grandfather in India & Mesopotamia

[gortonboy]

Do you have your Williams marriage certificate? if not,i would say the chap in the records i am looking at is more of a suspect ?? you say hes elusive....?

[gortonboy]

i take it this is your chaps emigration?

Passenger Lists leaving UK 1890-1960 Transcription

First name(s) W A
Last name STEWARD
Title MR
Gender Male
Age 39
Birth year 1881
Occupation EX SOLDIER
Departure year 1920
Departure day 19
Departure month 3
Departure port SOUTHAMPTON
Destination port DURBAN (PORT NATAL)
Destination DURBAN (PORT NATAL)
Country SOUTH AFRICA
Destination country SOUTH AFRICA
Ship name KENILWORTH CASTLE
Ship official number 118433
Ship master's first name G K
Ship master's last name GANDY
Shipping line THE UNION-CASTLE MAIL STEAMSHIP CO LTD

[gortonboy]

I have found the next of kin records for MY chap

mother Margaret 30 Russell Street,Southsea- brothers Henry (elder) Thomas,Arthur (younger)

1891 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription
Russell Street, Portsea, Portsea Island, Hampshire, England

Margaret Steward Head Widow Female 31 1860 Dyers Agent Boston,USA.
William Steward Son - Male 9 1882 - Aldershot, Hampshire, England
Thomas Steward - - Male 7 1884 - Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Arthur Steward - - Male 5 1886 - Portsmouth, Hampshire, England


As you can see,,this shows William as born in Aldershot? and this would be just before he was sent to the Hibernian military school....I suspect his father was in the military..and died,,,,hence Margaret being a Widow,,and William was sent to military school as his mother was finding it hard to cope?

[gortonboy]

The Royal Hibernian Military School (1769 – 1924), Phoenix Park, Dublin, was originally the Hibernian Asylum created by the Hibernian Society, a philanthropic organization founded in Dublin in 1769 following the Seven Years War. The Society petitioned the King for a charter, which was granted. The Society’s aim was to help the orphaned children of soldiers who fell during the war, its services later being extended to the destitute families of soldiers leaving Ireland for overseas service.

When a regiment embarked for service overseas, six families per company only were allowed to accompany the battalion. Selection of the families permitted to travel was made by drawn lot. The families left behind were without support of any kind. They suffered misery and destitution. The burden of destitute military families fell hard on Ireland’s two main garrisons, Dublin and Cork. In 1785, a census revealed that in Dublin alone some 1,400 children whose father’s were dead or serving overseas were begging on the streets of the city. In 1806, responsibility for the Hibernian school was assumed by the military authorities. The institution was renamed the Royal Hibernian Military School.

[marshland]

I think that you need to make an identification of your man before you trace him in any records as although the name is not common it is certainly not uncommon.
Sadly many errors are made by people claiming the wrong army ancestor when they come across a name that looks about right!
Go back to what you know about him for certain.
Do you known the names and even better Date of Birth of his children? If not then his grandchildren.
Do you know the name of his wife?
Once you have definite information work backwards to him.
South African records are available as bureaucracy thrived in the British Empire at that time. - Copies of some South African marriage/birth certificates are available free on Family Search.
Once you can identify him positively then you will have a date/place of birth and more which you can check against the census to find out more about him in England and then go on to the gold standard of a birth certificate.
Then you can search the army records with much more certainty of getting the right man or almost as importantly writing off the men who are not the right man.

[stewgm]

Thank you a million, gortonboy!! You have indeed found him since the information is far more consistent with anything else I have ever seen. Even my father (now 93) recalled my grandfather as being with the Lancashire fusilleers. He did emigrate to Durban and married there, twice. I have those records. I have been looking for over a year and was stomped. Thank you very much indeed.

[stewgm]

Another reason why I think you found the right family is that my father's given names are Arthur Thomas. My father's older brother's given names are Harry Evelyn. One of my grandfather's brother (not certain which one) ended up on the Isle of Wight running a small post office in 1930. I have another post trying to identify the brother (Steward - running Post Office in 1930s). It is indeed curious that my grandfather's place of birth is shown as Aldershot, Hampshire, England in 1891, and his date of birth is 1882 in that record, whereas it is 1881 in the 1901 census and the passenger list bound for South Africa, and the service record shows a birthdate of 1880. On my grandfather's marriage certificates it shows a birth year as 1890 and place of birth as Ireland.

[stewgm]

Just thinking. If there is a possibility that William's father died while in service, could it help to find his military records? I would look for given names of Harry, Henry, or William. Since Margaret was born in the USA, she perhaps had family in Ireland and ended up there. I see 74 records of Margarets born in Boston in 1860.

[geneius]

I have noted Henry, Thomas & Arthur with widowed mother Margaret on the attestation records for William.

My father's older brother's given names are Harry Evelyn

I presume you have details of Harry Evelyn, b 24 Sept 1922 Jo'burg died 8 Jan 1994 Florida s/o William Steward & Margaret J BONKHURST married Geraldine P HUNTER 4 Feb 1970 Hillsboro Florida

[geneius]

You will find the mothers maiden name on either of these birth certificates and more details about the father / husband

Births Sep 1883

STEWARD Thomas Portsea 2b 540

Births Sep 1887

STEWARD Arthur Portsea 2b 508

Certificates from www.gro.gov.uk cost £9.25p