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Henry Cecil Laycock banished

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  • Henry Cecil Laycock banished

    How I wish I had asked my grandmother about her brother, Henry Cecil Laycock!

    According to family hearsay, in about 1911 Cecil was sent to South Africa having got a young woman pregnant and being unable or unwilling to marry. I would love to know what became of him and any descendants.

    Henry Cecil Laycock was born 26 July 1889 in Keighley, Yorkshire. He was the 6th of 7 children of John & Mary (nee Shuttleworth) Laycock. John Laycock was a tobacco & cigar merchant (J Laycock & Sons) with a shop in Church Street, Keighley. In 1911, Cecil was living at West House, Steeton, near Keighley with his parents, elder brother Harold, who was working in the family business, & younger sister Elizabeth Marjory Susannah (my grandmother). He was a bank clerk aged 21.

    British Army Service Records show Henry Cecil Laycock, service no 641, enlisted with the Volunteer Force, 3rd West Riding Regiment 6 February 1907 & was transferred to 6th Battalion West Riding Regiment, 29 April 1908 when he was a bank clerk with the United Counties Bank Ltd and living at 32 Belgrave Road, Keighley. His engagement was terminated 28 April 1909.

    I have found a 'Mr Laycock', single male, travelling first class on the Kildonan Castle to Cape, South Africa leaving Southampton 16 March 1912 but I have found no trace of him after that.

    Mary Laycock died in 1931 - her obituary states that she is survived by her husband, 3 sons & 2 daughters, & that 2 sons died in the Great War. This suggests that Henry Cecil Laycock died at this time although I have found no record of his death or that the war was a convenient means of permanently banishing Henry Cecil from the family. (I have full BMD details of all his siblings.) John Laycock died in 1933 & his will makes no mention of Henry Cecil.

    I have revisited this brick wall several times - the only possibly relevant record I have found is:
    Henry C Laycock m Elizabeth J Richardson Jun quarter 1919 Lambeth 1d/642
    There is a reference to Henry Cecil Laycock on ancestry.co.uk in London, England Marriage & Banns 1754-1921 m Elizabeth Jane Richardson father James Laycock (so unlikely?)

    I would welcome any suggestions on how to track down my elusive great uncle.
    Many thanks
    PJD

  • #2
    I have a similar scenario on one branch of my tree - only our man went to Canada. The shipping details are too vague to confirm without doubt our man, as also are the 1911 census details; however, as his name is on the war memorial of the village where he was born (and it only records men KIA) it was a pretty safe bet that is when he met his end. We found him on the CWGC site and also on the Canadian Expeditionary Force database, where we were able to download documents about him.
    As for the pregnancy bit, our man's nephew swore it was true! Apparently in the 1930's he went to play cricket in a neighbouring village and during the cricket tea, he overheard two men talking about one of the serving girls - one stated quite clearly that the young woman lived with her grandparents; her mother had been pregnant and her young man had scarpered off to Canada. His name was given and it was the name of our war hero!

    Jay
    Last edited by Janet in Yorkshire; 03-08-15, 17:07.
    Janet in Yorkshire



    Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree

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    • #3
      Rootschat.com has a Board for South Africa research questions so you might like to try there for help as they no doubt have people in that country on that board.

      Margaret

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      • #4
        I have had a look at the passenger list, isn't it an army list?
        Last edited by Elaine; 03-08-15, 21:06.
        Elaine

        Looking for Ward, Moore, Hunt, Warren...and who was Gertrude Wills

        http://leicestermoores.tribalpages.com
        http://wardnottsleics.tribalpages.com

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        • #5
          Found the marriage to Richardson, Henry as soldier, father James bootmaker
          Elaine

          Looking for Ward, Moore, Hunt, Warren...and who was Gertrude Wills

          http://leicestermoores.tribalpages.com
          http://wardnottsleics.tribalpages.com

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          • #6
            There is a reference to Henry Cecil Laycock on ancestry.co.uk in London, England Marriage & Banns 1754-1921 m Elizabeth Jane Richardson father James Laycock (so unlikely?)

            Here is a link to this marriage http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/16...c=&pid=3520222

            Henry was aged 29 so born 1889/90 the same as your Henry but there is only one birth registered for those years with Cecil as a middle name.
            There is something a bit odd about this couple. There are no Henrys with a father named James in the census which fit with his birth year & likewise for Elizabeth Jane Richardson with father Alfred.

            Moggie

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Elaine View Post
              I have had a look at the passenger list, isn't it an army list?
              Thanks for this suggestion - will follow up
              PJD

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              • #8
                Many thanks for all your replies
                I had found the marriage to Elizabeth Jane Richardson but with incorrect father's name - could be misrecorded either by accident or design? But then my Henry Cecil's father was definitely not a bookmaker.
                Last edited by pjd; 04-08-15, 10:19.
                PJD

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                • #9
                  Elaine, I have had another look at the passenger list & it doesn't look to me like an army list - both male & female passengers, different destinations etc. Are we looking at the same list?
                  PJD

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                  • #10
                    It says Bootmaker PJD, not bookmaker and I think Moggie (and me) think that both he and his bride may have made up their fathers for various reasons.
                    Last edited by Chrissie Smiff; 04-08-15, 11:51.
                    Chrissie passed away in January 2020.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Chrissie Smiff View Post
                      It says Bootmaker PJD, not bookmaker and I think Moggie (and me) think that both he and his bride may have made up their fathers for various reasons.
                      I've tried tracing this couple in the census before they married to eliminate them & drawn a blank. I'm also wondering if they made their fathers up. I also noticed that there was only one witness on the marriage cert. I thought you had to have at least two.
                      Moggie

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                      • #12




                        This is I think the signature when Hencry C enlisted. Its not a very good copy of the image. Looks quite different from that on the mc of 1919

                        I will try to put up the snips

                        Vera
                        Last edited by vera2013; 04-08-15, 17:37.

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                        • #13
                          Capture.PNG


                          2Capture.jpg

                          Vera
                          Last edited by vera2013; 04-08-15, 17:58.

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                          • #14
                            Yes my bookmaker was a typo!
                            I really don't think the signatures can be by the same person so it looks as though the Henry Cecil Laycock who married Elizabeth Jane Richardson is not my great uncle
                            Oh well . . .
                            PJD

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                            • #15
                              Apologies, I had the wrong passenger list doh!
                              Elaine

                              Looking for Ward, Moore, Hunt, Warren...and who was Gertrude Wills

                              http://leicestermoores.tribalpages.com
                              http://wardnottsleics.tribalpages.com

                              Comment

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