Joseph Smith and friend - unknown regiment

[dave.smith76]

Can someone help please.

Trying to find out which regiment my grandfather and a friend of his served in.
My grandfather's name is Joseph Henry Smith, b 14 March 1892, d 5 July 1925. He came from Bilston, Staffordshire. His marriage certificate dated 4 April 1916 gives his profession as Soldier. One of the witnesses on the certificate is a Pte Samual Pritchard who I presume served in the same regiment.
I have no idea what his service number was or who he served with although it has been suggested in the family that he may have been part of the 37th Signal Company.
Any help linking these two would be greatly appreciated.

[AdeleE]

Hello Dave,
There are a fair number of Joseph Henry Smith records on the Ancestry British Army WW1 Service Records & WW1 Pension Records databases.

To determine if your grandfather's papers are included in those records, can you tell us some identifying details: name of spouse, names of parents, occupation on enlistment, residence c1914 > c1918?

[dave.smith76]

Hi Adele,
Joseph's spouse who he married at St Mary's Church, Bilston, Staffordshire on 4 April 1916 was Elizabeth Ann Haycock and his residence address at the time was Temple Street, Bilston. His parents were Isaac Smith and Elizabeth (formally Goodwin). His occupation shown in the 1911 census is Machine Worker.
Unfortunately I have no other details but It is highly possible that his witness Pte Samuel Pritchard also served in the same regiment and possibly came from Staffordshire also.
Hope this helps.

[AdeleE]

Hi Dave,
I've had a quick look through the databases on Ancestry, but didn't spot him. However, if his record is listed under Joseph Smith, without a middle name, there are many more possibilities.
Your Peterborough library has Ancestry.com available free to patrons, so you could do further research by viewing the images of original soldier records for many more Joseph Smiths in these databases at your library.
Many, if not most of the original records did not survive, but I have seen many researchers get lucky.

[dave.smith76]

Thanks Adele, I'll take a visit to the library, I didn't know you could look at Ancestry.com records there.
Did you try looking for records for Samuel Pritchard at all, or are there several records for him also?

[AdeleE]

There are several Samuel Pritchards listed, but I'll admit that I didn't look at them yet.

A suggestion for your visit to the library. Many libraries impose time limits on computer use during busy periods. Perhaps a quick call to determine when the best time would be to visit, to avoid being booted off your chair after 1/2 hour.

[AdeleE]

One quick question Dave: Are you in Peterborough Ontario, because that is the library to which I was referring.

[brentor boy]

Ancestry also available at most English libraries. (not sure about elsewhere in UK)

[dave.smith76]

Hi Adele, in answer to your question, no unfortunately, my Peterborough is in England so not sure if viewing is free.