Thomas and Harriet's Children (9): Herbert Sidney Edgar (Part 2)

I finished the first of  these posts on Herbert Sidney Edgar by pointing out that his decision in 1904 to take the Army Certificate of Education Third Class was probably motivated by a desire to win promotion to corporal. Nevertheless, Herbert was to end his first stint in the army almost exactly ten years later with the same rank - Gunner or Private - at which he'd entered.

He continued to progress at a snail's pace up the pay grade for his rank. On March 29, 1906 his 'Good Conduct' bonus was raised from 6d. to 7d. a day - this meant that he had passed another two years without being punished, and he was given a second badge and the extra penny accordingly.

In spite of his lack of promotion he continued to like army life - or at least fail to find an acceptable alternative. On 26 February 1909-  still in K Battery but now at Trowbridge Station in Wiltshire where he'd been transferred from Christchurch - he extended his service to 12 years with the colours.

By Phil Williams, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12903487

The paperwork for this extension tells us that his military character was judged to be 'Very Good'  but it also gives us a clue as to why his army career had stalled. His work is described as 'Officer's servant', and it looks to me as if 'barber' has been crossed out. I'll come back to the significance of this later.

On December 23, 1911 he was transferred to the 46th. Battery of the Royal Field Artillery. In my first post on Herbert I mentioned that in 1899 the Royal Artillery was reorganised into three sections, two of which were the Royal Horse Artillery and the Royal Field Artillery. In other words, this was a 'family' transfer, and my guess, because of what happens next,  is that he requested himself.

On December 27, 1911 Herbert Sidney married Alice Stephenson at St. Paul's, Knightsbridge. 

St. Paul's Knightsbridge, 32a Wilton Place, Belgravia: Wikipedia, courtesy of User Edwardx

He didn't need to take leave for the occasion. The Reverend George H. Peskett officiated and Herbert's sister Katy Mary Edgar and Sgt. E. J. Shoesmith, presumably one of his army friends, were witnesses. The couple lived at 36, Jackson Street, Woolwich. It seems that Alice was still  there at or soon after his attestation for 21 years service in August 1912.

There is something of a mystery about the church they were married in. Two documents in Herbert's Army pension records on Ancestry.com put the location of the wedding at St. Paul's beyond doubt. But a document on Find My Past has it at St. George's, Hanover Square[1]. Now in the 1911 Census Alice Stephenson was a parlour maid in the house of Elizabeth Jane Osborne, a Madras-born widow who lived at 33, Wilton Place, which is in the Civil Parish of - St. George's, Hanover Square!

Perhaps the wedding was planned and announced at St. George's and switched at the last minute to St. Paul's. Perhaps there is another explanation. In any case, there's more to this wedding than meets the eye. Alice was about four months pregnant with Thomas, her first child by Herbert, on the day of her wedding. And Herbert's family - which reportedly considered Alice 'beneath' their son - boycotted the wedding - neither parent was there, and of Herbert's many siblings, only Katie Mary was present (and acted as witness).

Although Alice seems to have been living in Woolwich, she joined her husband for the birth. Thomas Herbert was born at Bordon Camp in Hampshire on May 3, 1912.  An entry on his medical records card states he arrived at Bordon on March 18, 1913 - I think that this is a mistake for March 18, 1912. On August 6, 1912 he was re-examined medically at Bordon because he'd asked to extend his service. The form repeats some details from the 1901 examination but gives us new information. His physical development was 'very good' he had no smallpox marks, no minor defects, no marks indicating congenital peculiarities or previous disease. He'd been vaccinated since infancy and had two marks on his right arm and four on his left.  He was considered fit for service either at home or abroad..

On August 9, 1912 he signed up for 21 years in service. This doesn't necessarily mean he expected to be a full-time soldier much longer: he was opting for 13 years in his regiment, and 8 years in the Reserve, the first cohort of those who would be called up if necessary.

It seems that in late 1913 Herbert started to acquire the paperwork necessary for  his shift from the 'colours' to the Reserve.

We've seen that in 1909 he was acting as an 'officer's servant' and the Employment Sheet drawn up on October 19, 1913 shows that he was still one, and it's clear in what capacity. Herbert is described as smart, intelligent and 'used to driving a motor car'. His military character was 'exemplary' which again suggests a perfect disciplinary record. His Regimental Conduct Sheet was  also completely clean. In fact, every comment on Herbert in his pension records is positive - so why did he leave the army with the same rank he entered? It's possible that his performance in training exercises - as far as I can make out he never saw fighting in this first period of service - suggested that he wouldn't have been much of a leader if called on to operate the guns for real. But it's also possible that he was simply too useful in a non-combat capacity: although things developed quickly from the situation in 1895 when there were only about 15 cars in the whole country,  motoring remained a rich person's pursuit in the years before 1914[3] and it's possible that Herbert's driving skills were so scarce as to be considered more useful than  his gunnery ones. His Discharge sheet describes him explicitly as a chauffeur, so he was probably driving full time by 1914.

Another piece of paperwork from the time of discharge that illustrates his good army character is the Certificate of Sobriety and Trustworthiness he was issued:

I believe that Herbert Sidney Edgar is thoroughly trustworthy and to the best of my belief has not been under the influence of liquor during the last three years of his Army Service, which expired on 3. 6. 1914.

On January 9, 1914 he was posted back to the Royal Horse Artillery, to the Y Battery, as a gunner. This seems to have been a preliminary to leaving the army. His second son, Wilfred 'Bay' Edgar was born in Woolwich in the first quarter of 1914.

On June 3, 1914 he was getting 6d. per day extra 'proficiency pay'. Basic pay was 1s. 2.5 d per day (it was 2d. extra if, as seems to have been the case, he was still considered as being  in the Horse Artillery).[4] On June 6, 1914  he was discharged, at his own request after the thirteen years service he had eventually agreed to. He left the army at Woolwich, intending to live at 36, Jackson Street.

My guess is that he planned to support his wife and two children as a driver, but any hopes for using the skill he probably learnt in the army as the basis of a civilian career were soon to disappear. Two months after his discharge Britain declared war on Germany and Austria. At his age he was probably a Class 1 Reservist - liable to immediate call up. Presumably because of his ability to drive he was assigned to the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC - the 'Royal' was added in 1918 and some WW1 sources refer to this body as the ASC), which is responsible for providing the troops with all provisions other than weaponry and ammunition.

No details of Herbert's service in WW1 have survived, but we can draw some conclusions from the medals he was awarded (and not awarded) and from the Protection Certificate and Certificate of Identity, which like all departing servicemen, he was issued on leaving the army.

His Medal Roll tells us that his rank was Private - so no promotion in his second army stint either - and that his regimental number was M2/099872. The 'M' means 'Mechanical Transport' - which makes it almost certain he worked as a driver. Unfortunately the section marked 'Unit'  on his Certificate of Protection is illegible so I don't know exactly which branch of the RASC he was in, so we can only get a very general sense of the kind of work he did.

All Mechanical Transport Companies were part of the Lines of Communication and were not under orders of a Division, although some (unusually known as Divisional Supply Columns and Divisional Ammunition Parks) were in effect attached to a given Division and worked closely with it. Those in the Lines of Communication operated in wide variety of roles, such as being attached to the heavy artillery as Ammunition Columns or Parks, being Omnibus Companies, Motor Ambulance Convoys, or Bridging and Pontoon units.[5]

Herbert was awarded the Victory Medal and the British Medal but not the Star.

Victory Medal - Obverse: By en:User:Bjw3 - en:File:Victory-Obverse.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9721607

Victory Medal - Reverse: By en:User:Bjw3 - en:File:Victory-Reverse.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9844834

British War Medal: By Medal created and awarded by the British Government in 1919, image created by Col André Kritzinger - Own work (Derivative), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39352778

 I think that means he was in a war zone- his Certificate of Protection specifies France - but not in 1915 (which is why he didn't get the star). These three  medals were awarded for simple participation, not for valorous deeds.

So really all we know is that Herbert was probably a driver and he spent some time in the French war zone in the period 1916-1918.

His Certificate of Protection tells us he was discharged from Fovant Dispersal Camp in Wiltshire and the home he went to was 3 Consort Villas, Arthur Road, Windsor. Alice had moved there at some point during the war with her youngest child, Wilfred, and Thomas and Arthur joined them later. Her  mother - Eliza Stephenson - also came to live with them.[6] She died in 1917 and. according to Bay, is buried in Clewer St. Andrews.

Herbert was demobilised on June 6, 1919 - five years to the day after he'd left the army for the first time! His medical category was A1. In the event of (another) emergency he was to re-join the army at Bulford on Salisbury Plain- presumably at the military camp there.

I'll say more about his post-war life and children in my next post on his wife Alice. The family moved from Arthur Road to a large Victorian semi in nearby Vansittart Road.

Herbert in Vansittart Road

Herbert worked as a chauffeur or driver and in WW11 he continued this work, at some point driving German prisoners of war. When I went to German in 1971 I visited a Hamburg man who he'd befriended when he was captured by the Americans as a very young soldier ('Get out of the ditch, Nazi Boy!').

Herbert died on 17 December 1960 at King Edward V11 Hospital in Windsor. Probate was granted to Bakery Manager Thomas Herbert Edgar - his oldest son -  and civil servant Rupert Charles Francis - husband of his daughter Gwyneth. The sum was £1,115 18s. 2d which I assume went straight to Alice, who survived him by over 20 years.

---

[1] Marriages Registered in October, November and December 1911, STE, 189 - http://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=bmd%2fm%2f1911%2f4%2faz%2f000912&parentid=bmd%2fm%2f1911%2f4%2faz%2f000912%2f064

[2] I am almost certain that Mr. Stephenson is dead, but as I have not seen a death certificate and it is not quite 110 years since his probable date of birth I am withholding his full name in accordance with Blog policy.

[3] http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/0/ww1/25237886

[4] http://www.1914-1918.net/pay_1914.html

[5] http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-army-service-corps-in-the-first-world-war/

[6] Wilfred's letter.

Thomas and Harriet's Children (9): Herbert Sidney Edgar - part 1 'A Passage to India'

Herbert Sidney Edgar was born on October 5, 1878 in Preston St. Mary. His earliest years were lived as the son of a prosperous tenant farmer, but soon financial disaster struck and his parents (Thomas and Harriet) began a long series of moves presumably in search of secure employment.

The 1881 Census records the family living in Debenham Road, Stonham-Aspall, Bosmere. Thomas is a Farm Steward (Bailiff) and Harriet a Dairy Woman (categorised as 'Ag. Lab' - Agricultural Labour). This marks a social fall: Thomas is managing another man's farm not running his own, and his wife is working for the first time. Herbert Sidney is 2,and he has an older sister Alice Louise (4) and a younger one - Katie Mary, born on March 11, 1881. The oldest child - Arthur - had been sent to live with Harriet's parents, the Worters. Soon the family had to move to another part of Suffolk.

Both Alice Louise and Herbert started at Worlwingworth C. of E. Primary School on 20 October, 1884. Founded in 1689, the school was free to all children of inhabitants who rented at rents not exceeding £10 per year,[1] further indication of the family's humble status.

Herbert's brother Wilfred Henry Edgar was born in Tendring, Essex in May 1888, so the family were obviously there by that time. Herbert and Katie are known to have attended a school at Clacton-on-Sea, about seven miles away. But it wasn't long before their schooling was disrupted by another move.

Herbert started at Wetherden County Primary School on 4 November 1889. Stanley and Katie Mary are also registered as having begun school on that date. The family were living at Rose Cottage. On a different page Stanley is said to have started on the same date. Herbert and Katie are said to have attended a school at Clacton-on-Sea, Stanley none.[2] Annie Gertrude, who started on 17 March 1890, was also attending for the first time.[3] Wetherden is a small village close to Stowmarket. The family lived at Rose Cottage - numbers 1 and 2 Rose Cottage are now Grade 11 Listed Buildings, but I don't know if that's where they were. Then they were off again.

In 1891 the family is living at Great Bealings and Thomas is now no longer a bailiff but an agricultural labourer. And so is young Herbert, his schooling over by the age of 12, and the prospect of a life of hard and badly paid work stretching before him.

In 1901 his parents are living in Stapleford Abbots in the Ongar district and Thomas is still an agricultural labourer. But where is Herbert? Well, Census day in 1901 was April 1 and on March 29, at the age of 22 years and 5 months, Herbert had signed up as a soldier. On his Attestation form he describes himself as a 'labourer' and states that he hasn't lived 'out of (his) Father's house for three years'. Let's bring in the testimony of Wilfred 'Bay' Edgar here:

Herbert, my father, joined the Essex police later the City of London police followed by the Royal Horse Artillery.

If we assume that both Bay (who was writing about his father) and the Attestation form (penalty for lying = two years hard labour) then we can reconstruct Herbert's movements in two possible ways: at some point later than March 29, 1898 (three years before he signed the form) he left the family home and worked for two police forces before returning to farm labour OR he was a policeman in the early 1890s but returned to live with his parents and accept work on a farm towards the end of the decade. Of course, Bay might be mis-remembering and/or Herbert might have had reason to risk lying to the army, but I'm inclined to trust both sources at the moment.

What else can we learn from Herbert's Attestation?

Well, he was, as Bay said, joining the Royal Regiment of Artillery. This had just been reorganised:

On 1 July 1899, the Royal Artillery was divided into three groups: the Royal Horse Artillery of 21 batteries and the Royal Field Artillery of 95 batteries comprised one group, while the coastal defence, mountain, siege and heavy batteries were split off into another group named the Royal Garrison Artillery of 91 companies.[4]

Herbert's brother Stanley was to be conscripted into the Royal Garrison Artillery in 1917, while Herbert's service included both the Horse and Field branches. 

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6829236

The job of the RHA was to operate light, mobile guns that provided firepower in support of the cavalry.[5] Herbert joined them in the middle of the Boer War (1899-1902), so it's possible he hoped to see service in South Africa - if so he was to be disappointed.

Herbert signed up in Woolwich at a time when his parents were living in Essex: this might give some support to the second 'timeline' I suggested above in which Herbert was a City of London policeman just before joining the army. His service was to be for seven years with the colours and then five more years in the First Class Army Reserve.

Other documents in his army Pension Records give us a more complete picture of Herbert in 1901 and some glimpses of his military service.

His medical form tell us he had a fresh complexion, blue eyes, brown hair, and no distinctive marks. He was 5' 9" tall and weighed 148 pounds - definitely not overweight, perhaps even on the lean side. His chest was 38' and he could expand it another two inches. He was examined and considered fit for the army on March 29 1901, the day he applied. He was or claimed to be Anglican, which is not surprising given his churchwarden father.

His regimental number  was 15747 and he joined the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA)  at Woolwich on April 1 1901, his service reckoned from March 29. He was a Gunner, the equivalent of Private in the artillery.

What followed was 6 weeks of preparation for army life. On April 6 he had three vaccinations in his left arm with 'perfect' results. He stayed at Woolwich for six weeks, probably for basic training. He was posted gunner in the 'Y' Battery of the Royal Horse Artillery on May 16 1901. His medical records suggest he arrived at Aldershot on May 14 but I can find no link with the Y Battery there. He had no hospital admission and no recorded medical interventions at Woolwich but his luck was about to change. He was being treated at Aldershot  between July 18 and August 3, 1901. The doctor who made this record had a bad case of 'medical handwriting' but I think he was suffering from Gout - one of the words  describing the treatment is 'caustics' which were used for this condition at the time. He was back to the doctor on October 7 and his treatment lasted until the 15th, this time with a mild case of tonsillitis ('temperature normal'). It seems that neither case necessitated a stay in hospital.

So far Herbert's life had been lived in the eastern and southern counties of England.

But what happened next was predictable - the Army at this time was a fundamentally imperialist institution, and insofar as it also existed to defend Britain from European threats it wasn't yet clear whether the potential enemy was France or Germany - but it represented a revolution in Herbert's life.

 British India in 1909: Wikipedia, Courtesy of Users Fowler&fowler and Trengarasu

On January 4, 1902 he was posted to India as a gunner, landing there on March 13. He was now in battery K (Hondeghem) of the Royal Horse Artillery which was originally formed by the East India Company in 1809.[6]  He arrived at his first base, Sialkot, on 29 March 1902. Sialkot is in the north eastern part of the Punjab and what is today Pakistan. Average temperatures during the May-June peak are 38-39 Centigrade (over 100 Fahrenheit) and have been known to reach 48.9C (120F).[7]

Given that the RHA's job was to provide Artillery support for the cavalry, it seems that  both here and at his next India posting he was working with the famous 'Bengal Lancers' - a general term for a number of different regiments.[8]

While in India Herbert's army career progressed slowly - he remained at the basic rank of Gunner. On 15 December 1902 he successfully passed through a class of instruction called 'Ambulance'. He was granted 'G. C. pay' on March 29, 1903. This is Good Conduct pay for the two years he'd served: I think he was given an extra 1d. (one old penny) a day, but the record isn't clear. It was awarded because he'd not been punished during his two year service.[9]

Herbert was receiving treatment for 25 days in the summer of 1903 with 'Soft chancre'. This is a painless sore, most probably on the penis, and the diagnosis suggests venereal disease not a penile ulcer of another origin.[10] Herbert was treated by the application of 'black wash' -  Lotio hydrargiri nigra -  a mixture of calomel and limewater. This sounds an unpleasant procedure, and it must have been a worrying time, but he made a good recovery -  this might be because the chancre often disappears after a month or so without any treatment! A hard-to-read note seems to be in connection with this episode: 'bears satisfactory marks, re-examined 1908'. Whatever the exact wording, Herbert was medially examined on a number of later occasions and he was completely healthy. It seems he never needed any more medical treatment during his time in the army.

In any case, Herbert's infection was not uncommon - in fact, you could even say he got off luckily. Records from 1888 show that 30% of a strength of 101,695 to be infected with venereal diseases (including syphilis, gonorrhoea and soft chancre). Of these, 41% were constantly sick and 6% invalids.[11]

Later in the year Herbert received a new posting, although it was still in British India. He arrived at Meerut in Uttar Pradesh on November 23, 1903. The city is 70km. north east of (New) Delhi and was one of the most important sites of the Indian Uprising/Mutiny of 1857. 

Meerut: Mutineers' Mosque: By Major Robert Christopher Tytler (1818–1872) - Downloaded by Fowler&fowler«Talk» 01:26, 5 March 2008 (UTC) from the British Library Website, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45127652


St. John's Church, Meerut, c. 1905: By India Illustrated - http://digital.lib.uh.edu/u?/p15195coll29,137, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19544961

More important to Herbert was probably the fact that it's even hotter than Sialkot, the recorded high being 46.1C  (115F). In 1901 the population was 118, 539 people - today it's heading towards 1.5 million.[12] The crowds, liveliness and colour of Indian streets must have been as big a contrast as can be imagined with the sparse populations of the East Anglian villages in which Herbert had lived as a young man, and even the City of London wouldn't have been much of a preparation. Sadly I know nothing about Herbert's reactions to his experiences in the East. It does seem though that he was not engaged in active service during his time in India, as this was a relatively peaceful time in the history of the Raj.

His service in India ended on 7 March 1904 after 2 years 77 days.

He obviously liked army life because on returning to Britain he made provisions to extend his service. On April 1,1904, while still in 'K' battery, he elected to come under the provisions of service pay A.O. 66 of 1902 and he was granted Service Pay Class 1 at the rate of 6d. per day. I'm not sure what this means. A number of online sources state that army privates got one shilling a day basic pay at around this time, although 'stoppages' for food and rent took up about half of that. Herbert's 6d. went up to 7d. in 1906 when he got his second Good Conduct badge for another two years without punishment, so my guess is that the 6d. a day was in addition to his basic pay of about one shilling (12 d.).

Three days later, on April 4,1904 Herbert agreed to extend his period of full-time regimental service ('with the colours') to eight years from the seven he'd signed up for. He was at the Christchurch Station (Hampshire) and his form tells us he was 'a very sturdy clean soldier' and his character was 'V. G.' (very good). His active service was due to expire on March 29 1909.

On June 14, 1904 he was granted the army's Third Class Certificate of Education. The Certificate system was set up in 1861 to help soldiers achieve educational standards suitable for rising through the ranks:

The third-class certificate specified the standard for promotion to the rank of corporal: the candidate was to read aloud and to write from dictation passages from an easy narrative, and to work examples in the four compound rules of arithmetic and the reduction of money.[13]

Herbert had been a Gunner for three years now, and it seems he was preparing for promotion.

---

[1] The Victoria History of the County of Suffolk, edited by William Page, F.S.A., Vol. 2, (Archibald Constable, London, 1907),353.

[2]http://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=gbor%2fschool%2fsuffolk%2fa2703_3%2f0073&parentid=gbor%2fschool%2fa27033%2f692015&highlights=%22%22; http://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=gbor%2fschool%2fsuffolk%2fa2703_3%2f0076&parentid=gbor%2fschool%2fa27033%2f692123

[3]http://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=gbor%2fschool%2fsuffolk%2fa2703_3%2f0073&parentid=gbor%2fschool%2fa27033%2f692015&highlights=%22%22

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Artillery#History

[5] http://www.1914-1918.net/rha.htm

[6]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_Battery_(Ramsay%27s_Troop)_Royal_Horse_Artillerys://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_(Hondeghem)_Battery_Royal_Artillery

[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sialkot

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal_Lancers

[9] http://www.reubique.com/gcpay.htm

[10] http://jramc.bmj.com/content/90/6/282.full.pdf

[11] file:///C:/Users/brian/Downloads/ibms-syphilis-posters-congress.pdf

[12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meerut

[13] http://www.reubique.com/educatn.htm

Thomas and Harriet's Children (8): Stanley James Edgar

Stanley James Edgar was born in Acton, Suffolk on March 3, 1883. According to one source, his father Thomas was working at nearby Great Waldingfield and Stanley was baptised there on April 8.[1] 

St. Lawrence Church, Great Waldingfield
By Robert Edwards, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6818764

One of his military records (see below) tells us while in the army he was or claimed to be Anglican - this is hardly surprising as his father was a Church warden in at least two of the places he lived.

In 1891 Stanley, a 'scholar' aged 8, he was living at home with his parents and 5 of his siblings. 'Home' was now Great Bealings - his parents had fallen on hard times and were forced to move around in search of secure employment.

In 1901, aged 18 and living with his parents at Stapleford Abotts, he was working as a postman.

In 1911, still single, he's one of two boarders with the Hollier family of Low Leyton (after 1921 Leyton), in Essex.

Mr Hollier's name and details have been crossed out so the house seems to be headed by his wife. Stanley is now a grocer, and he's described as a 'worker' so he's employed by someone else. This was the job he'd be doing for at least the next 14 years, apart from a short period of military service, although his appearance in trade directories from 1912 onward suggests he ran his own shop after marriage..

That happened later in 1911: his marriage was registered in Ongar in the last quarter of that year. His wife was Ethel Groves, who was born on December 1, 1887.[2] The wedding took place on December 26 in the parish church at Lambourne in Essex.[3] 

The Church of St Mary and All saints, Lambourne: By John Winfield, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8107759

Lambourne is 4.5 miles south of Epping

The same Military Record from 1917 record tells us that Ethel was living at 1 Henniker Gardens in East Ham, which was their family home from 1912 at the latest. In that year the couple had one child registered in West Ham in 1914.[4] 

Stanley is in Kelly's Directory for 1912, 1914 and 1917 as a grocer and living in Henniker Gardens so it's almost certain that this was what he was doing from 1912 until he was conscripted in 1917. The 'Report' made on his conscription into the army tells us that he was 35 years old at the time of his entrance into the Royal Garrison Artillery in June 1917.

Stanley must have been called up under the Military Service Act which took effect from March 2, 1916 and was extended to married men like him in May of that year. Luckily all of his records seem to have survived, and the following information is put together from various documents.

He was accepted into the RGA on June 5, 1917 - June 2 was already printed and is given in other documents but the '2' has been crossed out and '5' written in. The same thing's happened with the place of his acceptance: it was 'Stratford, London, E.' but that's been crossed out and someone's written in 'Derby'. Derby was the location of the RGA's Depot (Heavy and Siege)[5] and I think it's clear what happened: Stanley presented himself at his local recruiting centre on June 2, when he, as another documents tells us, was 'called up for service', and a couple of days later he was given a stamped form and put on a train to Derby - another document tells us he arrived on July 4 - where he was processed into the RGA 3 days later.[6]  His service was to be 'for the duration' of the war. As we shall see, it went rather beyond that.

Stanley's rank was Gunner - the equivalent of Private - and his regimental number was 164273. His papers make it clear he was 'joining' and was 'accepted' into the Regiment, not 'enrolling' and being 'enrolled'. I think they were making a distinction between volunteers and conscripts. What he told the interviewer doesn't surprise us: he had not been in the forces before, he was a shopkeeper - grocery and provisions to be precise.

But there is a mystery as to his medical classification: it's given on his joining form as 'B1. one'. - I think that's B1 with the 'one' added for clarity. This is what the 'B' category and the sub-category 'B1' meant after new guidelines were issued on July 1, 1916:

B Free from serious organic diseases, able to stand service on lines of communication in France, or in garrisons in the tropics.
Subcategories:

B1 Able to march 5 miles, see to shoot with glasses, and hear well.[7]

But a later form gives his classification as 'A' and another even states that it was 'A1' when he joined at Derby. This is what the 'A' classifications meant:

A able to march, see to shoot, hear well and stand active service conditions

A1 fit for dispatching overseas, as regards physical and mental health and training.

Some other details in his army records make me think 'B1' is more likely, perhaps with a later re-classification  as the army's losses mounted and more men were needed for France. In the category 'Slight defects not sufficient to cause rejection' we learn that Stanley had flat feet - which were also 'enlarged' and joint big toes. In addition his 'Vision' was 6/9 in both eyes - this is currently the minimum standard needed for a driving licence (so-called 2-20 vision is 6/6). His weight at 160 lbs is a little heavy for a man of 5 ft. 7.5 inches - if he were 5' 8" his recommended range now would be 131-164 pounds, ideally somewhere in the middle.

But in other ways he does seem in reasonable shape. His 'Physical Development' is described as 'good'. His girth when fully expanded was 36 inches and the range of his chest expansion was 3 inches - average for his age and sex today would be just over 2.5 inches. He'd been vaccinated in infancy and this had been kept up - he had four vaccination marks on his right arm and one on his left - I wonderif that means he was left-handed? There were no marks indicating congenital peculiarities or previous disease.

While I'm on the subject of Stanley's health, here's a note in another document as to something dental happening on 15, October 1917 relating to 8 upper and 7 lower teeth. Unfortunately, I can't read the crucial word, but I think it relates to a denture - perhaps on that date one with those specifications was made, requested, measured for, lost....?

 Stanley's Medical Record seems to be stamped July 10, but the examination can't have taken place then as it's noted that it was held at Stratford, so it probably occurred on June 2 or 3rd before he was sent up to Derby. If the stamp really is July 10 (and it's not completely clear to me that this is the case) he was a long way north of London.

On June 30 Stanley was assigned to the RGA's Outer Defences on the island of Inchkeith, the key fortress in the defence of the Forth.[8] He stayed in what was probably a relatively easy posting for about ten months.

The Firth of Forth, Scotland: Wikipedia: Courtesy of User Nilfranion

He was sent to Catterick in Yorkshire to join  the Second Siege Artillery Reserve Brigade on April 22, 1918. This was probably for some more training before he actually got involved in the fighting. On May 28 he left Catterick and he disembarked in France on May 30. There's an entry on one document: 249 sp or sg( ?) 17.6.18. This might mean indicate a transfer to the 249 Siege Battery on June 17, but if so this was soon changed, because on June 21 he joined the 188 Siege Battery which had been in France since October 1916. The note on his record for this move says 'From Base' - I don't know exactly what this means. Another little mystery in this document is: 'Granted war pay at P'(rest illegible)

His post-war medal record is marked 'base dtls'. This suggests that in spite of his rank as 'gunner' he might or might not have had anything to do with the artillery guns themselves:

Base details would typically include clerks who dealt with admin and looked after effects left at the base and possibly battle casualty replacements.[9]

The Armistice of November 11, 1918 brought the fighting to an end, but the business of de-mobilising the huge British army led to its own problems; the initial policy of first releasing those with important jobs to go amounted to 'last in, first out' and anger at this contributed to a number of mutinies, which led to a change of tack. In the end, it was the more recent conscripts who had to wait.[10]

On February 10, December , 1919 he was examined in France and signed a form stating he did not claim to be suffering from a disability as  result of his service. On February 15, 1919 he was sent to Shorncliffe Dispersal Centre close to Folkestone to prepare for release. On February 17, 1919 he was given his 'Protection Certificate and Certificate of Identity' which was needed to help smooth his way in civilian life. We also learn  that Stanley had no 'specialist military qualification'.

He got 28 days leave on 27 February, 1919 and it was during that period that his service in the army official ended. He was finally demobilised March 16, 1919 at Dover, although he was placed in the Class Z Reserve:

Soldiers who were being demobilised, particularly those who had agreed to serve “for the duration”, were at first posted to Class Z. They returned to civilian life but with an obligation to return if called upon. The Z Reserve was abolished on 31 March 1920.[11]

In fact, his form states 'Z.9'. but I don't know what the '9' means. His 'Protection' certificate told him where he'd have to re-join in case of an 'emergency' - Shoreham in Sussex, where the RGA had  a camp. 

Stanley records tell us he was awarded the Victory and/or British War  Medals for his service. Online accounts differ as to the meaning of these medals, but they were both basically awarded to people who entered an active theatre of war not for particular deeds of courage. My guess is Stanley got both.

After his demobilisation, Stanley took up his old life.  He and Ethel had a son in late 1921 (name of living person withheld) and he's back in Kelly's Directory for 1922 and 1925 as a grocer, still of 1, Henniker Gardens, East Ham.

Stanley's nephew Wilfred 'Bay' Edgar states:

Stanley...knocked about in the city possibly becoming a jobber.

'Jobbers' before the 1986 reorganisation of the Stock Exchange acted as the theoretical  owners of the shares sold by stockbrokers and theoretical source of the shares they purchased. It's possible that Stanley did this after 1925 or part-time while he was a grocer, but I have another theory. This is what one source tells us about 'jobbers':

The term "jobber" is also used to describe a small-scale wholesaler or middleman in the retail goods trade.[12]

So I think Stanley, as well perhaps as having his own shop, was a 'jobbing grocer' who supplied produce to retail outlets.

But there is evidence that at some point he left both east London and the grocery business.. His son, born in 1921, was interviewed in a local paper about his WW11 experiences and he told the reporter he'd grown up on a  poultry farm near Epping. Stanley's parents and some of his siblings lived in Theydon Garnon on the outskirts of Epping and at some point they owned or rented a farm - but the memories of those of us who visited in the late 1950s include hay bales and bees not chickens. Perhaps Stanley had  a farm of his own nearby.

Stanley's death was registered in the Chelmsford District, June 1969, aged 86. Chelmsford is about 18 miles from Epping so he might have retired to that area. Ethel died in 1995 in the Ipswich District. She was 108.[13]

---

[1] http://historyofsuffolk.co.uk/cosford/gtw/d27.html

[2]http://trees.ancestry.co.uk/pt/PersonMatch.aspx?tid=82573444&pid=38507221700&_phsrc=DAg419&_phstart=default&usePUBJs=true

[3] 'Descriptive Report on Joining' (in a packet headed New Soldier's Record), 1917.

[4] Name of possibly living person withheld - in order to post details of a person on this blog I need to have seen 1) a death certificate or other plausible evidence of decease or 2) evidence of a birth more than 110 years before the present - for the necessity of this cautious policy consider the case of Ethel Groves/Edgar below! 

[5] http://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/allied/battalion.php?pid=9093

[6] However, another document seems to suggest he was accepted at Derby on July 2. I think this was either a mistake or refers to some further development on that date.

[7] http://www.epsomandewellhistoryexplorer.org.uk/MedicalCategories.html

[8] http://www.scotlandsfirstworldwar.org/media/8285/built_heritage_ww1_29nov2013compressed.pdf

[9] http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/17578-royal-garrison-artillery/

[10] http://www.1914-1918.net/demobilisation.htm

[11] http://www.1914-1918.net/soldiers/interpretmic.html

[12] http://www.investopedia.com/terms/j/jobber.asp

[13]http://trees.ancestry.co.uk/pt/PersonMatch.aspx?tid=82573444&pid=38507221700&_phsrc=DAg419&_phstart=default&usePUBJs=true

Thomas and Harriet's children (7) Annie Gertrude Edgar

Annie Gertrude Edgar was  born in Worlingworth on July 23, 1885 and baptised at the parish church of St. Mary on September 13.

In the years before Annies birth Thomas and Harriet had moved from Great Waldingfield to Worlingworth

Worlingworth was a small Suffolk village, with most people employed like her father Thomas in agriculture. 

Source: Wikipedia, courtesy of Greenwoodlw

It's population in 1881 was under 700, and falling - people were seeking more lucrative and easier work in towns and cities.

Thomas's next move in his quest to find secure employment took the family out of Suffolk for the first time, but only as far as Tendring, a village close to Clacton in Essex. By the end of the decade they were back in Suffolk in Wetherden, a village close to Stowmarket. Annie started school there on March 17, 1890. They'd moved again by the time of the 1891 Census when they were living  in Great Bealings. Her older brothers and sister - Herbert (12), Stanley (8) and Kate (10)   - are marked as 'scholar' but for some reason she isn't.

At the time of the next Census in 1901 she's with the family still, now at Stapleford Abbots, about 4 miles from Ongar and  5 miles  from Epping. Her younger brother Wilfred (12) is at school but at 16 she has no status marked - perhaps she'd left school but not yet found work.

In 1911 Annie Gertrude, aged 25, was a 'children's nurse' in the family of solicitor Fredrick Wiffin Smith and Mary Pering Smith, helping to look after two girls aged 7 and a boy of 5. The Smiths lived at Westcroft, in Exeter Road in the Withycombe Raleigh district to the north east of the sea-side town of Exmouth in Devon. 

The Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Clock Tower on Exmouth Seafront: By Adrian Pingstone (Arpingstone) - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7279744

There was also a cook-general and a housemaid, so it was a well-off family. She was now a long way from Epping, which was about to become the family's new 'base'. But it's interesting that the 1911 Census marks his place of birth as Witham in Essex and his three children and the two other live-in servants were also Essex born. I suspect that Annie went into the family's employment in Essex and moved with them to the south west.

The Old Lifeboat Station, built 1859: By Geof Sheppard - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118312

She obviously stayed in Exmouth - whether or not with the Smiths we don't know - because five years after that Census she married there.

This marriage was on Jan 23 1916 to William Edward Gibbins, also of Withycombe Raleigh, Exmouth. William was born in the Withycombe Raleigh parish in 1886. He was an errand boy in 1901 and in 1911 he was a bricklayer, still living at home with his mother (aged 68) and his sail maker father, James (aged 72). Their address was 5 Ann Street Withycombe Raleigh, Exmouth.

A source on Ancestry.com tells us that Annie and William had a son, Thomas John Edward Gibbins, on December 13, 1919. Thomas John died at the end of 1972 in Essex.[1]

This is what Annie's nephew Wilfred 'Bay' Edgar has to say abut her life:

Annie married but stayed at home to look after husband's brother and father.

There is no other source that verifies Bay's claim that she looked after her father-in-law and brother-in-law. But let's look at the documentary record to assess it.

James' wife Elizabeth died in 1916, so, given the ideas of the time, a role as her father-in-law's carer, if he needed one, is certainly possible. But his death was registered in June 1918, so any commitment to this task was relatively short.  

William had two brothers. James Alfred Doble Gibbins died in Exmouth in 1948 leaving his money to his widow. His other brother Robert George Baker Gibbins of Exmouth died 19 January 1940 leaving probate £261 16s. 4d. to Samuel Evans, manager. As we're about to fees, Annie had left Exmouth long before either of these deaths so a carer's role, although not impossible, would have been short-lived.

In fact Annie returned to live with her parents and some of her siblings in the new family 'base' of Theydon Garnon, just outside Epping. Her husband came with her, and it's certainly possible she was looking after him, although, again, for a relatively short time.

William Edward Gibbins of Mound Rd. (sic - but probably Thomas and Harriet's home of 1, Mount Rd.) Theydon Garnon died at the London Hospital Middlesex Administration on August 2, 1924. His widow Annie Gertrude Gibbins was granted probate on effects to the value of £155. 18s.

It's possible that Annie spent the rest of her life in Theydon Garnon. 

All Saints Church, Theydon Garnon: Wikipedia, Courtesy of John Salmon

The next mention of her in the record comes 40 years later.When her brother Frederick, also given as living at 1, Mount Rd.,died on August 7, 1964, Annie was granted probate in the sum of £632.

However, there's this photo in the archive of my father (her nephew):

On the back is written 'Exmouth 1927' and it shows the children of her brother Herbert, who lived in Windsor, enjoying the seaside. I have no evidence that the woman - who certainly isn't Herbert's wife Alice - is Gertrude, but I suspect that it is indeed her. Perhaps she went back to live in Exmouth for a time - or more likely took the children down with her on a visit to friends and relatives.

Annie's death was registered in Epping in March 1966. Her son (and perhaps his wife) had presumably been living with or close to her as his death on December 29, 1972 was registered in Epping.

---

[1] http://person.ancestry.co.uk/tree/19886980/person/19736696998/facts

Thomas and Harriet's Children (6): Arthur Thomas Edgar

Arthur Thomas Edgar was born in the April-June quarter of 1875, almost certainly at Preston St Mary and very likely at Down Hall Farm. A family tree on Ancestry.com gives the date as April 10. He was Thomas and Harriet's first child - their marriage was on June 30, 1874.

His early childhood was comfortable, but about the turn of the decade his parents fell on hard times. One of the earliest indications of this is that the 1881 Census shows that Arthur Thomas had been sent to live with his grandparents, the Worters, who farmed at Milden. 

Distance: 4.1 miles

Confusingly they were also named Thomas and Harriet. The family had one servant and they lived at 15, Boxford Road.

St. Peter's Church, Milden: By Andrew Hill, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6898585

In 1891, aged 16, he's still living with Thomas and Harriet at Lower Farm, 17 Boxford Rd. - my guess is that this is the same place as in 1881 but re-numbered - in 1851 Thomas and Harriet are already living at Lower Farm and the number then was 22, and in 1861 it was 21 (I can't find a record for 1871). He's described as 'nephew', but that's been crossed out and 'grandson' written in. But rather strangely under 'Occupation' we find 'Farmer's grandson'. If this means anything it suggests he helped out around the farm. Lucy Worters, Thomas and Harriet's daughter, aged 34, is living with them and they have one servant.

A photo of the substantial-looking farmhouse can be seen here:

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/275569

In 1901 Arthur is living with Harriet Worters at the Lower Farm 16, Boxford Road - Thomas died in 1889. Also at home is Lucy (44) and Daisy Worters (20), presumably Lucy's daughter as she's described as Harriet's granddaughter. Arthur is  now a 'farm manager'.

Wilfred 'Bay' Edgar tells us

Arthur the eldest became Farm Bailiff for a neighbouring estate and lived with his grandparents.

This implies that he was not bailiff/manager of Lower Farm but of a property closer to Preston St. Mary.

Lucy Jane Worters and Arthur obviously stayed close. She died unmarried in June 1942 at Mount Road, Theydon Garnon - no number given but almost certainly the Edgar home at number 1 - and probate was granted in Llandudno to Arthur Thomas Edgar, a farm bailiff, and Ernest Edgar Warren, a carpenter.

In 1911, Arthur has moved - perhaps his grandmother is in retirement or has even died, although I've found no death certificate. He's living in Newton - about 3 miles from Sudbury.

All Saints Church, Newton: By Robert Edwards, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6898609

Arthur was now with the Warren family: Edgar Warren (father of Ernest Edgar just mentioned), Sarah Louisa Warren and two unmarried daughters - Edith May and Kate Helen. Arthur Thomas is described as 'nephew'. Sarah Louisa Warren was born Worters in 1846 and she married Edgar Warren in the Cosford registration district in the first quarter of 1877.[1] In 1851 she was living with her parents Thomas and Harriet Worters at Lower Farm. Hers sister Harriet Ann was born in 1852 and she became Mrs. Thomas Edgar in 1874.

That makes Sarah Louisa Warren (neé Worters) Arthur's aunt, so he's still living with his mother's family. But there's a twist to this story which I shall reserve for a later post as it doesn't concern Arthur Thomas directly. He's described as a farmer, and he's 35 and unmarried - both of which facts are about to assume an unexpected importance, because we are, of course, three years away from what was to be the greatest war in history thus far.

The Military Service Bill was introduced on January 1, 1916 and took effect from March 2. It called up all single men between 19 and 41. There's no record of Arthur ever having married, so he was eligible to be conscripted - by five weeks! There is no record of his ever having served alongside his brothers Thomas John, Wilfred, Stanley and Herbert. It's possible that his work on the farm was considered to place him in the 'reserved occupations' that were exempt from the draft:

List C;

1. Agricultural Occupations....More occupations in Food and Clothing were added in Dec 1915.[2]

It's possible he was able to argue for exemption: not all farm workers got it, but he could also plead that he was very close to the upper age limit, and four of his brothers were already (or soon would be) in France. In April 1918 the upper limit was raised to 50 (even 56 if necessary). If this did pose a new threat to Arthur, he might have been saved by the end of the war in November.

In any case, by 1939 he was bailiff on the family farm at 1, Mount Place and doing ARP service. Two records from the Register are still withheld, but also there are Annie Gibbins (née Edgar) and her son Thomas John Edward Gibbins, a carpenter and joiner. Also there is Olive Mary Baltrop, born in the last quarter of 1929 in the West Ham registration district and still at school. her mother's maiden name was Simons. Baltrop is crossed out and replaced by "Martin', because she married Harry James Martin in 1949. He was born in Hcakney district in 1925. They might have moved to Sydney.

Arthur Thomas died on January 17, 1961. He was living at 1, Mount Rd., Theydon Garnon,. On March 20 probate was granted to Stanley James Edgar, a retired farmer, in the sum of £1,787 4s. 10d. The probate notice was on the same page as that of their brother Herbert, who died on 17 December, 1960.

---

[1] http://person.ancestry.co.uk/tree/7972049/person/6118516050/facts

[2] http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/190699-ww1-reserved-occupations/