Ralph Parker White - BEF - but not sure which regiment he was in?

[D Pritchard]

Hello - I am trying to find more information about a soldier in WW1 - Ralph Parker White. His birth certificate lists his name as Ralph Parker, but the censuses give him the name Ralph Parker White. I came across a newspaper cutting which said he was in the BEF and was a sergeant as Ralph P White. I have looked on Ancestry and there is no Ralph Parker White enlistment in WW1 in that name that I could see. There were a couple of Ralph White’s and Ralph Parker’s for this time. As he was in the BEF, I am interested to find out more about his regiment/what he did/the battles he fought in etc

Ralph was born in January 1876 in Sheriff Hill, Durham. He was also a miner during his life. Ralph married in Whitburn - Elizabeth Roberts in 1906, resident of Holmes Cottages Marsden. I assume he was working for Whitburn Colliery.

There are a few possible matches but I don’t know which is the exact one. There is a Ralph White for the Durham Light Infantry but it states this Ralph White was born in 1881 (not 1876). The other is in the KOYLI from Acklington - a colliery, the record is not in good condition to read and I was unable to see a D.OB. There is also a Ralph Parker MGC Corporal 86456 with a Victory medal on the WW1 medal index cards. There is also a L/Cpl Ralph Parker under the 5th Welch/Welsh - which is unlikely geographically.

Any help would be great, thank you.

[ss002d6252]

13 minutes ago, D Pritchard said:

Sheriff Hill, Durham.

30 seconds walk from here.

Quote

I came across a newspaper cutting which said he was in the BEF and was a sergeant as Ralph P White

Can you post the whole of the text from the article and when/where it was published ?

Quote

 There is a Ralph White for the Durham Light Infantry but it states this Ralph White was born in 1881 (not 1876).

Certainly not unknown to knock a few years off, especially when he would have been 40 in 1914.

Craig

[D Pritchard]

Hello Craig,

I came across this on a family history website, so I am afraid I don't know the newspaper source. Interesting comment about knocking a few years off.

[charlie962]

That clipping is from 1940 and thus refers to the BEF of that period ! The man born 1876 is the father who died 1940.

[D Pritchard]

Ok thank you. I saw BEF and automatically assumed it was referring to WW1 (as I have been doing research on this with other ancestors). I had no date of reference of the  newspaper cutting and I read it that it was a Sgt Ralph Parker White going to his father's funeral. I think perhaps there was a newspaper error and it should have read James Parker White who was Ralph's Parker White's father?  Ralph had no children as far as I am aware. I was intrigued by 'Sgt' and wondered more about this person.

[charlie962]

22 hours ago, D Pritchard said:

Ok thank you. I saw BEF and automatically assumed it was referring to WW1 (as I have been doing research on this with other ancestors). I had no date of reference of the  newspaper cutting and I read it that it was a Sgt Ralph Parker White going to his father's funeral. I think perhaps there was a newspaper error and it should have read James Parker White who was Ralph's Parker White's father?  Ralph had no children as far as I am aware. I was intrigued by 'Sgt' and wondered more about this person.

I think you are still out by a generation!

James Parker White was born c 1839 (and died 1916)

His son Ralph Parker White was born c1876 (and died 1940)

and in turn his son (the Sergeant) Ralph Parker White was born 1910 (and died 1975)

 

Look at the 1911 Census for John Clay Street, South Shields and you will see all three living at no 114

 

That is the South Shileds Parker Whites. Are lines crossed with other Parker Whites from further south?

 

Charlie

Edited 2 August , 2021 by charlie962
spelling!

[D Pritchard]

@Charlie962. Thank you for clarifying this. Much appreciated! It gets a bit confusing sometimes when subsequent generations name their children from previous generations and it all blurs into one! I did not personally research this, but I will have another look at it. Although some of my family came from this area, I am not too  familiar with it geographically. Some of my ancestors were from South Shields.

I have a James Parker White 1838 North Hylton. A son Ralph Parker White 1875 Sheriff Hill - but no known children.

So it would probably make sense if there was another son Ralph Parker White 1910 - 1975 who was a sergeant in what you are saying. What was confusing is that I did not have that record and that the sergeant newspaper story was against the name of Ralph Parker White born 1875! 

So I will have a look into the Sergeant Ralph Parker White born 1910 and died 1975. 🙂