Nick Thornicroft Posted 29 July , 2005 Share Posted 29 July , 2005 If anyone out there has a Great War regimental history of the SLI, I would be very grateful if it contains the location of the recruiting offices in Bristol. The northern half of Bristol is historically part of Gloucestershire, whilst the south of the River Avon is in Somerset. There were many Glos. men who enlisted in the SLI, & it would stand to reason there were recruiting offices in all parts of Bristol. Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.r.f Posted 29 July , 2005 Share Posted 29 July , 2005 NICK I cant answer your question properly exept to say that the maim recruiting office was the Colston Hall.Incase you are not a Bristol boy is just off the centre.You are correct that many North Bristol boys ended up in the S.L.I.,also that many South Bristul boys ended up in the Gloucesters.It is also worth noting that the vast majority of Bristol boys were neither in S.L.I. or the Gloucesters.The only ,near,pals unit was the Glougesters unit called Bristols Own.From memory this was the 12,but this may be wrong. I look forward to further answers on this thread. CHEERS. JOHN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Thornicroft Posted 29 July , 2005 Author Share Posted 29 July , 2005 John Many thanks for your reply. I'm from the Stroud/Gloucester area, but I do know parts of Bristol - mainly the city centre & northern outskirts. Yes, you are right about the Glosters - the 1/4th, 1/6th, 2/4th, 2/6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th (Bristol's Own) & 14th (West of England) Battalions were all raised in Bristol. The city provided many men for many regiments. The geography of Bristol cuts it in half between Glos. & Somerset, so I wonder how many new recruits "chose" their preferred regiment or were posted to one by the authorities. Both the SLI & the Glosters have proud histories, but 90 years ago I know which one I would have wanted to join. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 30 July , 2005 Share Posted 30 July , 2005 People like to think of Bristol in terms of Gloucestershire and Somerset, but do not forget that Bristol is "The City and County of Bristol" and has been since its medieval charter was granted. Presumably outlying areas to the north and south of the old medieval city were in Gloucestershire and Somerset before the enlargement of the city boundaries took them into Bristol. However, in my experience of 16 years working in Bristol, most Bristolians think of themselves as Bristolians and give not a hoot for the surrounding counties. Don't forget that probably over 50% of present day south Bristol had not been developed then. If there was a recruiting office in south Bristol, it is difficult to imagine any other location but Bedminster, but why would you have one there when it is so close to the centre? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Thornicroft Posted 30 July , 2005 Author Share Posted 30 July , 2005 I fully understand that the Bristol of today incorporates many outlying suburbs which were once part of the countryside, but if you look at the "Soldiers Died In The Great War" CD-Rom, a great deal of the Bristol-born men have their place of birth as "St. Paul's, Glos", "Westbury-on-Trym, Glos", "Bedminster, Somerset", etc. I was referring to a century ago, & things have changed since then. Once conscription got underway in WW1, I suspect many new recruits were assigned to regiments which had recently suffered heavy losses in action, regardless of which part of the country they came from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Stewart Posted 30 July , 2005 Share Posted 30 July , 2005 Nick, This answer won't be much help regarding finding Bristols recruiting offices, but at the turn of the century recruiting could also be done through a Regimental Depot or even a Post Office. In my research of the Northumberland Fusiliers the T.F. Drill Halls were the obvious place of enlistment for Territorial recruits. Whereas those locally raised battalions i.e. 16th to 30th Battalions had their own recruitng offices and arrangements for medicals. The 17th Bn,N.F.(N.E.R. Pioners) was recruited en-masse from its employees with no specific office, but on formation it did use one of it's own N.E.R. properites, the King George Dock & warehousing at Hull to accommodate the battalion. Those who became Regulars/New Army usually made their way to the Regimental Depot in Newcastle, or were sent from outlying areas in batches. One of the more unusual places was Deaf Hill Colliery in Durham. More unusually the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers took over the old Tyneside Scottish recruiting office at 17 Grainger Street and used it to recruit about a 1,000 men from this region. May I suggest you go through the local Bristol newspapers which may have advertisements for recruitng offices. Graham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Thornicroft Posted 30 July , 2005 Author Share Posted 30 July , 2005 Graham Many thanks for your reply. I shall be heading for Bristol within the next few weeks, & I shall indeed research some of the local newspapers. On a separate note, with your research into the Northumberland Fusiliers, have you come across the following soldiers by any chance? - Pte. Harold McCarthy, 23rd Bn. (Tyneside Scottish), NF. Born at Berkeley, Glos., enlisted in Newcastle. Service no: 23/962. K.I.A. July 1st, 1916. Pte. Frank Wilkey, 22nd Bn. (Tyneside Scottish) NF. Born Bristol (possibly St. Lukes), enlisted in Newcastle. Service no: 22/1762. SDGW has him as "died" July 1st, 1916, but I suspect he was K.I.A. My guess is they both moved north due to the ship-building - Berkeley is close to a small port (Sharpness) on the River Severn, whilst Bristol is well known for its sea-faring history. A stab in the dark, anyway. I do not know much about either of these men - yet to go to the NA on the off-chance their records have survived. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Stewart Posted 30 July , 2005 Share Posted 30 July , 2005 Nick, Yes - know of both these men, who being original enlistments were included in the book "Tyneside Scottish", which I wrote with John Sheen. McCarthy was residing in Netherton Colliery,Northumberland and was found in these sources SDGW, CWGC; Medal Roll Book & St.Georges Gazette. Wilkey was a resident of Newport,Monmouth and served in 'A' Coy,22nd Bn, but his number indicates that he would have come through one of the battalion Depot Companies. He was sourced in SDGW, CWGC, Medal Roll Book, St.Georges Gazette & Red Cross Enquiry List. Both are commemorated on Thiepval Memorial. Regards, Graham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Thornicroft Posted 30 July , 2005 Author Share Posted 30 July , 2005 Graham Many thanks for the info. Do any photographs exist of the men? I am currently compiling a list of all the officers & men from Gloucestershire who fell on July 1st, 1916. Best wishes, Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Stewart Posted 30 July , 2005 Share Posted 30 July , 2005 Nick, Not really sure, but we did have a newspaper in this region called the "Illustrated Chronicle", whose centres pages were a double spread of photo's of casualties at the front. Being native to that region it's possible they may have also appeared in local newspapers if family i.e. mothers and fathers were still living there. Graham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Thornicroft Posted 30 July , 2005 Author Share Posted 30 July , 2005 Graham Thanks for letting me know. I may engage a researcher to have a look. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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