G. Granfather

[anner]

I wonder if anyone can advise me. I am trying to find out which war my G.grandfather would have been in and if he was a casualty or killed.

I have very limited information as my scottish family kept lots of secrets and am only uncovering them now as doing my family tree.

His name is Robert Wilson and served with the Royal Field Artillery as a Gunner. He was stationed at Maryhill Barracks, Scotland and married from there in 1885. I cant find him or his wife on any census', and have found his children with his wifes parents in 1901.

I have tried the CW site, as well as most others. On the National Archives I have located 20 plus with the same name.

I do not know his Army number, so would have to open them all to try to find the right one.

Any ideas as to where he went and how to find him.

Thanking everyone in advance.

Anner.

[SteveE]

Hi Anner and welcome to the forum.

On the National Archives I have located 20 plus with the same name.

Assuming you mean the online Medal Index Cards then there are 39 Robert Wilsons (with and without middle initials) shown as Gunner in the RFA. The bad news is that even if you opened them all you still wouldn't know (from the information you currently have) which one (if any) is yours as they don't carry any 'personal' details.

Now for some better news, you state he was serving in 1885 which is 29 years before the Great War commenced, there is a very high chance that he would have been discharged from the Army or become a casualty before that particular war.

You can't find him on the 1901 census which may mean he was serving in the 2nd Anglo-Boer War in South Africa at the time and could possibly have died there?

I personally would start by looking for a Service Record in the WO97 series at the NA, Kew.

A search of the NA Catalogue suggests that you look in these files for starters:

WO97/4192 Wilson L. - Wilson R. (covering discharges 1883-1900).

WO97/6272 Wilson Joshua - Wilson R. J. (covering discharges 1900-1913).

Hope this helps

Steve

[Andrew Hesketh]

If he was married in 1885 and a serving soldier at that time, one assumes that he must have been born in the 1860's or earlier. A birthdate of (say) 1867 (making him c. 18 in 1885) would make him c. 47 in 1914. Chances are that he would be several years older than this and probably in his 50's.

Men of this age did serve, but they were unusual. I would be inclined to think that Robert may not have been involved in the Great War. The Boer War as Steve says, is more likely.

[anner]

Thank you so much. You have comfirmed what I already thought. I had convinced myself it was probably the Boer war, but had to have an open mind in case.

Could you let me know how to bring up the references that you posted as i am not having much luck with it. I am quite new to all this and find it very facinating.

Regards

Anner.

[anner]

Thanks, what nice people.

Robert Wilson was born 1863/4 as he was 21 when he got married. On his sons marraige cert. in 1917 he was already dead, which is why I wondered which war it could have been.

I cannot find a death cert. for him and so I am assuming he died abroad. If that is the case, would there be no certificate for him.

As I live in Hampshire, it wouldnt be too hard to visit Kew as its about 20 miles away. But what would I look for.

Any ideas are gratefully recieved.

Regards

Anner.

[Stebie9173]

The WO97 references quoted by Steve are the National Archive references to their rather large collection. Those two references will refer to two boxes in which will be their original attestation (enlistment) papers. Also, there will probably be a couple more sheets with the dates of when and the places where he served.

These papers are sorted in alphabetical order (at least the boxes are) so you don't need to know a Regiment, just enough to identify him.

To order these boxes you will have to have a Reader's Ticket (free, apply in advance and pick up when you go. You need ID). From there you can order them either at the NA or in advance and they will be arrive in your "pigeonhole" in the Readers Room. Pigeonholes are allocated to desks in the Readers Room which you select when you order.

There will be a lot of other attestation papers in the boxes, so you will need to sort through them to find your man.

The WO97 papers are probably the easieest to locate and understand so it's a good place to start.

There are also WW1 Service Records (again in alphabetical order) but there are hundreds of thousands of them (this time on microfilm) even though 70% were destroyed in the Blitz. Unfortunately Wilson is in the top ten most common names, so that would be a needle in a haystack job.

Steve.

[anner]

Thanks so much. Now at least I could go armed with some info. I have been trying to find him for ages now and have opened nearly every R. Wilson on scotlands people, with no luck.

Regards

Anner.

[SteveE]

Anner

I cannot find a death cert. for him and so I am assuming he died abroad. If that is the case, would there be no certificate for him.

Even if he died abroad, as a British subject, his death should have been recorded and a certificate issued. I assume when you say you can't find a death certificate for him that you've checked the GRO indices for deaths in the UK. However, there are also indices for those who died overseas. These are available at the Family Records Centre or you can view them on the subscription site 1837online.com

Regards

Steve

[anner]

o.k thank you Steve. This man must be the most elusive ever. Its a shame you cant put in any information about the person you are looking for but fingers crossed will find him eventually.

Anner.

[SteveE]

Anner

I've checked through the South African War Casualty Rolls (South African Field Force 11 Oct 1899 - June 1902 & Natal Field Force 20 Oct 1899 - 26 Oct 1900) and can find no mention of an R. Wilson in the RFA so it can be assumed he didn't die in the 2nd Anglo-Boer War (unless of course he was serving in another unit).

Do you have any other information on your man, where he was born etc. which may give us some other avenues to follow?

Steve

[anner]

Hi Steve, All I know is that he was born in Scotland, 1863/4. Stationed and married from Maryhill Barracks 1885. after that he seems to have disapeared of the face of the earth. Doesnt seem to be on any census'. Found his children in 1901 living with wifes parents, but also cannot find his wife. She turns up again in Glasgow 1940 when she died. Both seem to have disapeared since 1885.

That is why I posted as I didnt know if the wife could travel with the husband, as I cant find any reference of them.

Regards

Anner.

p.s. on his sons marraige cert 1917 he is deceased, on his wifes death cert he is called Robert Clark Wilson. Have searched for that variation but with no success.

Anner.

[SteveE]

Anner

It's always awkward when you don't have much to go on and extremely frustrating when they prove so elusive, keep persevering and I'm sure you will eventually have success. As stated earlier in the thread, in this instance I think it best to try WO97 for starters and see if that leads anywhere.

Regards and Happy Hunting

Steve

[anner]

Thanks Steve, I am ringing NA today to order a reading card and am going to take your advise. Would really love to find him as I didnt know anything about my fathers family as he died in 1974 and he was adopted at a young age by Roberts daughter ( his real parent was Roberts son) so you can imagine it was all very hush hush.

Will let you know how I get on.

Many Thanks.

Anner

[bernardmcilwaine]

left the kids at her mothers and gone off with the missus,sounds like garrison duties,dont think he took his missus to war in SA,bernard

ps maybe they both died in india

[SteveE]

Anner

Will let you know how I get on.

Please do, it will be interesting to see if you have any luck and if you do we can perhaps help some more.

If you need any tips about the NA in addition to what Stebie's already told you then please ask, if I can't help there's always someone on the forum who can, it's a part of what makes this forum so special.

Regards

Steve

[anner]

Thank you every one for all your help. After all of your good advise I went to the N.A. and found the Robert I was looking for. I know for certain it was him as in his attestation papers was his marraige cert. stating he had not had time off to get married. It has also cleared up the missing wife, she had travelled with him. So that was brilliant and answered those questions.

On the service record side wasnt so impressive, as I found that at the time of the Boer war he had deserted, and was awaiting trial at Aldershot. The next lines are his sentence.

I was horrified. But having had time to think about it he must have had his reasons, but as my father served in the second world war and his adopted father served in ww1 I cant truly say that I find Robert admirable.

The only thing I can say is that it was a long time ago and no wonder there where so many family secrets.

I still owe everyone who went to war a big thankyou for my freedom.

I also found that Robert was Irish and that was as much of a shock as everything else as my fathers adopted father was also Irish.

Any way enough of my rambling.

Again thank you every one who helped point me in he right direction.

Anner.

[Stebie9173]

Glad you found him.

You never quite know what you are going to find with these things. Hope things were not too upsetting.

Steve.

[Guest f@man]

It is difficult to understand his actions, but he must have had his reasons.

Don't be too disappointed, who are we to judge.

A great thread and an interesting story. Well done to all.

Colin

[anner]

I agree that you cant judge people, and as I said it was a long time ago. If it wasnt for his actions I wouldnt be here today. I am not too disapointed as its been a long journy to find him. I have all that helped to be grateful to as I had started to wonder if he ever existed. Now at least a little of my jigsaw has been fitted into place.

Again Many Thank you's

Anner.