WW1 Pension Records

[Just Gillian]

Firstly, is there any way of telling from attestation papers whether a soldier volunteered or was conscripted?

Secondly, in section 4, under character, does the first line really read "Accustomed to care of horses"? It seems a strange section to have such a comment in.

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/Browse/BookView.aspx?dbid=1114&iid=miuk1914a_084625-01749&sid=&gskw=Valintine+Charles+Hadrill

[Jill]

Conscription started in 1916 so your man volunteered. Perhaps the fact that he is recorded as being "accustomed to the care of horses" would help him in civilian life if he asked the army for a job reference.

[Just Gillian]

Thanks Jill.

I hadn't realised conscription started so late. His yob is incorrect (84 instead of 86) on all the paperwork and I had wondered if it was simply a mistake or if he had deliberately made himself two years older for some reason.

The reference idea would make sense. He was a tramdriver in civilian life but was invalided out of the army so I guess there was no guarantee he would get his old job back.

[Uncle John]

He was a tramdriver in civilian life but was invalided out of the army so I guess there was no guarantee he would get his old job back.

He may have started driving horse-drawn trams and graduated to electric ones. There shouldn't have been any shortage of work as the period after WWI was the peak of tram operation.

[kiterunner]

Yes, I think "character" would mean "reference" on that form.

[Just Gillian]

Thanks UJ and Kite.

He was a motorman by 1909 but may well have started with horse-drawn ones. In 1916, when he was discharged, there would have been a shortage of men available and, presumably, he would have found it easier to get his old job back in spite of his disability.

His father was a greengrocer, working from home, so perhaps he had a horse and cart.

[Shona]

He served in the 22nd Reserve Battery of the Royal Field Artillery for less than a year before he was discharged to pension for being permanently unfit due to his rheumatism.

The 22nd were part of the 4B Reserve Brigade training unit based in Boyton Camp, Wiltshire.

Some info here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codford

He may have gained his experience caring for horses from this time. Six horses driven by two drivers were needed to pull each field gun. Of the 10-man team attached to each gun, six operated the gun in action with the remaining men doing various duties such as caring for the horses, collecting ammunition, etc.

So it is possible he worked as a driver of a 'horse bus' or horse-drawn tram before electrification of the trams and introduction of motor buses. The last horse-drawn tram was withdrawn from service in 1915.

[Uncle John]

"Motorman" usually refers to a driver of electric trains, rather than trams. Though it can also be someone in charge of an electric lift.

[Just Gillian]

Thanks for the link Shona.

His father was a groom in Wiltshire at 15 although he had moved to London, along with most of his brothers, by 1871 and was a packer. I don't know how I missed the reference to the care of horses when I first downloaded the service records.

[Just Gillian]

Thanks UJ. I'm about to google now to see if tram drivers stood or sat, in view of his army discharge for chronic rheumatism of knee and ankle.

Edit - they stood - according to photos from The London Transport Museum.

[Shona]

He's also mentioned in the London County Council Roll of Honour.

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/iexec?htx=View&r=5538&dbid=2896&iid=40584_606246_0910-00155&fn=Valentine+Thomas+Charles&ln=Hadrill&st=d&ssrc=&pid=17735

The London Metropolitan Archives have London County Council tramways records (1899-1933) and Lambeth Archives hold something called the Tramways Register (1899-1906).

[Just Gillian]

Thanks Shona. So sad to see so many "Killed in action" or "Died of wounds.

I'll note the archive holdings for my visit wishlist.