why didn't he fight?

[toff]

Perhaps he did not receive his call up papers as the authorities thought he was his cousin.
Records were all manual in those days and such a mistake could easily have been made.

That's a definite possibility and one I hadn't even thought of. Thanks Guy!

I'm going to enjoy posing my little questions on this board, there are obviously lots of brainy folk out there and they say "two heads are better than one"! You're all certainly SKSs!! (what a lovely abbreviation )

Toff

[Peter Goodey]

he fathered two children during that time

Which begs the question "what occupation is shown on the birth certificates for these two children"? If you seriously want the question answered, you need to assemble as much evidence as you can.

Over to you

[toff]

Which begs the question "what occupation is shown on the birth certificates for these two children"? If you seriously want the question answered, you need to assemble as much evidence as you can.

Over to you

He's down as a barber/hairdresser on both birth certificates.

I've begun to wonder if he did enlist and then went AWOL/deserted. This may go some way towards explaining the second query I have regarding him, which is: "why were there no children born between 1917 and 1926?" I have checked the birth registers for this time period thinking that perhaps a child had been born but died young, but the only possiblity was disproved once I'd acquired the birth certificate! I find it strange that my grandparents had 5 children in quick succession, a 9 year gap (1917-1926) and then 4 more children during the next 8 years (this in an age where contraception wasn't widely practised). Any thoughts regarding this would be most welcome as it's been puzzling me for sometime! Was either of them "away" somewhere (prision, hospital in-patient???). Unfortunately there are no family members from that time still alive to ask and I'm unsure where to go next for information!

Toff

[Peter Goodey]

He's down as a barber/hairdresser on both birth certificates.

My feeling is that if he was in the forces, he would have said so. Perhaps he was simply unfit for service.

Don't like the sound of that nine year gap, though

[Coromandel]

I don't think there are any surviving records of these tribunals but hopefully I could be wrong and soneone may correct me.

I have seen quite extensive reports of tribunals in my local newspaper. They make most interesting reading. I'll try to remember to print some off next time I'm in the library and then perhaps post a new thread about them.

[Coromandel]

Electoral rolls for the 'gap years' may be interesting. As well as the usual rolls, there may be Absent Voters' lists. Perhaps the folk at the Dudley Archives & Local History Service would be able to advise on what records survive and where:

http://www.
dudley.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/local-history--heritage/archive-and-local-history/