Seeking info on "Billie" (possibly William Early) RFC 1917

[eairicbloodaxe]

Hi All

Here is an interesting research adventure I have been involved with on FB, where there has been a lot of well meaning - but, frankly, wrong - speculation. I offered to help and the OP gave me permission to repost here.

"Good Morning ..

I would like you to meet “ Billie “ …

I do not know who Billie is .. 30 years ago I went into an antique shop in Romsey and saw Billie hanging on the wall for sale ( he was behind glass with what I think use to be known as ‘ plas by 2 edging not sure if this is how it’s spelt ) .. my heart sank I looked at this young man and thought you should not be here Billie you should be in someone’s home … I left the shop being the Mum of 3 sons this played on my mind very heavily I told my husband who unbeknown to me went back bought Billie he had him framed beautifully and he has been in our home ever since ..

I look at him very often and wonder .. who are you .. were you killed in action .. did you survive .. who knows but Billie is in a warm home ..  my sons are now 55 .. 53 .. 46 .. did Billie live to be that age .. who knows but I always remember him more so today 11th of the 11th ..

I am sure he was from London ( being from London myself I know SW is South Kensington area )  I cannot decipher the surname on the photo was he the photographer.

Thank you for reading this .. if there is anyone who has any idea how I could find our more information I would be so grateful… "

 

 

 

Edited 16 November , 2022 by eairicbloodaxe

[eairicbloodaxe]

There was a lot of speculation about whether or not the (Early) in brackets meant the photo dated from Early 1917 (my belief), or that he was "Billie Early".

Anyway, as everybody else was just talking and not researching, (and going off on random sidetracks about him possibly being the photographer's Brother) I did a quick trawl of the military records...

IF (and it's not a theory I particularly agree with), our man was called "William Early", there are only very few candidates. There are 39 people with surname "Early" and some combination of William as either first or middle name, who served in WW1.

But almost all of them were NOT in the RFC. Mostly Army. Therefore we can probably rule most of them out.

Only two come close enough to be interesting:
There is a William Richard Early, born 24 Jun 1887 in Lambeth.
Or William Albert Early, born 25th July 1879 in Southampton.
Both actually joined the same day, 19th April 1917, as Aircraftsmen II.

However, both of them were in the Navy - so the RNAS not the RFC. Which means they would not have worn the RFC badge as pictured. Plus the RNAS uniforms were different. And does the chap in the photo look 38 or 40?

I cannot find any other candidates amongst the Army Early's. Often men would transfer to the RFC after some other service, but it is marked on the records and no others come up.
There are no William Early's lsited as Air Force casualties in WW1, and only 3 William Early's died in WW1, none of which fit either.

Trying to narrow it down by age, there were only 10 William Early's born in the period 1887 to 1897, which would make them between 20 and 30 in 1917. Widen that a few more years and there's 24 candidates.

Any of our esteemed members here (who have a lot more experience that I) care to shed any further light? What are your views on the picture/writing?
 

[pierssc]

I'm of the same mind as you in thinking that "Early" relates to 1917 rather than a surname.

Nevertheless, I checked Www.airhistory.org.uk which only refers to three  "Early"s.  One has the initial W and and AIR 76 file which I downloaded, but there is almost nothing on it; what there is seems to related to 1918 which doesn't tally with someone wearing a plain RFC uniform in 1917.

There are many photos of this kind on the Royal Aero Club certificate albums on Ancestry.  I searched Vols 12 (late 1916 - early 1917) and 13 (up to the end of May 1917) looking for this photo, without success.  By that point getting the RAC "ticket" was optional anyway so it was a bit of a long shot.

I don't think we have much to go on.

 

[travers61]

Just to add to the possibilities, there is a place just south of Reading, Berkshire called Earley. 

I put this in the mix as there was a lot of RFC activity in Reading in the Great War with  a school of Instruction being established in the University College's buildings in December 1915. Later this became No 1 School of Military Aeronautics on October 27th 1916 & was one of the two main initial training courses for pilots and observers. The school used other buildings around the town and servicemen were also billeted around the town.  

There was also an RAF School of Technical Training at Reading in WW1.

 

 

Travers

Edited 16 November , 2022 by travers61

[travers61]

The 1920 trade directory lists Neame Elwin Ltd Photographers at 4 Onslow Place South Kensington, London W7 & Old Bond Street, London W1.

[KizmeRD]

Billie appears to be a (Temporary) General Service Second Lieutenant RFC (not yet qualified as a pilot or observer), probably very recently commissioned. The Army List for 1917 may provide you with a short list of candidates with William as a Christian name.

MB

[eairicbloodaxe]

4 hours ago, KizmeRD said:

Billie appears to be a (Temporary) General Service Second Lieutenant RFC (not yet qualified as a pilot or observer), probably very recently commissioned. The Army List for 1917 may provide you with a short list of candidates with William as a Christian name.

MB

That's good. My next move was to extend out into other possible Williams... your suggestion makes sense,

Kind regards

 

 

Ian

7 hours ago, pierssc said:

I'm of the same mind as you in thinking that "Early" relates to 1917 rather than a surname.

Nevertheless, I checked Www.airhistory.org.uk which only refers to three  "Early"s.  One has the initial W and and AIR 76 file which I downloaded, but there is almost nothing on it; what there is seems to related to 1918 which doesn't tally with someone wearing a plain RFC uniform in 1917.

There are many photos of this kind on the Royal Aero Club certificate albums on Ancestry.  I searched Vols 12 (late 1916 - early 1917) and 13 (up to the end of May 1917) looking for this photo, without success.  By that point getting the RAC "ticket" was optional anyway so it was a bit of a long shot.

I don't think we have much to go on.

 

Thanks. I also had a quick look but couldn't see a match. I agree there's not much to go on!

[eairicbloodaxe]

5 hours ago, travers61 said:

Just to add to the possibilities, there is a place just south of Reading, Berkshire called Earley. 

I put this in the mix as there was a lot of RFC activity in Reading in the Great War with  a school of Instruction being established in the University College's buildings in December 1915. Later this became No 1 School of Military Aeronautics on October 27th 1916 & was one of the two main initial training courses for pilots and observers. The school used other buildings around the town and servicemen were also billeted around the town.  

There was also an RAF School of Technical Training at Reading in WW1.

 

 

Travers

An interesting thought!

[eairicbloodaxe]

5 hours ago, travers61 said:

The 1920 trade directory lists Neame Elwin Ltd Photographers at 4 Onslow Place South Kensington, London W7 & Old Bond Street, London W1.

Yes, Elwin Neame was one of the best known portrait photographers of the era. But of course, that just meant he snapped a lot of servicemen! Which sadly doesn't get me any closer to finding our man, but at least helped rule out one mad FB theory that the subject was William Neame, Elwins brother...

Edited 16 November , 2022 by eairicbloodaxe

[Marc Thompson]

Any other clues from the OP on the original source of the photograph? I note that it was purchased from an antique shop in Romsey (Romsey, Hampshire I assume?). Any potential links e.g. a local house clearance? I will check my Romsey War Memorial Archive database but nothing springs to mind thus far.

[16thBNCanScotJim]

I wondered if it might be long lost photo of our Canuck Billy (“Billie”) Bishop as his family returned to England in 1921 but that is not him.

[Madmeg]

is there anything written on the back? I got caught out that way- actualy turned the photo over and got a location and year that I had never seen before- and my photo wasnt even framed!

Is the RFC badge numbered ? (were they?

And what is the small scrap of blue? cloth ? in the corner- what is its significance I wonder? strange thing to have there if it means nothing?

Edited 23 November , 2022 by Madmeg

[pierssc]

3 minutes ago, Madmeg said:

Is the RFC badge numbered ? (were they?

They weren't

[corisande]

Another thought. He may have died after the photo was taken. CWGC gives "William" and "2nd Lt and RFC deaths

Perhaps worth looking at. Though unless you can get photos of them, there is little to go on

As @Madmeg said as well "  And what is the small scrap of blue? cloth ? in the corner- what is its significance I wonder? strange thing to have there if it means nothing? "

[pierssc]

I wondered whether the small bit of ?cloth might be a snippet of the white band he could have worn round his cap while he was a flight cadet.

Yes, we could look up all RFC officers called William from 1917 onwards but unless we can find a photo we have no way of linking a name and a face.  My biggest hope was that this photo might have been one he used for his Royal Aero Club "ticket" as a number of the albums survive - however as I mentioned earlier I had a look at volumes 12 and 13 and have just now looked at Vols 10, 11, 13 and 14 so that covers from late 1916 into most of 1917.  I didn't recognise this photo there, but I may have missed it, or he may be there but used a different photo, so don't let me discourage anyone else who wants to take a look.  They're on Ancestry.  Unfortunately the albums aren't complete and by 1917 I understand a lot of prospective pilots weren't bothing to get the RAC "ticket" anyway. 

I very much fear poor Billie may not have seen the 1920s.  There's just something about his wistful expression and the elaborate lengths the owner of the photo went to to show his name which suggest that it was put on the wall in memoriam.   But that isn't any kind of evidence, of course!  Hopefully this was just one in a series of photos showing Billie's progress through a long and happy life. 

[hmsk212]

Hi

 

It makes you wonder what the photo originally looked like before it was re-framed 30 years ago. Was the badge, name etc there in the original frame that had the passepartout edging or was this added when re-framed.

Steve

[corisande]

How about William Whitaker, b 4 Aug 1898. died 6 Dec 1917

I suspect that unless we find the identical photo somewhere else, then it would be impossible to be certain

Edited 23 November , 2022 by corisande

[pierssc]

1 hour ago, corisande said:

How about William Whitaker, b 4 Aug 1898. died 6 Dec 1917

Possibly.... there is some resemblance but the chap in the original photo seems to have slightly receding hair at the temples.  Let's consider him though.

William Whitaker has featured in a couple of threads in the GWF: This one and this one which includes a post  in 2012 by Whitaker's nephew.  There is no confirming photo in either and the nephew doesn't refer to him as "Billie" though that doesn't of course mean Whitaker wasn't known as such.

Consulting airhistory, Whitaker was just 18 or 19 and still a civilian when he got his R Ae C Ticket in 1916 - his date of birth switches between 1897 and 1898 in different records.  He was Gazetted a Probationary Second Lieutenant on 5 July 1917 and joined 23 Squadron fling SPADs on 27 November 1917; he therefore lasted 10 days, poor chap.  July doesn't seem terribly early in terms of the original "early 1917" photo but I wouldn't rule it out.  Perhaps we can dig up some more.

 

[corisande]

His RAF record at TNA does not really help

I agree that July does not seem early 1917, but he could have had the photo taken before actual commission

[corisande]

his date of birth switches between 1897 and 1898 in different records. 

The census data points to Aug 1898 as being correct - census data on this Ancestry tree

[pierssc]

23 minutes ago, corisande said:

I agree that July does not seem early 1917, but he could have had the photo taken before actual commission

I thought there were fairly strict protocols about not wearing a uniform to which one was not entitled?