TOPIC:

Thank you David,

I am not sure whether Militia Reservists were included in the group of "volunteers" who received the medal. So far all the names I have belong to members of the local Volunteer Companies who joined the VASC or the St John Ambulance Corps, and Imperial Yeomanry.

Unfortunately, the likelihood of Hickman or his family being presented with a medal is remote, as the Dudley Patriotic Committee got into a financial pickle, with outstanding debts of £30. This state of affairs became apparent in September 1901. I'm not sure when Hickman left for the front. There is a slim possibility that a medal had been purchased for him before the money ran out......

I suspect some of the missing names will be those of Nursing Sisters. I say this because their absence at the presentation ceremony was acknowledged by the Mayor.


West Sussex County Times, 28th September 1901

A small committee of Dudley tradesmen, who in June undertook the entertaining of the Volunteers returned from South Africa, are in an awkward dilemma. At a banquet the heroes were presented with gold medals and illuminated addresses, but when the bills came in it was found that the subscriptions were nearly £30 short of the expenditure. An appeal has been made to the local gentry, but up to the present only £7 has been received.


N

Nev and David,
I believe both Dudley and Birmingham claimed John Carrington as their own.
He is definitely on the Dudley Boer War Memorial and ,if memory serves me well, and on the Birmingham memorial at Cannon Hill Park.

Steve - as you will see from my slightly disjointed notes below, I do not understand why John Carrington is on the Birmingham, Cannon Hill Park Memorial.

John Carrington married Emily Attwell in Dudley last quarter of 1899. She remarried in Dudley (Harry Harrold) in 1906 and they had a daughter (Emily) and son (Frederick). Frederick served in RAF in Bomber Command in WW2 as a Wireless Operator/Gunner and died in 1943. He was buried in Dudley with a military headstone.

Smethwick Telephone 10th March 1900 HERE AND THERE
Victims of War – The War has claimed another Smethwick Reservist as a victim. His name is Private Carrington, and the widow resides in Union Passage. We understand that Mrs Carrington and Mrs Neale have each received £20 from the “Daily Telegraph” Fund and that each will receive an annuity of £15. Private Carrington was employed at Dudley previous to being called up, and some effort is being made in that town for the benefit of his widow. The concert in aid of Mrs Neale will take place in the Town Hall next Wednesday evening, and we have no doubt there will be a full audience.

John Carrington was born Q1 1873 in Dudley, his father was born in Wolverhampton & his mother in West Bromwich. At the time of the 1881 census the family lived in Dudley. John was the 7th of 9 children, the two eldest were born in Sedgley, all the rest in Dudley except for the 8th (Elizabeth) who was 4 years younger than John and was born in Smethwick. So, the family almost certainly lived for a time in Smethwick and possibly up to 5 years. John’s parents died before the 1891 census, when John was living with a married brother and family in Dudley. In Q4 1899 John married Emily Attwell in Dudley. Emily was born in the Potteries but her two younger siblings were born in Dudley. In 1900 Emily lived in Union Passage, Smethwick but by the time of the 1901 census she had moved to Dudley and her two younger siblings were living with her. So, John does not appear to have any association with Birmingham but he does have a double association with Smethwick.

Aftermath – Emily had it doubly hard – firstly a widow after a few months of marriage. Secondly, she married again in Dudley in 1907 to Henry “Harry” Harrold. They had two children Emily & Frederick. Frederick served in the RAF in WW2 and was killed in a training crash in the UK on 11th May 1943, unmarried & aged 32.

From RAF Commands:
11 May 1943, 24 Operational Training Unit based at Long Marston Airfield, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Whitley V EB353 took off at 0055 hours for a night training exercise, when the starboard engine lost power and a forced-landing became necessary. While doing so, at approximately 0130 hours, the Whitley struck a tree and crashed at Ilmington, 3 miles NW of Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire. Sgt Harrold was taken to Dudley (St. John) Churchyard, while Sgt Curry is buried at Chingford Mount Cemetery. Miraculously, Sgt Patterson was thrown clear and he was subsequently admitted to Stratford-upon-Avon Hospital.

Sgt (Pilot) L P PATTERSON - Injured
1199490 Sgt (W.Op./Air Gnr.) Frederick HARROLD RAFVR +
151411 P/O (Air Gnr.) Thomas Bertram CURRY RAFVR +

With regards to William Kendrick 3787, commemorated on the memorial cannot seem to trace him
any help much appriciated
PHILIP

Philip - you have made my day by taking an interest in one of "my" Smethwickians.

As explained the service number 3787 referred to his membership of the Smethwick Rifle Volunteers. When he went out to South Africa as part of the second wave of volunteers attached to the 1st VB South Staffordshire Regt he answered to the service number 7027. This should enable you to find his attestation papers, service record and medal rolls in the usual places especially if you add in he was born in Smethwick in 1880. Also note the memorial does not commemorate his death but his service.

How deep is your interest in William because I can tell you a lot more about him although I don't know whether he preferred Corn Flakes or porridge for his breakfast?

After the Boer War he made an impact in Smethwick as this 1956 notice of his death shows.



The employees of E J Guest Ltd more than once put notices in the local papers thanking their employer for the generous bonus they had received and in one case the gift of National Savings. I think William Simon Kendrick was a thoroughly "good egg" and I probably went to school with the children of employees who had benefitted from his generous nature. Sadly he and Nancy never seem to have had any children of their own to pass their good nature on to.

Regards David (Smethwick)

Hello David thanks for reply
I was interested in the name of William Kendrick due to the fact that I have a QSA-KSA 1915 trio to a William Kendrick Shropshire L.I., and 25th Royal Fusiliers
with a Worcester conection but now with your kind reply realise its not the same chap
thank you kindly for replying to my quiery

Philip