No oppology necessary I have the same questions. I also thought the nose looked different same eyes and ears though and he looks very much (the young man) like my grandson but that could just mean whoever he is he's family. I've sent some emails through to a couple of my dads cousins one of which his dad is still alive and is the son of Edward Clark. To see what they think. No one has questioned the photo before now which is odd. It's also been suggested to check the birth certificate of one of Teds sons that was born 9 months after his enlisted in 1915 to see if there is a unit number of Teds mentioned on the birth certificate.
My uncle gave me the record where it states he was called up for service and I went from that so in truth there are no guarantees.
Ted was the illegitimate son of Amelia Clark so we don't even know who his father is, Amelia later married Thomas Roots and this is where I got mystified by the photo as in the 1901 census listed with Amelia and Thomas ... he was a widower with children himself. There is is a Edward C Roots which I've always assumed is Ted the age is right which would one would think discount him from being off at the Boer War. I do know that this is his family as the address is the same as that on the death certificate if Teds sister.
Teds wife Daisy is also illegitimate and she was the daughter of Isabella Wade. The Wades were a couple of generations of military. She was mostly raised by her grandparents Frederick and Harriet Wade. Frederick enlisted at just 14 in Dublin (he was English but his dad was serving as a prison guard at Arbor Hill where he is buried) we think as a bugler he served in South Africa (not Boer War, much earlier) India and China before being discharged due to poor health. Isabella was born in India. Frederick's father also served from a young age his name was Jospeh and he and he sons were with the 60th royal rifles. Jospeh and Fredrick were both colour sergeants. I've often wondered how Ted and Daisy met. But then Fredrick moved from Kingston on Thames after his wife died to Swindon where Isabella was living with her husband John Tuck. Although I did find that Teds uncle and cousins were living in Swindon as well working for the railway so I can only guess.
It may be I might have to save my pennies and get a researcher to check into this for me to see if we can as you say confirm we have the right records. As for the photo I will see what the generation before me says it might remain a mystery.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply :-)
Blessings
Deb
