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Remembered Today:

Coldstream Guards help please


Black Jock

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Attached is a photo from the "Navy and Army Illustrated 1895". Which has intrigued me for the past 25 year's. It shows 2/Lt Heathcote-Amory of the 1st Coldstream Guards, the tallest officer in the Brigade of Guards (6' 51/2") and Drummer John Marshall. John was picked up whilst the battalion were exercising near Swindon, in 1893, whilst following the troops and found to be an orphan, and a 'fine spirited boy'. The officers of battalion placed him in Gordon Boy's Home. At the 'home' John did well, and became a cornet player in the band, the officers of the Coldstream Guards took him into their own band as a drummer.

At the beginning of the Great War John would have been 30'ish and I wonder if he served then. There are three MIC's for John Marshall, Coldstream Guards, one is on the CWGC his No. is 11247 aged 21 and he has parents, leaving two others that may be John, it would be good to give this wee nugget of a story an ending.

Thanks in anticipation

Aye

Tom

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post-18033-1178890464.jpg

Attached is a photo from the "Navy and Army Illustrated 1895". Which has intrigued me for the past 25 year's. It shows 2/Lt Heathcote-Amory of the 1st Coldstream Guards, the tallest officer in the Brigade of Guards (6' 51/2") and Drummer John Marshall. John was picked up whilst the battalion were exercising near Swindon, in 1893, whilst following the troops and found to be an orphan, and a 'fine spirited boy'. The officers of battalion placed him in Gordon Boy's Home. At the 'home' John did well, and became a cornet player in the band, the officers of the Coldstream Guards took him into their own band as a drummer.

At the beginning of the Great War John would have been 30'ish an I wonder if he served then. There are three MIC's for John Marshall, Coldstream Guards, one is on the CWGC his No. is 11247 aged 21 and he has parents, leaving two others that may be John, it would be good to give this wee nugget of a story an ending.

Thanks in anticipation

Aye

Tom

What about the officer? Do you know anything about him? I know there is or was a Conservative MP by that surname but....

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Kirkes,

The name rings a bell, yes I would like to know about Heathcote-Amory perhaps he was one of the officers who sponsored the wee lad

Tom

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The three sets of numbers all suggest joining after the war broke out - the Band didnt see much of France/Flanders so might never have gone and hence no MIC

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HWL Heathcote-Amory served ww1 in the home service, territorial btns not with the coldstream

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HWL Heathcote-Amory served ww1 in the home service, territorial btns not with the coldstream

Thanks Coldstreamer,

If the wee lad didn't go to France I hope he had a long and peacefull life

Tom

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next time Im in London will try and found out what became of him

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next time Im in London will try and found out what became of him

That is very generous of you. I have one or two other pics of the Coldstream Guards from the Navy and Army....If you want them

Tom

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What a superb picture to go with the equally lovely story behind it.

I do hope John had a long and peaceful life after his rotten start. Thanks to the Coldstreamers he got a fine crack at life.

What a lovely piece of history. I wonder if he did survive, married and had children of his own. Would like to know what happened to that once fine spirited boy.

Thank you for sharing this.

Susan.

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That is very generous of you. I have one or two other pics of the Coldstream Guards from the Navy and Army....If you want them

Tom

always interested - you never know what will turn up, that elusive picture to a chap whose medals you have is the dream........

That is very generous of you. I have one or two other pics of the Coldstream Guards from the Navy and Army....If you want them

Tom

always interested - you never know what will turn up, that elusive picture to a chap whose medals you have is the dream........

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[quoteI wonder if he did survive, married and had children of his own. Would like to know

Hi Susan,

Thank you. My sentiments entirely.

Tom

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thanks - can you post the text as well - its a bit small

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thanks - can you post the text as well - its a bit small

Knackered the photo. reducing it.

Drum Major Patrick. 2nd Coldstream Guards, His father served in the 2nd, three of his uncles fell in action while with the battalion in the Russian War. The Drum Major enlisted in 1875 at the age of fourteen years and served with the battalion in the Egytian Campaign 1882. he is an East Anglian from Great Yarmouth and has the good conduct medal

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Tom,

Was this Gordon Home for Boys Link

where John Marshall was taken.

If you have not already looked at the site follow the link on the left to look at some photos in "waifs and strays".... There is one there that looks very similar to young John.

Taken 1890 Bristol. From memory it may be xxx26.

Would dearly love to know what became of that young fellow. It would be lovely if Coldstreamer found anything out about him/his life.

Susan

post-8059-1178931312.jpg

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Knackered the photo. reducing it.

Drum Major Patrick. 2nd Coldstream Guards, His father served in the 2nd, three of his uncles fell in action while with the battalion in the Russian War. The Drum Major enlisted in 1875 at the age of fourteen years and served with the battalion in the Egytian Campaign 1882. he is an East Anglian from Great Yarmouth and has the good conduct medal

cheers

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Susan

Thanks for the link. He could be the boy, the Childrens Society say they have a duty of care to maintain the anonimity of the children and their parents, which is a fair one. I'm afraid the photos of the bairns reached my soft centre. There are also photos of them that went into the army, but no names.

Tom

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  • 11 years later...

I'm looking for a Coldstream guard, likely (but not certainly) to have come from Swindon.  so this thread was of interest to me, so I've done a bit of searching. Why the Coldstreamers should be around Swindon I have no idea.  It hasn't much of a history to doing with the military, although it could have been a drop off point for points South if they came by train, so any extra info on that would be interesting.  If they found that  John Marshall was an orphan, how did they find that out?  Was he in an institution/orphanage before?   I found a John Marshall 1n 1939 In charge of the Public Institution in Warminster, by that time it was an old peoples home/hospital?  That John was born 22nd Nov 1990, so maybe a bit young for the young man above.  

 

Back to my Coldstreamer, I had just come to the conclusion that maybe the photo was older than WW1, Francis Frith was taking photos of them back way before then. What do you think? 

unknown solider Sheppard or Scott.jpg

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Sorry but ignorance is bliss sometimes....which Swindon are we talking about at the top of the thread please?

George

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20 minutes ago, George Rayner said:

Sorry but ignorance is bliss sometimes....which Swindon are we talking about at the top of the thread please?

George

 

Complete shot in the dark but I’d hazard a guess Swindon, Wiltshire?

 

1st CG may have been training in or around the area.

 

Steve

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After my flight of fancy yesterday, I had wondered why hey would have been around Swindon in Wiltshire. I was reminded by a friend about Chiseldon Camp, just a few mile to the south of Swindon and see below Quote: 
 
"Chiseldon already had some military connections before the Great War as Burderop Park was the site of annual camps and manoeuvres which took place on the Calley Estate." 
 
The articles it came from tell of the railway coming, nit just to Swindon (for which it is famous) but the branch line trough Chiseldon, 
so there is every chance the Coldstreamers were there. and the same friend told me they recruited well in this part of Wiltshire. Also she had information on the Heathcote Amorys. An aristocratic family at least one of whom went into politics later and influential around Tiverton/Devon. 
 
ther was a John Marshall living in Prospect House Highworth, another small town on the North side of Swindon. A walk down Ermin Street would have got him to Chisledon without a lot of trouble in those days. Yet to find out what Propect House was. 
 
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I have researched men from all over the country,  I'd read nothing into where he came from relative to joining the coldstream gds

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Ill stick my neck out and say he was born 1881 ish -  a boy soldier in 1895 aged 13/14 yrs maybe

 

I can find nothing as to what became of him - too many people with this name

 

its possible when he was older he simply wasnt tall enough to be a coldstreamer and was transferred out - or is the picture Marilyn posted known to be Marshall as its unclear - if it isnt then this thread may get mixed up and confused

Edited by Coldstreamer
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sorry, No, I do not know who the Coldstreamer is. Only that he is related to our family.  Our cousin had the photo and was (as usual) told by his mother,  "You are related to him).  Circumstances are that he is most liked related to our cousins fathers family, so searching for him is more difficult, since we are related to him only by marriage. Hope that makes sense.  

 

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