Peter Henry Harrison

Originally Posted by Margaret in Burton

I did wonder about the time he enlisted in the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in 1903 and to research the people with regimental numbers very close to his 8003. Thinking they might be mates and to find them on the 1901 census but I didn’t have any luck there either.

#48 on this thread lists the people either side of his number.

Where did he enlist.

[Margaret in Burton]

Originally Posted by maggie_4_7

Where did he enlist.

Castleford

[Margaret in Burton]

Regimental number 8003, 2nd Battalion, 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

Discharged some time after this before recall in 1913-14

Prisoner of war WW1

The record states that he was in France for one month and in Germany for four years and four months.
Reported missing 26 Aug 1914, Prisoner of War from September 1915.
He was held at Friedrichsfeld POW camp in Germany. This was situated about 60 north of Cologne.

The record does not state when he was discharged from his original service. He married on Christmas Day 1908 in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire when he met wife wife after apparently stopping there on his way to London after his discharge from the army.

Originally Posted by Margaret in Burton

Castleford

Thank you, I wasn't sure if he enlisted somewhere else and then was posted to Castleford.

[Anstey Nomad]

Just checking in to see if there have been any developments. One day there will be, I'm sure of it.

If he was in the KOYLIs before the war, he must be a Yorkshireman, surely?

If he wasn't wanted, did he grow up in an institution and show on earlier censuses by initials only?

Did he take the Harrison name when his mother re-married, or from whoever 'fostered' him?

Rotherham and Castleford are only 35 miles apart. I'm getting a strong sense that the answer to this lies in South Yorkshire.

[Margaret in Burton]

Originally Posted by Anstey Nomad

Just checking in to see if there have been any developments. One day there will be, I'm sure of it.

If he was in the KOYLIs before the war, he must be a Yorkshireman, surely?

If he wasn't wanted, did he grow up in an institution and show on earlier censuses by initials only?

Did he take the Harrison name when his mother re-married, or from whoever 'fostered' him?

Rotherham and Castleford are only 35 miles apart. I'm getting a strong sense that the answer to this lies in South Yorkshire.

My father in law insisted his dad was a Yorkshireman, my thoughts are from at least 1908 to his death in 1965 he lived in South Derbyshire and worked in the pits where he would have picked up a south Derbyshire accent, and there are similarities with the two accents. Father in law wasn’t born until 1920 so well after his dad came home from the war.

I also think the man was a compulsive liar

Where else to try? I don’t mind paying for research as I have with Rotherham archives. Any suggestions for anything else other than the Workhouse?

[Merry]

One thing is for sure, the facts he gives us himself, name, date of birth and place of birth cannot all be accurate. The question is, are any of these 'facts' correct and if any of them are, which ones?!

I feel there much be some definite connection to Rotherham, even if he wasn't actually born there. His date of birth may not be correct, but it may be the date he believed he was born. His name would appear to be the least reliable information.

The forename Peter was fairly uncommon for the time, whist Harrison is much more common. Presumably this is the name he used when he joined the army in Dec 1903, but it seems it was not the name he was using in 1901 or before that.

Why did he change his name? He was 18 when he joined up so it wasn't because he needed to remain hidden if someone came looking for him. It could have been "because he wasn't wanted", but going by a completely new name seems quite drastic (many others must have had bad childhoods, but didn't change their names) Another reason could be that he was on the run from the police or some other authority.

Did he change both surname and forename or just one? Was the name he changed to significant in any way? I think we've probably looked at all the Peter's who were born in Rotherham around 1885!

[Merry]

There's a tree on Ancestry with 12000 people on it. It has PHH born 1886 in Street, Yorkshire. Has spouse Lily Cox and father Thomas Harrison, so it's the same PHH. Where is Street (other than in Somerset!)?

[Merry]

Oh, it has mother Annie Holmes. Does that mean it's the PHH born in York and who is the wrong person?

[Margaret in Burton]

Originally Posted by Merry

There's a tree on Ancestry with 12000 people on it. It has PHH born 1886 in Street, Yorkshire. Has spouse Lily Cox and father Thomas Harrison, so it's the same PHH. Where is Street (other than in Somerset!)?

Originally Posted by Merry

Oh, it has mother Annie Holmes. Does that mean it's the PHH born in York and who is the wrong person?

That’s the wrong Peter Harrison. It’s the one I believed was him before the release of the 1911 census. That Peter Harrison was still in York then and ‘mine’ in Ashby de la Zouch

I believe from memory it was George St York, I have the birth cert, wrong one as it turned out