Uniform ID - Many thanks

[CharlotteMM]

Hi Peter, I do have his death certificate and he did indeed die of the flu. I hadn’t considered that so that’s a great theory, thank you.

Yes the family were involved in fundraising for the monument, I had seen that somewhere before. Henry George Twitt is one, who was too young to enlist, and I believe was sent to stay with his uncle in America to stop him doing so, where he instead lied about his age and enlisted there, he died Jan 1916.

 

 

[Tawhiri]

Montague Twitt appears to have never left Worle, Somerset, as he is living there in the 1881, 1891, and 1901 England and Wales censuses, as well as in the 1911 entry that Peter found. In 1891 he was working as a labourer in a laundry, but by 1901 he was married and working as a coach smith.

1881 - https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q276-D9NX

1891 - https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W587-CW2

1901 - https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XS8N-HBT

Older brother Alfred James is the James Twitt in the 1881 census, and he's certainly married and a police constable in the Birmingham area by the time of the 1901 census.

1901 - https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSZ3-PZN

1911 - https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWZ7-T8M

He married Alexandria Emm Ashwell in Aston, Warwickshire in the third quarter of 1898, so he possibly started his career as a police constable before this date. Unfortunately he is somewhat elusive when it comes to finding him in the 1891 census.

On 23/06/2023 at 06:25, Provost said:

but have narrowed the date of the photo down to pre 1901 (when they changed from the spike to the more rounded top).

Edited to add that a date before 1898 for Alfred James joining the Birmingham police force would seem to be consistent with Provost's dating of the spike on the helmet to being before 1901.

Edited 24 June , 2023 by Tawhiri

[Tawhiri]

1 hour ago, CharlotteMM said:

Henry George Twitt is one, who was too young to enlist, and I believe was sent to stay with his uncle in America to stop him doing so, where he instead lied about his age and enlisted there, he died Jan 1916

There is a George Henry Twitt, born on 28 April 1892 in Worle, Somerset who enlisted in the CEF on 27 October 1914 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. His father is named as Samuel Twitt, so presumably this is the brother Samuel in the 1881 census. George served with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, and died of wounds at the 8th Casualty Clearing Station on 13 January 1916. If you haven't already seen it, you can obtain a complete copy of his service record from the Canadian Archives.

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=268999

From father Samuel's address, and brother Montague's occupation in the 1891 census, the Twitt family seems to have had a strong connection with the laundry in Worle, Somerset.

Edited to add that I don't think he was underage, even though he took two years off his birth year on his CEF attestation form to go from a birth year of 1894 to one of 1892. He would have still been 20 years of age when he attested in 1914, so two years older than the minimum age of 18 to enlist, if this is the correct birth registration.

TWITT, HENRY  GEORGE  Mother's maiden name: SAUNDERS  

GRO Reference: 1894  J Quarter in AXBRIDGE  Volume 05C  Page 497

There are two further male Twitt births in the same registration district with the same mother's maiden name of Saunders in 1897 and 1899.

A further edit. He arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in March 1911, bound for Toronto, so I highly doubt he was sent to Canada to stop him from enlisting as this predates the outbreak of war by three and a half years.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2H21-TKV

Edited 23 June , 2023 by Tawhiri