In his first period of service, Patrick had the service number 7994. When he re-joined he was given a new number: 37708. There are a number of interesting details on the form. (Interesting to me at least!) It might have been expected that Patrick would have returned to his relatives in Dewsbury when he was…
All posts by Keith Stanley
Sounds of a life
As I wrote about some of Patrick’s experiences in the Great War, I started to think about the sounds that would have been familiar to him in a time of peace. The railway came to Roscommon in 1860. If you had not previously seen any form of transport larger, or faster, than a horse drawn…
Conscription
A wave of patriotic fervour swept the country when war was declared in August 1914. Thousands of men, in every part of the country, responded to Lord Kitchener’s call for volunteers. Over one million men had enlisted by January 1915. And by January 1915, it was clear that, far from being ‘all over by Christmas’,…
After Brighton
Patrick was evacuated from France on 15th October 1914. After time being treated at the 2nd Eastern General Hospital in Brighton, he was posted to the 3rd Battalion of the Manchester Regiment on 6th January 1915. At that time, they were based in Cleethorpes, on the East Coast of England. In the minds of many,…
Casualties of War
One of the consistent elements of the story that my father passed on concerns the fate of other relatives in the Great War. Patrick is said to have met other family members whilst in the Army. At least a couple of these did not survive. One version said that these were brothers. His Irish born…
VE Day: Patrick’s perspective
For most of the population of the UK, VE Day (May 8th 1945) was a cause for great celebration. I am not sure that Patrick viewed it in the same way. There are three reasons for this. In the early hours of June 2nd 1942, a Mk. IV Wellington bomber of 142 Squadron, RAF, crashed…
Brother 2
I am picking up on the information from my researcher relative (see ‘Dewsbury once more’ https://www.roscommonstanley.me.uk/direct-line/dewsbury-once-more/) that two brothers came over from Ireland. I have now established that one of these was Thomas Stanley (Brother 1). He was born around 1829 and probably died in 1857. After the success of my previous speculation, I am…
Dewsbury once more
It seems that the researchers with whom I am in contact are not my relatives. (see ‘Multiple Clans’ https://www.roscommonstanley.me.uk/geography/ireland/multiple-clans/) And most of my relatives do not appear to be researchers. This all changed when the wonders of DNA threw out a solid connection to someone with a sizeable family tree. At long last! A very…
95 centimorgans
This blog explores the opposite problem to the previous one (Multiple clans). https://www.roscommonstanley.me.uk/geography/ireland/multiple-clans/ Ancestry has identified someone with whom I share 95 centimorgans (cM) of DNA. (Other testing companies are available!) This is by far the highest score that I have on my list. The next highest is 51. According to the wonders of the…
Multiple clans
When I started out on this voyage of exploration, in 2007, I knew almost nothing about my grandfather’s origins. I have discovered a lot in the meantime. I have files full of information. Perversely, there now seems even more that I don’t know. This is where you need to check out Donald Rumsfeld. In 2002,…