The Richards' Drummer Boy name anomaly

[Bob Spiers]

Once again I find myself confronting a family mystery and encountering family legend that conflicts with facts and this time about given birth names. An adoptive cousin checking his bloodline in my family Tribal Pages(TP) and mentioning that the Great Uncle who died in WW1 - a Drummer Boy and serving in the Worcestshire Regiment was a K.F. Richards not W.H. Richards as I showed.

Unfortunately he could not remember K.F's names and only remembers being taken as a child to the Birmingham Hall of Memory in the town centre (which I too visited as a child and indeed as an adult later)by his Grandmother Nellie. There he had pointed out his Great Uncle's name in the the War Memorial Register, but it only recorded initials - Richards, K.F. Drummer, Worc Reg (see inset)


Now family 'hand-me-down' legends are hard things to challenge and it seems his paternal grandmother often mentioned the younger brother who had joined the army in 1914 as a Drummer Boy and had been killed in the first few months of the war.

In TP I record the GRO Entry:
RICHARDS, WALTER HENRY 1894 : M quarter in ASTON : Vol 06D Page 267 Mother;s Maiden Name: LEWIS.

TP also records the family of Charles J.B. Richards and Elizabeth Ann Lewis with 5 children (which included Nellie his Grandmother). He recalls four of them are as he remembers, but still insists the one who enlisted as a drummer boy was a K.F. Richards, even though he can only go on the Memorial Register.

Unquestionably, Walter Henry enlisted in WW1 as a Drummer boy at the age of 19. There is absolutely no sign of a K.F. Richards. Elizabeth died in 1900 when Walter was aged about 6 and Charles married Eliza Hill in 1908 so she was effectively his step-mother when he joined the army.

His War record shows thus:



The parental information is a clincher for me and I cannot find K.F. Richards (indeed K seems to be a non starter as a MALE first initial for the period in question, given the location and criterion of search)

I admit to being at a loss to understanding why W.H. Richards should be transcribed as K.F which seems to have happened, so unless someone can come up with something I have missed, I shall have to stick to my guns and admit a transcription mistake was made at some point, which I know will be hard for him to accept.

 

[Margery]

K seems to be a non starter as a MALE first initial for the period

Bob, maybe it is RF, the "K" looks like the R in Richards. Probably not much help...

 

[Bob Spiers]

Bob, maybe it is RF, the "K" looks like the R in Richards. Probably not much help...

Margery as it happens, not a lot and have gone down the road of variations on the initials, and as you say the K could be an R. But your comments are appreciated as always.

As it happens a new development (like yesterday) may I think allow me to put this one to bed. Simply, my cousin contacted to say he had just phoned his older sister living in Devon (he lives in Leicestershire) and learned she had both an old photo of their Great Uncle in Bandsman ceremonial uniform (no names on the photo) and with it a photo of his gravestone in Brompton Cemetery* in London. The Gravestone has just initials (strange no actual names) W.H.RICHARDS. (Including service number, Drummer and Worcestershire Regiment, and date of death). All as I had shown. His sister confirms they were told by their Grandma that her brother's name appeared on the Birmingham War Memorial Roll but she never visited the Memorial Hall to actually see the Roll. So the query of how he was recorded as K (or R) F Richards - assuming one and the same as W.H. - remains unsolved but now very secondary.

*Walter Henry Richards did not die in France, but badly wounded was invalided home (i.e. England) where he died of his wounds. I would imagine he was invalided to Harefield Hospital (now part of the Brompton & Harefield Trust) which during WW1 was used extensively to treat those injured in the war, and how he came to be buried in Brompton Cemetery.

I have just had his full name confirmed by visiting Brompton Cemetery Memorials

 

[Heather]

Hi Bob, I had a look on Deceased online and found Walter Henry's record, the only extra piece of information I found was that he was in the Queen Alexandria Military Hospital.

 

[Bob Spiers]

Hi Bob, I had a look on Deceased online and found Walter Henry's record, the only extra piece of information I found was that he was in the Queen Alexandria Military Hospital.

Thanks for that Heather and will pass on to my cousin as he (and I for that matter) believed he had been in the element of Hatfield hospital given over to war wounded. The Queen Alexandria Military Hospital I see was in Millbank. He is also currently communicating with Birmingham Memorial Department who are asking for such details. I think the biggest problem with having his name recorded in the Memorial is that he was NOT killed in action, but died of war wounds. I find that sad but no doubt my cousin will fight his corner.