Cheeky question!

[Jen]

Hi, I've posted to this forum before and received lots of helpful messages, so I was wondering if anybody could help me. We believe that my great grandfather joined the army. He didn't serve in the first world war. We think he was a gunner in the Royal Horse Artillery at Woolwich Dockland in 1891 (information from 1891 census). We can't find him at all in 1901, but he married in 1904. Now, I know that ideally I need to go to the PRO at Kew but to tell you the truth we don't know where to start. This is literally all the information we have. Has anybody got any ideas?

Also, we have a photo taken of either my grandfather or his brother (he looks quite young ... about 15 ish) underneath his photo it says Colchester Camp 1927. Any ideas what that's all about?

Many thanks

Jen.

[eviltaxman]

There's a good chance your G-Grandfather was in South Africa in 1901, thus the reason isn't on the 1901 census. If you have his medal, post up the info on the "going to the PRO" section..... someone might be able to do a little more digging around for you.

The picture you have of someone aged about 15 in 1927, it could be your Grandfather!! If your G-Grandfather married in 1904, there's a good chance he had a son 8 years-ish later. This all depends on the size of the family he had.

Sorry I can't help more, but there are a few more on this forum that could help you out further.

Les.

[munchkin]

Jen,

Can you give us any names please, it will help us try to find him. Or even what regiment he was in, other that royal horse artillery.

Thanks

Glynn.

[Jen]

Cheers guys. Sorry, I didn't explain myself very well. I'll start from the beginning.

My great grandfather was called Edward Sheehan, born 6 July 1874 in Birling, Maidstone, Kent. We found him on 1881 census aged 7. 1891 and 1901 we couldn't find him, but we did find an Edward Sheehan in 1891 aged 19 (2 years older) who was a gunner in the Royal Horse Artillery at Woolwich Dockland. That is literally all we know.

Then completely separate is this photo, who we believe to be either my grandfather also Edward Sheehan born 1904 or his brother Daniel Sheehan born 1912. Now, because of the age of this chap in the photo, we don't think it can be my grandfather because he would have been 23, but his brother would have been 15. But we don't know anything about Daniel either, that's why I was wondering what Colchester Camp would have been in 1927. Unfortunately my scanner isn't working, but directly it is I will upload it so you can have a look.

Many thanks for any of your thoughts.

Jen.

[steve fuller]

Hi Jen

Have you looked at the CWGC to see if either were casulaties at any stage? If nothing else, will eliminate that line of thought.

[steve fuller]

Just had a quick look (Im at work!) and theres a few Daniel Sheehan's but I havent tried different spelling of Sheehan, so may be worth a look ...

cwgc.org of you havent seen it before

Steve

[munchkin]

Jen,

Had a quick look on 1881 and 1901 census, and i was surprised to see that there children were born all over the place i.e. Ireland, Gibralter, Bombay, Shorecliffe and Birling in Kent.

This got me thinking was their Father Daniel Sheehan in the Army and moved around quite a bit (would their family be able to go with them??). I don't know if he was or not, but because the kids were born so far afield it would, maybe, suggest that he was. Maybe William, Daniel, Edward and Charles followed him into the forces.

The other pals on the forum could probably help you here here. I notice that one of the children was born in Shorecliffe Kent and 3 others in Birling Kent. O.K Pals were there or is there still Army camps in that area around 1880 - 1900??.

Good Luck with your search Jen

Glynn.

[Jen]

Hi Glynn

Thanks for your reply. Yes, we did know that Daniel the father was in the army for 22 years, although we didn't know about his eldest four children until a couple of months ago when I looked on the 1881 census. He was the original guy that came over from Ireland. We only knew about the three born in Birling (and another born in 1883). As far as we can tell, William and Daniel didn't join the services as they are accounted for in 1881, 1891 and 1901. Charles we know joined the Navy and died in 1915 (which some guys on here helped me with). So that just leaves Edward (my great grandfather). There aren't any stories about him being in any service, we were told that he worked on the railways all his life, but we haven't been able to find this anywhere.

[munchkin]

Hi Jen

Have a look at THIS it is a book called "Railway Records - A guide to sources" It is aimed at the enthusiast. It tells individuals how to find relatives who worked on the railways, and how to go about it. Hope it helps.

Glynn.

[delta]

Shorncliffe has been a garrison since the early 1800s when it was the home of the newly formed "Light Brigade" under Sir John Moore; the areas dominates popssible landing sites which could have been used by any invasion by Napoleon. It is also close by to Hyde Ranges which was the site of the School of Musketry. It would much sence that the father was a soldeir but it is not a definite; I would have thought that confirmation could be found from a birth certificate of one of the three children born there.