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Tug Skipper in the Royal Engineers ?


Patrick H

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I have been asked by an elderly lady to find some information on her father with limited amount to go on

ALBERT EDWARD BEASLEY (but also used surname FULLER)

It is known he was in the RE and he survived the war. Not much else is known but I will give what info I have

Originally a fisherman from Grimsby he became a Waterman on the Thames. In 1901 would have been living in Grimsby. Met and married Sarah Elizabeth Moriaty at the Isle of Dogs East London.

Became a Freeman of The Thames, and skippered a boat called the "Southern Lighterage. Worked mostly for a firm called Corys.

The family had a picture of him in a "soldiers" uniform and soem dim recollection of him being a Sgt Major but the picture was lost "in the blitz"

Could he have been used by the RE on the canals and rivers of France?

I have no dates or anything else

PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN my old lady would love to know more about her dad.

Patrick

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I would agree. I think the HR is mistranscibed and should be WR (Waterways and Railways)

Steve.

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I would agree. I think the HR is mistranscibed and should be WR (Waterways and Railways)

Steve.

I would concur, additionally his renumbering to the WR/5***** series suggests (to me at least) that he was Waterways rather than Railways.

Steve

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Now would that be separate from the Inland Water Transport companies that operated in Mesopotamia?

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Many thanks gents for the information so far. My old lady is thrilled to hear we have some information and that he was a "sgt major"

Any more information etc would be most welcome

Patrick

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Hello Patrick,

There is an Arthur E Beasley recorded on the 1901 census aged 26, a fisherman (3rd Hand), born Grimsby, living in the parish of Clee. This could have been Old Clee, or more likely New Cleethorpes which is now defunct and part of Grimsby.

Despite being born in Grimsby he may have had relatives in London, hence his reason for moving back there. In the late 1800's there were many individual trawler company owners. At least 12 of these were from London, most from Barking. There was quite a large fishing fleet based in Barking! For some reason the owners and most of the crews decided to relocate to Grimsby. It could possibly be the building of an 'ice house' in Grimsby combined with the advent of the railways. In Barking the fisherman had to wait for nearby marshland to freeze before they could get their ice!

After reading Dave's link to Cory's there may have been another reason for his moving. Lots of Grimsby fishermen got there kit and provisions from the Coal Oil Salt and Tanning company (Cosalt, still in existance) on the docks. Perhaps they did business with Cory's?

Wild guesses, but who knows.

Steve.

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Thanks for that Steve, food for thought. My problem is my lttle old lady has no dates at all to go by, which is why I havnt searched the census yet.

Patrick

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By the way, he's not listed on the Grimsby AVL.

These Beasley's are:

BEASLEY, Alfred

15 Hope Street

17536 Pte., R.M. 3rd R.M. Batt.

BEASLEY, Arthur Edwin

14 Spencer Street

Fisherman

BEASLEY, Arthur John

14 Spencer Street

345 Pte., 7th Lincs. Reg.

BEASLEY, John William

104 Brereton Avenue

H.M. Patrol Carbill

BEASLEY, Walter Albert

14 Spencer Street

6072 Trim., R.N.R.T. Zaria

Link, BUT BEWARE SHOCKING PINK SCREEN.

http://www.angelfire.com/de/delighted/B.html

Steve.

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If his number was in the WR 5000 series, then he was definitely in the IWT. Many Thames lightermen and watermen were recruited by them. Where he actually served is a different matter. He could have served on the Western Front, Salonica, Mesopotamia or in Egypt. A check of his actual medal index card may reveal which theatre.

Terry Reeves

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The MIC doesnt actually say where he served. Against the entry "Theatre of War" it merely has 1 in a circle.

Date of entry into theatre 5.11.15

Vicotry and Star Why would he not have got a trio?

Patrick

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Vicotry and Star Why would he not have got a trio?

Patrick

I think you'll find he did, there is probably " " (ditto) marks in the BWM section under the Victory Medal Roll reference.

Steve

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Theres just a wiggly line. Whether or not that means ditto is difficult to say

Patrick

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Theres just a wiggly line. Whether or not that means ditto is difficult to say

Patrick

That's good enough to confirm that it is.

Besides, the Victory Medal wasn't awarded to a soldier without him also getting the British War Medal, if you were awarded the Victory Medal then you also got the BWM.

I won't go into qualification details but the same cannot be said of the BWM however which could have been issued without the Victory Medal. However, so as not to confuse the issue this is not the case in this instance.

Regards

Steve

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I may be wrong, but I think the '1' in the circle on the MIC refers to France and Flanders as the Theatre served in .

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Okay thanks for that Steve. Seems strange though that two medals have a page ref but not the third.

John, the family believe he served in France so that would seem to be correct

I have had an email back from Corys who are looking into their archives for me so maybe an interesting line of ursual there

Thanks Gents

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Seems strange though that two medals have a page ref but not the third.

Patrick

You'll find it does, the Victory and British War Medal Roll is a combined roll, the reference shown on the MIC relates to the issue of both medals, hence the ditto, squiggle or whatever listed in the BWM Roll section of the MIC ;)

Steve

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  • 1 month later...

just bringing this one back again in the hope that someone may be able to add to the information already got.

I had a helpful email from corys who are looking into their archives. However their personell and payroll records do not go back to the Great War years.

The email says that Corys raised a whole regiment?? They were D Company 6th The Buffs commonly known as The Corys. I have started a seperate thread on the 6/Buffs

Patrick

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Patrick

There wasn't anyone with that name in the Buffs during WW1. I have Cory's roll of honour which lists all its employees who served up to 1917 and he doesn't appear on that so I doubt whether the company can help you.

As with all lists there may be ommissions but I'm pretty sure that he wasn't in D Company of the 6th Buffs

Mick

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Hello Mick. I wasnt actually suggesting that he served in the Cory Battalion for reasons shown in the thread. I was just interested in any info on the Battalion.

Were they all Cory employees, where did they serve etc

Regards

Patrick

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