missing men

[bernardmcilwaine]

i have been researching our war memorial in levenshulme for 3 years+,but i cannot connect these men to my home town,there are 33 altogethor,but ime not going to push my luck by posting them all at once,i would appreciate ANYTHING that connects any of them to my town,and believe me i have tried everything,even accosting elderly ladies in the street for info,actually that worked cos i found 2 brothers,these are the first ones.

r.g brown

t.clinton

f.e bell

f.bennett

g.boucher

j.burrell

w.chamberlain

w.crossland

j.davies [he should be easy with that rare name]

h.j ferguson

if anyone finds davies i will donate a fiver to the forum

thanks everyone

[bernardmcilwaine]

i will post some more tomorow when youve found these bernard

[John_Hartley]

Bernard

Taking Boucher as the easy one - I think there is a name mis-spelt and he is actually recorded as G C Bouchier.

Local connection is that he's on the memorial at Hyde Road Bus Depot, just down the road from you.

Have you considered that T Clinton might have been known as Ted but is actually Edward or Edwin, or something.

Apart from all the other usual dodges us memorial researchers use, can I suggest a next port of call might be the Absent Voters List for 1918 (at Mcr Central Library) and trying to find the newspaper report of the unveiling of the memorial (found one of mine like that - chap always used his middle name in official records - but it's his first name on the memorial)

John

[John_Hartley]

Or, alternatively, he really is called Boucher!

1901 Census lists several living "South Manchester" which would include Levenshulme. He might be a young relative born after the Census (or simply not there at the time).

or the family may have wanted to commemorate, say, a cousin, who was killed but didnt live locally - making him possibly one of the eight G Bouchers listed by CWGC but impossible to trace.

[Malcolm]

Could your Ferguson be H I Ferguson not H J ? There is a Captain H I Feguson on SNWM.

DAVIES

Firstname J

Service number 11155

Date of death 12/03/1915

Decoration

Place of birth Burnley

Other 1st Bn.

SNWM roll THE CAMERONIANS (SCOTTISH RIFLES)

Rank L/Cpl

Theatre of death France.

or

Surname DAVIES

Firstname James

Service number 3/3955

Date of death 09/05/1915

Decoration

Place of birth Burnley Lancashire

Other 1st Bn.

SNWM roll THE BLACK WATCH (ROYAL HIGHLANDERS)

Rank Pte

or

DAVIES

Firstname John

Service number 13700

Date of death 25/09/1915

Decoration

Place of birth Blackburn Lancs

Other 8th Bn.

SNWM roll THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

Rank Pte

Theatre of death F.& F.

or most likely

DAVIES

Firstname Joseph Edward

Service number 17348

Date of death 01/07/1916

Decoration

Place of birth Manchester

Other 15th Bn.

SNWM roll THE ROYAL SCOTS (LOTHIAN REGIMENT)

Rank Sgt

Theatre of death F.& F.

You may wish to search the rest at

http://www.snwm.org/cgi-bin/db_w1.pl

Manchester made up a lot of 15th Royal Scots.

Aye

Malcolm

[John_Hartley]

Manchester made up a lot of 15th Royal Scots.

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Unofficially the "Manchester Scottish" - see book of same name by Roger Dowson

John

[John_Hartley]

Bernard

City battalions Book of Honour lists a G A Boucher, in the Appendix, as an employee of the Union Bank of Manchester.

A quid says that's yer man.

Being inthe Appendix perhaps suggests he enlisted late in the War. maybe didnt serve abroad. More wild speculation, blah, blah.

John

[bernardmcilwaine]

hiya john/malcolm,i have the royal scots book,it was very helpful,i have trid the absent voters and all those ideas BUT i didnt see g a boucher at the union bank,and the times ive looked at that roll,john thats where capt donnelly worked[file]i bet your not wrong,those bank employees moved about a bit,john,what i did find whilst searching,was,parents moving to a area while their sons attended m/c grammar,the only boucher that could fit,was an aged territorial from bristol,yur right about middle names,one set of bros did go by their middle name,they were only 15 and 16,both died,i will follow up on yours and malcolms leads,john i wasnt kiddin about accosting elderly ladies in the street,what it was really,was i was told she was a niece of two bros on the mem and she passess my house every day,i did find out something else about these two men[rothwells]the cwgc gives their address as gibson st,they hadnt lived there since they were tiny children,and their parents were still living well after the war, but in levenshulme,the address quoted was over 20 years out of date,bernard

[bernardmcilwaine]

i forgot to mention that burnage was also part of levenshulme then,bernard

[Paul Johnson]

Bernard,

Soldiers Died CD ROM shows 148 Men who were either Born/Enlisted or Resident in Levenshulme.

If you dont have a copy can you get your hands on one?

If not email me your list of missing names and I'll try to help.

One possible is this one;

Could W Crossland actually be W.P. CROSSLEY?

WILLIAM PHILIP CROSSLEY

Rank: Lance Corporal

Regiment: 17th Bn. Manchester Regiment

Age: 22

Date of Death: 04/07/1916

Service No: 8489

Additional information: Son of Thomas Victor and Gertrude Winifred Crossley, of 341, Barlow Road, Levenshulme, Manchester.

Grave/Memorial Reference: Plot 1. Row B. Grave 31.

Cemetery: CORBIE COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION

Regards

PAUL JOHNSON

[bernardmcilwaine]

thanks paul,believe it or not,i have three cds of soldiers died,but non work,luckily i have 60 in book form,crossley lived across the rd from where i live,i dont think i am gonna have much luck with them,WHERES THE BLOODY 1911 CENSUS,that would solve a lot of our probs,thanks paul

[Joe Walsh]

naw I'm going to return the favour. On www.ancestry.co.uk you can view the 1881 census for free which means you can type in those men's names and you'll be able to see where they lived at the time who they lived with etc.

And if you have any problems just email me and i'll gladly look up the names for you.

Good Luck

Joe

[bernardmcilwaine]

thanks joe,the 1881 will be to early for them,i checked the 1901 and thats a bit to early,i think most of thos i am looking for are new arrivals just before the war,there were a few travelling salesmen or others with new appointments living in leve at the time,joe theres no favour to return,glad to help,one thing i can add though,a labour coy was made up as follows.

capt

Lt

CSM

your g/father was third in command,the 2nd Lts are used for replacing officers going on leave or taking the place of those moving out of the unit,there must be more about him at the records office,your GF would have been in direct contact with all of them,bernard