Dave
Thanks for that - I have Ancestry and FMP - and I have done as best a search as I can but to no avail for any service records. I did find some records for his fellow-serving mates in the WO 363/364 series (WW1) who, as you say, later went on to serve in WW1. It was from those records that I managed to pin point with some reasonable accuracy the date his service number must have been allotted (& therefore his enlistment date, assuming he joined them direct from civvy street).
Do you know the National Archives Number Series for those pre-WW1 records that might have his and other Boer War soldiers service records?
Ahh - Neithrop - that makes self-consistent sense. Everyone's personal details on the Aldershot barracks 1901 census is made out in the same hand, i.e. not by the individuals themselves - so it's not surprising that errors like that creep into the handwritten entries in those records. I assume it was made out by the Adjutant or some such worthy.
Interestingly of the 25 men on the same 1901 census page, only Thomas is married and he is by far the oldest - 28 compared to the next oldest at 25 - the vast majority are between 18 and 21. I might go through the rest of the pages for the whole unit - but I think that age range might well be typical as they are in alphabetical order so it is likely a good random sample. No ranks are given but I guess they are all Privates as NCOs would be expected, I think, to be a little older than that range.
By 1901 he had done at least circa 7 to 8 years service - yet he was still "just" a private - that might tell me something. Still, he must have had some good qualities if he was permitted to join the MMP in WW1 (at a time when they could afford to be a bit more choosy)
Yes, it's Eliza Gertrude his wife at the address you state. I have a marriage for them in 1898 in Leeds. I think they must have met there as the 2nd Dragoon Guards were Stationed in Leeds at the time. It seems they moved to York in 1899 then Aldershot in 1900 and then off to SA in 1901. I think they stayed in SA until 1908 - but of course Thomas must have come back much earlier than that to begin his transfer to the Reserve (via the 4th Provisional Regiment of Dragoons).
As noted, I have them on the 1911 census in Middlesbrough (now with children) and also on the recently released 1921 census still in Middlesbrough. I lose them after that date - although I've only just about started looking at later records/deaths etc.
Tragically, I recently found out that his only son (also Thomas), who was a pre WW2 regular in the Middlesex Regiment, was captured by the Japanese upon the fall of Hong Kong in 1941 and died in captivity in 1942 having suffered horrendous depravations at their hands.
Thanks for your help - anything you can find/add would be most appreciated.
Regards
Russ
