A friend of mine would like to know any history of her Great Grandather who served with The Royal Welch Fusiliers in WW1, all she has is his name, William Morris Roberts, and a picture attached in the Add-ons below. DOB is not known and which Bn is also unknown. He did not die during the war. I appreciate this is little to go by, but i was hoping the name (which may be popular) would be enough to shed some information on this chap. He appears to be an officer in the photo.
Roberts, William Morris, 3965 L/Cpl [photo]
Born in Bangor. Porter. Enlisted 03/07/1908 with 5 Cheshire Regiment. Transferred to 3 RWF 28/01/1909. Landed 02/11/1914. Bronchitis, adm 10 G/Hosp 10/11/1914. to UK 08/01/1915. Re-joined Bn 28/04/1915. Sick, NYD, to UK 03/09/1915. Adm Northumberland War Hosp, Newcastle, 04/09/1915, with VDH and recurrent bronchitis. To Depot 26/02/1916. Discharged MU 21/03/1916. Died 10/10/1916. Buried Colwyn Bay (Bronynant) Cemetery.
Rather an unusual set of Christian names, I'd say. He is the only one I ever came across who was (presumably) named after the author and artist William Morris. He served with 1 RWF and died during the war, although not strictly speaking in the war. Could he be your man?
John
PS VDH is Valvular Disease of the Heart. NYD is Not Yet Diagnosed.
PPS The man in the photo is wearing an Other Ranks tunic. Perhaps the photographer added the stick to increase his martial appearance. It happened.
John, not him im afraid, Just got back in touch with my friend and she replied- he was born,died and buried in Penrhyndeudraeth in the 50's, she has allowed me to use the photo, so no problem there, the plot thickens.
NB- Morus with a U may refine a search, she said.
Bad news, Tom. That explains why the two WM Morrises do not quite look the same. But it's the only one I have.
Another approach: check Ancestry.co.uk or the National Archives site for his medal index card (search on name and regiment). That may bring up your man. If you're lucky, his personal file may still exist.
You'll have to pay for the pleasure. Alternatively, some of us have subscriptions to these sites (I do not yet) and could check for you. Give it some time.
He is the only one I ever came across who was (presumably) named after the author and artist William Morris. John
.
John.
Possibly so but.... Morris, as well as being a surname is also a Christian name. Traditionally the Welsh did not have surnames and had a christian name followed by their fathers name (known as patronymics) Although this died out in the 18th/19th C and the rural areas were genrally last to discard it you'll find that many Welsh men in WW1 era will have a middle name which is the first name of their father. Just to make it confusing it will not always be the case and may not be so in this particular case!
Tom
There are papers for a William Morris Roberts born Penrhyn DD who was 29 when he joined the 7th Battalion as Pte 2912 on 21/9/1914. Looks like he served Gallipoli and Egypt and post 1917 he moved to the RE. Thing is, how to match this info to yours. Any details of the death/burial available? I'll check the rest of the papers for an address.
Wife name Anne Roberts of Castle Cottage, Penrhyn DD. Children Asnath? b 4 4 08, Robert Owen 12 4 11 and Janet 11 11 15-all Roberts (your friends gran or grandad?)
William was wounded shortly after the Suvla landings on Gallipoli 10/8/1915 and at 3rd Gazza 6/11/1917.
Rough translation on the page in my notes on him below
The main Memorial has ROBERTS W M The Cathedral memorial has W M Roberts, NCO, RWF Bangor’s Roll of Service published in The Chronicle in 1915: 3rd RWF BEF 3965 Cofeb y Dewrion William Morris Roberts was the son of Mr and Mrs Rodrick Roberts, 21 Minafon, Bangor. He had been in the army prior to the war breaking out and he was called up in August 1914 and went out to France with the RWF where he was wounded and suffered from gas poisoning. He was buried in ColwynBay aged 25 years. CWGC: Lance Corporal 3965 William Morris Roberts of the 3rd Bn RWF who died 10/10/1916. Buried in grave C295 at BronynantCemetery, ColwynBay. SDGW: Pension Records: Enlisted aged 17 years as Pte 3965 in RWF SR on 29/1/1909. Mobilised 5/8/1914 and to France with 1st Bn 1/11/1914. Back to UK with Bronchitis 7/1/1915. Returned to France28/4/1915 to 2/9/1915. Indications he was gassed Aug 1915. Discharged 21/3/1916 no longer physically fit. Discharge address of 13 Kyffin Square. Also address of 62 Grove Park, ColwynBay on the file. File not yet fully read. Also Service Records:
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Baconwallah
Bookmarks