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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Leonard Bocking


Anthony Bagshaw

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Anthony,

As you know I'm as interested as you in solving this (well, actually not, as you are getting to the point of being insanely obbessed - but you know what I mean) but I've got a little lost as to what we do know and what has been speculated. If you've got the will power, would it be possible to briefly summarise where you are with this?

:huh:

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Okay,

Here goes:

This is what we know- Leonard Bockin was born in Bottesford, Leicestershire in 1884. The 1901 Census shows that he was a Railway Porter, living at 10 Belvoir Road, Bottesford. He was living with his father John aged 56 and his Mother Elizabeth aged 57. His Brother Robert aged 24 and sister Edith aged 13 also resided.

He was married in the April, May, June quarter of 1904 in Mansfield to Sarah Ann Clarke in Mansfield.

His name appears on the roll on the documents in the Nottingham Archives

He can be found with a reference to Mansfield, see above

His name is shown on the memorial cast in bronze as L Bocking

I have searched 2 cemeteries in Mansfield Woodhouse looking for a private memorial to him, nothing

He does not appear on the Bottesford War Memorial in Lincs or Leics

He does not appear in the 3 local papers covering a large area of Notts

What has been speculated

He was a Canadian, Australian, New Zealander or other Commonwealth force.

He is an ALIAS, whose real name has not been found (or it has but we don't know about it)

He never actually served overseas, hence no MIC

He is not commemorated by the CWGC but there is no death certificate to be found anywhere

He was in one of the Home Defence forces, the Royal Defence Corps Etc.

He was a visitor to Mansfield Woodhouse and someone added his name at the time.

His name is spelt wrong.

He doesn't actually exist, not a real person.

This chap has been suggested but does not appear to have been a casualty Charles L Bockin Royal Garrison Artillery 87379 Serjeant

I think this sums it up to be honest, looks to me as though we have every angle covered

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Here's his name in the Nottingham Archives Docs:

post-2154-1173135247.jpg

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And on the War Memorial:

post-2154-1173135448.jpg

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Anthony, I take it that you've checked the local paper archive for any mention of him. Have you tried looking for relatives who might be able to shed some light? It's a long shot, especially so long after the event, but it might be worth looking on genesreunited or the Ancestry boards.

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Hello Anthony.

I don't know how far you want to take this, but here are one or two ideas from a family historian's perspective.

I don't think that it is actually proven that the Leonard Bockin whose birth was registered in the December quarter of 1883 is one and the same as the one who married in the June quarter of 1904, but there are so few Bockins on www.freebmd.org.uk that I think the assumption is justified.

Two females are shown on the June 1904 marriage page - Sarah Anne Clarke and Grace Annie Lancashire, and without the certificate, or other information, it is not possible to say which was Leonard's wife.

There are three ways of finding out who married whom.

1. Wait for the new GRO indexes to be released on the internet in 2008, where the surname of the spouse will be shown for all marriages;

2. Buy the certificate for Lionel Bockin (7.00 GBP and you can do this on-line through the GRO)

3. Take a punt on one of the two Bockin births shown on FreeBMD for Mansfield - Mabel Bockin in September 1906, and Ethel Bockin shown in June 1908 - and buy that birth certificate (7.00 GBP). I'd suggest Ethel.

Assuming that they are both Lionel's children, you will get the name of his wife as the mother of the child. Importantly, you will also get his occupation. If this is still a railway employee, it may be possible to work from any railway company employee records to find out about his military service. Railway companies sometimes kept rolls of WW1 service as well as individual records.

I note that there are no more Bockin births registered for Mansfield shown on FreeBMD. The two for the Rugby registration district are, in my opinion, the children of Charles Lionel Bockin (as far as I can see he was born in Bolton in 1879, and married in Rugby in 1909; he is the one with the medal card).

So what I would then do is to start searching the actual BMD index images available on www.ancestry.co.uk from, say, 1908 onwards, and record all the Bockin entries. There will not be many. This seems an arduaous task, but it may pay a dividend. If Lionel Bockin died in England you should find the registration. And, if we have the right man from the memorial, there's a good chance that his widow would have remarried after his death. She would have been young enough, and possibly had two children to support. So if you have her name (as above) you may be able to determine the window during which Lionel died.

Finally, there seems to be a Mansfield Family History Society, so they might be worth a try. If Lionel did have children, it's possible that someone else has some information about him.

None of the above may solve the mystery, but it's never over until the fat lady sings.

Noel

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Anthony

Re the name confusion Bocking v Bockin.

There is a birth registerd in the Dec Qtr 1904 Mansfield RD Constance Grace Bocking

The death of presumably the same person is registered in Mansfield March Qtr 1926 as Constance G Bockin, aged 21 years (this time without the 'g')

Could this be the first child of Leonard Bockin(g)?

If so it could point to the family still being in the area in 1926.

Something else to add to the mix

Regards

Pam

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Anthony

Another piece of non military information:

The Marriage Indexes have a marriage registered in the Mansfield RD in Dec Qtr 1919 of:

Sarah A. Bockin and William T Collins (7b 376)

Probably Leonard Bockin(g)'s wife the former Sarah Anne Clarke

If so presumably he must have been dead by the time of the remarriage

Regards

Pam

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Nice work Pam! I was busy looking up the indexes for someone else, so well done.

Sarah A.'s second marriage certificate would show her as a widow (if we have the right person).

Looks promising.

Noel

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Edging closer, Anthony....

I think I can just see someone out of the corner of my eye....

Leonard? Is that you.....?

Steve.

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Would sir be interested in me pressing the Send Message button to this person on GenesReunited?

post-6536-1173180490.jpg

Steve.

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Steve, nice work.

I did not get a match on Leonard Bockin and went no further. I also do not get a "hit" with Ethel.

Hmm, that may mean that Mabel is not Leonard's daughter, or that the researcher has not pursued Mabel's family any further.

Whoever she was, it appears that Mabel must have married and had issue, and that the family is extant.

But we are edging closer all the time.

Noel

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Message sent to Genesreunited's John.

Fingers crossed.

Steve.

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Good work folks. I have the feeling that the circle is tightening.

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You should all see the smile on my face, i wont get too carried away though.

The information you have all given is absolutely first class, i really cannot thank you enough for all this.

It's brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

Steve, Noel, Pam, THANK YOU!!!

Fingers toes and everything else crossed.

Please....Please...

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Well done folks. You can find Lord Lucan next - it'll be a doddle!

Bernard

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Bernard,

He hasn't quite been found yet!!! :unsure:

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Anthony,

It crossed my mind last night that perhaps our man went to sea. I just checked the Register of Seaman's Services on-line at TNA and he is not listed under Bockin or Bocking.

However, other possibilities (unless you've already checked) are that he was in the RND, RNVR, or Mercantile Marine Reserve. The medal rolls for these ae not on-line but are at TNA under ADM 171.

Anyway, fingers crossed that we're getting close!

Noel

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Noel,

Hadn't even considered that! Good thinking.

I need to draw up a plan where to go next, needs to be set out quite clearly in bullet points i think

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Anthony, one more thing. I should have thought of this, too - must be getting old!

See the thread on Lt. Gordon Allan. We should check the GRO overseas deaths index.

Noel

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Already been done!!

That was one of the first things that i asked Terry Denham to do for me!!

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Anthony,

HE EXISTED!!!

A fairly short reply from John :

Hi, Yes Mable was my paternal grandmother, Leonard my gt Grandfather.

Cheers, John.

That's all so far.

I'll try and get some more info if possible.

Do you want to let me have your e-mail Anthony, so I can pass it on?

Steve.

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Oh, how exciting! I do hope it's the right Leonard, and that John knows his story.

My fingers are crossed for you, Anthony.

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Steve,

Excellent, thank you so much.

If you wouldn't mind i would like the email address. But you are doing such a fantastic job, i don't want to jinx it!!

This is getting great, let's hope we find him soon.

3 years it's taken............

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Haven't got his e-mail address yet.

If you let me know your e-mail address I will pass it on to him.

By the way, it seems that Mabel married a Smith. I wonder, I just wonder....

Steve.

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