Mrs Farley, 105 Latimer Road, N. but who is this soldier?

[high wood]

I bought this post card as I greatly enjoy attempting to identify the soldiers depicted on old photographs. This particular one is post card size but has the numbers 10 x 14 in three different places, so presumably was to be enlarged for framing.

There is a name and address on the back, presumably that of the person who had ordered the enlargement and framing. It reads Mrs Farley, 105 Latimer Road, N. A quick search of the 1911 Census shows that there was a Mrs Millicent Sarah Farley living at 105 Latimer Road, Notting Hill with her husband, five children and a boarder.

Mr Farley is identified as George Dennis Farley, age 44 and as a Police Constable in the Metropolitan Police. As he would have been 47 in 1914, it is unlikely that he is the man in the photograph, and I cannot find any evidence that a soldier of that name served in or before the Great War,

Of the five children, only one is a male, Leonard Percy Farley and he appears to have served in the R.F.C & R.A.F. as an Airship Rigger during the Great War.

Of the four daughters, the eldest, Elsie Maud Farley, aged 20 in 1911, married a gentleman by the name of Walter Henry Tutt in 1912. He appears to have served in the R.F.A. and his medal index card shows that he served as a S/Sgt with the regimental numbers 154241 and later, 962263, and is entitled to a British War Medal and Victory Nedal. His service papers do not appear to have survived. I wonder if he is the man in the photograph.

 

Edited 26 July , 2022 by high wood

[Michelle Young]

The man in the photo is no spring chicken, so it could be the 47 year old. 

[high wood]

The boarder, living at the house in 1911 is names as, David Lewis Ball, age 19, and is described as an engineer, born in Nottingham. I cannot yet find details of a soldier with this name,but will continue to look.

I am however, puzzled by the name written below the address, It appears to begin with the letter F and possibly reads Florci, but I cannot make it out. It may have some or no significance as to the person portrayed in the photograph.

 

Edited 26 July , 2022 by high wood
Spelling

[high wood]

6 minutes ago, Michelle Young said:

The man in the photo is no spring chicken, so it could be the 47 year old. 

Looking more closely at the picture, he clearly has a lot of wrinkles around his eyes, so he could still be a candidate.

[high wood]

Looking at 206652 Leonard Percy Farley's service papers, he enlisted into the R.N.A.S. on 19th July 1915 and gave his N.O.K. as George Dennis Farley (Father), 34 Kilfield Gardens, N. Kensington. So presumably, the Farleys moved from Latimer Road sometime between 1915 and 1918 when the R.A.F. muster roll was produced.

Edited 26 July , 2022 by high wood

[Acknown]

The little I can see of his buttons and shoulder title suggest to me that he is in the ASC. Any possibilities on Millicent's side? She's hard to pin down as I think she was named Sarah on census returns, e.g. 1881 (via Ancestry):

This might put Richard (43 in 1914), Robert (39) and Harry (37) in the frame.

Acknown

[corisande]

George Dennis Farley was born 1866 - Ancestry tree

He was in Royal Navy 1886 to March 1888

Pensioned from Police in 1913 - click . He had served 25 years in police, joined July 1888. Living at Latimer Road when he retired

died 1928

Afraid I cannot tie him to Great War, but if he served as just George Farley, it would be difficilt

I certainly think from the photo it could be him

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

1 hour ago, high wood said:

Florci

I think the 'i' may be a red herring in that the 'dot' may just be a bit of fungal discolouration.

Not sure about the first letter being an 'F', as it is uncrossed. It could be an I, J or a T.

The second letter is separated from the first by a bit of a space so could be a capital (C?), otherwise maybe a lower case L.

T Lowe, Cowe or similar?

Edited 26 July , 2022 by Dai Bach y Sowldiwr

[corisande]

2 minutes ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

Not sure about the first letter being an 'F', as it is uncrossed.

If you look at the "F" of "Farley", it is not crossed and is identical

[high wood]

24 minutes ago, Acknown said:

The little I can see of his buttons and shoulder title suggest to me that he is in the ASC. Any possibilities on Millicent's side? She's hard to pin down as I think she was named Sarah on census returns, e.g. 1881 (via Ancestry):

This might put Richard (43 in 1914), Robert (39) and Harry (37) in the frame.

Acknown

Thank you for that. It might take me some time to narrow down the Stephens in the A.S.C.

[high wood]

8 minutes ago, corisande said:

George Dennis Farley was born 1866 - Ancestry tree

He was in Royal Navy 1886 to March 1888

Pensioned from Police in 1913 - click . He had served 25 years in police, joined July 1888. Living at Latimer Road when he retired

died 1928

Afraid I cannot tie him to Great War, but if he served as just George Farley, it would be difficilt

I certainly think from the photo it could be him

Thank you for your input, it is appreciated. I do not currently have an Ancestry account as I am on F.M.P. at the moment, (I tend to alternate between them annually), so the links aren't working. Is there a photograph of George Farley in the family tree, and if so, is there a likeness?

[corisande]

Just now, high wood said:

Is there a photograph of George Farley in the family tree, and if so, is there a likeness?

No photo that I can find there.

The links I just put for completeness, I have put in the bits that I think are relevant in my post

I have tried newspapers and cannot get anything there

[high wood]

11 minutes ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

I think the 'i' may be a red herring in that the 'dot' may just be a bit of fungal discolouration.

Not sure about the first letter being an 'F', as it is uncrossed. It could be an I, J or a T.

The second letter is separated from the first by a bit of a space so could be a capital (C?), otherwise maybe a lower case L.

T Lowe, Cowe or similar?

Thank you for your input. The first letter appears to be identical to the F in Farley.

[FROGSMILE]

The photo seems likely to have been taken in the first two years of the war given his emergency [simplified] pattern jacket**.  The shoulder titles are clearly the larger, straight type comprising just 2, or 3 letters, as favoured by the support arms and services.  If a better, high resolution scan could be made of the original card focusing on the shoulder titles it should be possible to identify what they are.

**interestingly he has had the collar cut and made into an upright (standing) form to enhance its smartness.  This implies an older man with prior military service, either as a regular, or as an auxiliary soldier.

Edited 26 July , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[high wood]

29 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said:

The photo seems likely to have been taken in the first two years of the war given his emergency [simplified] pattern jacket**.  The shoulder titles are clearly the larger, straight type comprising just 2, or 3 letters, as favoured by the support arms and services.  If a better, high resolution scan could be made of the original card focusing on the shoulder titles it should be possible to identify what they are.

**interestingly he has had the collar cut and made into an upright (standing) form to enhance its smartness.  This implies an older man with prior military service, either as a regular, or as an auxiliary soldier.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge of Great War British Army uniforms. Attached is a close up of the shoulder title.

[FROGSMILE]

1 hour ago, high wood said:

Thank you for sharing your knowledge of Great War British Army uniforms. Attached is a close up of the shoulder title.

Thank you for trying but unfortunately it is still very blurred.  It is unusual for contemporary WW1 images to not be developed using high resolution glass plate methodology, so I’m unsure why your original photo seems to be below par.  Did you use a scanner on high dpi?

Edited 26 July , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

2 hours ago, high wood said:

Thank you for your input. The first letter appears to be identical to the F in Farley.

Ah, yes it does!

[high wood]

2 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

Thank you for trying but unfortunately it is still very blurred.  It is unusual for contemporary WW1 images to not be developed using high resolution glass plate methodology, so I’m unsure why your original photo seems to be below par.  Did you use a scanner on high dpi?

No, I used a digital camera.

[FROGSMILE]

Just now, high wood said:

No, I used a digital camera.

It needs a ‘scan’ of the original photo otherwise all you’re doing is enlarging the existing pixels, which merely makes the photo bigger, but less defined.  Public Libraries have scanners free to use although you have to pay a nominal fee for a print off.

[high wood]

Unfortunately, the nearest scanner is at Bishops Castle over 10 miles from where I live.

[FROGSMILE]

14 minutes ago, high wood said:

Unfortunately, the nearest scanner is at Bishops Castle over 10 miles from where I live.

Well there’s no rush, perhaps when you get over next, and then post an update.  It’s often necessary to get a scan if looking at small insignia on a small photo, especially if the image is a copy.  You can also send the digital image to yourself (as a file) electronically by email for free and then upload it directly, which can then be more readily manipulated.

Edited 26 July , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[TEW]

The way Rd is written I'd never have got it if it was on its own.

I wonder if the Florci part is four characters ending with a Y. The way the name & address uses capitals hints at the first character as a capital.

Leads me to F Cony or F Cory.

TEW

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

37 minutes ago, TEW said:

The way Rd is written I'd never have got it if it was on its own.

I wonder if the Florci part is four characters ending with a Y. The way the name & address uses capitals hints at the first character as a capital.

Leads me to F Cony or F Cory.

TEW

Yes, the last but one character looks good for an old style 'r'.

[MartyG]

16 hours ago, TEW said:

The way Rd is written I'd never have got it if it was on its own.

I wonder if the Florci part is four characters ending with a Y. The way the name & address uses capitals hints at the first character as a capital.

Leads me to F Cony or F Cory.

TEW

I too thought F Cory (or Corey even?).

The third letter looks very much like the r in both Farley and Latimer.

 

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

14 minutes ago, MartyG said:

The third letter looks very much like the r in both Farley and Latimer.

Yes, written in cursive: