Name - "official" name and what they were known as
Peter Henry Harrison (Harry to workmates much to the annoyance of his wife)
Date and place of birth
22 July 1885 (22nd July is the day they celebrated his birthday and confirmed on the 1939 register) in Rotherham, Yorkshire ( from the 1911 census)- No birth cert has ever been discovered
Names of parents
Unknown –
marriage cert says his father was ‘ Thomas Harrison – deceased’ – think that’s a red herring – also he is only listed as Peter not Peter Henry.
Details of each of his or her marriages - if any - and any divorces
25 December 1908 at Holy Trinity Church, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire to Lily Cox
Occupation(s) - if any
Coal Miner and soldier before and during WW1
Military service - if any
Regimental number 8003, Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. Posted for duty at Castleford 09/12/1903. Posted to Pontefract 15/12/1903,and to Aldershot 04/02/1904. Embarked aboard S S Dilwara 17/02/1905 and reached Gibralter 22/02/1905. Examined for extension of service and considered fit 10/04/1906.
Was recalled for duty in 1914 - Prisoner of War ( date not recorded) although the record states that he was in France for one month and in Germany for four years and four months. So it can be assumed that he was captured soon after arrival in France. He received the 1914 Star, The British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Discharged due to demobilization on the 11/04/1919.
Army record stated his place of birth as Ashby de la Zouch but that was filled in on his recall to the army as a reserve for WW1. It was where he was living at the time.
His army record has been 'weeded' and no details of place of birth from when he first enlisted are in his records. ( He covered his tracks well)
Addresses where they lived - and please list which censuses you have or haven't found him/her on, if applicable.
Can’t find him in 1891 or 1901
1908 – 1913 - The Green, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire
1913 – 1919 – Military service including a time as a POW
1919 – 1965 – 139 Swadlincote Road, Woodville, Derbyshire
Date, place and cause of death
21 April 1965 at 326 Uxbridge Street, Burton on Trent, Staffordshire (his son’s home) – cause - Coronary Artery Desease and Emphysema
Date and place of burial / cremation.
Cremated at Markeaton, Derby
Details of will / administration of their estate - if applicable
House and contents left to his unmarried son (although the house wasn’t in the will he asked on his deathbed for the other siblings to let him live there which they took as give to him)
Memorial inscription - if any
No
I have mentioned Peter so many times on these boards, Merry is sick of his name. He would never tell his family anything about his early life, just said he wasn’t wanted. We only discovered he was from Rotherham on the 1911 census although it was assumed he was from Yorkshire. He isn’t the Peter Harrison born in 1885 in York as that person is still in York in 1911.
As a POW
