Gnr. Francis Leonard

[Patrick J. Clarke]

I have been asked to see if any of you skilled researchers of soldiers could trace this Mayo (possibly Ballina) soldier who was attested on 3rd February, 1897, and  served as Gunner wth the tag S.A./969 in the Sligo R.G.A. I've told the person who asked that he possibly was in the Boer War in South Africa. Can you help. Thanks. P. J. Clarke

[David Porter]

This request is not related to the Great War so is off topic. There is a service record for this man available on Findmypast, but only to say he joined the Regular Army the day after enlisting in Sligo RGA. Therefore, this is not the right Forum to ask. 

[Patrick J. Clarke]

Thank you my friend for this. Best wishes to you and other researchers. PJC

[Bob Davies]

Just now, Patrick J. Clarke said:

Thank you my friend for this. Best wishes to you and other researchers. PJC

Doing some quick maths, he could potentially have rejoined in 1914 or later, only aged 35.

I will have a look.

[Patrick J. Clarke]

I understand he fought in the Great War and was demobbed or? in 1920.

[Bob Davies]

2 hours ago, Patrick J. Clarke said:

I understand he fought in the Great War and was demobbed or? in 1920.

From Ancestry I can give you from the 1911 India cencus A slight edit here he is also on the ships cencus. HMT Rewa, Southampton.

So possibly on route from India, rather than at Southampton.

The name dates and places match;

Name	Francis Leonard
Age in 1911	33
Estimated Birth Year	abt 1878
Birth Place	Ballina, Mayo, Ireland
County/Island	Military
Country	England
Rank	Sergeant
Military Unit	No 1 M B R G A (No 1 mountain battery RGA)
Registration District Number	641
ED, institution, or vessel	India
	34981 The address just says '1 mountain battery RGA' The previous and next batteries have an address of, Alexander Barracks, West Ridge, Rawl Pindi, India. This sergeant Francis Leonard is listed as absent as he is on a ship bound for England. I have not been able to link him any further, maybe others will have more luck? Regards, Bob.

Edited 21 November , 2023 by Bob Davies
To add abit.

[PRC]

The Francis Leonard who enlisted in the Militia Royal Sligo Artillery on the 3^rd Februay 1897 at Sligo gave his birthplace as Backs, near Ballina, County Mayo. He was then residing in the same parish and had done so for at least twelve months. His age was stated to be 19 years. He worked as a Labourer, his last employer being a Mr Francis Burledge(?) of Ballina.

He was recorded as 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a fair complexion, grey eyes and dark brown hair. He had no distinctive marks, however he does not appear to have had a formal medical examination. Oddly his religion isn’t recorded either.

There is an address of John Street, Ballina written on the back of one of the pages without any explanation. On the 1901 Census of Ireland there is a “Lenord” family recorded living at John Street, Ballina. The household was headed up by a John Lenord, a 36 year old married Roman Catholic and Carpenter born County Mayo. Living with him is his 25 year old wife, Sidney (?), their two children May, (3) and Patrick J., (aged 1) – all born County Mayo, a 20 year old boarder who was also an apprentice carpenter, and a live in Domestic Servant.

As already noted Francis joined the Regular Army Royal Artillery at Sligo the next day.

The standard short enlistment in the Regular Army was 12 years, and I believe for Artillerymen at that time the standard split offered was 7 years in the colours and 5 in the reserves. The alternative was a 21 year long service, all in the colours.

The 1911 Census of India must be different from the 1911 Census of England & Wales – the latter taken on the 2^nd April 1911 when a Sergeant Frank Leonard, Royal Garrison Artillery, aged 33 and born Ballina, County Mayo, was recorded in some sort of mixed army facility – later entries on the page, (not included in the area cropped), featured infantrymen and cavalrymen.

Image courtesy Genes Reunited.

Elsewhere at the same facility appears to be the whole of the 3^rd Mountain Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery.

Looking at those other Royal Garrison Artillery men recorded with Francis Leonard:-

Battery A M? Sergeant Edwin Reader, aged 38, born Northampton. The only MiC I could find was for a Bombardier then Serjeant. Service number was 45743.Has surviving discharge records, indexed on FMP as born Sheffield c1881 so looks like a different man.

Sergeant Tom Aleck Savage, aged 29 and born Birmingham. There is a MiC for 3028 Company Sergant Major Tom Alexander Savage, Royal Artillery Staff who was commissioned 2^nd Lieutenant on the 12^th January 1915, landed Egypt on the 19^th June 1918, reaching the rank of Captain. He died on the 26^th June 1919. The back of the MiC on Ancestry is blank. On his CWGC webpage he is identified serving with the Ammunition Column, 10th Indian Mountain Artillery Brigade, Royal Garrison Artillery. Son of Robert and Henrietta Savage, of 9, Margaret Grove, Harborne, Birmingham; husband of Madeleine L. V. Savage, of 36, Thorold Rd., Chatham.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/111106/tom-alexander-savage/

Sergeant Christopher Fairclough, aged 31 and born Drogheda, County Meath. There is a Meritorious Service Medal Award for a 99935 Battery Serjeant Major Christopher Fairclough for service at Salonika. It appeared in the Peace Gazette Supplement. The card originally also showed him as Acting Regimental Serjeant Major but this has been crossed through. His Service Medal MiC shows him as Warrant Officer Class 1 and that he first landed in France on the 9^th December 1914. Has surviving discharge records.

(At the top of the page) Sergeant Alfred George Castledine, aged 30, born Swanscome, Kent. There is a MiC for SR/3343 Serjeant Alfred G. Castledine, (Roll has middle name as George), who was subsequently 278343 Warrant Officer Class 2. He first landed in France on the 31^st May 1915 and was discharged to Class Z 19^th August 1919. Has surviving service records indexed on FMP as dating to 1914, but record him as born Swanscombe, Kent c1881. I suspect he was time expired and re-enlisted – hence the Special Reservist prefix on his first service number. May contain his older service record.

Which leaves us potentially looking at a MiC for a Second Lieutenant Francis Leonard, No.8 Mountain Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery. His first Theatre of War is shown as India 1915 – so likely to be one of the border conflicts. The card is noted that he deceased 4^th July 1915. By the time his widow applied for his medals, date unknown) she had remarried and was living at 19 Watts Road, Studley, Warwickshire. She is possibly a Mrs A. Fearey?

 

Image courtesy Ancestry (free account)

He is buried at Peshawar and remembered on the Delhi Memorial There is no additional family information on his CWGC webpage. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1437432/f-leonard/

No obvious entry in the UK Probate Calendar.

The 1911 Census of England & Wales had shown Francis as a single man.

May be a co-incidence but in the October to December quarter, (Q4), of 1920, an Amy Leonard married a Richard H. Feasey in the Woodstock District of Oxfordshire. On the 1921 Census of England & Wales it looks like the couple were recorded in the Studley District. No-one else is recorded living with them.

There is a marriage of a Francis Leonard to an Amy Swithenbank recorded in the Manchester District in Q3 1913. However there is a marriage of a Francis Leonard recorded in the Woodstock District in Q2 1911 – it’s not certain but possible he married an Amy Sykes.

Hope that helps,
Peter

[Bob Davies]

10 hours ago, PRC said:

The 1911 Census of India must be different from the 1911 Census of England & Wales – the latter taken on the 2^nd April 1911 when a Sergeant Frank Leonard, Royal Garrison Artillery, aged 33 and born Ballina, County Mayo, was recorded in some sort of mixed army facility – later entries on the page, (not included in the area cropped), featured infantrymen and cavalrymen.

This is also the census I found Peter.

From what I can work out is that all these mixed units are on a ship probably between India and England.

HMT Rewa, Southampton.

See my post above.

I am not able to copy and paste the document or screen shot it so you can all view it.

Edit try this;

 

 

 

Edited 22 November , 2023 by Bob Davies
to add some

[PRC]

3 hours ago, Bob Davies said:

This is also the census I found Peter.

From what I can work out is that all these mixed units are on a ship probably between India and England.

HMT Rewa, Southampton.

Thanks Bob.

Genes Reunited doesn't have a filmstrip option so I have to go through one page at a time, and the transcription for Francis just shows Royal Navy at Sea and in Ports Aboard. There is no indication of which unit he was serving with, other than Royal Garrison Artillery, and as the entries on the page are jumbled up, nothing can be inferred - part of which made me wonder if you were looking at a different source. I went back through about 10 of those 14 page Military institution returns hoping to reach a cover sheet before I gave in and gave up

About half those returns looked at were wives and children, and as a number of the children seemed to have been born in the UK to my casual glance, if they were at sea then I was beginning to wonder if they were heading out rather than back.

FamilySearch and therefore FindMyPast show the location as Southampton! https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7J7-ZGR

One of those 14 page military returns as already mentioned appears to be all those serving with 3rd Mountain Battery. Harts Annual Army list for 1911 has that Battery starting the year at Khyra Gali. The 1912 List has them starting the year at Cairo. So looks like if it was His Majestys Hired Transport Ship Rewa then still in the Indian Ocean \ Red Sea \ Suez Canal.

Looking at the British Newspaper Archive there is a report in the edition of The Englishman's Overland Mail dated Thursday 06 April 1911 that the REWA sailed from Karachi on the 31st March 1911 with a number of officers, their families and troops belonging to the various divisions and brigades serving in Northern India. Most of those travelling had arrived by special trains the day before.

One of the small column fillers in the edition of The Times dated Monday April 10th 1911 reads "The transport REWA landed at Suez on Saturday No.3 Battery, R.G.A., Mountain Division, and one Indian mountain battery. Both are proceeding to Cairo."

And the Lloyds reports that appeared in The Times dated Thursday April 13th 1911 has the REWA passing Malta on the previous day. There was an update in The Times dated Monday April 17th that the REWA had passed Gibraltar on Saturday.

The Army and Navy Gazette dated Saturday 08 April 1911 has the REWA scheduled to arrive at Southampton from Karachi on Thursday, April 20th.

Which makes that potential Q2 1911 marriage in the Woodstock District of Oxfordshire worth considering as the woman who claimed the medals for Second Lieutenant Francis Leonard appears to have remarried in the same District in 1920.

Cross referring the GRO quarterly indexes of England & Wales shows that a Francis Leonard married either Ellen Smith, Ellen Russell or Amy Sykes. The other groom on the same page of the Woodstock civil district marriage register was a John W. Thrussell.

I've already mentioned that an Amy Leonard married a Richard H. Feasey in the Woodstock District in Q4 1920. The MiC for 2nd Lieutenant Francis Leonard shows his remarried widow as Mrs A. Feasey living at Studley, Warwickshire. On the 1921 Census of England & Wales there is a Richard Henry Feasey, born Studley, Warwickshire, c1884 who recorded in a household at Studley. The only other occupant is an Amy Feasey, born c1888 Deddington, Oxfordshire. More information will be available via subscription. The 1911 Census has a 22 year old unmarried Amy Sykes, a Domestic Servant born Deddington, Oxfordshire, who was recorded living with her parents at Satin Lane, Deddington. So Amy Sykes becomes Amy Leonard becomes Amy Feasey seems a definate possibility.

What we lack most now is something to connect the Great War era officer to the senior NCO on a Hired Transport ship in the Indian Ocean in 1911 to the Miltia recruit in 1897.

Cheers,
Peter

[Bob Davies]

4 hours ago, PRC said:

There is no indication of which unit he was serving with, other than Royal Garrison Artillery

Thanks for this Peter,

from the 1911 Indian Census it lists all the men, officers and ors.

Francis is definitely serving with the 1st Mountain Battery RGA.

He is single, age 33.

He and another sergeant, Christopher Fairclough, single, age 36,

  are on the list one above the other with their entries crossed out in red with the words 'on board HMT Rewar England'.

1st MB RGA are part of the 4th Rawalpindi Brigade, Rawalpindi, [Brigadier General Cox] 2nd Rawalpindi Division.

The previous list No 4 MB RGA, and the next list No 9 MB RGA,  have an address of,

Alexander Barracks,

West Ridge,

Rawl Pindi,

India.

So is Francis and others on their way home at the end of their service to retire?

Best of, Bob.

List below courtesy of https://web.archive.org/web/20090909172657/http://orbat.com/site/history/historical/india/army1914.html

4th Rawalpindi Brigade, Rawalpindi [Brigadier General Cox]

21 Lancers

5 Cavalry

4 KRRC

2 North Staffordshire

2 Rifle Brigade

35 Sikh

84 Punjabis

W Battery RHA

1, 6, 9 Mountain Batteries RGA

[PRC]

3 hours ago, Bob Davies said:

are on the list one above the other with their entries crossed out in red with the words 'on board HMT Rewar England'.

As you can see from the census page I've posted neither Leonard or Fairclough have entries that have been crossed through - so what I have is the entry on the Rewa and you have the entry from the Barracks at Rawalpindi as well. If the entries have been crossed through that is probably why the second entry isn't turning up on the likes of FindMyPast, familysearch and Genes Reunited.

3 hours ago, Bob Davies said:

So is Francis and others on their way home at the end of their service to retire?

Some of them will have been - looking at the four examples I cited above Edwin Reader doesn't obviously appear to have a Great War record, while I suspect Alfred George Casteldine was time expired by 1914, hence the Special Reservist service number on his MiC.

Not so sure about Francis. If he is the ex-militia man we had him enlisting in the Regular Army on the 4th February 1897. A 12 year short service enlistment, even if all of it had been spent in the colours, would have been up on the 3rd February 1909. Yes it might have extended a little bit of he had disciplinary issues, but then would he have made Sergeant and even potentially be commissioned? And while in an an emergency a man could be retained for up to 12 months overseas, in peacetime unless the soldier wanted to be discharged in country, the normal practice was to send them home 3 to 6 months before the time expired date - in my experience.

So he may have been coming pack on a posting or for extended UK leave, possibly with a view to getting married. He may even have planned to take his wife back out with him. Details may be in his long papers at Kew - interestingly they have been catalogued as covering the period 1897-1920 - combined with whats on the marriage certificate. (A copy of the certificate may even be in his officer file.). https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1077894

Cheers,
Peter

[Patrick J. Clarke]

Francis died from heat in a trench in India and is buried in Pershwar, Pakistan.