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I'm helping my sister in law do her tree. We've done quite well except for a small problem of Leslie Melhuish.
We thought Leslie was her father's cousin who lived with the family (Samuel Baxter Melhuish, Edith Helen Melhuish, and children Marjorie (1906) and Donald (1915).
However we have found Leslie on the 1911 census (born 1908) living as son with all the above except the as yet unborn, Donald.
Fair enough. We will accept him as an uncle and buy the cert, but.....our biggest mystery is what happened to Leslie after his childhood.
The whole family were into fishing, boating, etc and Donald and Leslie both went off fishing with Samuel. Story goes Leslie went off to somewhere in Asia (Singapore and Malaysia have been mentioned) about 1939, so he didn't have to go to war. Obviously he didn't make a great choice as later history would prove, but how on earth do we start looking for any trace of him??
Apparently he either owned or worked on a plantation there.
We just don't know where to start looking. Neither of us know enough about the history of people during wartime to hazard a guess as to where an English man would try to go or do.
Samuel Baxter Melhuish died in 1940 leaving a will. Maybe the will would give you a clue.
kiterunner
10-08-15, 13:16
There's this old thread about Leslie which had some suggestions:
http://www.genealogistsforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=13884&highlight=uncle
Thanks Kate. I was sure I had asked about this,but put Leslieinto the search box and it didn't show.
Here's another clue:
Admiralty: Royal Navy Registers of Seaman's Services
Registers of Seaman's Service numbers XK77001-XK77500
Reference: ADM 362/51/297
Description: Name: Leslie Melhuish.
Official Number: KX 77297.
Date of Birth: 10 February 1908.
Place of Birth: Grimsby, Lincolnshire.
Date: [1925-1929]
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record
Closure status: Open Document, Open Description
Access conditions: Open on Transfer
Record opening date: 11 July 2015
Order and viewing options £3.30
Download size approximately 0.5 MB
The above document only became a public record a month ago, so you have asked at the right time! £3.30 to download from TNA.
Good find, Merry. It would explain a marriage between Leslie Melhuish and Edith Barlett in Devonport...and stories about Singapore and Malaysia.
There are three births registered in Plymouth to Leslie Melhuish and a mother with the maiden name of Bartlett:
names and details removed as they may still be living
Edith?
MELHUISH, Edith Anne of 1 Greenbank Ct Greenbank Plymouth died 12 January 1988 Administration Bristol 11 February Not exceeding £70000 8880601035L
Name: Edith Anne Melhuish
Birth Date: 26 May 1911
Date of Registration: Jan 1988
Age at Death: 76
Registration district: Plymouth
Volume: 21
Page: 2102
Oh Thank you all so much. My sister in law is away at the moment, but how do I download that TNA doc??????please.
I am useless at anything TNA.
Here's a link to the page:
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14784384
Click 'Add to Basket'
Next page click 'Continue to Basket'
Next page click 'Check Out'
Then follow the instructions to pay for and download the item. All should be pretty immediate.
Got it Merry. It will be interesting for T, but doesn't help much. It only goes to 1929. He joined aged 12.
I'm assuming as it stops then, he left at that time. Maybe he then went on to the Merchant Navy.....of which I know nothing......lol
Merry......do you think I could get Edith's will? Maybe get that death cert first to make sure it's her.....although the will may be the same price......lol
Got it Merry. It will be interesting for T, but doesn't help much. It only goes to 1929. He joined aged 12.
I'm assuming as it stops then, he left at that time. Maybe he then went on to the Merchant Navy.....of which I know nothing......lol
The record set itself only goes up to 1929. Unless is says discharged, I'm guessing that there is a later record, only available to next of kin.
Merry......do you think I could get Edith's will? Maybe get that death cert first to make sure it's her.....although the will may be the same price......lol
It's an administration not a will, so not sure it would help much. Pity about the navy record.
If Leslie Melhuish was born on 10/2/1908, he can not have been 12yrs old when he joined the Navy as service numbers with the prefix KX were only allocated from 25/10/1925 onwards. Is it possible he signed on for a 12yr engagement, which would run from his 18th birthday?
KX numbers were only allocated to Stokers and as he seems to have been at Devonport it is likely he was a Devonport rating, which the service record should also show. If he was, it may also show VIVID 11 (stands for Vivid 2, not 11) as his first ship, actually the Royal Naval Barracks, where stokers suffered their first 6 months training, or so (RNB, Devonport).
His service number was KX77297 and another stoker, Henry Lewis, b. 27/12/1907, was allocated number KX77001. He may have been the Harry Lewis, 26, Ships Fireman, reported in the Western Morning News of 17/4/1934 as having bail refused on charges of 'stealing at Plymouth articles of clothing belonging to Leslie Melhuish, value £2 10/-'.
A Ships Fireman, was the name given to a Stoker in the Merchant Navy, not RN, but two men, stokers or ex stokers, who were possibly shipmates at some time, although I doubt Harry was Leslie's best man.
What profession/trade is shown on Leslie's service record upon enlistment, and are there other ships listed that he served on?
No help of course with determining just what happened later but some interesting background perhaps.
merleyone
Oh...thank you Merleyone. You are correct. It's 1926 he joined, so 18 years old. It says 12 years so that must have been his engagement.
Yes, itdoes have VIVID 11. His occupation says Sea (there could be an s on the end) then (MS) after Sea. His family were all into fishing, boats etc.
Under VIVID 11 is VALIANT.
I am happy to email it to you if that would make it easier to understand. It's only one page.
His occupation was possibly Seaman (abbreviated) and MS would have signified Merchant Service.
HMS Valiant was a battleship, with a large enough complement of Stokers to 'carry' a new entrant for a while. A typical posting might last 2 years or so and without knowing the date of his posting to Valiant, it is pure conjecture where he went afterwards, but Valiant was part of the Mediterranean fleet 1924-1929, when it then went for a refit.
Valiant's crew were active in the 1931 mutinies at Invergordon but it is unlikely your man would have been a crew member at that time if his original posting commenced around 1826/7.
Logically, he should have served 12 yrs until 1938 and his marriage certificate is likely to confirm his rank at the time and may show his ship.
There must be a further service record post 1929, which should provide more information and if/when you eventually find it, a normal discharge is likely to have been in the UK but if he deserted, UK or overseas, it will show 'RUN'.
merleyone
Thanks Merleyrone........I'll look for later records.
His period of service at VIVID 11 was from 27th Oct 1926 to 25th May 1927
Then Valiant was from 26th May 1927 as "Sto 11" then from 10th Oct 1927 as "Sto1"
There is a stamp saying Records transferred 1st Jan 1929.
Sto is likely to be Stoker. Would it be poss to post an image of his records, please? I'd be interested in taking a look.
I can't get it into photobucket. It's a PDF file. I'll try to change it.
No luck and it exceeds the limits to upload here. If you know how to do it.....I'm happy to share it.
Lib, can you use Snipping Tool to grab a screenshot, paste that into a new Paint file, and 'save as' a jpg file? Then you could upload that to PB.
Don't think so Janet. It just reverts to the list (closes the open PDF file) when I use the Snipping Tool.
I'm not clever like you........:(
You could try Print Screen (PrtScr). And if you want to copy only the one window that is active, hold down Alt while you press PrtScr. Then go to Paint and paste.
Edit: You're perfectly as clever as I am. There is such a thing as a division of labor. :)
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