Military Chat

Before leaving you to follow your own research, the following is repeated for your consideration
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ADDED - if his dob was mid November onwards, his birth might have been registered in the following year ie Jan-Mar quarter 1897. People have 6 weeks to register a birth.
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Note - the REGISTRATION might be in early 1897, even if he was born mid Nov or Dec 1896.

If you get stuck with his ancestors, post a dedicated thread on Find Ancestors - a different perspective to your own will often help to break down that brick wall.

his army record states clearly the year of birth 1896 all my grandmas family have died as born in the late 1800s as where their partners any children they had were born in the early 20 s and 30 s and where sent out of London due to the bombing hence they have no memory of William carter thank you for any advise you have given and I will carry on contacting other much further extended family to see weather they have heard of him
regards

Do you have his marriage certificate??? Is his father named, and if so, what was it and what was the father's occupation?

As you are relying on memory for his dob, he could have lied or your grandmother forgot the actual year.

ADDED - if his dob was mid November onwards, his birth might have been registered in the following year ie Jan-Mar quarter 1897. People have 6 weeks to register a birth.


During war time, parents would send their children to any family member who lived in a safe area, even if they weren't part of the nuclear family.

Have you sent to the MOD for his service records? They are not the same as his discharge certificate. They will cost you £30 and a number of months to wait.

Use this link to download the forms.
http://www.veterans-uk.info/service_records/service_records.html

OK - your grt Aunts and Uncles have passed away. What about their spouses brothers and sisters? Have you traced any of their descendants who might know something?

You do need to spread your net wider and 'think outside the box'.

hi he was a Londoner as was my grandmother no next of kin mentioned or birth on any paper work I have I have his army certificate of service from 30/3/15 to24/8/35 when he was discharged and his trio medals with his name on the rim 1914/18 all my great aunts and uncles have passed away there are no living members of my family who knew William.
regards

You say you have his Army papers - is his next of kin mentioned on them or his place of birth?

So are the Portsea/Plymouth records correct??

As one of the objectives of this thread was to try and work out who they stayed with after they were bombed out .....

Try tracing your Grandmothers relatives, or if the brothers were married, the relatives of their wives.

There are many scenarios which you could research & then try to make contact with the eldest living descendent to see if they have any personal or oral memories.

If it weren't for my father's elderly cousin found through a discovery of a 40 year old letter, I'd have never known that my grandparents and father camped out at her family home during the blitz, and later when they were bombed out.

thanks for you reply I am tracing some information back through the marriage cert
my grandma never re married after the death of William and really didn't talk about him that much the love of her life had been the father of her 3 sons who died when my dad was only 4 months old
regards

There are other records available to trace some of the family, and Edwin's birth family. However, we do need to know how much you've already done yourself.

Ada remarried

1911 England Census about Ada Sullivan
Name: Ada Sullivan
Age in 1911: 34
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1877
Relation to Head: Wife
Gender: Female
Birth Place: Havant, Hampshire, England
Civil Parish: Portsmouth
County/Island: Hampshire
Country: England
Street Address: 4 Douro Square, Southsea
Marital Status: Married
Years Married: 6
Estimated Marriage Year: 1905

Household Members:
Name Age
Edwin Sullivan 28 - born Woolwich
Ada Sullivan 34
Ena Sullivan 4
Edwin Sullivan 3
Charlie Sullivan 1
Sarah Carter 13
George Carter 11

It might be worth following through on Edwin's birth family if William and his brothers moved south of the river.

At the very least (if correct) it's worth adding them to your own tree, and search the site to see if anyone else has them listed.

The only birth for a William Arthur (edit - ALFRED) Carter born in 1896 on FreeBMD is

Births Jun 1896 (>99%)
Carter William Alfred H Portsea 2b 486

This ties in with the 1911 census
1911 England Census about William Alfred Harold Carter
Name: William Alfred Harold Carter
Age in 1911: 15
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1896
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Civil Parish: Woolwich
County/Island: London
Country: England
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Under Instruction As Fitter
Military Unit: Army Ordnance Corps
Registration District: Woolwich

1901
1901 England Census about William A H Carter
Name: William A H Carter
Age: 5
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1896
Relation to Head: Son
Gender: Male
Mother: Ada B Carter (widow)
Birth Place: Havant, Hampshire, England
Civil Parish: Portsmouth
County/Island: Hampshire
Country: England
Ada B Carter 25
Henry F B Carter 6 (Henry Frederick B, 1895)
William A H Carter 5
Sarah M M D Carter 3 (Sarah Martha M D, 1897)
George A T Carter 1 (George Albert T, 1899)

This might be his parents's marriage
Marriages Sep 1894 (>99%)
Carter Henry Alfred Portsea 2b 858
Eager Ada Beatrice Portsea 2b 858

Have you been able to find him on the 1911 census? Or if not, who does he name as his father on his marriage certificate?

If his brothers didn't have children who remember anything about other members of the family, you may have to go back a generation to search for any aunts or uncles he may have had, then trace descendent of those down to more recent times.

Although I can't spot an obvious BC, is this his marriage?

Name: William A Carter
Spouse Surname: Engledew (Ada E)
Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1936
Registration District: Essex South Western
Inferred County: Essex
Volume Number: 4a
Page Number: 882

A member called Kevin has a William A Carter b 1896, London on his tree. Is he known to you, or have you already been in contact?

yes tried trees we have his medals and paper work but we have no idea who his family was he died in 1944 my dad was moved out of London to live with family after being bombed out 14 times both my dad and his 2 brothers have died and there is no one else left alive in our family who knew him will keep checking other sites too,
thanks for taking the time to reply
regards

Not likely that anyone will see this post - have you tried looking for him in trees on this site to see if anybody else has him in their tree.

Have you looked on Ancestry for his WW1 record?

served in 1914/18 war then was discharged from army 26th august 1935 he married my grandmother in 1936 but was killed during the 2nd w w when a bomb dropped on the hospital he was in due to illness any one related to him out there