Randy Wells Posted 4 March Share Posted 4 March I have an 1895 Officers sword with the Presentation: Presented to Captain S. T. Ricketts - Devonshire Regiment by the Paignton Volunteers, 1914. I would appreciate any info on Ricketts or the Paignton Volunteers. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tawhiri Posted 5 March Share Posted 5 March Not seeing an obvious match for an S.T. Ricketts in either the active or retired lists in the 1914 Hart's Army List. Also not seeing anyone with those initials mentioned in the Gazette between 1880 and 1914, so it's all a bit of a mystery. Just to throw a curve ball your way, according to the 1911 England and Wales census, there was a 37-year old Seymour Thorne Ricketts visiting an address in Sidmouth, Devon, so not too far away from Paignton, Devon. According to the census he was born in Uraguay and his occupation was a clerk in holy orders, which is a bit hard to reconcile with being a Captain associated with the Devonshire Regiment. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XW99-CNQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Rayner Posted 5 March Share Posted 5 March From Fold 3 Army List 1916 Full Name Ricketts, S T Rank Name 2nd Lieutenant Rank (2nd) Temporary Captain Rank Date (2nd) 18 Apr 1916 Service British Army Primary Unit Devonshire Regiment Secondary Unit 3rd Battalion Archive Reference 1916 Army List Seniority Date 4 Mar 1915 Conflict Period World War I Served For United Kingdom Army List 1918 Full Name Ricketts, S T Nationality British Further Information v., Rank Name Lieutenant Service British Army Regiment Devonshire Regiment Battalion 5th (Prince of Wales's) Battalion (Territorial) Seniority Date 1 Jul 1917 Conflict Period World War I Served For United Kingdom George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 5 March Share Posted 5 March (edited) 10 hours ago, Randy Wells said: I have an 1895 Officers sword with the Presentation: Presented to Captain S. T. Ricketts - Devonshire Regiment by the Paignton Volunteers, 1914. I would appreciate any info on Ricketts or the Paignton Volunteers. Thanks I think George has found him for you. The Paignton Volunteers was local vernacular for the 4th Devonshire Battalion’s company based in the town of Paignton. It harked back to the old Rifle Volunteer Corps there that in the late 1880s became a Volunteer Battalion of the Devonshires and then following reforms in 1908 a Territorial Force Battalion. Such euphemisms were not unusual in local circles and media. See: 1.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exeter_and_South_Devon_Volunteers 2.https://www.devonheritage.org/Nonplace/DevonReg/ExeterSouthDevonVolunteerRifleCorps1..htm NB. The unit and its drill hall still exists and is now HQ Company of 6th Battalion The Rifles. Edited 5 March by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Upton Posted 5 March Share Posted 5 March https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29155/supplement/4397 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 5 March Share Posted 5 March (edited) I’ve looked at this again following Andrew’s useful posting from the London Gazette and the “Paignton Volunteers” of 1914 must actually refer to the Royal Field Artillery Territorial Force unit based there. Part of 4th Wessex Brigade, the 2nd Devonshire Battery had their headquarters at the Paignton Drill Hall plus two Drill Stations, at Torre and Dartmouth. Presumably Captain Ricketts either rendered them some signal service or was an officer there. Might he perhaps have been the father of Second Lieutenant Ricketts given the latter’s more junior rank in 1915. The unit’s Drill Hall was located in the then “Public Hall” of 1914 (subsequently the Palace Theatre), see photograph. The 4th Battalion Devonshire Regiment (Territorial Force) had sub units at drill stations in Brixham, Torquay (originally with a Paignton detachment) and Totnes. Edited 5 March by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tawhiri Posted 5 March Share Posted 5 March So I think the conclusion has to be that it is the same Seymour Thorne Ricketts who was a clerk in holy orders and visiting Paignton on the night of the 1911 England and Wales census. He was born in Montevideo, Uruguay on 25 February 1874, and was christened on 4 September 1875 in Shirley, Hampshire, the son of Theophilus Thorne Ricketts and Henrietta Castle Ricketts, maiden name Ayre. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NY4S-CMK https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP2Z-VT3X In the 1881 England and Wales census he is living with his parents and older siblings in Millbrook, Hampshire, with three of them also having been born in Montevideo, Uruguay. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q274-TTWK He is somewhat elusive in the 1891 and 1901 censuses, although the implication is that he was at Oxford in the early 1890's, where he makes several appearances in the Oxford University Gazette, when he was a student at Pembroke College. https://archive.org/details/oxforduniversity24univ/mode/2up?q=seymour+thorne+ricketts He was also an early car owner in Wiltshire in 1909. AM-1539 21 Dec. 1909-29 Dec. 1909. Seymour Thorne Ricketts, Sedgehill Rectory, Shaftesbury. 15hp Mass; two seated car, hood and screen, painted light green, yellow lines; 17cwt; private. From https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6229e984718e915edd91ce38/t/62e78db53ff27e01ecab4b0f/1659342274413/58low+res.pdf Post-war he appears to have married an Olga H C Russell in the last quarter of 1919, the marriage being registered in Chelsea. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:26KJ-8DP Finally the death of an 85-year old Seymour T Ricketts was registered in Surrey in 1959. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVCZ-L9TP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 5 March Share Posted 5 March 3 minutes ago, Tawhiri said: So I think the conclusion has to be that it is the same Seymour Thorne Ricketts who was a clerk in holy orders and visiting Paignton on the night of the 1911 England and Wales census. He was born in Montevideo, Uruguay on 25 February 1874, and was christened on 4 September 1875 in Shirley, Hampshire, the son of Theophilus Thorne Ricketts and Henrietta Castle Ricketts, maiden name Ayre. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NY4S-CMK https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP2Z-VT3X In the 1881 England and Wales census he is living with his parents and older siblings in Millbrook, Hampshire, with three of them also having been born in Montevideo, Uruguay. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q274-TTWK He is somewhat elusive in the 1891 and 1901 censuses, although the implication is that he was at Oxford in the early 1890's, where he makes several appearances in the Oxford University Gazette, when he was a student at Pembroke College. https://archive.org/details/oxforduniversity24univ/mode/2up?q=seymour+thorne+ricketts He was also an early car owner in Wiltshire in 1909. AM-1539 21 Dec. 1909-29 Dec. 1909. Seymour Thorne Ricketts, Sedgehill Rectory, Shaftesbury. 15hp Mass; two seated car, hood and screen, painted light green, yellow lines; 17cwt; private. From https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6229e984718e915edd91ce38/t/62e78db53ff27e01ecab4b0f/1659342274413/58low+res.pdf Post-war he appears to have married an Olga H C Russell in the last quarter of 1919, the marriage being registered in Chelsea. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:26KJ-8DP Finally the death of an 85-year old Seymour T Ricketts was registered in Surrey in 1959. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVCZ-L9TP Brilliant work Tawhiri, that certainly seems likely to be him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tawhiri Posted 5 March Share Posted 5 March (edited) He was promoted to temporary Lieutenant on 11 January 1916 and then relinquished it on 14 March 1916. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29476/supplement/1785 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29505/supplement/2779 He was subsequently appointed to the rank of temporary Captain on several occasions, including 18 April 1916, and 14 March 1917, while serving as Adjutant of a Volunteer Regiment Battalion, relinquishing the rank on at least one occasion on 12 April 1917. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29551/supplement/4013 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30179/supplement/6973 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30014/supplement/3469 It looks like he was also seconded to the Isle of Wight Volunteer Regiment on 10 April 1917. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30212/supplement/7875 Trying to make sense of the above sequence is confusing, but I wonder if he was temporary Captain while Adjutant of the Paignton Volunteers, then relinquished this rank with them when seconded to the Isle of Wight Volunteer Regiment, but as he was also Adjutant of the latter, he was restored to his temporary rank of Captain with them. Somebody better versed than me in the ins and outs of temporary promotions in the Army can probably figure it out. He was then promoted to Lieutenant on 1 July 1917, still seconded as above. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30405/supplement/12504 He seems to have finally been restored to the establishment of the 5th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment on 4 June 1919, while relinquishing his temporary rank of Captain yet again. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31496/supplement/10174 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31493/supplement/10071 I haven't managed to trace a resignation of his commission from the Devonshire Regiment. Edited 5 March by Tawhiri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Wells Posted 5 March Author Share Posted 5 March Thanks so much for the information on Capt Ricketts. It surpasses anything I could have hoped for. I am very happy to be able to put the story to the sword. Regards, Randy Wells Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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