Pte Joseph Blount 2521 Sherwoods/148506 RE

[10thlad]

Hi all, 

A recent Eureka moment occurred, it was the thought to investigate into my Great Great Grandad Joseph Blount. He was born 1891 and died in 1962. On his medal record card, it says he was in the Notts and Derby Regt. which would make sense as he resided in a town in Derbyshire. His number was 2521 and from his medal card he was awarded the 14-15 star, indicating early war service. also was awarded victory and the British war medal. Later on he joined the Royal Engineers as number 148506. I thought that while I do my investigations, possibly any of your help could be of much needed aid. Also his service in France is noted as 29.6.15, does that mean anything specific or just an entry note?

Thanks, 

10thLad

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

This assumes that you've looked and failed to find a service or pension record for him.

His Medal Roll entry states that his Notts & Derbys (Sherwood Foresters) battalion was 1st /8th, and that the dazte he entered a theatre of war (France) was 29/6/1915.
The battalion was a territorial battalion.
The Long Long Trail (link above) gives the war history of 1/8th as being the same as 1/5th (another territorial battalion), which was:

       "1/5th Battalion
August 1914 : in Derby. Part of Notts. & Derby Brigade in the North Midland Division. Moved on mobilisation to Harpenden and went on in November 1914 to Braintree.
25 february 1915 : landed in France.
12 May 1915 : formation became the 139th Brigade in 46th (North Midland) Division."

(1/8th was formed in Newark).

So Joseph didn't go out to France with the battalion, but a few weeks later.
You should chase the war diaries for 1/5th & 1/8th Battalions of the Sherwood Foresters and also 139th Brigade. These will give you  dates and places the battalions were at, what actions they were involved in , and more, including when they received new drafts of men.

 

[10thlad]

Thanks, ill have a look for the 1/8 and 1/5 war diaries. Sadly the search for a pension and service record came back with nothing, as you rightly said.

[PRC]

38 minutes ago, 10thlad said:

He was born 1891 and died in 1962

Playing devils advocate here - but do you have any information to indicate that he served in the armed forces in the Great War, or that if he did he was the man you have identified?
Bear in mind that someone who was home service only did not qualify for medals, so wouldn't have a Medal Index Card.

There is a Derbyshire born Joseph Blount whose birth was registered in the first quarter of 1891, (so could actually have been born as early as the middle of November 1890), but he has no middle names. Mothers' maiden name was Hawley, and the birth was registered with the civil authorities in the Basford civil registration district.

There is a 3 month old Joseph Blount on the 1891 Census of England & Wales, (taken on the 5th April), who was born Cotmanhay, Derbyshire, but was living with parents Alan & Eliza at 6 Church Street, Ilkeston. Father Alan was a Coal Miner. Cotmanhay fell within the area covered by the Basford civil registration district.

By the time the 1911 Census of England & Wales was taken the Blount family were recorded living at 141 Awsworth Road, Ilkeston. Father Alan was a Coal Boat Loader, while the 20 year old Joseph was a Coal Miner Hewer. That wouldn't have stopped Joseph from enlisting in August 1914, but after the original rush of enlistments, coal miners weren't usually taken - and indeed some of those already serving were discharged to the Army Reserve and released back to their old employment, it being deemed a greater contribution to the war effort.

There may well be other Joseph Blount's in the Ilkeston area, plus I can't see the whole article, but the British Newspaper Archive source has this report from a local paper in 1917.

Image courtesy the British Newspaper Article.

And this may also be another red herring, but a check of the civil birth records for England & Wales shows one likely birth for a Joseph E. Blount, the name on the MiC, (and associated medal roll).  That was for a Joseph Edward Blount whose birth was registered in the Belper District in Q4 1897. Would have had to lie about his age if he enlisted in 1914, although not by much if he originally signed up for home service only with the Territorial Force. Aged 13 on the 1911 Census and born Crich, Derbyshire, he was living with his parents at Mansfield and "Working the belts above ground" at a Colliery.

There is a marriage of a Joseph Blount to an Annie Catlin in the Basford District in the April to June quarter of 1915. If that is your Joseph Blount, has the marriage certificate been checked for his occupation? If he is the man serving with the Sherwood Foresters who landed in France on the 29th June 1915 then occupation will make reference to him at a minimum being a soldier, and may include things like rank, service number and regiment. Looks like there are then potentially children born in 1915, 1916 and 1919, (and on into the 1920's). Fathers' occupation on the birth certificates should again reflect if he was serving or not.

Apologies if I've got entirely the wrong individual.

Cheers,
Peter

 

 

[10thlad]

Yes, that is my Joseph Blount. All the information is correct, birth of children marriage and his occupation prior to 1914. I am going to check back on the marriage index and some other paper works to see if anything pops up out of interest. Thanks again, 

10thLad

[PRC]

1 hour ago, 10thlad said:

I am going to check back on the marriage index and some other paper works to see if anything pops up out of interest.

If you don't already have the relevant birth certificates, the General Registrars Office have recently introduced an online £2.50 option to get a screen shot of the entry in the birth register. Not all birth records are available, but it's very likely the Great War era ones are. My understanding is that the turn around time is very quick.

One you've registered with the site, if you use the "Search the GRO indexes" option to find the birth your interested in and select it you will get the various options available. Website is here https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates

As for the newspaper article, it's going to be included with the relevant subscription level of FindMyPast that includes newspapers and periodicals, while Ancestry also has an equivalent service that may include it. Alternatively,  as you are in the UK, your local public library serice is likely to subscribe to the British Newspaper Archive. You have to be a library member and access it via one of their PC's onsite, but otherwise access is only limited by how much screen time the library allows.

Cheers,
Peter

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

1 hour ago, PRC said:

If you don't already have the relevant birth certificates, the General Registrars Office have recently introduced an online £2.50 option to get a screen shot of the entry in the birth register. Not all birth records are available, but it's very likely the Great War era ones are. My understanding is that the turn around time is very quick.

Not so much a screenshot, but a downloadable image of the entry in the GRO register. Downloadable for some time too - 14 or 28 days IIRC.
Yes turnaround in my experience is instantaneous. Once you've paid online, you get a link in an email, (almost instantaneous), which opens up the image for download. A great resource.

[PRC]

1 minute ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

Not so much a screenshot, but a downloadable image of the entry in the GRO register. Downloadable for some time too - 14 or 28 days IIRC.
Yes turnaround in my experience is instantaneous. Once you've paid online, you get a link in an email, (almost instantaneous), which opens up the image for download. A great resource.

Thanks for letting me know.

Not tried it yet so didn't want to over promise only for the system to under-deliver!

Cheers,
Peter

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

Easy to use, select any of the 3 options after loging in ; Order a Certificate, Search the GRO Indexes, or Order a Digital Image, all takes you into pretty much the same search form.

 

Once you've selected which person you're after, the 3 options - Order a Paper Certificate, Order a PDF, or Download a Digital Image appear as buttons which you click to take you to the payments screen.

[brianmorris547]

I only have one Blount on my 1916 RE Index. 145433 Albert Blount. Mentioned in the WD of 55 Field Co 10/09/1916 and named in the Times Official Casualty List 05/10/1916. He has papers in WO 363 and came from Belper. On the 1911 Census he too is shown as a Coal Hewer.

Brian