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  1. #1
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    Default Edward Blanco (Alias Henry Morton) War record

    Hello,

    I am investigating my Gt Uncle Edwardo Emilio Blanco born Aug 1882 in Leeds.
    In 1898 he signed up for the Army Reg:5403 where he was Edward Blanco aged 18.
    On the 1891 census his DOB is 1883 living in Leicester aged 8.
    Edwards original attestation pages have fire damage in 1898 (and would be aged 16/17)
    I also found another set of papers in the same name but ..... he has Edward Blanco crossed out and he is now Alias Henry Morton (same ages as before and date of birth etc) His Reg # is now 47446. All the same except his name. This also states Duplicate. The duplicate pages have his records from 1911- 1919. His original papers have the 1898 - 1906 years.
    Then I find a Henry Morton on a census record in 1911 living as a brother in law (occ. postman) with his actual brother Frank Blanco and Franks wife Elizabeth (nee Morton) so looks like he is the brother of her (he's not)!
    On his duplicate papers he states he is living with Bessie his sister!! I presume this is Elizabeth? at 8 Broadhurst St, Leicester (same as 1911 census).
    I also found on the IWM website a record for the fallen soldiers in WW1&2 and there is an E Blanco (this is what set me off on this trail) on a plaque in my hometown of Sheffield in a social club.
    He also married a girl called Violet Elsie West in 1914 in Leicester and they are believed to have a son (on papers) Alfred harry born 1915.
    So my questions are - is Frank his real brother? And who is E Blanco - is it him?
    Why did he have an alias?

    I also have a question about his service record in the early days:
    France: 8/4/15-9/11/15
    Persian Gulf: 10/11/15-18/6/18
    India: 19/6/18-18/10/19

    What wars would these have been?

    Many thanks in advance for any information.

    Kerry

  2. #2
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    The 1914 marriage certificate shows him as "Edward Morton formerly known as Edward Blanco".

    The 1891 census shows a brother Francisco.

    So many questions can be answered by simply obtaining readily available documents.

    What does the 1898 marriage certificate (Blanco-Morton) say?

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Goodey View Post
    The 1914 marriage certificate shows him as "Edward Morton formerly known as Edward Blanco".

    The 1891 census shows a brother Francisco.

    So many questions can be answered by simply obtaining readily available documents.

    What does the 1898 marriage certificate (Blanco-Morton) say?
    Thanks Peter.
    My original query really is why he had an alias- was this a common thing during the war?
    Also I wanted to know what were the wars around the time he served as Edward Blanco.
    I don’t have the marriage certificate as yet for 1914.
    Yes I know Francisco (Frank) is his brother but he refers to him as his brother in law on the 1911 census for some reason.
    Hmmmm....

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    What wars would these have been?
    France: 8/4/15-9/11/15
    - The Great War. Google "Western Front 1915"

    Persian Gulf: 10/11/15-18/6/18
    - The Great War. Wikipedia "Middle Eastern theatre of World War I"

    India: 19/6/18-18/10/19
    - India was a colony. This was a routine posting. Many troops found themselves there for a period.

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    Yes I know Francisco (Frank) is his brother but he refers to him as his brother in law on the 1911 census for some reason.
    The meaning of brother-in-law changed over the years. For example, often in 19th century census returns it meant "step-brother". Perhaps in this case, he meant "legally he is my brother despite the different surname".

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    I'm having trouble finding all these service records. I can see one attestation but that's for the militia, not the regular army and it's 6814 not 5403. It mentions a transfer to the Leicestershire Regiment.

    Can you give us a clue?

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    Quote Originally Posted by wallydoginoz View Post
    Hello,

    I am investigating my Gt Uncle Edwardo Emilio Blanco born Aug 1882 in Leeds.
    In 1898 he signed up for the Army Reg:5403 where he was Edward Blanco aged 18.
    On the 1891 census his DOB is 1883 living in Leicester aged 8.
    Edwards original attestation pages have fire damage in 1898 (and would be aged 16/17)
    I also found another set of papers in the same name but ..... he has Edward Blanco crossed out and he is now Alias Henry Morton (same ages as before and date of birth etc) His Reg # is now 47446. All the same except his name. This also states Duplicate. The duplicate pages have his records from 1911- 1919. His original papers have the 1898 - 1906 years.
    Then I find a Henry Morton on a census record in 1911 living as a brother in law (occ. postman) with his actual brother Frank Blanco and Franks wife Elizabeth (nee Morton) so looks like he is the brother of her (he's not)!
    On his duplicate papers he states he is living with Bessie his sister!! I presume this is Elizabeth? at 8 Broadhurst St, Leicester (same as 1911 census).
    I also found on the IWM website a record for the fallen soldiers in WW1&2 and there is an E Blanco (this is what set me off on this trail) on a plaque in my hometown of Sheffield in a social club.
    He also married a girl called Violet Elsie West in 1914 in Leicester and they are believed to have a son (on papers) Alfred harry born 1915.
    So my questions are - is Frank his real brother? And who is E Blanco - is it him?
    Why did he have an alias?

    I also have a question about his service record in the early days:
    France: 8/4/15-9/11/15
    Persian Gulf: 10/11/15-18/6/18
    India: 19/6/18-18/10/19

    What wars would these have been?

    Many thanks in advance for any information.

    Kerry
    There are quite a few military pages on Ancestry (10 pages) for Henry Blanco/Edward Morton. South Staff Reg. service number 5403. But included on the Military History Sheet where you have found France, Persian Gulf and India is recorded South Africa 1902. Awarded the South Africa Medal and Clasps 1902. Also Home 25.11.98, Egypt 07.02.00, India 10.11.06
    Home 12.02.11

    Do you think we are looking at the same person? Edward was born in Leeds and was an Engineer, however he seemed to have enrolled in Leicester.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Goodey View Post
    I'm having trouble finding all these service records. I can see one attestation but that's for the militia, not the regular army and it's 6814 not 5403. It mentions a transfer to the Leicestershire Regiment.

    Can you give us a clue?
    Thanks Peter for the brother in law information.
    Yes I made a mistake with the dates of course its the Great War. I have the other dates as:
    Egypt- 7/2/00-1/6/02
    South Africa- 7/1/02-6/11/02
    India-7/11/02-9/11/06

    He has two sets of papers with a different Reg number. One is the original and a second set has duplicate written on it with the alias name. If you are on FMP they are on here under Edward Blanco (even the alias)
    https://search.findmypast.co.uk/reco...716%2f84%2f906
    Thanks
    Kerry

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    My original query really is why he had an alias- was this a common thing during the war?
    People might adopt an alias for all sorts of reasons - often to avoid some sort of responsibility - legal usually. However if he was open about it on his marriage certificate, that may not be the reason. Perhaps he had a big bust up with his father. I think that's what I'd go for.

    "Why" is a question that's often not easy to answer in genealogy.

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    Quote Originally Posted by suemalings View Post
    There are quite a few military pages on Ancestry (10 pages) for Henry Blanco/Edward Morton. South Staff Reg. service number 5403. But included on the Military History Sheet where you have found France, Persian Gulf and India is recorded South Africa 1902. Awarded the South Africa Medal and Clasps 1902. Also Home 25.11.98, Egypt 07.02.00, India 10.11.06
    Home 12.02.11

    Do you think we are looking at the same person? Edward was born in Leeds and was an Engineer, however he seemed to have enrolled in Leicester.
    Hi yes he was born in Leeds but the family moved around a lot. His brother Frank lives in Leicester so makes sense.

    Cheers Kerry

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