Author Topic: INDIA: Help with William Wheatley Cole who married and worked in India  (Read 917 times)

Offline jmec73

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INDIA: Help with William Wheatley Cole who married and worked in India
« on: Sunday 25 August 19 14:20 BST (UK) »
Hi,

I'm hoping someone can help me as I'm not very knowledgeable on what genealogical resources are available in relation to India. My paternal grandfather (Gordon James Cole, b.1905) had an older brother William Wheatley Cole (b.1887) in Sussex and christened in Portfield (also Sussex). From Ancestry and Family Search I know that he joined the 3rd Royal Sussex Regiment in Chichester in 1905, was in Rawalpindi according to the 1911 census, and married Aileen Byrne Daly in Murree, Bengal on 11 September 1923. According to the marriage document which I have, he is listed as a hotel manager in Peshawar. I'm aware that some of these locations are now part of Pakistan since partition. I've found conflicting documents that Aileen Byrne Daly died in Bengal on 10 October in either 1938 or 1942 depending on which document is accurate, and she is listed as a widow at this point.

I would love to know more, including when William died, whether they had any children, and even which hotel he was manager of. Any help with locating these details or any advice would be gratefully received.

As an aside, my grandfather, Gordon James Cole, was also in the army between the wars and served in India (although I don't have his military record), so any advice or information on this would be brilliant too.

Many thanks in advance for any assistance

Best wishes,
Jon


Offline AMBLY

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Re: INDIA: Help with William Wheatley Cole who married and worked in India
« Reply #1 on: Tuesday 27 August 19 10:10 BST (UK) »
I see that Aileen Byrne was nee CARROLL and widow DALY when she married WWC in 1923.

In 1939, an Aileen COLE aged 42, no occupation left the UK on the SS Strathmore, on 23 Dec 1939 and went to Bombay.
Last address in UK: Sandhurst Hotel, Eastbourne
Country of last Permanent address was: Foreign Country
Country of future intended residence was: India

Her date of Birth is given as 22 April 1897.

If this is 'your' Aileen - I personally feel she is -   then she was still alive in late December 1939.

Cheers
AMBLY
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Offline ShaunJ

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Re: INDIA: Help with William Wheatley Cole who married and worked in India
« Reply #2 on: Tuesday 27 August 19 10:35 BST (UK) »
Quote
I know that he joined the 3rd Royal Sussex Regiment in Chichester in 1905

That was a militia unit. He served only 113 days as a part time soldier before attesting for the regular army on 1 March 1906. He was with 1st Royal Sussex Regiment in Rawalpindi in 1911.
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Offline ShaunJ

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Re: INDIA: Help with William Wheatley Cole who married and worked in India
« Reply #3 on: Tuesday 27 August 19 10:42 BST (UK) »
Aileen was born Aileen Carroll on 29 March 1887, daughter of Mark & Caroline Carroll. Baptised at Dalhousie on 13 May 1887. So she was not the lady on the SS Strathmore in 1939.
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Offline jmec73

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Re: INDIA: Help with William Wheatley Cole who married and worked in India
« Reply #4 on: Tuesday 27 August 19 15:14 BST (UK) »
Hi Ambly and Shaun, thank you both for your time and great help. From the marriage record I have for Aileen and William, Mark Carroll is named as father so that tallies with Daly being her first marriage and the 1887 birth date. Thanks for confirmation on this

Did you have any luck finding a death date for William? According to Family Search, this is the record for Aileen Cole's death in 1942:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FGK1-XWL

Aileen Byrne-Daly
India Deaths and Burials, 1719-1948

Name:   
Aileen Byrne-Daly
Gender:   
Female
Burial Date:   
11 Oct 1942
Burial Place:   
Kasauli, Bengal, India
Death Date:   
10 Oct 1942
Age:   
51
Birth Date:   
1891
Marital Status:   
Widowed
Spouse's Name:   
Charles Byrne-Daly

What I'm not sure about is that her death is record as Aileen Byrne-Daly rather than Cole, which suggests that William had died, although why then would her first husband be listed as the spouse rather than William?

Any thoughts or ideas very welcome :o)

Best wishes,
Jon.

Offline amondg

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Re: INDIA: Help with William Wheatley Cole who married and worked in India
« Reply #5 on: Tuesday 27 August 19 17:11 BST (UK) »
Who is the William Wheatley Cole who died 31 December 1959 of 60 Laburnum Grove Portsmouth?
Probate to Ethel Ada Cole widow. Probate date 18 March 1960

Offline ShaunJ

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Re: INDIA: Help with William Wheatley Cole who married and worked in India
« Reply #6 on: Tuesday 27 August 19 17:41 BST (UK) »
....and who was the William Wheatley Cole promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in the Indian Army from 1 June 1942?

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35652/page/3368  (column 1)
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Offline jmec73

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Re: INDIA: Help with William Wheatley Cole who married and worked in India
« Reply #7 on: Tuesday 27 August 19 17:55 BST (UK) »
Hi Amondj and Shaun,

These certainly look like the same person. William Wheatley Cole is quite a specific name so it looks as if he outlived Aileen then and probably returned to Britain after the army. Portsmouth and Chichester are pretty close as well so geographically makes sense. The age on the BMD index for 1959 lists his age as 72 which tallies too.

What strikes me though is that he is in the army from at least 1905-11, then in 1923 on his marriage certificate his profession is listed as "Hotel manager" then in 1942 appears to be back in the army again. Is that a likely scenario?

Thanks once again for your help and new information :o)

Best wishes,
Jon.

Offline jmec73

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Re: INDIA: Help with William Wheatley Cole who married and worked in India
« Reply #8 on: Tuesday 27 August 19 17:57 BST (UK) »
On reflection and just adding to my own thoughts, I guess if he had left he may have rejoined because of the second world war. I guess that may explain it?

Best wishes,
Jon.