest Merryweather – born 8th June 1883.

 

Ernest Henry Merryweather – born 12th January 1884.

 

Ernest Augustus Merryweather  - born 29th November 1884.

 

Cheers,

Peter

[Madmeg]

there are but two certainties in life- death and taxes :-D

 

There is a probate for an Ernest Henry who died in 1932, probate in Brimingham to Mabel Merryweather  ?wife? 

 

There are no less than three probates for an Ernest James who died on 3rd Nov 1902- one shows Elizabeth Mary Merryweather in 1903 the other two show (again Elizabeth Mary but this time in 1909) and Sydney Henry Merryweather in 1909 all probates in London. I have seen this before where there was an objection raised to the administration of the original probate and it was resubmitted many years later. It's only an index I'm afraid , don;t know if anyone can fidn any more details if they wish to properly eliminate him.

 

There is an older Ernest James b 1868 living in Islington in 1901 but no Sydney Henry's or Elizabeth Mary's apparent in the family. (wife is Rhoda and she predeceases him.)

 

I have tried looking for Ernest J's (any surname) marrying Elizabeth M's before 1902 and found quite a few (!) none appear to be obvious misspellings for Merryweather and I haven't checked out all the other names. There are lots of Sydney H's born pre 1902 but none as Merryweathers.

There are not many registrations for Dec 1902 Mar 1903 for Merryweather (broad search) and nothing that could be mistaken for Ernest J. 

 

A 1942 probate for Ernest MerrIweather and a 1947 for Ernst Merryweather. Someone might like to try form these on the 1939 register- familysearch has the details of beneficaries for these.

 

In my searches I did turn up a wonderful marriage for an Ernest John Chicken- Kitchen :-D which at least raised a laugh :-D even if it was no use at all!

I've had a fairly comprehensive look for Ernest Jameses b c 1878 in reading of any surname (note chicken kitchen above :-D) but the combination of Reading and the birth year aren't showing anything very positive (there are James Ernests but not Ernest James). 

 

I would suggest that a) Ernest James is offshore at time of death but the will is proved in England b) his death was indeed registered under another name. 

Either way the Ernest James above cannot be our man- although I am not happy that I can't positively tie him in to the EJ born in Reading. I have a similar issue i my own family where an in-law has his birth registered and then disappears from the census- he was in Spain acquiring a different surname which was the one used at death registration. Our EJ Merryweather may be another of these.

 

 

Edited 17 May , 2020 by Madmeg