Dave,
I agree 20621 Albert Henry Purnell and 44916 Albert Henry Purnell were one and the same man and the H H Purnell commemorated in Trowbridge recognises the first period of service of Albert Henry with a wrong initial. I have examined quite a few multiple name memorials regarding the South African War, Great War & WW2 and invariably there is a naming error with an incorrect initial being the major culprit.
Not sure if you are wondering if Albert Henry is a relative, perhaps you had better read this first.
Albert Henry’s first period of service was with the second wave of 1st Company, 1st Battalion of the Imperial Yeomanry. It was cut short when he was invalided home according to the company medal roll. His timeline then proceeds:
9 July 1901 Arrived back in England
9 August 1901 discharged from IY at “his own request”
20 April 1902 Banns for his marriage to spinster Ada Martha Gulliver read out for first time in Hilperton Parish Church, Wiltshire
27 April 1902 Banns read out for second time
2 May 1902 Albert Henry attested in Aldershot for service in an unidentified third wave Company of the IY. Claimed he had married Ada on 15 January 1902 and agreed part of his pay should go to Ada.
4 May 1902 Banns read out for third and last time.
14 May 1902 Albert Henry sailed to South Africa as member of IY for second time. Date of arrival not known but almost certainly after the war had ended. His paperwork shows he was not considered to be entitled to a medal for this second period of service.
21 October 1902 Albert Henry returned to England and was discharged from the IY a week later.
21 November 1902 He hired a bicycle using an alias, failed to return it having sold it and thus was considered to have “feloniously stolen” it.
5 December, 12 December & 29 December 1902 Repeated above offence, each time using a different alias and hiring the bicycle from a different person & place.
30 December 1902 Married Mary Ann Hayward (20 year old domestic servant) in Bradley Parish Church, Wiltshire. He gave his age as 21 and his occupation as “Sergeant Wilts Yeomanry”.
2nd January 1903 arrested for “feloniously stealing” 4 bicycles. Tried at Devizes Assizes 13 January 1902, pleaded guilty and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment with hard labour.
1911 Census He and Mary Ann and two daughters were found living in Ash, Surrey. The eldest daughter aged 6 was born in Aldershot, the youngest aged 9 months in Ash. Mary Ann filled out the return and signed it off. She gave Albert Henry’s occupation as “Domestic coachman working for an Army Contractor”.
18 April 1913 A lengthy article in the Aldershot Military Gazette entitled “ANOTHER EMBEZZLEMENT CHARGE” reported on three offences by an Albert Henry Purnell who had served in the IY in SA and been found guilty of larceny at Devizes in 1903. All the offences involved Albert Henry pocketing money he had collected on behalf of his employer. He was found guilty on all three counts and sentenced to 3 months imprisonment with hard labour.
I have not pursued him further. However, I can report that Ada married in 1909 as a spinster and became Mrs Davies and appears to have lived to a good age.
Regards, David.
