4189281 Cpl William Christopher Watson - RWF 1930's

[ivor43]

Hi All.
If you look at the Causes in the link i attached, and i hope John can confirm this, Status Epilepticus, does not appear to be Epilepsy. there are a number of possible causes listed. He certainly, i think, could have developed this at any time after the war.
As he lived in a Hostel when he died, do you know anything about his lifestyle after the war, as some of the causes may appear to be connected to lifestyle.


ivor

[Baconwallah]

Hi All.
If you look at the Causes in the link i attached, and i hope John can confirm this, Status Epilepticus, does not appear to be Epilepsy. there are a number of possible causes listed.

The one and only cause is epilepsy, either directly (what we call 'idiopathic') or as a result of brain damage, poisoning, bad or insufficient medication, good medication made less effective by other medication, you name it. Even if the status is caused by extreme fatigue, the underlying cause will be idiopathic epilepsy which suddenly becomes [more] active because the defence mechanisms are overworked.

And believe me, it can kill. I've seen it.

John

[ernest]

i believe you my son has severe epilepsy,and nearly lost him 3 times,its been only this last 3 years his more controled

[susanjane]

Hi Ernest

Storms on 14th put our phone and Broadband out and we are still not reconnected. I am using afriends laptop

Do get the Service Record-take the gamble.
I believe that this man was the one born at Pontypridd.There was another born at nearby Neath who we haven't managed to research fully.There were several families of Watson there in the 1911 census.2 lived next to each other in 6 and 7 Canal Lane.One is entered as Jack Jones -head-and then altered to to Watson.The Neath William C Watsons mother was a Jones. There was also Cyril born 1914 died 1915 and launcelot R born 1916.I couldn't find anything else about him but he might have used his 2nd name!!They both had amother formerly Jones[from FreeBMD]

The epilipsy-the cause of death and your sons condition might just be a big coinhcidence.

Good luck
Sue

[susanjane]

Hi again,
It occurs to me that Ernest won't be supplied with the Service Record if William Charles is the wrong man.

Richard Ward quoted the W Christopher Watson who seemed to fit in better.Should Ernest next apply for the Birth Cert of W C born 1911 in Neath and use that in his application?

Perhaps more research shoul;d be done on the Neath man using FreeBMD and possibly GenesReunited-and any other website that might help.
Before my storm problems I did use GenesR and found a number of people with a William watson in their Trees and also a Violet watson born 1909.She isn't part of any family that I had looked at on 1911 census.It sometimes helps to investigate other siblings/possible siblings.

Also perhaps someone can find the Rootsweb.com Mailing List for Neath/Swansea area.Other subscribers on that can be very helpful-sub is free but you can first Browse or Search the Archives and might find something of use. I tried British Newspapers but not much Wales coverage yet.Again a local researcher might be able to help at a local library.There might be a report on this mans death in 1950.The Pontypridd/Aberdare/Mountain Ash family had a lot of children. There are also rootsweb Message Boards but I find them rather USA orientated.

Neath is close to Swansea which is why i would go with this research first.
Wish that I could help more on this but not able to at the moment until BT pull their finger out!!

Sue

[ernest]

when i applied for the death certificate i put down pontypridd..yes agree with you that epilepsy is just a coincidence as my sons is not genetic,so what shall i do as i havent send for papers of w charles yet as im not sure of that one

[susanjane]

Our line will be down for another week!! You just need to find out more about the Neath man and perhaps apply for his birth cert which you can also use for your Service Records application if it seems to be right.A birth cert might give his 2nd name as the Pontypridd death cert did.

Try www.freebmd.org for a Marriage or death .Perhaps look for Christopher Watson.Age is the important factor against adeath.

Or www.rootsweb.org and then Mailing Lists and find a Glamorgan site.There maybe more than one.Then Search the Archives for Watson.Then perhaps sub and to ask questions is free

Perhaps someone on Ancestry or FMP or GR can find out more Deaths go to a more recent date than BMD does

The Violet and William watson that I found on GR--GenesReunited-were the ones from West Bromwich, so probably not of interest.

Good luck
Sue

[susanjane]

Hi Ernest,

I have managed a session on a friends computer and tried to research the Neath man. He possibly had 2 brothers --Cyril born 1914/died 1915 and Lancelot Ronald Watson born at Neath 1916 Sep quarter.He seems to have died at Ogwr[?] Mid Glamorgan in 1985 Sep q.Parents Watson and mother nee Jones.

I thought that I had found a marriage for him in Newport, Monmouthshire in 1946 and there is another Lancelot R who married in Leeds in 1937 but I am not convinced that either fit in.Sadly no one has any of the known family in their Tree on GenesReunited.The newspapers on line don't come up with anything either.There were rather a lot of Lancelot Watsons around to my surprise. I had hoped to find family who could give us some information.


Early on in this Thread Richard Ward is quoted as saying that William Christopher Watson was in the 2nd Batt from 1930 to 1941.The letter from Lucknow says he left in March 1938 and presumably stayed on the strength for possible callup. Did your grandmother and family know that his 2nd name was Christopher or was he just known as William?

My suggestion is that you apply for the Birth Certificate of William C Watson born at Neath in 1911 at a cost of approx £10.Hopefully you will have more info on that and feel that this is the right person..
I believe that you can use a birth certificate to apply for the Service Records.

I hope that this can be of some help.

Has anyone else let you know anything about any of the other men named on your photos? Perhaps we could have found out something through the family of one of them.

Sue




Early on in this Thread

[susanjane]

Oh Dear! I have just noticed that I made a typo on Feb 23 when I encouraged you to try for the Service Record
I should have said that I Didn't think that the Pontypridd man was the right one!! You might feel differently.

Now that your thread is on the General Listing of Military Genealogy I get the feeling that we have lost many of the followers !

I have tried looking at the Glamorgan List on www.rootsweb.com but found nothing to help you. Perhaps it is time to sub and ask some questions.Let me know if you are able to do this.
Also give me any other info that might be helpful
best wishes
Sue

[susanjane]

Hi Ernest

I had a discovery last night when I found a William WATSON aged 21 on board a japanese boat going to Gibraltar.Departed London 13 July/1934. He was with 8 other 'soldiers' including John Purcell aged 29. The others aged mainly 22.

If this age is correct then we need to look for a different William-born 1912. His address is given as 409 Penbregethin Road, Swansea.

I will post further details later. This was on Outgoing Passengers on Ancestry.

Sue