Hi Jim1,
Yes Ancestry is where Frank Collins' WW1 military records have been found. It was another member of the family who informed me that they were on there and provided me with copies. I then checked on ancestry for myself.
Yes Frank married Mary Swaffield but he was known by Frank and Francis then. On my husband's grandmother's birth certificate he actually says he is Francis Frank.
However, when baptised in 1870, he was Francis Collins. He was born in Londonderry.
My husband is very grateful for the links to Frank's War Medal and Silver Badge Medal. I had not found these on ancestry.
The first link you provided is the same as the WW1 records another member of the family sent him.
My husband is also asking how you have found all his employment details. Is there a site which one can access this from?
We have also found prison records for him on ancestry! He owed debts.
Obviously times were really hard and he couldn't pay so enjoyed a bit of time at HMP.
He gives his occupation on one of the occasions and working in the quarry so your details match that.
I did have a subscription for both ancestry and FindMyPast but only have ancestry at the moment.
There is a link to Frank being in the Chelsea hospital on ancestry but the link is to another site for which there is payment. There are seven days for free but I want to check a number of people first in case there will be more ancestors details on there too.
I know Frank's brother Robert is in the same hospital but his military records are on FindMyPast so it's off to the library for those now.
My husband likes paper copies of everything and I've given up saving on the computer. I only have a basic tree for him on ancestry - the trunk naming parents each time, in the hope of DNA matches.
I will take a picture of the Boar War information and post it in my next message for you. Bear with me while I go through his many files! He is an historian and everything is in family name in date order etc.
Thank you once again for the links you gave me. It is very much appreciated.
I haven't looked up for a number of ancestors to see what new information is available for some time. These records are great.
He's now asking me to check up other family members!
Best wishes
Pam