Can't ID a soldier

[Northern Soul]

For several years now the identity of the following man has eluded me:

John T. Bullas, Royal Garrison Artillery.

Most of what I know comes from the following newspaper article:

TWO BARROW BROTHERS KILLED

The above are portraits of two brave Barrow soldiers who have fallen in the war. The first is that of John Bullas, who was killed in action on November 1st last year. He belonged to the Garrison Artillery. He leaves a widow and two young children. The second is that of James Bullas, of 90, Blake-street. He was in the Lancaster King’s Own, and went up as a reservist at the beginning of the war. He was wounded on May 13th, and died in hospital jut a week later on the 20th. Prior to being called up he was a crane-driver at the Steelworks. He was married as recently as Easter Monday. Thus in a very short time has a Barrow family lost two promising sons.

-: Barrow News, Saturday, June 5, 1915; page 10.

From a previous newspaper article I also know he was 29 years old when he was killed and the civic memorial gives his rank as Acting Bombardier.

There is no-one of this name commemorated by the CWGC and no MIC either. Ergo, whatever name he served under it wasn't "Bullas".

The closest I can get is "Acting Bombardier John Spencer", RGA, killed 1/11/14 - unfortunately Soldiers Died has him born in Singapore (?) and there are no next-of-kin details provided by the CWGC.

I have no idea how to proceed with this identification, whether to prove or disprove it is my man - can any of the genealogical experts help?

Andy.

[eviltaxman]

Your man did exist, well, that's what the 1901 census says........

Name --- Age --- Where Born --- Administrative County --- Civil Parish --- Occupation

John Bullas -- 17 --- London --- Barrow ----- Barrow In Furness ---- Steel Worker

Hope this helps.

Les

[gord97138]

Andy:

I found this on the 1891 census:

If your's-hope it helps.

gordon

Name Age in 1891 Birthplace Relationship to head-of-house Civil parish County

Bullas, Betsy 26 Norfolk Wife Newchurch Lancashire

Bullas, James 5 Stacksteads, Lancashire Son Newchurch Lancashire

Bullas, John 6 Stacksteads, Lancashire Son Newchurch Lancashire

Bullas, Joseph 28 Yorkshire Head Newchurch Lancashire

Bullas, Joseph 4.12 Stacksteads, Lancashire Son Newchurch Lancashire

Bullas, Mary J 3 Stacksteads, Lancashire Daughter Newchurch Lancashire

[Northern Soul]

Thanks for the look-ups guys - but I am more confused than ever. This is the right person (both cases) but.......................

1901 Census - born in Stacksteads, Lancashire

1891 Census - born in London

?????

Andy

[eviltaxman]

Andy,

The info I supplied regarding the 1901 census is more than likey THE man.

It states he was 17 at the time it was taken and given the info you've supplied, i.e. died in 1914 aged 29, this would be right. Also he was born in Barrow, the area in which newspaper article states he was from.

I must admit though, it is a bit odd that he isn't on either the SDGW CD or CWGC site. You might be right in thinking that he died whilst serving under an assumed name, but if the info then given in the paper shows his real name, the true identity of him would have been found.... and I assume an "alias" entry would also be on the CWGC pages.

Good luck!

Les.

[Sue Light]

Andy

I've checked the deaths for army 'other ranks' overseas, and there is no entry for John Bullas, although his brother does appear. I have also checked the deaths at home, just in case he died in the UK [unlikely], but no luck. This strikes me as extremely unusual and unfortunate!. I can't see any particular reason to suppose that he was John Spencer, and getting the death certificate for John Spencer would only probably add his age to the details you already have for him.

Many men are left off CWGC etc., but you would normally expect them to have a death certificate. I guess that the best course would be to check [or have checked] the service records at the National Archives for John Bullas and John Spencer, and the unit war diary for the period. Presumably as he died so early in the war he was a regular soldier, and perhaps even less likely to have enlisted under an assumed name? If he did serve under his own name, and now has no death certificate, no MIC, and no service record, I imagine it would be a hard job to proceed. I wonder if Terry Denham has come across cases such as this before and solved them?

Regards - Sue

[eviltaxman]

Andy,

Really dumb idea...... have you checked the local councils register for birth, marriages etc...??? If he was married with 2 kids, I would have thought the local register office might have something. Maybe only to confirm a name (or aka), but it might hold an address, which could lead onto other routes of research.

Les.

[wellsms]

Andy,

Don't give up on the MICs if you searched online.

I'm after the MIC of a man called Bullock but can't find him. The Absent Voter List for Accrington has his details and those of several other Bullocks and some of them are missing as well.

It may be worth going to the NA or not practical getting a researcher to look it up at the NA. It doesn't cost very much.

Good Luck

Mike

[Terry Denham]

I have checked the CWGC list for every name of those who died on the Western Front on 1st November 1914 and nobody has a name remotely like Bullas.

Knowing the unreliability of newspapers, more 'solid' info is needed.

An untraced alias is a possible answer.

[Northern Soul]

Thanks for the suggestions everybody.

I have spent some time delving into his family tree and the 1901 Census gives the family as:

Name Age Where Born Administrative County Civil Parish

Samuel 47 Staffs Barrow Barrow-in-Furness

Jane 43 Newcastle Barrow Barrow-in-Furness

Samuel 20 Lanc Burrow Barrow Barrow-in-Furness

John 17 London Barrow Barrow-in-Furness

Alexander 14 Lanc Burrow Barrow Barrow-in-Furness

James 8 Lanc Burrow Barrow Barrow-in-Furness

Alice 6 Lanc Burrow Barrow Barrow-in-Furness

Interestingly, I cannot identify the births of three of the children and there do seem to be some gaps – large families tended to have children at approx. 2-year intervals. To some extent this is confirmed by various family deaths being recorded (from FreeBMD) in the years running up-to 1901 (they all seem to have Timmins as a middle name). However, in most cases I can’t identify their births either ! This suggests to me that the family had spent some time outside England/Wales – perhaps the father was in the services and most of the children were born abroad.

I have to admit that I am not much further on. I know that John Bullas lived …………and then died around 1/11/14 as an Acting Bombardier in the RGA. No CWGC commemoration is one thing but the corresponding lack of any Soldiers Died reference and MIC indicates that there is something strange going on here. Experience and instinct steer me towards the “John Spencer” tentatively identified in the first posting; it’s just how do I go about proving it !

Regards.

Andy