curious of movements

[Guest suz_1e]

Hi, I have an unlucky great uncle that was run over by a bus and killed in the war.!How do I find which war and where he was fighting. His name is Albert edward Harmer born 1873 died 1913. place of birth is Surrey England

[themonsstar]

Hi Sue

And welcome to the forum

As to your G/U killed in the war in 1913. World War 1 started in August 1914. and in 1913 the UK was not at war with anyone at that time. If you can get any more info on your G/U and post it someone may be abul to help cheers Roy

[Guest suz_1e]

Doh ! I am not sure when he died I found that info on ancestry .com I am not sure if is correct. I dont know how to find out any more . Are there lists of regiments near surrey, his brothers and sisters moved to Brighton and he is not on the same 1891 address.

[Neil Mackenzie]

Sue.

Welcome to the Forum.

It maybe that family oral history has become a bit confused - it happens a lot.

He may have fought in a war - possibly the Boer War (1899-1902) - and he might have been killed by a bus in 1913. But, he wasn't killed by a bus in a war in 1913 - not fighting for the British anyway.

The Balkan Wars were going on in 1913 - I am not aware of any official British involvement but he could have got involved I suppose.

Are you certain he was killed in 1913? Another possibility is that he was killed in 1918 and a 8 has become a 3 somewhere along the line.

Sorry for this rambling but just trying to outline a few possibilities.

Good luck.

Neil

[Muerrisch]

or run over by a rickshaw in some outpost of Empire? We must have been shooting at somebody in 1913, or it was an unusually quiet year.

[Sue Light]

Suz

The GRO death index shows:

December quarter 1913

Albert E. Harmer - 49 years

Death registered St. Olave

Ref: 1d 183

Age doesn't agree, but the rest looks OK. St. Olave is a registration district in south-east London, part of which used to be in Surrey. It would be worth ordering the death certificate - it will give the cause of death, and whether there was a Coroner's inquest. If there was, you may well be able to find inquest papers at the local record office that now covers the area of the death.

Sue

[John_Hartley]

Doh ! I am not sure when he died I found that info on ancestry .com I am not sure if is correct. I dont know how to find out any more . Are there lists of regiments near surrey, his brothers and sisters moved to Brighton and he is not on the same 1891 address.

Suz

Welcome to the Forum. I think you'be got quite a bit more digging to do before we might be in posiiton to help very much. Firstly, you've got to find out if the chap who died in 1913 is your relative. The info from ancestry.com should have provided you with enough to go on in order to apply for his death certificate. This is almost certain to include details of his relatives who reported the death (which means you should be able to confirm if its him). The certificate should (I think) give his occupation, so you would know if he was a serving soldier at the time. As said earlier, if it was 1913 and he died in the UK, then it won't have been during a conflict (although he might have been a regular soldier based in the UK). Have you tried to find him on the 1901 Census?

If he was a regular soldier who died in 1913 or, indeed, a wartime soldier who died in 1918, then there is bsolutely no guarantee that he was with a local Surrey regiment - could have been anything - which is why you need to positively identify him before going any further.

Good luck.

John