Hoping to give my husband a special Xmas gift

[adesilva]

Dear All,

I am very new to this site, and need some guidance to find my way.

I am trying to give my husband a very special Christmas gift. Having had a very poor relationship with his father, who walked out of the family when my husband was very young, my husband has always dreamt of 'connecting' with his deceased paternal grandfather - who survived (but was gassed, I believe) in the First World War. I have just found the name, birth year and birth location of his paternal grandfather - as well as his death year - and this is all I have to go on in order to try and find out something about his military career/history.

Would there be any way I could find out anything about the military service history of my husband's paternal grandfather on the basis of this basic information? It would mean the world to my husband.

Thank you for any guidance anyone can offer in this matter!

[Peter Goodey]

Are you saying he was in the army in WW1 but he was not a regular soldier and therefore was not in the army after WW1?

Best advice is to follow the advice in the official research guide

[Megan Roberts]

If you let us know his grandfathers name, date of birth, date of death and the location where he lived, then maybe we will be able to help not only with his military service, but possibly by fleshing out his ancestors if that would be of interest.

[adesilva]

Many thanks Peter. All I know (or have been told) is that he inhaled gas during WW1 - so survived, but was not well after that. I really have very little to go by. Many thanks for the suggestion of the research guide. All the best, Anna

[adesilva]

That would be fantastic, Megan!

Do I email you the information - or post here on this forum? I had just prepared a long response to you via this discussion thread - but lost it!

I would be so grateful for your help, as I have been working on this for a few days now and feel like I am clutching at straws - or going in circles. It would be fantastic to have the help of someone more experienced, and with a pair of fresh and objective eyes!

I hope to hear from you!

All the best,
Anna

[simmo1]

Hi

Post it here - best to type it up in word, then cut and paste to here, that way it wont time out and you loose it.

regards

Robert

[Megan Roberts]

Anna

Just post any info you have on here and which ever one of the many family history enthusiasts is around will leap in with ideas - its a very contagious hobby and we all like having a go!

Megan

[adesilva]

Thank you Megan and Robert! I can already feel that it is contagious: I spent 12 hours straight yesterday researching - and had not realised the hours go by. However, I also realise I am very new to this and that I seem to go in circles.

The gentleman I believe to be my husband's grandfather is:

William Markham
Born: 1896 (possibly 1897?) in Houghton, Durham, England
Died: 1928 in Easington, Durham, England

If this is indeed the gentleman, then, by sheer coincidence, I found the following photo via Google - attached to what seems to be a previous family-tree website: https://familytreemaker.genealogy.com.../UHP-0008.html

One of the gentlemen in the photo would appear to be William Markham.

There were also some useful information attached to the family-tree link - identifying Allan Markham as William's (and his spouse's, Annie Elliott) son {date removed by mod}

Allan is my husband's middle name - but Allan is not his father. My husband's father was John David Markham, - who was married to Audrey Mallam

Currently, I am trying to link John David Markham with William Markham - to see if they are actually father and son.

Having only heard snippets about his paternal grandfather's WW1 experiences, it would seem that William Markham was gassed, but survived the war - but was never well after that, and died only 32 years old. That said, my research has also unearthed that the William Markham I have researched (in the hope that it is him!) was a miner, and that there have been a number of mining accidents in Easington, Durham - and in my mind, I am wondering if any lung disease could, in fact, have been caused by his work in the coal mines – and possibly even have contributed to his early passing?

I have also found the following pre-WW1 attestation from 1913, which seems to have been signed by the William Markham I am following – everything seems to match (age, location, etc) – however, I seem to have lost track of him for the rest of the war after that:

https://search.findmypast.co.uk/recor...hlights=%22%22

I seem to have got myself into a bit of a muddle, since I am now wondering if there are two William Markham’s, since the 1901/1911 census pick up William Markham in two separate but very close locations – or perhaps it is a recording error/discrepancy, and it is indeed the one and same William Markham…

Just to simplify the above – the link I am looking for (but cannot verify, since I have not found a record of William Markham’s children as yet) is:

My husband: David Allan Markham, {details deleted by mod}
Mother: Audrey Mallam (who married John D? Markham in Sunderland, Durham – {details removed by mod}.

But who is my husband’s paternal grandfather (John Markham’s father) – and what happened to him in WW1?

Thank you for any guidance in this treasure trove of information – in which I find myself totally lost, but also totally mesmerised and ‘hooked’!

[Peter Goodey]

I think you need to be sure about the identity of the grandfather before worrying about army records.

1. Has your husband not got a birth certificate? This should identify his parents.

2. You need to get a copy of the parents' marriage certificate. Finding it in an index is not good enough.

3. The marriage certificate should identify the groom's father. Then get the groom's birth certificate.

4. Go through the same hoops for the earlier generation. This is just the ABC of family history.

When you have the identity details of the grandfather, you can search with more confidence for military records.

[Megan Roberts]

William Markham:

Taking the details that you have:
Birth Certificate registration: 1896 Sept quarter – Houghton Le Spring, Co. Durham –Volume 10A page 486
Death Certificate registration: 1928 Dec quarter – Easington Co. Durham – Volume 10A Page 451. Age at death 32.

Certificates can be ordered on line from: https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/ at a cost of £9.25 each. Unfortunately you are unlikely to get these in time for Christmas. They are very important because they give you lots of details like parents, occupations, addresses etc.

You are right when you wondered about whether or not there were two William Markham born about the same time. The other was William Martin Markham born 1898 in Sunderland. This 2nd one married a Margaret Pattison in Sunderland in 1926.

I have just realised from your note that you can’t find your husband’s birth details. I think that is probably because you will need to got to the Scotlandspeople web site - https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/welcome.aspx - as that is the only place that has Scottish birth marriage and death records. Its a pay to view site, but you should get more details including his father and mother’s name. Once you have that, come back to us, because it is really important to work back step by step or else there is a danger that you (and us) will go off on the wrong road.