HARRY & BESS BEGIN THEIR FAMILY - During WWI

A blizzard dropped 15-20 cm of snow on England, March 27 1916, which hindered travel and brought down telephone and telegraph lines.

Probably most of it had melted a week later when Harry and Bess’s son was born. According to his birth record Lewis Stanley Welch was born on Tuesday, April 4^th 1916. He was born at home which was shown as 57 Cranston Rd, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, hopefully with the help of a mid-wife or handywoman. 

When it was difficult to afford a doctor or midwife, some turned to a handywoman instead. Handywomen helped women to give birth, looked after children who were sick with fevers, and laid out bodies in preparation for burial. There was no actual charge for the services of most handywomen, but people gave what they could afford. There was much discussion about the need to increase the income of midwives if they were to be a profession and provide pre-natal care as well. I am not aware of any family lore about it being a difficult pregnancy or birth though.

Lewis’s birth record noted that Harry’s occupation at the time was motor machinist. As previously told in Harry’s military story, he had enlisted on the last day of the Derby Scheme on December 11, 1915. He then returned to his home and civilian employment until January 15, 1917 when he was called up to Army service. He was stationed at Salisbury in south eastern England and he served in the Army Service Corp as a despatch rider. 

Lewis would have been about nine months old and Bess would have been very early in her pregnancy with their second child when Harry had to leave. Perhaps with the use of his army motorcycle or the railroad, Harry was able to travel the more than 100 miles back to Birmingham occasionally, if his leave time allowed. For a time he served in Swindon which was a railway network hub.

Lewis Stanley was baptised at All Saints Church, King’s Heath on Friday February 9, 1917. He was named after his father’s middle name which was his Grandmother Welch’s maiden name. His second name was for Bess’s youngest brother at the time, Stanley Blaney. I do not have a record of his godparents and it is not known if Harry was able to attend the service.

A sister for Lewis, my mother Joan Margaret Yvonne Welch joined the family in 1917, born also on a Tuesday, July 24^th.   Her place of birth was recorded as 41 Silver Street, King’s Heath. 

At the time of Joan’s birth registration a few months later Bess reported their home to be 16 Fairfield Road, King’s Heath. Fairfield is a short street and number 16 is in a group of old two story row-houses. It is only a couple of blocks from there to 41 Silver St. which was not far from the corner of Fairfield and Silver. Most of Silver Street also appears to have been row-housing, which was the most common form of rental housing at the time.

Maybe Joan was born at the home of a friend, at the location of a midwife or handywoman or perhaps the family had moved during the intervening weeks and she was actually born at home. My grandmother Bess told me many years ago, when my fraternal twins were born, that my mother Joan was a fraternal twin and her sibling died at birth. There was no discussion about an early, difficult or dangerous birth, but it would have been at least unusual, likely early and not so common as today. 

While I have a copy of the registration of Joan’s birth, so far, I have been unable to find any record of it being a twin birth, because prior to 1927 still births were not recorded on the birth or death registers. I have not yet been able to search the original parish records in Birmingham to see what information is recorded there. My mother has always known this but now at the age of 97 is not able to furnish any details including whether the other twin was a boy or girl.   Perhaps she never knew. As is often the case in family history research, anyone in my mother’s life who might have been able to confirm this is no longer living. A cousin of mine also heard about this from her parents and our grandmother. There is a history of multiple births in our family and one of Bess’s sisters Louise Blaney Darby’s pregnancy also resulted in a multiple birth in 1946. In the mid 1940s the incidence of twin births in England and Wales was just a little more than 1% of all pregnancies. There were less than 100 triplet births and only a couple of quadruplet births.

Joan was baptised on August 17, 1917 at All Saints Church , King’s Heath. Her godparents were listed as Blaney and Blaney on the certificate (no first names are shown).

Twenty eight years later Bess would reply to a Toronto newspaper article about children being born with fully grown teeth at birth. She wrote “my daughter was born with four full grown teeth, two upper and two lower front which she kept until seven years old”.  At the time doctors attributed this to too much calcium in the bones - Joan had many falls in her eighties and nineties with thankfully no broken bones. We are not sure who Joan may have been named after. She always said she was named after Joan of Arc.

Harry was discharged from the army on May 7, 1918 when Joan was less than a year old and Lewis was just over the age of two. Near the end of Harry’s service he was working in the vehicle repair shops at Swindon, Larkhill and Reading. Swindon is located between Bristol and Reading (40 miles in each direction) and about 81 miles from London. He was discharged for medical reasons “being medically unfit for war service at Home” He did not receive a pension, likely because he was able to do some kind of work after he was discharged or his condition existed prior to the war. Harry would continue to have health problems throughout his life that would limit his physical ability to work.

They of course lost his Army pay and any separation allowance Bess might have been getting so their income would have been limited. Likely she returned to work when Harry was discharged but thousands of munitions jobs had disappeared when the armistice ended the war on November 11, 1918 (the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month). So far I have no information as to Harry’s employment for the next few years and Bess continued to work outside the home most of her life. 

My grandmother and mother often told of being housewives without the benefit of various modern inventions. It was a full-time job involving a lot of hard work scrubbing and polishing. Joan always washed her floors on her hands and knees even when modern tools would have made the job easier. Laundry was hard and tedious as well as time consuming with few houses having hot water. First the water had to be heated; the washing was done in a tub, agitated by hand, scrubbed on a washboard, pulled through a wringer, dried outside when weather allowed and finally ironed. Food preparation was also time consuming as there were no “convenience foods”. There were no fridges or freezers so there were almost daily trips to the shops. Of course there were also child rearing duties.

The family moved several times over a fairly short period of time, most likely there were difficulties paying the rent or needed help from the home parish. My mother remembers when she was about five years old (1922) that the removal van was actually a horse drawn cart.

In the next few years Bess & Harry lived either in Balsall Heath or King’s Heath, moving back and forth between:

• ·        April 16, 1916 at 57 Colvillle Rd in Balsall Heath.
• ·        A little more than a year later (July 1917) the family were living at    16 Fairfield Rd in King’s Heath,
• ·        A year after that (May 1918) at 4 Cobdon Place, Edward Road, Balsall Heath
• ·        And in 1922 at 12 Cobdon Place, Edward Road, Balsall Heath.

I have been able to track these addresses through birth records, discharge papers and electoral records. Electoral lists were created almost annually except during both world wars 1914-1918 and 1939-1945. Men over twenty-one and women over the age of thirty who met the property requirements were able to vote after rights were granted in 1918. Finally in 1928 all women over age twenty-one won the right to vote the same as men.

Three out of four of these homes were within Balsall Heath which was about four miles south of the center of Birmingham. Located in the north corner of Kings Heath Parish in the early 1900s it was still mostly farmland but with a mix of social classes. Birmingham was growing fast and getting closer. Manufacturing company owners built houses here to distance themselves from industrial Birmingham and live in cleaner air. The Tannery was the largest employer in the 1900s and the area also had good clay for a brick making industry.

The period between 1830 and 1900 saw the growth of small workshops and factories, brass manufacturing, a railway connection to Manchester or London, St. Paul’s Church and two church schools. A police station was established in 1869 and a fire brigade 1878. In 1891 Balsall Heath reluctantly joined what would become Greater Birmingham.

The 1911 census shows a Balsall Heath population of 39,218 residents. It was noted for its friendliness and neighbourly goodwill. There were jobs and entertainments available including the public baths and swimming pool built in 1907 and not long after that silent movie houses arrived. Of course there were always church activities. 

Birmingham continued to grow, buses were added to the transportation system and by 1920 Balsall Heath was more of a city suburb than a rural village.

King’s Heath was much like Balsall Heath but was a smaller village. It was about three miles further south of Birmingham and also largely rural in the early 1900s. In 1901 the population was 10,078 and by 1919 it had increased to over 16,000.  There were a few wealthy families, some professionals and many poor people. There were small service businesses and work for servants and estate workers in the large homes of the more wealthy residents. In 1917 there were schools, churches, a police station, a fire station and social life such as sports and church activities.

Unemployment was low but there was a poor working class due to low wages. Workers here made less income than the workshops and factories in Birmingham. 1907 saw improved transportation in the area as electric trams were added to the railway. In 1911 King’s Heath had also joined Birmingham and as Birmingham expanded even further south King’s Heath became a suburb for people from the over-crowded and unhealthy areas of central Birmingham too.

By 1912 cinemas had arrived and by 1915 Colemore Road School was a military hospital while the King’s Heath Board School was overcrowded as they tried to accommodate students from both schools. Attendance was erratic as children helped at home or were working part-time or more.

The years during and after WW1 were hard times with many local people lost in the Great War. It was with great relief that the residents of Balsall Heath celebrated the end of the war with block parties including dancing and beer barrels in the street. Likely Bess and her family joined the nearby celebration on Mary Street, a few blocks from their home.

A QUIET WEDDING

New Years Day dawned on a Saturday in 1916. It was a warm and damp one since it was an extremely wet winter in England. There were record rainfalls from December 1915 to February 1916 with January being one of the mildest months that year.

Elizabeth (Bess) and Harry Lewis Welch were two weeks away from their marriage which would occur on Saturday, January 15th at the Birmingham Register Office located at 46 Newhall Street.

The Register Office likely consisted of a couple of rooms within the large corner building that housed other local government departments. One room for the Superintendent Registrar’s office where ceremonies would take place and a second room used for keeping birth, death and marriage records as well as any administration work.  Registrars of birth and death records worked from their homes in those days.

 

The entrance to the Birmingham Register Office was on the right side of the building and you entered from the left side of the building, facing onto Edmond Street, to reach the King’s Norton District Register Office.             This photo is from the Birmingham Register Office.Very little is known of Harry and Bess’s life 1916 as there was never any talk in the family about that time. Although we knew that Harry was not close to his parents, it was always thought that this was due to his later leaving the country but perhaps it all started in 1915. I grew up being told that Harry’s sister Amy was around to “spoil” Harry and Bess’s son when he was very young. 

 

Christmas festivities must have been difficult. The upcoming marriage may have been kept a secret. The family relationships would likely have been at the very least, strained. Perhaps Harry or Bess were estranged from some members of their family. Even if they knew about it family members did not participate in the wedding. 

Harry and Bess needed to visit the Register Office before Christmas 1915 in order to meet the civil marriage regulations regarding giving their “notice of their intent to marry”. They were anxious to marry and likely concerned about the three week waiting period. After recording their information, the Registrar displayed the notice in the Register Office for twenty-one days so that anyone who wanted to could object to the marriage. On the twenty-second day a certificate was issued allowing Harry and Bess to marry within the following three months.

Mr. John Knight Cooper was the Superintendent Registrar who conducted the ceremony and his nephew Mr. Herbert Yoxall Cooper, was the Registrar who recorded the marriage in the register. Interestingly Herbert eventually became the Superintendent Registrar and at least seven members of the Cooper family worked for the Register Office over a period of more than 100 years.

Harry and Bess’s marriage probably occurred in the early afternoon. Theirs was the fourth of five ceremonies conducted at the Office that day. It didn’t take long and being a civil ceremony did not include any religious readings or hymns. In 1916 marriages could only occur between the hours of 8:00am to 3:00pm and after the fifth marriage, the Superintendent Registrar had to leave the office to conduct another marriage at a nearby chapel. 

I am sure Bess would have preferred the traditional local church wedding with banns being read and family and friends attending. I had often wondered why my grandmother’s photo collection did not include the expected wedding photos.

I would like to thank Mr. John Yates, Genealogist with the current Birmingham Register Office for his kind assistance in confirming the details of this marriage along with the inner workings of the Register Office in 1916 and some photos.. It allowed me to understand Bess and Harry’s experience, as written above.

I have a certified copy of their marriage registration that shows Harry Lewis Welch to be 22 years of age, a bachelor, working as a munitions worker and living at 3 St. Margaret’s Place, Alston St. Birmingham, the address of his parents Harry & Mary Ann. His father, Harry was shown as a foreman brass worker. Elizabeth Jeanette Blaney was 18 years of age, a spinster, also working as a munitions worker. Her address was 3 Branston Avenue, Sherbourn Road, Balsall Heath, also the address of her parents. Her father Harry Blaney was a saddle presser at the time.

The document includes the names of the witnesses to their marriage who were Edith Fanny Burdin and Alfred Harry Kirby. Mr. Yates was able to advise me that there is no record of them having worked at the Register Office which ruled out my thought that the witnesses might be people working there.

I subsequently found 1911 census records for each of them showing both Edith Fanny Burdin and Alfred Harry Kirby, were about Harry’s age and living in Ladywood, which is also in Balsall Heath. Alfred was working in the brass trade as was Harry’s father. Since I have not found them amongst my family history research I now believe them to be friends of Bess and Harry.

In 1916 Birmingham, the war was very much in evidence. Harry had enlisted under the Derby Scheme and was in the Reserves but not yet called up to service, so he was still able to live at home.

During the war German Zepplins (rigid frame airships-dirigibles that preceded the 1930s Hindenburg) were used to bomb and scout in England. They were about 500 feet long with three engines. They flew at about 50 miles per hour above the clouds, carrying machine guns and bombs. They were targeting Birmingham because of the importance of its munitions works. The year before, the city had taken the precautions of banning external advertising lights, shaded their street lamps and covered their skylights as well as dimming the lights on their trams and buses. So on January 31, 1916 the Zeppelins were unable to find the city and bombs fell on neighbouring areas instead. Most of the bombs fell in open countryside and while none fell on the inner city of Birmingham, it was frightening nonetheless.

At the start of the war, food shortages were self-imposed. People were panic buying food and hoarding it at home. Some shops sold out of food in days in August 1914. However, after the initial panic buying, people settled down into a routine and food was not a problem until 1916. Britain continued to import food with the main exporters to Britain being America and Canada. Up to 1916, these merchant ships travelled in relative safety but the Germans then introduced submarine warfare and merchant ships were frequently being sunk having a drastic impact on Britain's food supply.

It was a bleak year for families with food being in short supply. Prices rose and by October 1916, coal was in such short supply that it was rationed according to the number of rooms a family had in their home. The government then tried to introduce a voluntary code of rationing whereby people limited themselves as to what they ate with the standard being set by the Royal Family. However, this did not work. Those who worked in the munitions factories did not have enough food while anyone with money could get plenty of food on the black market. Any land that could grow food was converted to do so - gardens were turned into allotments and chickens were kept in back gardens. 

By 1918 food shortages were a serious problem. Malnutrition was seen in poor communities and as a result the government introduced formal rationing that year. Food products were added to the list of rationed goods as the year progressed. In January, sugar was rationed and by the end of April meat, butter, cheese and margarine were added to the list. Ration cards were issued and everyone had to register with a butcher and grocer. Rationing did work. Malnutrition in the poorer communities disappeared and as in World War II, no one actually starved in Britain during the Great War.

For the first few months of 1916, Harry and Bess worked in the munitions factories, worried about the war, suffered the weather, set up their own home and awaited the upcoming birth of their child.

THE DANGER OF ASSUMPTION

The Ruler of the Queen's Navy?

 There is an old saying “when you assume - you make an ass out of u and me” and that is exactly what I did with the photo of my grandfather in a splendid military uniform that is shown here. 

I found it in my grandmother’s photo album along with four other military photos of him. I decided to use it illustrate a blog posting about Harry Welch’s time in WWI. I thought this interesting photo would be a great addition to the piece.

One thing did trouble me about the photo.

I knew from one of the documents I had, his May 1918 discharge papers, that he had enlisted in the Army in 1915, was called to service in January 1917 and served with the Army Service Corp until his discharge due to health reasons. However, my grandmother had written alongside the photo “Harry Ball Dress 1913”.

Taking the military document as higher authority than my grandmother’s note, I assumed she was mistaken about the date when she compiled the album much later in her life, likely after she was widowed.

Since I wanted the blog to be as accurate as possible and I was trying to compile a good description including the colour of the uniform and the accessories, I researched WWI British Army uniforms at some length expecting to find that the uniform was used in 1917-1918. I had no success in finding anything similar to the uniform in the photo.

I had been curious about internet forums for some time but I did not know much about how they worked nor taken the time to learn about them. While researching my grandfather’s role in WWI I came across a website devoted to WWI information which I found helpful in some of my research. (The Long Long Trail www.1917-1918.net ) I noted at the time that there was a forum attached to it and I read a few entries as a visitor. I decided I would finally take the time to sign up and learn about forums using this one to see if there was any information about the uniform known to other users of the site.

To my surprise, within hours, I had half a dozen replies from people who have served in the military and have a wide knowledge of WW1. They were telling me that the uniform was a Royal Navy Officer’s Uniform. They agreed it was likely ball dress and noted the dance shoes he was wearing. Some made reference to the Ruler of the Queen’s Navy from HMS Pinafore.

The reference to the HMS Pinafore was due to the story behind the Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera of 1878 which among other things lampoons the Royal Navy and the rise of unqualified people to positions of authority. In the production the First Lord of the Admiralty, the character of Sir Joseph Porter, brags of his career from office boy to First Lord of the British Navy and calls himself The Ruler of the Queen’s Navy. In fact the actual First Lord of Admiralty at that time had no nautical or military experience.

I knew my grandfather had never been in the navy although my grandmother’s brother was but not as an officer. So, I did some looking and found some British Navy Dress uniforms at the Royal Museum Greenwich uniform collection  that were much like the one in the photo including the unusual hat.

The uniform examples I found that were like the one in the photo was identified as a Royal Naval Uniform circa the mid 1800s. A similar beaver felt with gold lace cock hat was presented to Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Napier in 1855. Other similar features were the epaulettes, sleeve and collar detail as well as the double breasted brass buttons.

Dressing Up

Feeling foolish, I began to think of other reasons why the photo might be dated correctly after all.

My grandmother had an extremely good memory, my grandfather won a ballroom dance contest in 1914 and later in life they both enjoyed “dressing up” for theme parties or special occasions.

I have come to the conclusion that Harry was wearing a military costume with dance shoes to attend a fancy dress ball in 1913 when this studio photo of him "in uniform" was taken.

This experience has been a reminder about the dangers of making assumptions in family history and the need to consider all explanations that come to mind.

Regardless it is a wonderful photograph and I still love it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

WORLD WAR I BRITISH ARMY SERVICE

Harry Welch’s service in World War I was quite short.       

England had declared war on Germany August 4, 1914 and by the spring of 1915 the flow of recruits was slowing down. In October 1915 a program called the Derby Scheme gave men two choices; volunteer or attest with the obligation to come if called up to military service.

Recruitment under the Derby Scheme was to have ended on Saturday December 11^th 1915 but due to the late rush of recruits it was extended an additional day to midnight Sunday December 12^th.  Newspapers reported that after that date, enlistment could only be for immediate service without the intervention of the group system. The rush of recruits had completely overwhelmed the arrangements made for dealing with them.  Just as in the early days of the war, men waited for many hours in vain outside the recruiting offices.

It was decided at the last moment to take the names of men still unattested at midnight on December 12 and keep the group system open for them alone for a further three days. In some cases no attempt was made to carry out a medical examination and anyone who presented himself was attested, leaving it to the future to decide whether or not he had qualified for his place in the Army Reserve.

Those who registered were classified as married or single and grouped by age then placed in Section B of the Reserves without pay and allowances. They did receive one day’s pay at infantry rates, which The Times newspaper placed at 2/9d (2 shillings 9 pence) for the day of attestation. According to the UK National Archives, there were twenty shillings in a pound and in 1915 the 2/9d amount would have approximately the same spending power as £5.92 did in 2005. They were given an armband to wear as a sign that they had volunteered, then sent back to their homes and jobs until they were called up for active military service. 

Regardless of the Derby Scheme, conscription did follow in 1916.

Since the Scheme did not elicit the desired results, the Military Service Act was passed in January 1916. Voluntary enlistment was stopped and as of March 1916 all 19-41 year old British males who were unmarried as of November 1915 were conscripted. Two month later the act was extended to include married men and those as young as 18.

I have not found Harry’s war service records. Only 20-30% of these military records remain due to a fire in 1930 in the building where they were stored. I have found no pension records for him and I know he did not receive one. The only other public record I have found is his medal card which shows that he was discharged for medical reasons. 

It seems odd that he didn’t have a pension given the reason for his discharge. Perhaps he didn't apply. Apparently if a soldier was wounded, gassed or suffered illness which was attributable to his war service and he applied for a pension, he was sent before a Medical Review Board. If, in their opinion, there was sufficient cause, then a pension would be allowed, usually a few shillings a week. Pensions were often for a set period of time, such as 26 or 52 weeks, after which there was a review by Board to see if the pension was still needed. 

If a person was able to work after discharge perhaps a pension was seen as not needed or maybe his medical condition had existed prior to his war service. I have not done enough research to know the reasons that may have been used in determining whether or not a pension would be given.

I do have Harry’s discharge papers and his war badge certificate. His discharge papers show that he enlisted on December 11, 1915 which was the original deadline under the Derby Scheme and Harry would have then been sent back to his job. He was working in a munitions factory, likely because he was an experienced brass worker. 

During the war, women were called upon to take on roles previously done by the men including working in factories making ammunition to be sent to the front. Bess was a munitions worker at this time too but it is unknown whether or not they were working at the same factory.

Harry remained in the Reserve for one year and thirty-four days. When he was called up to active service on January 15, 1917 Harry was found to be unfit for service overseas. Given his mechanical and driving skills he served at Home in the Mechanical Transport Depot Company of the Army Service Corp. (ASC).  

ASC Companies filled a variety of administrative, recruitment, induction, training and re-supply roles. Huge tonnages were moved through a complex supply chain beginning at base depots in Britain. Then they travelled by sea to the ports of entry in many countries and across land by train or vehicle where they were handled by the ASC Companies attached to the various Army Divisions in each theatre of war. 

Harry held the rank of Private with the Woolwich Unit and his regiment number was M283872. He served as a despatch rider or motor-cycle courier, delivering urgent orders and messages between military units. It was a vital role at a time when telecommunications were limited and insecure. Harry was stationed in Salisbury Plain, near Stonehenge in central southern England and rode a Trusty Triumph bike, the chosen vehicle of the British Army. 

On May 7, 1918, after serving with the colours one year, one hundred and fourteen days, Harry was discharged from the Army under paragraph 392 (xvi) “being no longer medically fit for war service at Home”. The National Roll of the Great War notes that at the time of his discharge, Harry “was engaged on important duties in the repair shops at Swindon, Larkhill and Reading”. This area was only about two hours from his family in Birmingham so Harry was able to get home occasionally during his time in the army.

Since Harry served at Home he did not receive any campaign medals but he received The Silver War Badge which as of September 21, 1916 was issued to men who were discharged as a result of sickness or injury caused by their war service. It was made of sterling silver and was worn on the right breast of a recipient’s civilian clothing, not on his uniform. After April 1918 eligibility for the badge was extended to include civilians serving with the Royal Army Medical Corps, female nurses, and staff and aid workers.

I do not know what particular sickness or injury deemed Harry “unfit for further service” and led to his departure from the army. Family lore has it that his discharge was due to pneumonia but he did have hemophilia, a bleeding disorder in which blood does not clot normally and a heart condition which troubled him throughout his life.

His discharge papers describe his character as follows: “His conduct has been good. He is honest, sober, reliable and intelligent - Is a qualified Motor Driver and performed his duties satisfactorily.”

The National Roll of the Great War also tells us that Harry’s home address at the time of his discharge was 4 Cobden Place, Edward Road, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, where he would have rejoined his family.