Lieut. Philip Charles Richards MC 9th Sth Af Inf

[David Seymour]

Another Thetford Grammar School enquiry.

Lieutenant Philip Charles Richards, MC, 9th South African Infantry died, according to CWGC, on 12 February 1917, aged 33. His memorial is Barkly West Cemetery, Northern Cape. He was the son of Mrs and the late Mr P C Richards, and husband of C W Richards of Kimberly.

I am trying to ascertain whether or not this is the same man as one who appears in TGS Entrance Register as Charles P Richards (who appears on the TGS War Memorial), born Oct 1883, and whose father is given as P Richards, of East Harling. The 1901 census shows Philip Richards, a chemist of East Harling and his wife Christiana. It does not show the son as resident in E Harling. I wondered if he had skipped off to the gold fields before the census was taken. Perhaps he preferred to be known as Philip Charles rather than Charles Philip.

I would be most grateful, as ever, if any pals might be able to help confirm this man’s identity, and then I can add another one to my confirmed list.

Best wishes to all for a year of successful research in 2004.

David

[christine liava'a]

Check this site

Richards family

[David Seymour]

Christine,

Thanks for the link! I knew the pals would know something. Very useful.

My records give the birth date as Oct 1883 for Charles Richards son of P Richards of East Harling, and CWGC gives date of death as Feb 1917. Surely it's too much of a coincidence for there to have been two families with similar names and close birth dates for their sons in East Harling? How could such an error of record come about if there is, as I suspect, only one person involved? Lots of questions! But the unit looks good - presumably he transferred on outbreak of war.

So still hoping for further pals' assistance on this one.

Best wishes,

David

[christine liava'a]

Get in touch with Peter Lister who posted that site. He seems to have got the information from Church records. You could also check with FreeBMD

[David Seymour]

Christine,

FreeBMD?

David

[christine liava'a]

FreeBMD

FreeBMD is an ongoing project, the aim of which is to transcribe the Civil Registration index of births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales, and to provide free Internet access to the transcribed records.

It is not yet complete, so if a person does not appear at all, check the films or microfiche of registrations

Births Dec 1883

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Richards Philip Charles Guiltcross 4b 252

Richards Philip Owen Swansea 11a 6[0]8

The district Guiltcross is in the county of Norfolk

This entry means that Philip Charles was born in the December quarter of the year

ie October, November, December

The 1884 entry in the family tree, which seems to be based on church records, probably records the baptism date, probably in January.

You have a birth date of October, which seems a long time before January, but there are various other factors to be considered. -the health of the child and mother, the weather at the time, the custom of the particular church as to when it did its baptisms ie one at a time, or maybe a group on particular days

The only way to be sure is to get a) a copy of the birth registration

and b ) check the church registration

But I would accept them as one and the same

[David Seymour]

Christine,

Thank you very much for this helpful explanation, and for looking him up. Much appreciated.

Best wishes,

David

[David Seymour]

Christine,

I've been in touch with Peter Lister and he has confirmed Philip Charles Richards as being the man I'm looking for. He has sent me some excellent photos.

So thanks again for putting me on to him.

Best wishes,

David