Social Class Represented in Regimental Surnames: Officers Vs Other Ranks

[JMB1943]

I wondered the other day if the pre-Great War social distinctions could be discerned in the surnames of career officers and OR's in a battalion being "different".

There are two bases for this conjecture,

1) Officers in the British Army were only commissioned from a select list of public schools (i.e., private, fee-paying schools).

2) Many common surnames in England are derived from occupation/trade (archer/butcher/baker.......Smith etc).

My premise is that given that officers were gentlemen, they had no occupation; given that OR's were not gentlemen they assuredly had a previous occupation.

Based on this premise, I would expect to see the occupation/trade surnames statistically UNDER-represented in the Officer Corps, but at statistically expected levels amongst the OR's.

Given my very average general knowledge of history and of the British aristocracy, I would expect the officer corps to be statistically OVER-represented with surnames of the following type,

Fitz-.......  Norman, for ******* son of

De or de La....... French (as in Peter de la Bailliere) chivalry

Hyphenated surnames  (also an indicator of bastardy???)

Title (The Honorable/ Sir/ Lord etc)

and vice versa for the OR's.

The only regiment for which I have any ready access to names is an infantry county regiment, the 2nd Bn. Royal Sussex Regt., not a socially-elite unit such as the Rifle Brigade or the KRRC.

My premise may or may not prove true for 2 RSR, so I hope at some point to follow this up the social scale to RB, KRRC etc. and eventually the Guards.

Before I actually start to disappear down this particular rabbit-hole, I do have some questions to ask,

1) when did the officer shortage cause OR's to be commissioned as officers?

2) did units such as RB/KRRC/Guards EVER commission OR'S

Regards,

JMB

 

 

 

Edited 14 August , 2023 by JMB1943
Add info

[michaeldr]

25 minutes ago, JMB1943 said:

2) did units such as RB/KRRC/Guards EVER commission OR'S

I'm not sure how this chap fits in, but he's certainly worth a mention
J. H. Levey – Private in the Scots Guards; served in South Africa; began WWI as a Sergeant Major 3rd Scots Guards; then quickly commissioned into Gordon Highlanders
Ended the war as Lieutenant Colonel, awarded the DSO and Mentioned in Despatches
see also https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/7822/1/Deeks17PhD.pdf 

[FROGSMILE]

22 hours ago, JMB1943 said:

1) when did the officer shortage cause OR's to be commissioned as officers?

2) did units such as RB/KRRC/Guards EVER commission OR'S

Regards,

JMB

1.  From 1916 if you mean on a large scale.  Casualties had already been high at Loos and Arras, but the Somme of 1st July 1916 was cataclysmic and it was realised that drastic measures were needed if a constant supply of battle casualty replacements was to be achieved.  There was no single measure to solve the problem and a range of things were done.  This included:

a.  Making the officer training more efficient by standardising its syllabus and organising proper officer battalions across Britain and Ireland.

b.  Optimising and enhancing the systematic output from the already well established public schools and university cadet corps.

c.  Identifying men from the ranks who were suitable for commissioning, in particular the middle-class men who had flocked to the colours in the first year+ of the war at Lord Kitchener’s urging, plus the better educated men in TF units such as the London Regiment.

2.  Yes, the socially elite KRRC and RB commissioned experienced WOs and NCOs as both, quartermasters and in other emergency and temporary commissions, plus they received a share of those mentioned at c. above.

The Foot Guards also commissioned the first category mentioned for KRRC/RB, but initially were much more reluctant to take any share of those mentioned in c.  This was because the Brigade of Guards continued to support the Royal Palaces, as required, throughout the war, conducted a diminished form of public duties (essential levees, etc.), as well as providing the usual officers to act as equerries to the senior members of the Royal Family, and maintaining routine court etiquette and protocols (audiences and awards ceremonies, etc.).  They felt that this required men of a certain minimum social standing and education.  However, by 1918 even they were struggling to maintain officer replacements and there was some degree of managed adjustment to try and improve matters via careful selection and less out-of-hand rejection.

 

Edited 13 August , 2023 by FROGSMILE

[kenf48]

6 hours ago, JMB1943 said:

I wondered the other day if the pre-Great War social distinctions could be discerned in the surnames of career officers and OR's in a battalion being "different

Before I actually start to disappear down this particular rabbit-hole, I do have some questions to ask,

1) when did the officer shortage cause OR's to be commissioned as officers?

2) did units such as RB/KRRC/Guards EVER commission OR'S

Regards,

JMB

 

1) The shortage of officers in the British Army was recognised as early as January 1915 as a consequence of attrition in battle and expansion at home.  A four week course was introduced for NCOs and other ranks recommended by their Commanding Officer for a temporary commission.

This system was not sustainable and in February 1916 the selection and training of junior officers was organised through the Officer Cadet Battalions. Men selected had to have served in the ranks or an OTC, with some exceptions for specialist qualifications.See

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/training-to-be-a-soldier/officer-training-in-the-british-army-of-1914-1918/

New Army Battalions were, in the main commanded by a cadre of regular officers drawn from various sources. Though even these began to run out as more and more battalions were raised.  There was no shortage of junior officers from the OTC,  between August 1914 and March 1915 20,577 members or former members of the OTC were commissioned.  In locally raised battalions Company commanders and other junior officers were often  appointed from the professional and managerial classes.  These men had, in the main attended university, public schools, or grammar schools.  Their appointment had to be approved by the War Office but local recommendations usually prevailed.

2) Yes, after the creation of the Officer Cadet Battalions the majority of junior officers came from the ranks.  Whilst the reaction to the social class of officers post 1916 was not without controversy but the Commanding Officers, especially in socially elite Battalions would endeavour to maintain standards.

 

 

 

 

 

[PRC]

6 hours ago, JMB1943 said:

2) Many common surnames in England are derived from occupation/trade (archer/butcher/baker.......Smith etc).

And a lot of them come from place names or imply a "son of", (Johnson \ Harrison \ Watson, etc), a personal attribute, (Long \ Short \ Armstrong, etc) so you will always be looking at just a subset.

Much of the British nobility was the nouveau riche of the medieval period who had built their fortune through trade, not pillage & patronage, and this was reflected in their names. So seeing someone is called FitzHerbert and assuming they are of high social standing may ignore they have fallen from grace, (four MiCs for Fitzherberts who served in the ranks only, while amongst the officers as well as the Indian Army Officers there were Australians and Canadians as well - who were much less pre-occupied with social standing).

There was also a fad for double barrel surnames in late Victorian England in all but the lower working classes.

Meanwhile a look at the Regular Army Officers of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps from the August 1914 British Army Monthly List - surely the last word in pre-war soldiering, shows Barber's, Hunter's, Butler's, and Barker's. https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/103632338

7 hours ago, JMB1943 said:

My premise is that given that officers were gentlemen, they had no occupation; given that OR's were not gentlemen they assuredly had a previous occupation.

To my mind a false premise - British surnames in the main can have originated 800/900 years before the Great War and so have little to say about the occupation of the family of the officer class in August 1914. Were they drawn from a small social elite, not always necessarily monied but certainly well-connected - well I think that is pretty self-evident. An indepth biographical analysis of the officers of the 2nd Royal Sussex Regiment from August 1914 through the Great War period would probably give you more insight into how much social mobility is at play than getting bogged down in names. Get the methodology of that right and you should end up with something that can be applied to other units.

6 hours ago, JMB1943 said:

when did the officer shortage cause OR's to be commissioned as officers?

From the start of the war as the New Service Battalions and the Second and Third Line TF Battalions came into being. Just as in pre-war units these new battalions needed quartermasters and transport officers as well as command and company officers. Promoting older SNCO's into Honorary Commissions as a Quartermaster was a well worn path, so this was just formalised. It also lessened the need for such vital support roles to be learned on the job by someone new to the Army. So a specific kind of shortage but indicative that it was a concern that was only likely to spread as attrition took it's toll.

But to be promoted from the ranks required your commanding officers approval - and for commanding officer the loss of a good NCO with experience with no guarantee you would get him back as an officer must at times have been a difficult choice.

What I have seen from early 1916 is the records office seems to have become more pro-active in the process. They started sending out a list of the NCO's they have recorded for the unit and asking the Commanding Officer to come up with reasons why Sergeants and above shouldn't be considered for a commission. For Corporals and Lance Corporals they would be asking how far away from being considered for a commission were they - the assumption presumably being that they would be stepping up to replace the SNCO's and so a future date needed to be set for that question of commissioning to be asked again.

Cheers,
Peter

[oxlade134]

I think my own WW1 study of the one name Blencowe is relevant to this post.

I have studied the 400  plus male and female members of this family who served in WW1 with various spellings Blencowe Blencow Blencoe Blinco Blincoe Blinko (my own) and more.  The evidence is this that the Blencowe surname , the initial name of the Cumberland landlords (Norman descent) was preserved very much in the upper classes in places like Marston St Lawrence, Cheshire, London and Brighton etc and they are typically if they serve with the British Army Officer class. The names like my own that were day labourers etc in the 19th century are in the ranks mostly with one or two exceptions . One such exception is Fred Blincowe from Banbury but he was already a practising lawyer and future mayor so upwardly mobile.

Blincowe

Frederick William MC

1890

Grimsbury, Northants

Sergeant, 2nd Lieutenant

P/4006

17th (Reserve) Bn. Rifle Brigade 8th East Surrey Regiment

 

The rule seems to be amongst the American, Canada and Australia Blencowes was recruitment on education attainment, and promotion on merit . See below two such examples . There is no doubt in my mind for example, Alf Blinko born Enfield but emigrated to Canada, despite his heroics in the war would probably not been given a commission in the British Army.  

My sample size is reasonably large enough at 400 to say that the British Officer class did not want or trust leadership to "people of the wrong type"  My study of woman nurses in this same study also shows that only Britain insisted that even Nurses had to "be from the right family and single"  This thinking is of course nonsense and the reason American, Canadian and Australia leadership was so admired eventually.

 

Blincoe

William Paul

1895

Hollycross Kentucky

First Lieutenant

US ARMY

Blinko

Alfred Ralph MM

1890

Enfield

Lieutenant

76355

29th Battalion Canadian Infantry

[brianmorris547]

My 1916 index of Royal Engineers other ranks that I compiled from the Times Official Casualty Lists (wounded, shock shell and gas) and names mentioned in War Diaries shows the most common names to be:

Smith - by a mile from Jones - by another mile from Williams, Brown, Taylor, Wilson, Hall, Davies, Harris, Robinson, Green, Hill, Thompson, Evans, Jackson and Johnson in that order.

Since the RE were drawn from all over the country it should be a good example.

Brian.

[JMB1943]

On 12/08/2023 at 13:34, michaeldr said:

I'm not sure how this chap fits in, but he's certainly worth a mention
J. H. Levey – Private in the Scots Guards; served in South Africa; began WWI as a Sergeant Major 3rd Scots Guards; then quickly commissioned into Gordon Highlanders
Ended the war as Lieutenant Colonel, awarded the DSO and Mentioned in Despatches
see also https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/7822/1/Deeks17PhD.pdf 

Michael,

Thanks for bringing him to my attention.

He certainly was a high-flyer!!!

Regards,

JMB

[JMB1943]

20 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

1.  From 1916 if you mean on a large scale.  Casualties had already been high at Loos and Arras, but the Somme of 1st July 1916 was cataclysmic and it was realised that drastic measures were needed if a constant supply of battle casualty replacements was to be achieved.  There was no single measure to solve the problem and a range of things were done.  This included:

a.  Making the officer training more efficient by standardising its syllabus and organising proper officer battalions across Britain and Ireland.

b.  Optimising and enhancing the systematic output from the already well established public schools and university cadet corps.

c.  Identifying men from the ranks who were suitable for commissioning, in particular the middle-class men who had flocked to the colours in the first year+ of the war at Lord Kitchener’s urging, plus the better educated men in TF units such as the London Regiment.

2.  Yes, the socially elite KRRC and RB commissioned experienced WOs and NCOs as both, quartermasters and in other emergency and temporary commissions, plus they received a share of those mentioned at c. above.

The Foot Guards also commissioned the first category mentioned for KRRC/RB, but initially were much more reluctant to take any share of those mentioned in c.  This was because the Brigade of Guards continued to support the Royal Palaces, as required, throughout the war, conducted a diminished form of public duties (essential levees, etc.), as well as providing the usual officers to act as equerries to the senior members of the Royal Family, and maintaining routine court etiquette and protocols (audiences and awards ceremonies, etc.).  They felt that this required men of a certain minimum social standing and education.  However, by 1918 even they were struggling to maintain officer replacements and there was some degree of managed adjustment to try and improve matters via careful selection and less out-of-hand rejection.

 

Frogsmile,

Thanks for reminding me of the nuances of the royal duties of the Foot Guards.

Thanks also for breaking down the response into parts A, B and C, which were similar but different I think.

Regards,

JMB

[JMB1943]

20 hours ago, kenf48 said:

1) The shortage of officers in the British Army was recognised as early as January 1915 as a consequence of attrition in battle and expansion at home.  A four week course was introduced for NCOs and other ranks recommended by their Commanding Officer for a temporary commission.

This system was not sustainable and in February 1916 the selection and training of junior officers was organised through the Officer Cadet Battalions. Men selected had to have served in the ranks or an OTC, with some exceptions for specialist qualifications.See

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/training-to-be-a-soldier/officer-training-in-the-british-army-of-1914-1918/

New Army Battalions were, in the main commanded by a cadre of regular officers drawn from various sources. Though even these began to run out as more and more battalions were raised.  There was no shortage of junior officers from the OTC,  between August 1914 and March 1915 20,577 members or former members of the OTC were commissioned.  In locally raised battalions Company commanders and other junior officers were often  appointed from the professional and managerial classes.  These men had, in the main attended university, public schools, or grammar schools.  Their appointment had to be approved by the War Office but local recommendations usually prevailed.

2) Yes, after the creation of the Officer Cadet Battalions the majority of junior officers came from the ranks.  Whilst the reaction to the social class of officers post 1916 was not without controversy but the Commanding Officers, especially in socially elite Battalions would endeavour to maintain standards.

 

 

 

 

 

kenf48,

Thanks for providing further detail on the sources of new officer candidates.

I have read somewhere that candidates for the Guards were advised/required to have a private income of 200-400 per annum to be able to pay their mess bills etc.

That, even in a front-line unit, must have proved challenging for practically all men commissioned from the ranks.

Regards,

JMB

[JMB1943]

19 hours ago, PRC said:

And a lot of them come from place names or imply a "son of", (Johnson \ Harrison \ Watson, etc), a personal attribute, (Long \ Short \ Armstrong, etc) so you will always be looking at just a subset.

Much of the British nobility was the nouveau riche of the medieval period who had built their fortune through trade, not pillage & patronage, and this was reflected in their names. So seeing someone is called FitzHerbert and assuming they are of high social standing may ignore they have fallen from grace, (four MiCs for Fitzherberts who served in the ranks only, while amongst the officers as well as the Indian Army Officers there were Australians and Canadians as well - who were much less pre-occupied with social standing).

There was also a fad for double barrel surnames in late Victorian England in all but the lower working classes.

Meanwhile a look at the Regular Army Officers of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps from the August 1914 British Army Monthly List - surely the last word in pre-war soldiering, shows Barber's, Hunter's, Butler's, and Barker's. https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/103632338

To my mind a false premise - British surnames in the main can have originated 800/900 years before the Great War and so have little to say about the occupation of the family of the officer class in August 1914. Were they drawn from a small social elite, not always necessarily monied but certainly well-connected - well I think that is pretty self-evident. An indepth biographical analysis of the officers of the 2nd Royal Sussex Regiment from August 1914 through the Great War period would probably give you more insight into how much social mobility is at play than getting bogged down in names. Get the methodology of that right and you should end up with something that can be applied to other units.

From the start of the war as the New Service Battalions and the Second and Third Line TF Battalions came into being. Just as in pre-war units these new battalions needed quartermasters and transport officers as well as command and company officers. Promoting older SNCO's into Honorary Commissions as a Quartermaster was a well worn path, so this was just formalised. It also lessened the need for such vital support roles to be learned on the job by someone new to the Army. So a specific kind of shortage but indicative that it was a concern that was only likely to spread as attrition took it's toll.

But to be promoted from the ranks required your commanding officers approval - and for commanding officer the loss of a good NCO with experience with no guarantee you would get him back as an officer must at times have been a difficult choice.

What I have seen from early 1916 is the records office seems to have become more pro-active in the process. They started sending out a list of the NCO's they have recorded for the unit and asking the Commanding Officer to come up with reasons why Sergeants and above shouldn't be considered for a commission. For Corporals and Lance Corporals they would be asking how far away from being considered for a commission were they - the assumption presumably being that they would be stepping up to replace the SNCO's and so a future date needed to be set for that question of commissioning to be asked again.

Cheers,
Peter

PRC,

A lot of food for thought here!

However, a subset of names that are specifically associated with an occupation is exactly suited to my purpose; there is no way, for me, of knowing which end of the social ladder any given place name is associated with. My intent here is a surgical, statistical strike into the stated question: Is there a "difference" between surnames of the (Regular Army) Officer Corps and the rank-and-file. That is the reason for my question regarding the beginning of the issue of commissions to OR's.; I don't want butcher/baker/candle-stick maker etc post-1916 to bias the numbers.

Regards,

JMB

[JMB1943]

18 hours ago, oxlade134 said:

I think my own WW1 study of the one name Blencowe is relevant to this post.

I have studied the 400  plus male and female members of this family who served in WW1 with various spellings Blencowe Blencow Blencoe Blinco Blincoe Blinko (my own) and more.  The evidence is this that the Blencowe surname , the initial name of the Cumberland landlords (Norman descent) was preserved very much in the upper classes in places like Marston St Lawrence, Cheshire, London and Brighton etc and they are typically if they serve with the British Army Officer class. The names like my own that were day labourers etc in the 19th century are in the ranks mostly with one or two exceptions . One such exception is Fred Blincowe from Banbury but he was already a practising lawyer and future mayor so upwardly mobile.

Blincowe

Frederick William MC

1890

Grimsbury, Northants

Sergeant, 2nd Lieutenant

P/4006

17th (Reserve) Bn. Rifle Brigade 8th East Surrey Regiment

 

The rule seems to be amongst the American, Canada and Australia Blencowes was recruitment on education attainment, and promotion on merit . See below two such examples . There is no doubt in my mind for example, Alf Blinko born Enfield but emigrated to Canada, despite his heroics in the war would probably not been given a commission in the British Army.  

My sample size is reasonably large enough at 400 to say that the British Officer class did not want or trust leadership to "people of the wrong type"  My study of woman nurses in this same study also shows that only Britain insisted that even Nurses had to "be from the right family and single"  This thinking is of course nonsense and the reason American, Canadian and Australia leadership was so admired eventually.

oxlade134,

Thanks for presenting the results of your own family-name study.

Very interesting that it indicates that the land-owning, monied and educated "Blencowes" were able to maintain the correct spelling, whilst the poorer, uneducated day labourers were not. It does show the power that literacy provides/provided to the working class in England following the Compulsory Education act of 18XX.

I take your point regarding "nurses of the right family....." being the exact parallel for the officers.

Regards,

JMB

[JMB1943]

2 hours ago, brianmorris547 said:

My 1916 index of Royal Engineers other ranks that I compiled from the Times Official Casualty Lists (wounded, shock shell and gas) and names mentioned in War Diaries shows the most common names to be:

Smith - by a mile from Jones - by another mile from Williams, Brown, Taylor, Wilson, Hall, Davies, Harris, Robinson, Green, Hill, Thompson, Evans, Jackson and Johnson in that order.

Since the RE were drawn from all over the country it should be a good example.

Brian.

Brian,

Isn't it amazing what a variety of databases that the GWF members have stored away!!!

I had been wondering how I was going to define statistical equivalency, short of ploughing through the GWCG records.

Would you be able to EASILY put numbers to each of your surnames above (not any lesser surnames) and to the total of RE's in the database?

That would allow me to calculate some %-numbers.

If it would be a pain, just say so, I totally understand, and will have at it with the CWGC database.

Either way, many thanks for posting this.

Regards,

JMB

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

32 minutes ago, JMB1943 said:

the Compulsory Education act of 18XX

The Elementary Education Act 1870.

[JMB1943]

32 minutes ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

The Elementary Education Act 1870.

Thank you, sir!

Regards,

JMB

[FROGSMILE]

2 hours ago, JMB1943 said:

JMBThanks also for breaking down the response into parts A, B and C, which were similar but different I think.

Regards,

JMB

I’m not sure exactly what you mean by that JMB, it’s just three aspects of my answer to your question 1.

Edited 13 August , 2023 by FROGSMILE

[brianmorris547]

10 hours ago, JMB1943 said:

 

Would you be able to EASILY put numbers to each of your surnames above (not any lesser surnames) and to the total of RE's in the database?

That would allow me to calculate some %-numbers.

 

JMB

There are 16, 512 names on my 1916 RE index, none are the same man. They are broken down as follows:

Names under A 511, B 1757, C 1385, D 729, E 317, F 595, G 789, H 1539, I 64, J 492, K 355, L 697, M 1444, N 269, O 183, P 861, Q 28, R 826, S 1431, T 694, U 36, V 92, W 1344, X 0, Y 73 and Z 1.

The most common in order are:

Smith 256, Jones 164, Williams 108, Brown 104, Taylor 88, Wilson 86, Hall 77, Davies 70, Harris 64, Robinson 62, Green 56, Hill 55, Thompson 54, Evans 53, Jackson 53, Johnson 52, Thomas 49, Morris 48, Clarke 48, Martin 47, Roberts 47, Wright 47, Mitchell 46, Turner 46, Clark 46, Cooper 45, King 45, Harrison 44, Scott 44, Walker 44, Hughes 43, Lewis 43, Young 43, White 42, Campbell 41 and Wood 40.

It would be intersting to compare with other data bases.

Plenty of stats for you to take into your rabbit hole.

Brian

[oxlade134]

On 13/08/2023 at 02:30, JMB1943 said:

I wondered the other day if the pre-Great War social distinctions could be discerned in the surnames of career officers and OR's in a battalion being "different".

There are two bases for this conjecture,

1) Officers in the British Army were only commissioned from a select list of public schools (i.e., private, fee-paying schools).

2) Many common surnames in England are derived from occupation/trade (archer/butcher/baker.......Smith etc).

My premise is that given that officers were gentlemen, they had no occupation; given that OR's were not gentlemen they assuredly had a previous occupation.

Based on this premise, I would expect to see the occupation/trade surnames statistically UNDER-represented in the Officer Corps, but at statistically expected levels amongst the OR's.

Given my very average general knowledge of history and of the British aristocracy, I would expect the officer corps to be statistically OVER-represented with surnames of the following type,

Fitz-.......  Norman, for ******* son of

De or de La....... French (as in Peter de la Bailliere) chivalry

Hyphenated surnames  (also an indicator of bastardy???)

Title (The Honorable/ Sir/ Lord etc)

and vice versa for the OR's.

The only regiment for which I have any ready access to names is an infantry county regiment, the 2nd Bn. Royal Sussex Regt., not a socially-elite unit such as the Rifle Brigade or the KRRC.

My premise may or may not prove true for 2 RSR, so I hope at some point to follow this up the social scale to RB, KRRC etc. and eventually the Guards.

Before I actually start to disappear down this particular rabbit-hole, I do have some questions to ask,

1) when did the officer shortage cause OR's to be commissioned as officers?

2) did units such as RB/KRRC/Guards EVER commission OR'S

Regards,

JMB

 

 

 

Another interesting Database given you enquiry

The website Lives of WW1 at Imperial war Museum has a database of all recipients of the Military Cross  link https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/community/1685  

It has a CSV export function and I quickly exported this database to Excel and filtered surnames for a unique list of  Surnames. These are all Officer class as determined by the award as I understand it so its interesting to peruse this list 

BrownAttewell
Backhouse
Ekin
Hayes
Goodford
Barnett
Ancrum
Summers
Turner
Wright
Curtis
Wylie
Stevenson
Kennard
Smith Masters
Allen
Allan
Balls
Boundy
Anderson
Angel
Onslow
Limbery
Parry
Holland
Moor
Price
Ransome
Miles,
North
Longley
Ball Jp
Pridmore
Wilberforce
Balme
Webb
Page
Benson
Bishop
Mannock
Lawson Johnston
Wilsey
Powell
Linton
Abercrombie
Warman
Gammell
Hoidge
Eglington
Betts
Abbott
Bremner
Gorell Barnes
Nunneley
Danby
Mann
Clark
Jago
Campbell
Clifton
Coldicott
Abinger
Traylen
Monson
West
Vanner
Plumptre
Harris
Watson
Huntriss
Aitchison
Morley
Taylor
Momber
Harbord
Atkinson
Todd
Awbery
Roberts
Doust
Davenport
Smith
Town
Montagnon
Bernstein
Hassard
Bennett
Tilly
Oliphant
St. Aubyn
Marshall
Persse
Treadwell
Easterbrook
Bezuidenhout
Gunn
Farquhar
Murphy
Mallam
Nee Crump
Thorpe
Boucher
Warne-Smith
Hutchison
Le Mesurier
Clephan
Neilson
Tisdall
Howell-Price
Thurber
Bermingham
Atock
Addison
Adam
Roper
Plant
Swinton
Bosanquet
Rerrie
Beattie
Parks
Parker
Devereux
Beaumont-Nesbitt
Leacroft
Paddison
Worrall
Macrae
Bemrose
Clayton
Ainsworth
Tod
Duguid
Hodgson
Bell
Earl Of Airlie
Kermode
Carswell
Bolton
Rogers
Wanklyn
Risk
Morton
Pritchard
Tombazis
Nee Wigan
Stiebel
Carrington
Schon
Mcarthur
Wilson
Saunders
Shephard
Hoyle
Banks
Baynes
Godsall
Houston
Rumbold
Murray
Bird
Haig
Mcdonald
Fraser
Bentley
Aizlewood
Woodward
Jerwood
Bateman
Beak
Owen
Damon
Hargest
Clayson
Falconer
Burnell
Peters
Adams
Lee
Young
Marlow
Hardy
Howard-Hamilton
Menzies
Daniels
Wooster
Buttrey
Beveridge
Bothwell, J.p.
Kennedy
Bimrose
Morris
Acworth
Ogilvy
Lamerton
Krog
Thorndike
Eberlin
Evershed
Mead
Hill
Belgrave
Walter
Porter
Bagnall
Vickers
Fink
Skene
Holden
Settle
Barlow
Galwey
Garstin
Scratton
Ferguson
Harland
Ward
Duigan
Warr
Mansergh
Somers-Smith
Andrews
Dunbar
Bell-Irving
Cholmondeley
Guinness
Lendrum J.p. D.l
Pearson
Bradford
Ward-Jones
Stirzaker
Gielgud
Shepard
Lyttelton
Tidd
Bambridge
Simpson
Vigors
Dyer
Walford
Rider
Baxter
Adshead
Grant
Dakin
Peake
Jenkins
Casey
Willink
Sayer
Duncan
Rose
Merry
Gatrell
Heath
Macintosh
Yerxa
Worland
Yeadon
Stretton
Kilby
Hallowes
Turnbull
Viner
Worthington
Wortley
Somerset
Sproxton
Lowe
Tiffany
Trousdell
Beaumont
Robertson
Sullivan
Tonkin
Hopkins
Agelasto
Courtenay
Despicht
Toole
Hall
Youngs
Messervy
Arkless
Tancock
Mackinnon
Cater
Bice
Yarde
Cruikshank
Wilks
Miskin
Tosetti
Hamm
Moir
Lister
Armitage
Aked
Weston Underwood
Hanna
Maybery
Thorp
Moody
Laurie
Dorman
Lough
Alderson
Thornley
Lyon Hall
Gage
Workman
Beresford
Preston
Aerts
Gaussen
Graveney
Molyneux
Alcock
Bence-Trower
May
Lavars
Brewis
Cross
Aitken
Leigh-Bennett
Waring
Lawson
Worth
Ainslie
Knatchbull-Huggessen
Berridge
Blacker-Douglass
Heron Dl
Ackerman
Weekes
Thurnhill
Cook
Nee Hoste
Edghill
Talbot
Lowcock
Rendall
Barsham
Hay
Belley
Bray
Huxley
Kinnaird
Beatson
Mackay
Black
Harvie
Airey
Heagerty
Reid Or Stuart
Mccudden
Dumbleton
Turk
Chichester
Aymer
Blackburne
Barton
Travers
Allenby, Viscount Allenby Of Megiddo
Algeo
Berry
Minns
Higgins
Jones
Acton
O'kelly
Breeden
Hendry
Eden
Pask
Tyler
Jenkyn
Nicholson
Congreve
Mott
Peel
Dix
Despard
Campbell-Martin
Nee Campbell
Green
Whitworth
Pope
Duff
Weston
Swift
Hulme
Walthew
Buchanan
Innes
Ferrie
Horner
Lowry
Farquharson-Roberts
Tattersfield
Titley
Johnson
Maxwell
Nee Sears
Macdonald
Wells
Quigley
Sparling
Adam,
Gladstone
Hardyman
Montgomerie
Elstob
Gallwey
Reece
Abel
Lewis
Agnew
Densham
Paton
Aglionby
Dearden
Fawcett
Stewart
Dowdall
Aston
Tayler
Wistance
Thompson
Pocock
Blackburn
Bilsland
Fitzgerald
Ellis
Tower
Sumpter
Chase
Clinton
Ott
Clarke
Shepherd Bailey
Barrett
Keay
Barnes
Trevenen
Hipwell
Dold
Tilney,
Bradshaw
Powers
Soames
Macwhinnie
Clancey
Donahoo
Wolfe-Murray
Henderson
Minnis
Edwards
Hardinge
Cressall
Cuckow
Kerr
Harradon
Hatt
Sells
Currie
Harrison
Jerwood.
Borthwick
Valintine
Tyson
Nichol
Thomson
Lloyd

 

 

[oxlade134]

I should have pointed out that this list appears incomplete and so is only indicative of those awarded MC's

[FROGSMILE]

The MC was an award for officers and warrant officers and weighted towards the younger in age and more junior in rank.  To focus on officers alone it would be necessary to look at the list of Distinguished Service Order recipients, but that is weighted more toward those of Field Rank. 

Edited 14 August , 2023 by FROGSMILE

[Michelle Young]

The Nee prefix suggests to me a married woman, Nee meaning their birth surname. 

[oxlade134]

23 minutes ago, Michelle Young said:

The Nee prefix suggests to me a married woman, Nee meaning their birth surname. 

Correct Michele this is a mother and my previous list is a result of filtering the wrong column of the database, Sorry. Thank you for pointing this out here's the correct list of 476 unique surnames. They are mostly the same as I had filtered the parent nok column ie father in most cases

I should  also point out this database says Military Cross awards but there are DSO' in the data . As I speculated before I think this can only be a partial list that has been submitted to IWM and therefore can only be indicative of the surnames of mostly Officers 

     
Brown
Wallace
Attewell
Backhouse
Ekin
Hayes
Goodford
Barnett
Ancrum
Summers
Turner
Wright
Wrigley
Wylie
Stevenson
Kennard
Smith-Masters .
Allen
Allan
Balls
Boundy
Anderson
Angel
Onslow
Limbery
Parry
Holland
Moor
Price
Ransome,
Miles,
North,
Longley,
Ball,
Pridmore
Wilberforce
Balme,
Webb,
Page
Drummond,
Bishop,

Lawson Johnston,
Wilsey,
Powell
Linton,
Abercrombie,
Warman,
Gammell,
Hoidge,
Eglington
Betts,
Abbott,
Bremner,
Gorell-Barnes,
Nunneley,
Danby,
Mann,
Clark,
Jago,
Campbell,
Clifton,
Coldicott,
Abinger,
Traylen,
Monson,
West,
Vanner,
Plumptre,
Harris,
Watson,
Huntriss,
Aitchison,
Morley,
Taylor,
Momber,
Harbord,
Atkinson,
Todd,
Awbery,
Roberts,
Doust,
Davenport,
Smith,
Town,
Montagnon,
Bernstein,
Hassard,
Bennett,
Tilly,
Oliphant,
St. Aubyn,
Marshall,
Persse,
Treadwell,
Easterbrook,
Bezuidenhout,
Gunn,
Farquhar,
Murphy,
Mallam,
Caley,
Thorpe,
Boucher,
Warne-Smith,
Hutchison,
Le Mesurier,
Clephan,
Neilson,
Tisdall,
Howell-Price,
Thurber,
Bermingham,
Atock,
Addison,
Adam,
Roper,
Plant,
Swinton,
Bosanquet,
Rerrie,
Beattie,
Parks,
Parker,
Devereux,
Beaumont-Nesbitt,
Leacroft,
Paddison,
Worrall,
Macrae,
Bemrose,

Ainsworth,
Tod,
Duguid,
Hodgson,
Bell,
Ogilvy,
Kermode,
Carswell,
Hay,
Rogers,
Wanklyn,
Risk,
Hesketh,
Pritchard,
Tombazis,
Butterworth
Stiebel,
Carrington,
Shone
Mcarthur,
Wilson,
Saunders,
Shephard,
Hoyle
Banks
Baynes,
Godsal,
Houston
Rumbold,
Campigli,
Bird,
Haig,
Tupper,
Fraser,
Bentley,
Aizlewood,
Adams,
Jerwood,
Bateman,
Beak,
Owen,
Damon,
Hargest O.b.e.,
Clayson
Falconer
May,
Peters,
Adams,
Lee,
Young,
Marlow,
Hardy,
Metcalfe,
Menzies,
Daniels,
Wooster
Birds,
Beveridge,
Bothwell,
Studdert Kennedy,
Bimrose, M. C.
Morris
Acworth,
Ogilvy,
Lamerton
Krog,
Thorndike,
Eberlin
Evershed,
Mead,
Hill,
Belgrave,
Walter,
Porter,
Bagnall,
Vickers,
Fink,
Skene,
Holden,
Settle,
Barlow,
Galwey,
Garstin,
Scratton,
Ferguson,
Harland
Ward,
Duigan,
Warr,
Mansergh,
Somers-Smith,
Bradford,
Dunbar
Bell-Irving,
Cholmondeley,
Guinness,
Vesey,
Jacoby,
Bradford,
Jones,
Stirzaker,
Gielgud,
Shepard,
Lyttelton,
Tidd,
Bambridge,
Simpson
Vigors
Dyer,
Walford,
Rider
Baxter
Adshead
Grant
Dakin
Bell
Jenkins
Casey
Willink
Sayer
Duncan.
Rose
Merry
Gatrell
Heath
Macintosh
Yerxa
Worland
Yeadon
Stretton
Kilby
Hallowes
Turnbull
Viner
Worthington
Wortley
Somerset
Sproxton
Lowe
Tiffany
Trousdell
Beaumont,
Robertson,
Sullivan,
Tonkin,
Hopkins,
Agelasto,
Courtenay,
Despicht,
Toole,
Hall,
Youngs,
Messervy,
Arkless,
Tancock,
Mackinnon,
Cater,
Bice,
Yarde,
Cruikshank,
Wilks,
Miskin,
Tosetti,
Hamm,
Moir,
Lister,
Armitage,
Aked,
Underwood,
Hanna,
Maybery,
Thorp,
Moody,
Laurie,
Dorman,
Thomson,
Alderson,
Thornley,
Hall,
Gage,
Workman,
Beresford,
Preston,
Aerts,
Gaussen,
Turner,
Molyneux,
Alcock,
Bence-Trower,
May,
Lavers,
Brewis,
Cross,
Aitken,
Leigh-Bennett,
Waring,
Lawson,
Worth,
Ainslie,
Knatchbull-Hugessen,
Berridge,
Blacker-Douglass,
Heron,
Ackerman,
Weekes,
Thurnhill,
Cook,
Stirling,
Edghill,
Talbot,
Lowcock,
Rendall,
Traill,
Hay,
Belley,
Bray,
Huxley,
Kinnaird,
Beatson,
Mackay,
Black
Harvie,
Airey,
Heagerty,
Stuart,
Mccudden,
Holmes,
Turk,
Chichester,
Aymer,
Blackburne,
Barton,
Travers.
Allenby
Algeo.
Berry,
Minns,
Higgins
Essex,
Acton,
O'kelly,
Breeden,
Hendry,
Eden,
Pask,
Blunden,
Jenkyn
Nicholson,
Congreve
Mott
Peel,
Dix,
Despard,
Campbell-Martin,
Acklom,
Green,
Whitworth,
Pope
Duff,
Weston,
Swift,
Hulme,
Walthew,
Buchanan,
Innes,
Ferrie,
Horner,
Lowry,
Farquharson-Roberts,
Paterson,
Titley,
Johnson,
Maxwell,
Tuffley,
Macdonald,
Wells,
Quigley,
Sparling,
Adam,
Gladstone
Hardyman,
Montgomerie
Elstob
Oxenden,
Reece,
Abel,
Lewis
Agnew,
Densham,
Paton,
Aglionby,
Dearden,
Fawcett,
Stewart,
Dowdall,
Aston
Tayler,
Wistance,
Aitken,
Pocock,
Blackburn,
Bilsland,
Fitzgerald,
Ellis,
Tower,
Sumpter,
Chase,
Keen,
Ott,
Clarke,
Bailey,
Barrett,
Keay,
Barnes,
Trevenen
Hipwell,
Dold,
Tilney,
Bradshaw,
Powers,
Soames,
Macwhinnie,
Clancey,
Donahoo,
Wolfe-Murray,
Henderson,
Minnis,
Edwards,
Hardinge
Cressall,
Anderton,
Kerr,
Havelock-Sutton,
Hatt,
Sells,
Currie
Harrison,
Jerwood,
Bathurst,
Valintine, Mid
Tyson
Nichol,
Thomson
Lloyd,

[JMB1943]

oxlade134,

Apparently about 37,000 MC’s were awarded during the Great War, so I shall have to take your listing of 476 under advisement, i.e., tucked away in the recesses of the rabbit hole until if/when needed.

Thanks for bringing your listing to our attention, and I hope that you did not have to type out all of those names.

Regards,

JMB

[JMB1943]

11 hours ago, brianmorris547 said:

JMB

There are 16, 512 names on my 1916 RE index, none are the same man. They are broken down as follows:

Names under A 511, B 1757, C 1385, D 729, E 317, F 595, G 789, H 1539, I 64, J 492, K 355, L 697, M 1444, N 269, O 183, P 861, Q 28, R 826, S 1431, T 694, U 36, V 92, W 1344, X 0, Y 73 and Z 1.

The most common in order are:

Smith 256, Jones 164, Williams 108, Brown 104, Taylor 88, Wilson 86, Hall 77, Davies 70, Harris 64, Robinson 62, Green 56, Hill 55, Thompson 54, Evans 53, Jackson 53, Johnson 52, Thomas 49, Morris 48, Clarke 48, Martin 47, Roberts 47, Wright 47, Mitchell 46, Turner 46, Clark 46, Cooper 45, King 45, Harrison 44, Scott 44, Walker 44, Hughes 43, Lewis 43, Young 43, White 42, Campbell 41 and Wood 40.

It would be intersting to compare with other data bases.

Plenty of stats for you to take into your rabbit hole.

Brian

Brian,

Many thanks for digging out those numbers for me.

Were those the RE OR’s casualties summed to 1916, or as I suspect casualties of 1916 alone?

That was quite the monumental job, extracting those names from The Times.

Those numbers WILL be taken down the rabbit hole to feed me over the coming winter months.

Regards,

JMB

[brianmorris547]

JMB

I was researching my RE grandfather who I knew was wounded in 1916. The names are from the Times OCL January to December 1916, wounded, shock-shell and gas only. I found him in the Times 11/10/1916 but wanted to be sure that he was not named twice. I went through the 1916 RE War Diaries (He has no 1914-15 Star). This included trips to Kew to read the Army Troops, Tunnelling and Special Companies papers. Any other ranks named are on the index.

My index is 1916 only. I checked all the service numbers on FMP and this turned up a number of RE casualty Lists in the H, HA and HB lists and I posted them on the Casualty Lists thread. They are not included on my index.

The War Diary of the Commander RE 14 Division for December 1915 has nominal rolls but I did not include these names either. 

Brian