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Has this been posted???

UK, WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920

Name: Ernest Ranyell
Military Year: 1914-1920
Rank: Private
Medal Awarded: British War Medal and Victory Medal
Regiment or Corps: Royal Army Medical Corps
Regimental Number: 18514
Previous Units: 18514 RAMC Pte
Other Records: Search for 'Ernest Ranyell' in other WWI collections
War Diaries (France, Belgium, Germany): Search for 'Royal Army Medical Corps' in the WWI War Diaries (France, Belgium, Germany) collection
War Diaries (Gallipoli): Search for 'Royal Army Medical Corps' in the WWI War Diaries (Gallipoli) collection


UK, WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920
Record Image View

Report issue

Name: E Ranyell
Military Year: 1914-1915
Rank: Private
Medal Awarded: 1914-15 Star
Regiment or Corps: Royal Army Medical Corps
Regimental Number: 18514
Other Records: Search for 'E Ranyell' in other WWI collections
War Diaries (France, Belgium, Germany): Search for 'Royal Army Medical Corps' in the WWI War Diaries (France, Belgium, Germany) collection
War Diaries (Gallipoli): Search for 'Royal Army Medical Corps' in the WWI War Diaries (Gallipoli) collection

This record says he was discharged 19-04-16

Does anyone else understand the remarks on these 2 records??? It seems to say the medals were returned???



It's beginning to look as thought he was one of the poor blighters who suffered from "shell shock", or what we would now call PTS

London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965

Name: Ernest Ranyell
Year: 1918
County or Borough: Camden
Ward or Division/Constituency: St Pancras
Street address: Rowton House

Street name:- Arlington Street.

pages of men living at Rowton House.


from Google:-

Arlington House, opened in 1905, was the last in a chain of hostels built in London by the great Victorian philanthropist Lord Rowton. Rowton wanted to provide clean and decent accommodation for working men, who in that era were often forced to stay in filthy and disease-ridden common lodging houses.

The 'Rowton Houses' were a great success, and enjoyed a reputation for providing the cleanest and best value accommodation in London.

George Orwell stayed in Rowton Hostels during his [from our contemporary viewpoint, incredibly patronising...] travels through the world of the working class, and the 'down & out' wrote:-

" The best [lodging houses] are the Rowton Houses, where the charge is a shilling, for which you get a cubicle to yourself, and the use of excellent bathrooms. You can also pay half a crown for a special, which is practically hotel accommodation. The Rowton Houses are splendid buildings, and the only objection to them is the strict discipline, with rules against cooking, card playing, etc."

In the 1970s, there were 1140 rooms, 140 staff, 1000 men.



so it was a cheap but clean place to live

He died in Brentwood. I wonder if that meant he was still in the Brentwood Asylum?

England & Wales, Death Index, 1916-2007

Name: Ernest Ranyell
Birth Date: abt 1888
Date of Registration: Mar 1963
Age at Death: 75
Registration district: Brentwood
Inferred County: Essex
Volume: 4a
Page: 612

???? already posted

from FindMyPast .....


British Army Service Records 1914-1920 Transcription

First name(s) Ernest
Last name Ranyell
Service number 18514
Regiment Royal Army Medical Corps
Unit / Battalion 19th Stafford Hospital
Event year 1916
Age 31
Birth year 1885
Birth town Tottenham
Birth county Middlesex
Birth country England
Residence town -
Residence county Essex
Series WO 363
Record set British Army Service Records 1914-1920
Category Armed forces & conflict
Subcategory First World War
Collections from United Kingdom


File is Proceedings on Discharge

from image:-

Intended Place of residence:- 52 Coppermill Lane, Walthamstow, N.E.
Discharged in consequence of:- Termination of his 1st period of Engagement. Auth:- para 392(xxi) K.R.
Military character:- Good
Character comments:- A steady and generally well conducted man. Honest, sober, industrious and trustworthy. Taine in first aid ambulance, and nursing. A good nurse

Discharge confirmed for 19 April 1916

Enlisted 21-03-03, Aldershot

In England from 23-03-03 to 12-11-15
Overseas from 13-11-15 to 14-04-16
In England from 15-04-16 to 19-04-16

Educated:- Duke of York's Royal Military School; Royal Hibernian Military School; and Industrial School under Home Office or Local Government Board
Passed classes of instruction at Training School R.A.M. Corps, Aldershot, 31-08-03

NOK:- Mother Elizabeth Ranyell, 62 Belmont Rd, Leyton, Essex.; then moved to 54 Leabridge Rd, Clapton, N.E.
and sisters Laura and Lilly

Occupation on Joining:- Labourer
Age:- 18

Transferred to B Section Army Reserve 22-02-1906

Pension Appeal review held 1920

Medical Board review report ...........

He was actually Invalided out due to Dementia Praecox with documentary evidence. It was not considered to have been caused or worsened by WW1 service

In 1920 he was viewed as very interfering and resistive, noisy and abusive.

He apparently began to show the first signs of Dementia Praecox in Nov 1918, although on examination by the Medical Board he answered questions and seemed rational. Otherwise physically fit.

Extract from Asylum admittance 10-02-1920:- "He is suspicious and evasive in his manner. He insults and talks to himself a good deal, and he frequently smiles foolishly for no reason at all. He has hallucinations hearing imaginary voices and often becomes restless under their influence. Quite unemployable."

The Medical Board attributed his condition to "constitutional"

Degree of disability:- 100%

Medical Board meeting held 26-6-1920

Pension Appeal Board disallowed the appeal 29-9-1920 ..... the application had been submitted on the basis of his insanity, but it was not caused or aggravated by his war service.



** Dementia praecox (a "premature dementia" or "precocious madness") is a chronic, deteriorating psychotic disorder characterized by rapid cognitive disintegration, usually beginning in the late teens or early adulthood. The primary disturbance in dementia praecox is a disruption in cognitive or mental functioning in attention, memory, and goal-directed behaviour. It was viewed as a progressively deteriorating disease from which no one recovered

Oh God! How utterly tragic. Thank-you everyone. What a mess. Feel so sad for this family. I wonder whether Jessie was his twin? Maybe Nellie disappeared for good reason....

I don't think they were twins- Jessie was older. Ancestry transcription 1891 has Jessie & Ernest age 5, but image says age 8 for Jessie.

Births Jun 1883
RANYELL Jessie Edmonton 3a 288

I don't see Ernest's birth on freebmd, but perhaps mistranscribed?

Births Jun 1886 (>99%)
RANDALL Ernest Edmonton 3a 339

Jessie marries in 1912 to the man she was living with in 1911:

Name: Jessie Ranyell
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1885
Age: 27
Spouse: Robert William Walter Utton
Spouse Age: 40
Record Type: Marriage
Event Date: 24 Nov 1912
Parish: Holy Trinity, Lambeth
Borough: Lambeth
Father Name: George Alexander Ranyell
Spouse Father: John Utton
Register Type: Parish Register

I'm not sure what happened to Jessie. She's discharged from St. Pancras workhouse in 1922, but I see nothing after that. The workhouse record has her next of kin but I'm struggling to read it, but possibly ??? Ranyel, 14 Chingford Road, Walthamstow .

Thanks to you all, we are getting a much clearer picture of my ancestors. It isn't pretty, by any stretch of the imagination... In fact, terribly sad. They don't seem to have been a very close family by the looks of things. I would have though Jessie would go home to Eliza rather than the Workhouse.

Strangely, Nellie, Ernest and Jessie were baptized in 1898 (a year before their father's death)... Nellie would have been 16 at the time. Any ideas why the three would have not been baptized at birth? Perhaps they changed religion??? George's father was a Methodist missionary - just seems odd.

Also, would Nellie Ranyell, b. 1882, be listed on the 1939 Census? She can't just have disappeared... but perhaps we have to consider that other members of the family had mental health issues...

I'm not sure Jessie would have the the option to go home- I think Eliza was struggling herself at that time- she received poor relief in 1920.

Poor Law Removal and Settlement Records, 1698-1930
Name: Eliza Ranyell
Age: 68
Birth Year: abt 1852
Record Type: Settlement Papers
Event Date: 30 Aug 1920
Poor Law Union or Parish: Hackney
Residence: Hackney
-----------------------------------------------

Some of the family did pull together later. This is Eliza 1933 Electoral register:

18 Appach Road, Lambeth
Emily Bennett
Gertrude Bennett
Beatrice Buchanan (this is Nellie's sister, Maud Beatrice Ranyell, b, 1891)
Alice Mayo
Eliza Ranyell
Ethel Ranyell
---------------------------------------------

I don't see Nellie/ Irene on the 1939 register under the name Ranyell (although she may have taken on a different surname)

Juliet,

If you know the actual date of birth of Nellie coud you post please.

A lot has happened in the intervening months. Nellie went as midwife to the Begum of Manavadar December 1915 - January 1916 but according to new information, she was an inmate at a 'Lunatic Asylum' in Poona, India by July 1916. Would anyone know how to find out what happened to her. Strangely, she appears on the Midwives Roll in 1920 - how could this be? Was she sent back to England or did she die in India?

Her birth certificate details are as follows:
Nellie Ranyell
Born November 16th, 1881 (registered Feb. 27th, 1882)
131 Tiverton Road, Stamford Hill, registration district Edmonton, Sub-district Tottenham in county of Middlesex.

I can only assume that she suffered a similar fate to her brother Ernest.

We received information from Fegan's where Harold was taken in. This letter was on his file:

Marston (Fred. M) & Robinson (Harold) 30 Essex Street
Solicitors. Strand
London WC2
6th August 1918 Dear Sir On Tuesday last Mr WJ Allen, Superintendent of the Barnardiston Branch, Suffolk, of the YMCA called upon us with reference to a lad named Harold Ranyell who had been found wandering in that district and who is now being taken care of by the Association.

Mr Allen informs us that his Association does not take charge of Boys but that the lad will be cared for and kept until such time as a Home can be found for him.

Mr Allen advised us to communicate with you as he felt sure that provided you had a vacancy in your homes and under the circumstances hereafter related you would endeavour to give the lad a home.

We called at Horseferry Road in the hope of seeing you but as you were out of London we were advised to write to you with full particulars of the case. The circumstances under which we came to act in the matter are as follows:

The Boy's Mother has had two illegitimate children by different Fathers himself and a Sister.

In the year 1914 we received instructions to act for the Father of the Daughter and subsequently received instructions from the Mother to act on her behalf with regard to this Boy. We understand that the Boy's Father is dead.

Acting upon our instructions received from the Mother Mrs Ranyell we placed the Boy with his Sister who already was and now is with a Mrs Helsdon of Lincoln House, Pottergate Street, Norwich. This person was recommended to us by a Norfolk Rector and the children were fortunate in being placed in such a refined home where they would only be taught what was to their good.

In June 1917 we received a letter from Bombay informing us that the Boy's Mother had been an inmate of the Lunatic Asylum, Poona, since July 1916.

Eventually the Boy, Ranyell, obtained a situation as a clerk on the Great Eastern Railway at Norwich and appeared to be giving satisfaction. However in June last it was discovered that he had been stealing the Company's stationery to the amount of £2 or £3 with the result that he was dismissed, the company agreeing not to prosecute provided the lad left Norwich.

Mrs Helsdon then interviewed the Norwich Police Court Missionary, Mr Clarke, with the result that he voluntarily agreed to go to a home at Leicester under the supervision of the Church Army. From this place he ran away and was found at Barnardiston as previously mentioned.

We do not think much importance should be attached to the fact of the Boy having taken some of the Railway Company's paper because he only used it for scribbling upon and it was outsold by him. It appears to us to be merely a thoughtless act.

As regards being able to make any contribution towards the Boy's maintenance in the event of your deciding to take him into your homes we have no money whatever and since the Mother's illness she has contributed nothing towards the Boy's keep and what little money Mrs Helsdon received was earned by the Boy himself.

The Boy's Mother prior to her illness was a Professional Nurse.

The Boy is strong and sturdy and from his ability to earn his own living we think he is of average intelligence. We know of no infirmity of any kind. Had such there been Mrs Helsdon would have reported to us.

We have taken every care we could in the Boy's interest during the last four years and we should deplore to see the Boy by force of circumstances and lack of control adopt any course which would lead him to commit a criminal act.

Our position is somewhat difficult owing to the Mother's illness but what we have done during the last four years have been without any fees and in fact we have expended our own money in the Boy's interest.

The Boy does not know his parentage or the condition of his mother.

In conclusion we hope after you have considered this letter that you will be able to find a vacancy for the lad and give him a helping hand. If you would like to see us we should be pleased to call upon you at any time by appointment.

You'd faithfully
Marston & Robinson

W J Fegan
(Mr Fegan's Homes)
62 Horseferry Rd
Westminster SW1



• 1903 Born at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital, Marylebone
• 1911 He and Nana were ‘nurse children’ at :

John Thomas Waller Head - Male Army Pensioner 67 1844 Chelsea, London
Marie Anne Waller Wife Married Female - 51 1860 Bermondsey, London
Frederik Hobbs Grandson - Male - 11 1900 Marylebone London
Harold Ransell Nurse Child - Male - 7 1904 Marylebone London
Irene Ransell Nurse Child - Female - 5 1906 Clapham
Kathleen Brown Nurse Child - Female - 0 1911 Twickenham
Address 11 Sherland Road Twickenham
Parish Twickenham
County Middlesex

He possibly attended St. Michael’s College.

• 1913 He attended King Edwards in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
• 1914 Boy's Model School Norwich (Frederick William Helsdon, Guardian)
• ? - ? Mrs Edith Fanny Helsdon, Lincoln House, 104 Pottersgate Street, Norwich, Norfolk
• 04/04/1917 Left school to go to work
• 30/08/1918 Fegan's Training Farm, Goudhurst
• 13/11/1919 Employed in farm office
• 17/10/1927 Left to work at Mission of Hope, Hurst House, Croydon
• 23/01/1928 Housemaster at Fegan's
• 30/11/1929 Position with Dr Barnardo's Homes, Jersey

30 Aug 1918 - height 5' 11". Weight 7st 7lbs
"A bright and cheerful boy. He has a desire to make his way and is at the age when he requires discipline and control. Very clean and tidy. The boy is absolutely homeless without a relation to take the place of his mother".

The Midwives Roll 1920
No 24906
Oxford House
Dartrey Road
Chelsea
London SW

Enrolled 30/05/1907
CMB Examination

Juliet she may have remained on the midwives roll even if she was not in the country or was deceased, simply because she had not been struck off or her death or departure had not been reported - ?

I think Joonie is quite correct in that Nellie's remained on the Midwives Roll simply because they had not been notified of her illness or death ................

It is only fairly recently that such professional organizations required regular updating of skills by their members in order to maintain their registrations with the organizations.


I could only suggest that you try Googling for Lunatic Asylum Poona

The lawyers would presumably have been notified of her death or recovery.

I very much doubt that the Marston and Robinson are still in operation, but what happens to their files when a lawyer's office closes down to merges with another company. Are clients' files kept or destroyed? If kept, where might they be kept?

Would a lawyer's association know the answer to the questions?

Googling the name of the solicitors, they were still active in 1939, according to the publishing of a notice looking for heirs of a client in The London Gazette 26 December 1939

Also a similar notice in the Gazette 1947

Frederick Milward Marston, one of the partners, apparently died in 1949 (b.ca 1875)

Have we already found this return to England from Bombay of what looks like Nellie in 1911?


UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960

Name: Miss Ranyell
Port of Departure: Bombay, India
Arrival Date: 1 Apr 1911
Port of Arrival: London, England
Ship Name: Egypt
Search Ship Database: Search for the Egypt in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Shipping line: Peninsula and Orient Steam Navigation Company Ltd
Official Number: 105581


She's shown on the image as "nurse"

Yes Sylvia, a couple of times (I read the thread last night) :-)

she left England again after that.

Once again - I can't thank you enough for your contributions. During this last stay in India under the employ of the Manavadar Service, she stayed at the Watson's Hotel, 130 Watson Annex, Apollo Bunder, Bombay (hard to transcribe). This has since been demolished but I wonder if records exist??? She is listed in correspondence as Mrs. Irene Ranyell and as being 32 although she was in fact probably a couple of years older. The Asylum in Poona is likely to be the Yeravda Asylum.