Great Uncle John PARRY, Chirk 1876 - ?

[Gadget]

Hi 

One of my missing ones -

My Mother told us that her Uncle John lived with them when she was young, fought in WW1, was taken prisoner, came home but died in (possibly) the flu epidemic which followed. She was always a bit vague about exactly when he died though.

John was b. 26 March 1876

He is with his parents in 1881 and 1891 - RG11/2661 F 83 P 13  and RG12/2118 F 178 P 31

I've found him living with the family in the 1901 -  RG13/2546 F 188 Page 39

I have his WW1 medal card (1/6 West Yorks Regiment) and the notification and letter he wrote to my grandmother when he was taken prisoner in May 1918 - see bottom part of http://www.ancestral-tales.co.uk/html/jones-parry.html  for details.

He did not marry.

I have searched on and off for 4/5 years to find a death registration but so far haven't found one that fits. It should be Oswestry or Wrexham Reg District.  There is one in Sunderland - Dec Q, 1918, vol 10a p 1204 but I can't see how this could be him as there isn't any connection that I know of - and why would he be there? 

I thought that the 1911 census might give some clues but he's not with the family in Chirk and I can't find him in any of the counties that have been released so far.

Has anyone got any suggestions as to where he might have been?

Maybe Paul might be able to find a burial records for me 

Thanks for any help with this one


Gadget

[hiraeth]

There is one in Sunderland - Dec Q, 1918, vol 10a p 1204 but I can't see how this could be him as there isn't any connection that I know of - and why would he be there?
Gadget

Hi Gadget

Is it possible he was visiting an army pal in Sunderland?  I have heard that many died very quickly of the spanish flu - sometimes with a few hours of coming down with it.....Just a thought

Heather

[Gadget]

I keep meaning to buy that cert., Heather,  just in case it is him - but how would I know it was    It's times like these that one yearns for the Scottish certs 

Strangely there is nothing in the family bible about his death and grandmother kept all the snippets in there 

It's weird - he just disappeared. Could he have died in the PofW camp and Mum got mixed up? She would have been 9 in 1918


Gadget 

[wrjones]

The only other possible death on Free BMD is one of a John Parry in the Pontypridd Registration District of Glamorgan in the January Quarter of 1919.The given Birthyear is c 1875,Volume 11a,Page 992.

Regards
William Russell Jones
Cefn Mawr
Wrexham.

[Gadget]

I remember filling this form in:

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,149608.msg688031.html#msg688031

Didn't get anything back - did i send it 

Have resubmitted.


Gadget

[hiraeth]

What about trying to learn more through the army records angle?  Where was his unit demobbed for instance?  If your  Mum remembered him coming home then there is not much point in looking for him overseas.  

I keep meaning to buy that cert., Heather, just in case it is him - but how would I know it was
Gadget

   

Well you could buy the certificate just to rule him OUT I suppose.  If the man died of influenza and a relative was present at the death then I guess that would be a good pointer!   One of my great aunts died very suddenly of pleuro pneumonia in Darowen where she was working as a district nurse in 1911.  I was surprised to see one of her brothers had obviously been sent for from Coedpoeth and was present when she died.  People did use telegrams in those days and the postal service was also very good - not like today

[Gadget]

No relatives in either Sunderland or Glamorgan, Heather, so what would identify him on a death cert.   His only relatives would be my Mum's family.

I don't think my Mum said that she remembered him coming home *- just that he survived the war but died soon afterwards. I think I've been assuming that she said he had  Whether we then surmised that it was the flu epidemic or not, I can't remember. It was all very vague then. 

The only facts i have are those that I mentioned - the letter from him was the last certain info that I have.

I think I did checked on ports of arrival when I was last looking for him but, if he had been a PoW, he could have landed anywhere. Kevin said that lots of records had been lost. My luck is that his were with the lost ones.

Added - I'm sure any telegram or report would have been in the bible   

[wrjones]

As far as the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918-1919 is concerned it is well worth remembering that the basic infrastructure of the country was badly affected.People were often buried without coffins and perhaps the basic "niceties" of how old the victims were as a result forgotten.

Regards
William Russell Jones
Cefn Mawr
Wrexham.

[Gadget]

It's daft of me to be concerned about it - I know all about him but his death   

There's also my Mum's brother, Uncle Wal - I have his death in Manchester in the 1940s but his marriage entry in the Bible was wrong. He had a daughter who would be in her 70s now but I've not been able to find a birth. I'll have to put up a request on the Lancs board about him.

Funny about going through old stuff at Christmas makes you think of the loose ends.


Gadget