Can anyone trace this man please?

[Velma Dinkley]

To find out what happened to him??



This is a photo of of the inside page of a bible given to my mum by her father's first cousin in the late 1940s in Eastbourne, which I'm sure must have been picked up in a second book stall...

[Christine in Herts]

There's a birth for William Alfred STRINGELL 1902 q4 Guildford

There's a marriage for William A STRINGELL in Hackney in 1929 q2 to Minnie A BAILES.
There's a death in 1955 for William A STRINGELL, age 52, in Eastbourne.
There's a death in Oct 1998 for Minnie Ada STRINGELL, b 6 Jun 1904, in Eastbourne.

Going on the surname combination, it seems likely that they had two sons - one born in Hackney in 1931 and one born in Eastbourne in 1938.

Christine

[Christine in Herts]

The elder son appears to have married in Eastbourne in 1955.
>The surname combination suggests that there were 2 daughters: 1956, and 1959 in Hendon.
>Of those two daughters, the elder married in 1980 in Horsham.
>>No children show up for that surname combination. She appears to be into musical drama.
>The younger daughter married in 1982 in Leicester.
>>There is one daughter for this surname combination, born 1988 in Leicester.

The younger son appears to have married in Colchester in 1960.
>The surname combination suggests that there were 2 sons and 1 daughter: 1963, 1965 and 1972.
>The elder son married in Eastbourne in 1994.
>>He appears to have three daughters (the eldest is findable on the web - with photo).
>The daughter and younger son don't show up on the marriage index to 2005.

Christine

[Christine in Herts]

There is an 8-year-old William STRINGELL in 1911, living with his parents William and Alice, and younger brothers, Leonard and Leslie, in Reigate.

Christine
This is an unusual name - you can search on just the surname without being inundated.

[Christine in Herts]

It's a bit frightening just how much you can work out from public records and the web. I could have done more, I suspect, but not having noted all the names in my posts as I went along, means it's harder to go back and pick up the threads.

Christine

[Velma Dinkley]

Gosh, thank you so much Christine!!

This cousin who gave her the bible died in 1950, so I wonder why it left his possession before his death in 1955??

I think I probably could follow those births through the BMDs, and hopefully find someone there who has an interest in family history, who would treasure it. Although I'd have to persuade mum to part with it first... :D

[Christine in Herts]

This cousin who gave her the bible died in 1950, so I wonder why it left his possession before his death in 1955??

Perhaps the cousin was a relation of some kind, or a Godchild?

Christine

[Velma Dinkley]

That's an interesting thought Christine. This lady cousin lived with her two brothers at a small holding/market garden, which they took over after their parents' deaths. None married. Perhaps she worked for the family at some point. I'll have a look at the directories next time I'm in Eastbourne

[SueNSW]

Really hate to throw a spanner in the works - but the (presumably) army service number of 8196 in the Royal West Surrey Regiment (The Queens) suggests an older man than the William Alfred born in 1902 - BUT - I can't quickly find a suitable alternative who fits the bill (though I wondered if the 2nd initial might be an H)

According to the very well researched and generally respected site - http://armyservicenumbers.blogspot.c...iment-1st.html
this number was likely allocated to a new recruit in 1904.

Will have another look to see if anyone jumps out that could possibly fit that scenario

Cheers
Sue

[Velma Dinkley]

Thanks Sue. I had thought of tracing him through the army, although was unsure about post-WW1 records

[SueNSW]

As he does appear to have served beyond 1920 - his record wouldn't be in the public domain and would only be made available to next of kin at a cost of 30GBP

Might be worth contacting the Surrey History Centre - they have a large number of Royal West Surrey records including nominal rolls

http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsite/sccwspages.nsf/LookupWebPagesByTITLE_RTF/Summary+of+the+arrangement+of+the+records+of+the+Queen%27s+Royal+Surrey+Regiment?opendocument

Still can't find anyone who fits the bill though - a very vague possibility is that if he originally joined the 1st Battalion - who were in India in 1904 - he may have been born out there - though he doesn't seem to appear on Regimental Birth Indexes - although other Stringell's do

Good Luck with it

Sue

[Velma Dinkley]

Thanks Sue

[Christine in Herts]

That's a useful link - which I have now bookmarked!

I can see your logic. Difficult to make sense of the conflicting information. There are so few people with that surname.

Well, even if the results of my trawl aren't the relevant ones, the process is valid, because that name is so unusual.

Christine

[Christine in Herts]

The name doesn't show up on the British Library site.

Christine

[Christine in Herts]

If he died in England or Wales, then the only W STRINGELLs which show up in the indexes after 1924 are: William A - 1955, William C - 1947, and William P - 1960.

Christine

[SueNSW]

Christine - I certainly didn't want to dismiss the results you found - they all seem to make perfect sense - and I am as perplexed by the conflicting information as anyone - especially with no other evidence of an older man with similar first names, but it certainly looks by the way it is written like the number was his regimental service number - I can't think what else it would be in that context

I also came up with nothing on the FIBIS site

I would have expected to find a WW1 medal card for him - but couldn't - though if he managed to attach himself to another unit and spent the war in India - or was home based in Britain for the duration that could explain it

I hope Velma can get to the bottom of it

Cheers
Sue

[Christine in Herts]

The trouble with typing is that there's no tone of voice to go with it. :( I didn't think you were being dismissive - but I did want to reinforce the fact that the name is unusual enough to make the process I suggested a possible one.

Perhaps it's worth Velma trying the FIBIS site herself? Is there a forum/mailing-list there? I haven't looked actually on the site for a while - I was looking on the British Library searchable India database.

Christine

[Velma Dinkley]

Thank you, I'll have a look a that site