In my endeavours to make sense of the family tree, I have followed leads in all directions. As the golfer Gary Player observed, “The harder you work, the luckier you get.” I am not sure if it was inspiration, perspiration or blind luck, but I came across the following 1901 census entry. The head of…
All posts by Keith Stanley
Kate Senior
Kate appeared on the 1891 census. Born in 1851, she was already married to Uriah and had two daughters, aged 6 and 2. The Senior surname is quite common in West Yorkshire. The name Uriah is far less common. They are easy to find on the 1881 census. Kate and Uriah are both shown as…
Looking for one relative – finding another
Patrick and Mary Muldoon (nee Stanley) were living in Dewsbury in 1891. (See Mary Muldoon) Was she the first of the family to go to Yorkshire? It appears not. Another 1891 record for Dewsbury seems to show two more family members in the town. Address 13 Back New Street Parish Dewsbury Forename Surname Age…
Manchester Regiment – Initial Service
Having signed up for the Manchester Regiment in Pontefract on October 2nd Patrick arrived at the Regimental Depot in Ashton-under-Lyne (near Manchester) on October 4th. The writing is quite faint, but it appears to say that he was posted to the 4th Battalion on October 17th. At that time, they were based at Kinsale, south…
The Manchester Regiment (1)
After six weeks in the militia, Patrick transferred to the Manchester Regiment. As discussed in ‘From Yorkshire to Lancashire’ and ‘Yorkshire and Lancashire History’ there must have been a very good reason for this move. Before addressing that question, there are some things to pick up from the enlistment paperwork. He has put on 8…
Home based militia?
I am indebted to Karl Noble of Rotherham Council’s Museums Service for a chance comment that he made in an email. “Out of interest the 3rd Battalion were used only once as an independent unit overseas, from January to August 1902 they served in South Africa on garrison duty and protecting supply lines. They had…
Reorganising Regiments
Units in the British Army have always had some wonderful names. E.g. 65th (2nd Yorkshire North Riding) Regiment of Foot. E.g. 84th (York & Lancaster) Regiment of Foot. In 1881, Hugh Childers, the Secretary of State for War, implemented a series of reforms for the infantry regiments. Each regiment was to have two regular battalions…
More on the Militia
Patrick’s enlistment paperwork provides a range of detailed information. He was 5ft 5 1/2 in tall (166cm) and 125lb (57kg). This gives him a BMI of 20 which is considered healthy by today’s standards. The Army said that he had blue eyes. My father (Patrick’s son) disagreed. He said that they were more brown than…
Joining the Militia
Following his birth in Roscommon in 1883, Patrick Stanley seems to have left no trace on official records until August 1902. On 19th August 1902, Patrick joined the 3rd Battalion of the Yorks & Lancs Regiment. His regimental number was 9988. This was a militia unit. He signed up for a period of six years.…
What sort of place is Roscommon (2)?
I need to reiterate that I am referring to County Roscommon in the middle of Ireland, and not the one in the USA. On a visit in May 2014 I took a lot of photographs. Many of these will appear in these blogs in due course. One is shown below. In the earlier blog “What…