I am trying to identify all of the men on the Brampton Parish Hall Roll of Honour (RoH) which was brought to my attention in February this year. This is the latest of many posts I have written about the puzzles I have found along the way. I have identified the majority of the men but I have a few who require more work. Most of the men on the RoH have a full forename so when I only have an initial to go on the task is more difficult.
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| Snip of the Brampton RoH showing Gibson A. |
My first clue to the identity of Gibson A. on the Brampton RoH was in a newspaper article dated 18 January 1915. It was from the Sheffield Daily Telegraph and was found using Find My Past's newspaper search. Find My Past (FMP) shares the same newspaper resources as its sister site the British Newspaper Archive (BNA), which has a better search engine to be honest, but as that would be an extra subscription for me sometimes I search on the BNA and use the results to look for the newspaper on FMP.
Saw Sheffield Private Killed
Private Albert Gibson, of 40, Thomas Street, Swinton, of the 1st East Yorkshire Regiment, has just been invalided home suffering from rheumatism, the legacy of a long period of duty in the trenches up the waist in mud and water. He was at Mons acting with the reserves during the retreat. He first came into action on the Aisne, after forced marching for three days and three nights. It was in the early morning that they received the command to advance and capture some German trenches. This they accomplished, and then for seven days they were confined to the trenches "potting". His friend, Harry Ballard, of Attercliffe Road, Sheffield, who enlisted with him, was killed by his side in a charge the first Sunday after they came into action. It was between two and three o'clock in the afternoon when they left their trenches in order to charge across a ploughed field, the German trenches being their objective. These, however they did not reach, and Ballard, when about in the middle of the field was killed, his body being almost riddled with bullets from a machine gun. In another charge Gibson saw Joe Allott, a Wombwell man, fatally wounded. Allott and he had worked together in Cortonwood Colliery. Gibson was in several bayonet charges which resulted in trenches being taken and retaken. Later he went to Armentiers, where in taking the enemy's trenches several prisoners were captured, including an officer.
There is a lot of detail here and I will pick out what I spotted that might help solve the riddle of Gibson A. on the Brampton RoH.
(1) Albert Gibson used to work at Cortonwood Colliery with Joe Allott. I checked the list of names on the Cortonwood war memorial and found A. Gibson on the first panel of 'Men who joined H.M. Forces from the Cortonwood Colliery - there are three panels of men who survived the war and one of men who were killed. J. Allott is listed on the same panel as Gibson, and yet the cutting says Gibson saw him fatally wounded. Let's assume that this means Gibson survived the war - but be skeptical.
(2) Gibson was in the 1st East Yorkshire Regiment and was at Mons with the Reserves. So he was a regular soldier called up from the Reserve - therefore I am looking for a man who enlisted before the war and who was awarded a 1914 Star. We know he was in the Reserves, so he had served his seven years and was
in his five year reserve period when war broke out. So he must have
originally joined up before 1907, therefore he was probably born before
1889.
(3) The date of the article was 18 January 1915 and the action described was the Battle of the Aisne in September 1914 - I should look for the deaths of Harry Ballard and (maybe) Joe Allott around that time.
(4) Albert Gibson was living at 40 Thomas Street, Swinton when he enlisted. It is only four miles from Swinton to Cortonwood, so he may have lived in Swinton while working at Cortonwood Colliery.
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| Section of the Pension Card Ledger entry for Albert Gibson (WFA) |
A likely candidate for Albert Gibson is Pte 7545 Albert Gibson of 1 East Yorkshire Regiment, entered a Theatre of War 8 September 1914 and discharged with a Silver War Badge on 23 September 1915 with sickness. His Pension Card Ledger on the Western Front Association (WFA) website gives his address as 29 Thomas Street, Swinton and suggests he was married but doesn't give the name of his wife. It looks as if a pension for 20% disability was being paid up to 1923 and appeals are noted in 1928 and 1932. Albert Gibson's Silver War Badge card gives us the additional information that he enlisted on 15 September 1903, so proof that he was a regular soldier. His seven years would have been up by 1910, but he could well have chosen to re-enlist for a while longer, some men did.
The 1st Battalion the East Yorkshire Regiment arrived in France on 10 September 1914. They were part of the 18th Brigade, 6th Division (Long, Long Trail). This Brigade was attached to I Corps under Haig for the actions on Aisne Heights, 20 September 1914 (Long, Long Trail).
Soldiers who were killed in the First World War are usually easier to find as there are more records online covering their commemoration and burial information. I began with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) website, but despite there being 9 records for men who died from the United Kingdom called H* Ballard in the First World War none of them died in 1914 and none were in the East Yorkshire Regiment. Neither could I find Harry Ballard on the Sheffield Soldiers of the Great War website where I would expected him to be as the article quite clearly states he was from Sheffield. I searched for Harry Ballard in Soldiers Died in the Great War (SDGW) on 'Ancestry' - nothing. There were no other mentions in the Sheffield newspapers for this man, I would have expected an obituary or a death notice from his family in addition to the article above. It was time to try some variations on my searches.
On the CWGC website I searched for anyone in the East Yorkshire Regiment who was killed in September 1914. That brought back 48 results. One was Henry Bolland, Pte 7796 1st Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment who died on 20 September 1914. This seems to be close enough, the right date, Bolland instead of Ballard is understandable and Henry for Harry is no surprise. His widow's address appeared to confirm my hopes. He had been married to Clarible (?) but by the time the CWGC records were collected she had remarried to a Micklethwaite and was living at 46, Birch Road, Attercliffe, Sheffield (Attercliffe is spelt Akercliffe on the website). He is remembered on the La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre Memorial in France so that means he has no known grave. With this information I went back to my other resources. Sheffield Soldiers notes the same information that is on the CWGC site but adds that Henry was from Heeley in Sheffield and enlisted at Beverley, this extra information looks to have been taken from his SDGW record. He is remembered on the Sheffield Council Official Roll of Honour.
We know that Joe Allott worked with Albert Gibson at Cortonwood so I decided to look for him in the same way I would look for one of the Brampton soldiers, starting with the census records. In the 1911 census Joseph Allott, aged 30, Coal Miner and Army Reservist (useful!) was living at 1 Inkerman, Jump, near Barnsley. He had a wife, Harriett and two children Sarah Eliza aged 3 and John aged 1. Joe was born in Hoyland in 1879 according to the 1881 census (although 1911 minus 30 gives us 1881) where he is living with his parents William and Sarah on St Helen's Street. He had a younger brother George who may be the man listed on the Hoyland Roll of Honour and the postcard Roll of Honour for the Elsecar Midland Working Men's Club on St Helen's Street. Interestingly there is no mention of a J. Allott on either of these memorials or the memorial at Jump. I found Joseph's pre-war Militia enlistment records on FMP - he had enlisted in the York and Lancaster Regiment in 1902 but was immediately transferred to the Artillery.
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| Section of the Pension Card Ledger entry for Joseph Allott (WFA) |
Joseph Allott was quickly found in the Pension Cards on the WFA website. He was Joseph Allott Gunner 27656 in the Royal
Field Artillery and he was discharged on 2 November 1915. His address was the same as in the 1911 census. There are
more details on his card - he was paid 12/- for himself and 8/10 for his
wife in 1921 for a few weeks for a 30% disablilty, and then reduced to
8/- and 4/8 for a 20% disability until September 1923. There are dates
up to 1932 on his card but notes OK and No Action in the later
years. So if this is the same man Albert saw being shot Joe was severely
wounded enough to be discharged but happily he did survive the war. Which is as we suspected after seeing him remembered on one of the Men Who Served panels of the Cortonwood Colliery Memorial.
I could not find Albert Gibson in the 1901 or 1911 census returns in Swinton or anywhere else for that matter. However a likely hit turned up in 1891 in Rotherham Workhouse aged 8 with a sister Jane and a brother Benjamin. All three were born in Swinton. I was able to find the birth registration of Albert Gibson Bailey in Q1 1884 in the Rotherham Registration District (RD). Both Jane Ann (b.Q4 1881) and Benjamin (b.Q1 1883) were also registered as Gibson Bailey. In November 1884 Jane Ann Gibson and Benjamin Gibson were baptised at the Parish Church in Swinton (baptism records on FMP). Their parents were John and Ada Gibson of Swinton. John was a Glass Blower. Oddly Benjamin and Albert were baptised again in 1898, this time from the Workhouse - their birthdates were given as 8 August 1883 and 23 December 1884 respectively. Sadly Benjamin died in 1900 aged 17 in the Workhouse, but in the residence box someone has helpfully added 'formerly Bow Broom', which is an area of Swinton including Thomas Street where Albert Gibson lived before the war. Just imagine, Benjamin was baptised aged 14 and died aged 17 - this suggests to me that he was sickly as surely they would have tried to find work for him before that?
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| Snip from the 1930 Ordnance Survey map for Swinton showing Bow Broom The road running top to bottom on the left is Thomas Street (from Old Maps) |
This map snip shows the Bow Broom area of Swinton and the houses on Thomas Street. A later map includes the numbers and so I know that the lowest house shown here is number 40 and that the numbers run contiguously from north to south, not odds on one side and evens on the other.
I was able to find John and Ada in the 1881 census living at 8 William Street in Swinton. John was from Sunderland (which was an exciting moment as I was born in Sunderland!) and Ada was from Adwick, Yorkshire. There is no record of them ever having married, which is no doubt the reason for their children being registered as Gibson Bailey. Ada appears to have been a bit of a character appearing in court reports in the local newspapers in 1882 and 1886; on both occasions it was for fighting with another woman after a quarrel. In the latter report Ada is Rotherham Workhouse, so we can assume that her children had been there from at least that date. There is no further sign of John Gibson but Ada Bailey married John Bloore in Q1 1891 (while her children were in the Workhouse!) and in the 1891 census return (5 April 1891) she is living with him at 16 Hicks Square, Glasshouse Road, Kilnhurst, near Rotherham and only two miles from Swinton. They already have one child, Harriet Ann aged 1 born in Kilnhurst. I am 100% certain this is the same woman as she gives her place of birth as Adwick and Harriet Ann's mother's maiden name is given as Bailey in her birth registration Q1 1890 in Rotherham RD. I can find only one Ada Bailey of the right age born in 1862 in Adwick upon Dearne, to Charles and Emma Bailey.
Ada and John Bloor (also Bloore, Blower and Blewer) were living in
Denaby Main at the time of the 1901 census by which time Sarah Ann,
Polly and Mary had come along to join Harriett. Ada Bloor(e) continues to have an interesting life. She appears in the Mexborough and Swinton Times on 4 March 1905 accusing another woman of using obscene language towards her.
Obscene Language at Denaby Main
A lady who rejoices in the somewhat ill-fitting cognomen of Matilda Spruce, and who is described as a married woman, of Denaby, was summoned by another lady, by name Ada Bloore, for using obscene language towards her, on 21st February. The complainant stated that the defendant was always calling her filthy names, and that she wanted a stop putting to it. Defendant denied the insinuation that she used filthy language, stating that she was a respectable women. The Bench dismissed the case, whereupon the defendant, who only restrained her evident surprise and glee as "having won the day", with difficulty said: "Thank you sir, have I anything to pay?" Upon being informed she could go, the defendant excitedly waved her "fur boa" in the air and exclaimed: "Three cheers", and merrily bounced out of court.
Despite her abandonment of her first three children in the workhouse (presumably after her desertion by John Gibson) I had hoped Ada found some happiness with John Bloor. Sadly it was not to be as he died in 1907 and by 1911 Ada is living with a John Hegin on Manningham Road in Attercliffe, Sheffield. This is definitely the right woman as the Hegins have Polly and Mary Blower living with them and Harriett Ann and Sarah Ann Blower are listed and then crossed out, all as step daughters - presumably because Ada gave her older girls names to the person who filled the schedule in for her (she signs with a x) before telling them that the two oldest were not living with her at that time. Again I can find no sign of a marriage for Ada Bloor or Bailey to a John Hegin, but as the form was filled in by someone else and Ada was illiterate Hegin may be just as poor an intepretation of what was said at the time as Blower was for Bloor.
Having digressed to follow Ada around Yorkshire I must get back to Albert Gibson as he was the orignal object of this post.
In the 1918 Electoral Register an Albert Gibson is living at 39 Thomas Street in Swinton which is obviously very close to number 40, the address given in the newspaper article I first found. There are three other men at the address, Frank Arthur Waite, Leonard Hanking and William Abbott, although Abbott is marked as an Absent Voter in the Forces. Albert is at the same address every year up to and including 1934, with various other occupants. In 1920 Grace Mary Abbott is listed there but no sign of William Abbot, but Albert Gibson, Frank Arthur Waite, Leonard Hanking are there plus two other men. Grace Mary Abbott is still at 39 Thomas Street with Albert Gibson in 1934 and so is Frank Arthur Waite, now joined by Ethel Waite. Albert would have been 50 years old by this time.
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| Section of 1939 Register for 39 Thomas Street, Swinton (from FMP) |
Of course this turns out to have been all too simple ... at the same address in the 1939 Register I found Grace M Abbott apparently born 29 November 1852 and Albert Gibson born 22 November 1917! There are two redacted names between these two people. This cannot be the same Albert Gibson named in 1918 - he would have only been 1 year old! And the birth day and month do not match that given in his workhouse baptism record. Is this a mistake? or his son? or a complete co-incidence?
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| 1911 census for 40 Thomas Street, Swinton (edited to save space) |
If Grace Abbott was indeed born in 1852 that made her 87 years old in 1939, which seemed a good age, so I thought I would investigate her. Jackpot! In the 1911 census William and Grace Mary Abbott are living at 40 Thomas Street, Swinton, the very address Albert Gibson gives in the newspaper report in 1915. Grace Mary Abbott gives her age 57, which is within two years of the birth year of 1852 she reported in 1939. William and Grace say they had been married for 40 years and reported twelve (!) children to their marriage, of whom eight were still living in 1911. Only two of their children were still at home when the census was taken, but they also had two nephews living with them.
It seemed that despite the smallness of the house, with only four rooms declared, they managed to fit six people in somehow. This obviously continued for many years, but boarders/lodgers replaced children and nephews. An Albert Gibson appears to have lodged with them for many years, and Albert Gibson the soldier says he lived at 40 Thomas Street, but whether, over the years, it was the same man or two men with the same name, has not been demonstrated yet.
One thing that may make sense is that the William Abbott who was an Absent Voter in the 1918 Electoral Register was probably the William Abbott jnr listed on the 1911 census as 13 years old. I have mentioned before men aged 19 and over and in the Forces were also able to vote in 1918, so William jnr at 20 would have been listed.
For the sake of completness and with my fingers crossed I checked the 1901 census for Thomas Street. William and Grace Abbott are at 38 Thomas Street with five children. Grace gives her age as 48 years, that is born in 1852/3 in agreement with the 1939 Register. William said he was 50 years old, but in 1911 he gave his age as 65. That would have made him 72 years old in 1918, defintely too old to have been in the Services as an Absent Voter.
Remember this for later ... Jonathan Abbott aged 23 born in Normanton near Wakefield is living at 40 Thomas Street just two doors away.
It took a couple of looks for me to spot something strange ... in the 1901 census William and Grace's children are listed out of order and there is someone missing. (in the lists below 'Do' means ditto)
William Abbott Head Married M 50
Grace M Do Wife Married F 48
Harriett Do Dau Single F 18
Sarah Jane Do Dau Single F 13
Albert Do Son Single M 19 (which has been over written in very heavy ink)
Hannah L Do Dau Single F 11
Edith L Do Dau Single F 8
I looked back at the 1891 census entry for the same family and found them at 38 Thomas Street in Swinton.
William Abbott Head Married M 44
Grace Do Wife Married F 37
Thomas Do Son Single M 15
Jonathan Do Son Single M 13
Francis Do Dau Single F 10
Harriett Do Dau Single F 7
Grace Do Dau Single F 5
Sarah Jane Do Dau Single F 3
Amelia Eliza Do Dau Single F 1
Can you spot the difference?
(1) Where is Albert aged 9 in 1891? If Albert is actually 10 in 1901 which would better fit the placing in the list, why has it been heavily written over as 19 to emphasise it?
(2) Where is William Abbott jnr in 1901, if he was 13 in 1911 he should be 3 in 1901?
I should comment on one of the girl's names - Amelia Eliza in 1891 becomes Hannah L in 1901 - that could just be transcription and enumerator error.
And look ... Jonathan Abbot who was living two doors away in 1901 is the right age to be their son shown as 13 in 1891 and ... both were born in Normanton. So by 1901 the Abbott family were occupying two houses, numbers 38 and 40.
I went back to check 1911. The name of the person who filled in William and Grace's census form was Albert Edward Cook, he also filled in the census form for the house two doors away, where he appeared at the top of the schedule as 'Nephew' not the head of the household ... and this house was apparently also 40 Thomas Street! A closer look suggests that actually William and Grace were living at number 38 according to the address information on the page following their return and number 40 was occupied by six men, four nephews and two boarders with, as we have noted, no head of household indicated. The name given on the address information was also W. Abbott. So the Abbott family was still occupying both houses and number 40 - the real number 40 was being used as a kind of lodging house.
Back to Albert ...
I hoped I wasn't on a wild goose chase ... but maybe William and Grace took Albert Gibson in as a lodger when he left the workhouse and the enumerator mistakenly listed him as their son in 1901. He wasn't have been living with them, in either house, in 1911, maybe because he had joined the army in 1903 and stayed on a bit longer than his seven years, but it seems to fit that in 1915 he gives the address of their second house, the lodging house, 40 Thomas Street as his home.
I needed to check William and Grace's children on the General Register Office (GRO) online index of births. I prefer to do this on the GRO because mother's maiden names are not recorded before 1911 on the FreeBMD or Ancestry indexes.
Let's take Harriett Abbott, she's in both census returns.
Born 1883 or 1884 in Bolton upon Dearne (which would be in the Doncaster RD)
Abbott, Harriet Robertson [mmn] Robertson
GRO Reference: 1883 J Quarter in Doncaster Volume 09C Page 722
Ok, now Sarah Jane Abbott, born 1888 in Swinton (which would be in the Rotherham RD)
Abbott, Sarah Jane [mmn] Robertson
GRO Reference: 1888 M Quarter in Rotherham Volume 09C 654
We have established that Grace Mary's maiden name was Robertson, and sure enough on FreeBMD I found the marriage of Grace Mary Robertson to William Abbott in the December Quarter (Q4) of 1872 in the Pontefract RD. That makes Grace Mary Robertson 20 years old when she marries William, a very reasonable age.
Here's the crunch ... is there an Albert born to this family, surname Abbott mmn Robertson in either 1882 or 1891. This is what I found.
Tamar Howarth Abbott b.Q3 1872 in Pontefract
William Oath Abbott b. Q3 1874 in Pontefract
Thomas Robertson Hoult Abbott b.Q2 1876 in Pontefract
Jonathan Robertson Abbott b.Q2 1878 in Wakefield
Frances Tamar Abbott b.Q4 1880 in Barnsley Union
Harriet Robertson Abbott b.Q2 1883 in Doncaster
John William Abbott b.Q1 1885 in Rotherham
Grace Ann Abbott b.Q1 1886 in Rotherham
Sarah Jane Abbott b.Q1 1888 in Rotherham
Hannah Eliza Abbott b.Q2 1890 in Rotherham
Edith Elizabeth Abbott b.Q3 1893 in Rotherham
Eleven children born to William and Grace Mary Abbott - not the twelve they declare in 1911, but sometimes people counted miscarriages. No Albert! And no William Abbot jnr born in 1898. We will never know for certain but it does look as if Albert Gibson could have been living with William and Grace Mary Abbott at 38 Thomas Street in 1901 and later in the other house they owned, the lodging house at 40 Thomas Street two doors away.
When a stray child like William Abbott jnr turns up in the household of an older couple one common reason is that they have taken in a grandchild by a daughter to help her out.
I haven't found deaths for Albert Gibson, or Ada Hugin/Bloor/Gibson/Bailey yet so their stories are not completely finished, but that is enough for today. This has turned into a mega post!
Thanks for reading.
References:
1939 Register, Find My Past, https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-Records/1939-register, accessed 28 June 2020.
British Newspapers, Find My Past, https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search/british-newspapers, accessed 28 June 2020.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission, https://www.cwgc.org/, accessed 28 June 2020.
General Register Office, Online ordering service, https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/Login.asp, accessed 28 June 2020.
Long, Long Trail, 'Enlisting into the army', https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/enlisting-into-the-army/, accessed 28 June 2020.
Pension Records, Western Front Association, https://www.westernfrontassociation.com/ancestry-pension-records, accessed 28 June 2020.
Sheffield Soldiers of the Great War, http://sheffieldsoldierww1.co.uk/Home.html, accessed 28 June 2020.
UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/1543/, accessed 16 June 2020.
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