Atkinson Brothers, born Belfast, lived Dublin

[George Millar]

Walter Dolby Atkinson was born on the 13th August 1879 at N° 108 Divis Street in Belfast, one of 14 children born to parents John Atkinson, a Law Clerk and Elizabeth Downey. However, by the time of the 1901 Census of Ireland the family had relocated from Belfast, then Downpatrick to live at N° 19 Richmond Road in the Drumcondra area of Dublin.

Walter’s father John Atkinson had been born in Dublin but had married Elizabeth Downey on the 5th December 1872 in St Luke’s Church of Ireland in Belfast, Elizabeth having been born in Belfast. Unfortunately John died on the 20th March 1904 at the age of 54 years in Dublin.

As regards Walter, just after the 1901 census on the 27th September 1901 he married Georgina Rainey in the Drumcondra Church of Ireland in Dublin. Although according to the 1911 Census of Ireland Georgina was born in Clones, Co Monaghan, unfortunately I cannot find anything on her prior to her marriage to Walter. Any information on her or her family would be appreciated (her father was listed as Gerald Rainey in the marriage record). Walter & Georgina lived at N° 16 Clonliffe Avenue in the Mountjoy area of Dublin, Walter being listed as a “Fitter in an Engineering Works”.

During WW1 Walter decided to join the Army and he attested into the Army Service Corps on the 26th April 1915 possibly in Dublin joining the Grove Park ASC Motor Transport Depot several days later. He was issued with the Service N° M2/080234. I have read somewhere that those soldiers with the prefix M2 to their service number stands for mechanical transport and were probably a professional or trained driver before attestation and that they probably required little or no driving training so could be sent to serve quite quickly. This might have been the case for Walter as he disembarked in France on the 9th May 1915. Unfortunately the only other information that I have on Walter is that he was promoted to S/Sergeant and that he was finally discharged to Class “Z” on the 3rd July 1919 under Para 392 (xvi) KR. Any information on him would be appreciated, eg is it possible from his service number to find out which company he was in or where he served in France etc.

Walter survived the war and returned to Dublin where he died on the 27th May 1941 aged 60.

Now for brother Eric Atkinson.

Eric was born on the 12th September 1891 at N° 1 Ardenvohr Terrace in the Castlereagh area of Belfast. As previously stated for Walter, Eric also lived at N° 19 Richmond Road, Dublin in the 1901 Census of Ireland and was listed as a “Scholar” in the census. In the 1911 Census of Ireland, Eric was still living with his mother Elizabeth at N° 79 Lucan Town in Dublin, his occupation then being listed as a “Dyer” in the census.

Eric also decided to join the Army when war broke out and he enlisted into the Royal Army Medical Corps on the 22nd August 1914 in Dublin with a Service N° 30170. He then joined the 60th Field Ambulance at Crookham on the 6th October 1914 to commence his training. He passed as a 3rd Class Orderly at the training centre at Crookham on the 3rd December 1914. Fortunately Eric’s Service Records have survived and we know a little of his service history. The 60th Field Ambulance was in the 12th (Light) Division and Eric embarked with the Division from Southampton on the 20th July 1915 disembarking at Le Havre the following day. Although there is nothing definite in his records I’m presuming that he would have been involved in all the battles and operations that the 12th (Light) Division took part in.

During the German’s Spring Offensive in March 1918, the 60th Field Ambulance were at Ugny when the Germans launched their offensive and they had to retreat several times and it was during these retreats that the war diary lists 13 men defective, 9 of them being listed as “missing” including Eric. In Eric’s service record, he is listed as “reported missing” on the 30th March 1918, believed to be a “Prisoner of War”. The next information on him is his death on the 1st July 1918 at the War Hospital in Schirmeck in the Alsace region of France. He is listed as dying from “Cardiac Weakness”. However, his service records also list that he was a “POW” at Geflg (Gefangenenlager – Prisoner of War Camp) Gustrow. This is a town in Mecklenburg-Voorpommern in the north-eastern part of Germany. I’m wondering if he was a POW in Gustrow then why would he have been sent to the War Hospital in Schirmeck? Any thoughts anyone?

The International Red Cross site has the following from the German Records (roughly translated) - "Soldier - Royal Army Medical Corps - 60 Field Ambulance - born in Belfast 23 years 9 months old. Farber. - died July 1, 1918 in the warehouse at Schirmeck. file number 26621/w"

Eric was initially buried in La Broque (Alsace) French Military Cemetery in Grave Ref : 299 but was then reinterred in the Plaine French National Cemetery, Bas-Rhin, France in Grave Ref : 373

Any additional information on the two brothers would be appreciated.

Images courtesy of Ancestry & irelandgenealogy.ie

George

[corisande]

Eric's Soldiers Effects on Ancestry looks strange.

There are 2 entries. One names just his sister. The other has a lot of the family with "cancelled" and I am not sure what or why that is

Thee are a number of Pension Cards with his mother getting a pension

[corisande]

Like you I could only get the Red Cross entry that you have

But there should be other entries recording where and when he was taken prisoner, and where he was incacerated

I am no expert at plumbing the depths of that site to allow for mis-filings. I could not find any o the entries for him

[George Millar]

Corisande,

Many thanks for the comments. As regards the Soldier's Effects, I cannot add anything to what you have said. It does seem strange as Walter, Rolf and sister Ada Judge were still living and as you can see they are listed again in the effects? Mother Elizabeth Downey died in the Dublin Union Workhouse on the 21st December 1933 aged 83 years. Any thoughts on the wife of Walter, Georgina Rainey? I've tried but cannot find anything on her even with different spellings of her name etc. 

George

[George Millar]

Forgot to mention but they had another brother Osman Atkinson who served in the Boer War, initially with the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons, Service N° 3591 but then transferred to the South African Police with a Service N° 1563. What I found strange about him is that he married Mary Matilda Pringle on the 5th July 1903 in St Laurence O'Toole Roman Catholic Church in Dublin and then again on the following day in Drumcondra Church of Ireland in Dublin. It seems strange that they had two ceremonies. I would have thought that the initial ceremony in the Roman Catholic Church would have been sufficient for his bride Mary. I don't know if Osman served in WW1 as I think after their marriage they went to live in South Africa. I have found a death record for him in the Transvaal on the 9th February 1957.

George

[corisande]

9 minutes ago, George Millar said:

he married Mary Matilda Pringle on the 5th July 1903 in St Laurence O'Toole Roman Catholic Church in Dublin and then again on the following day in Drumcondra Church of Ireland in Dublin. It seems strange that they had two ceremonies. I would have thought that the initial ceremony in the Roman Catholic Church would have been sufficient for his bride Mary.

Such was my upbringing that I would have thought that perfectly normal for a "mixed marriage" !

Edited 13 April by corisande

[corisande]

1 hour ago, George Millar said:

Any thoughts on the wife of Walter, Georgina Rainey? I've tried but cannot find anything on her even with different spellings of her name etc. 

Afraid I got nowhere either.

Given the census was on 31 Mar 1901 and the marriage 27 Sep 1901. you would think that Georgina and/or her father should be on census. But I cannot get them in Malahide Rd, Clontarf at the census. Nor anywhere in Ireland. Nor Scotland nor England

Given her age at marriage was 20, she would have had to have had parental permission. The marriage is by License and not banns, which could be to do with the mixed marriage. The witnesses are not Raineys, but they may not have wanted to enter a Protestant church

Her father seems to be a "barker", which I assume is a showman of some sort, but even getting all the barkers in Ireland in 1901 census, I cannot see him there

[George Millar]

corisande,

Sorry for the delay in replying to your last comment. Just one thing, why do you believe that Walter's wife was a Roman Catholic? The only information on her is the 1911 census and she is listed as Church of Ireland. When I mentioned the marriages before I was talking about Walter's brother Osman's marriage. I also have had another try to find Georgina but have also come up with a blank. As regards Georgina's father Gerald, I too have listed his occupation as a "Barker" although I thought this wasn't correct as I didn't understand what this was. From the web it lists a Barker as "someone who would often conduct a brief show, introducing performers and describing acts to be given at the feature performance". The only other information I have on Georgina is her death on the 16th May 1937 aged 55. Her address was listed as N° 34 Mountjoy Square in Dublin. She died from chronic Nephritis & Myocardial Degeneration, it was her son Harold who registered her death. Walter & Georgina had 6 children, 3 of whom died in infancy. Thanks once again for taking the time to look at this.

George

[corisande]

If he were a "barker" then the family would have been peripatetic, and may well have moved outside the norms of censuses and birth registrations

But having said that I tried to find a circus in Malahide Road in 1901 and could nor get anything out of the papers  - it should have been advertised. A relative of mine ran a circus in Ireland in late 1800s, and it was virtually impossible to get anything on him

 

I had to smile at what I assume is Harold's birth in 1902 as "unknown" from the Rotunda - they moved them out smartish without names from the Rotunda, if the parents did not cough up a name

Edited 13 April by corisande

[George Millar]

corisande,

It was Winifred who was born in 1902, then followed by Harold in 1905, Beatrice Margaretta in 1908, Ivan John in 1909, Archibald in 1910 and finally Frances Margaret in 1915. As you said, if you look at the birth record for Winifred in 1902 there are no Christian names for any of them on the same sheet so the hospital must have moved them all out smartish to make room for those following! Having said all that, I have found it difficult to find some of Walter's brothers & sisters who were born in Belfast. I couldn't find either their birth record or death records and only found some of them through their burial records.

George