3rd West Riding Regt - George Wilson Private 52283

[Guest IJW]

I was told that George changed his name from Senior to Wilson to join up, although for what reason I do not know. Is there any way to track this so that I know which Birth record to find?

He was married when he joined as a Wilson so if his service record exists will it show his wife as next of kin? or record his birthdate? or even where he was born?

With two such common surnames I do not know where to look, even though from his marriage and death certificates I know he was born in the first two quarters of 1881.

The other item of interest is that I have the "Dead Man's Penny" of Sylvester Senior which lends some credence to the family story but although I have investigated this there is no clear evidence to link him with George.

Secondly I have his war diary that he wrote on his return in 1919. Apart from mentioning that he had some previous military experience (which leads me the think that this may be the reason he had to change his name to rejoin?) it does contain some references to fellow soldiers and an extended account of his training sgt. called Hinghley (also spelt Hingley in the book) and what I presume to be a picture of the sgt. Is there any forum that would allow the exchange of such information/photographs to interested family history/Great War researchers? It seems a waste that the information is not available and I am sure there must be others with similar material.

[munchkin]

Hello IJW and welcome to the forum.

His service record may show where he enlisted, and could show his wife as next of kin. Although if he changed his name it could have been for several reasons, such as - he was under age etc. There is a George Senior who is 3 weeks old on the 1881 census (see attavheddocument). I am not sure if this is him or not, but it gives you a starting point to work from.

Glynn.

[munchkin]

Sorry - Correction,

There are 2. Here are the other details:-

George Senior head age 35 born Sheffield

Alice Senior Wife age 30 born Scotland

Joe Senior Son age 3 born Sheffield

George Senior Son age 1 month born Sheffield.

Sorry about that.

Glynn.

[munchkin]

I have just looked up officer and men who died in The Great War, who lived in Sheffield before the war, but there is no George Wilson or George Senior listed as died in the West Riding Regiment. There is however on the CWGC Click Here this chap.

Glynn.

[Blackblue]

There are no Sylvester Senior's on CWGC although there are 5 x S Senior's. 2 x from the Yorks area.

Name: SENIOR

Initials: S

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Rifleman

Regiment: West Yorkshire Regt. (Prince of Wales's Own)

Unit Text: 8th Bn.

Age: 24

Date of Death: 06/11/1918

Service No: 24567

Additional information: Son of Mrs. Clara Senior, of Heaton Cottage, Dixon Lane, Wortley, Leeds.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: XXXI. A. 34.

Cemetery: CABARET-ROUGE BRITISH CEMETERY, SOUCHEZ

Name: SENIOR

Initials: S

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Private

Regiment: King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

Unit Text: 2nd/4th Bn.

Date of Death: 30/09/1918

Service No: 65210

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: III. B. 9.

Cemetery: RIBECOURT ROAD CEMETERY, TRESCAULT