Harry Barnes 1873 Great Somerford to New York (?)

[oldohiohome]

We also believe he returned to the UK during WW1 and was in the 102 Canadian forestry corps stationed at Mortimer, Berkshire, England. Any record which shows this would be great. I have searched around the internet for these records but haven't found anything yet.

Did that information come through the family or did you find a Harry Barnes in the Forestry Corps that might be him?
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You can search WWI Canadian Expeditionary Force personnel here:
https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/search.aspx
I think it includes the Forestry Corps, but I'm not positive. It specially mentions the Newfoundland Forestry Corps but that might be because Newfoundland wasn't part of Canada yet.

I didn't find a matching H* Barnes in the CEF database. I gave it an age range of a few years either way, but nothing.

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There is some information about the 102 Co. Canadian Forestry Corps here:
https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/Documents/canadian%20forestry%20corps.pdf
It says
Organized as No. 2 Company, Canadian Forestry Corps under the command of Major M. R. McDonald.
Employed at Rapley Lake, Bagshot from May 1916 and at Mortimer, Berkshire from September 1917.
Redesignated as 102nd Company, Canadian Forestry Corps on 7 August 1917.

It was the only Company at Mortimer, Berkshire. - search the page for Mortimer to find the information.

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It mentioned Major M R McDonald, so  thought I'd look for him. The most likely was this man, but his record says he went into the 1st Canadian Pioneers. Maybe he was reassigned when they organized the Forestry Corps. His civilian occupation was "miner and axeman."  The other M R McDonalds were a farmer, a civil servant, and a policeman.

Malcolm Rod McDonald, born 25 December 1876 Prince Edward Island, trade: miner and axeman, next of kin: Albert G McDonald (brother), at Brittania Mine, Brittania, British Columbia
enlisted, signed September 2, 1915, Victoria BC
unit: 1st Canadian Pioneers, regiment 154085
rank SPR [said to be the Royal Engineers Sapper, equivalent of private "Sapper" at Wikipedia]
location given on medical certificate Work Point[?], Esquinalt, BC

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Thinking that the 102nd might have been organized in British Columbia, I looked in the 1911 Census of British Columbia for H* Barnes, but didn't find your relative. There is a man by that name born in England, with a wife Lucy, but he arrived in Canada in 1882. And a William Henry Barnes that didn't seem like a match either.

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bottom line: nothing found

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P.S. the Canadian censuses are on that site also, and are free. You might have more motivation and patience than I do for looking for H* Barnes in all the provinces.

[rosie99]

Reading Mercury 19 October 1918
No Rear Light
Pte Harry Barnes of the Canadian Forestry Corps stationed at Ufton was summoned for riding a bicycle without a rear light at Burghfield on October 2nd and was fined 5s.
P.S. Taylor stationed at Mortimer proved the case.


also. https://electriccanadian.com/forces/canadianforestry00birduoft.pdf
I have not looked at this 

[Gervaise94]

Wow, that newspaper clipping might be the proof we’ve been looking for. It would never have occurred to me to scan newspaper archives. Thank you so much!!!


I can give more context into this family mystery if you are interested -

We believe Harry Barnes is my mother's paternal grandfather, who she never knew about growing up and has remained a mystery her whole life. The only inkling she had was the name ‘Barnes’ which appeared on some of her dad’s letters, though he never went into it.

Through DNA testing we’ve been led to a Harry Barnes, one of nine children born in Wiltshire, England. We learnt that four of the brothers apparently emigrated to the USA, and Harry Barnes, the fifth brother, went to Canada. We have been in touch with members of the family living in the US who are helping us to find out about Harry, but of the five brothers he seemed a mystery to them as the family lost touch with him. We were trying to figure out a reason why Harry Barnes from Wiltshire would be in the Berkshire area (where my mum’s grandmother lived) during World War, given that he had emigrated to Canada in 1905.


There were rumours floating around that my mum's father had been a Canadian lumberjack, which was highly plausible given that during the WW1 the Canadian Forestry Corps were logging in the exact area where mum's grandmother lived. We had also heard from the relatives in the US that Harry was a lumberjack. We've now got the passenger list record that showed he emigrated to Canada, so this tiny article in the Reading Mercury is ‘proof’ of him being in the Canadian Forestry Corps stationed near my mum's grandmother. It was the final piece of the puzzle!

[rosie99]

I am pleased that the newspaper article helped.  It is surprising what can be found there 

[SomerfordKiwi]

Hi, I compile a 'One Place Study' of Little Somerford.
I have lots of info of your Harry in my database.

Baptised: 21 Sep 1873 in Great Somerford, Wiltshire, England
UK Census 3 Apr 1881: aged 6 in Little Somerford, Wilts
UK Census 5 Apr 1891: aged 18 (double checked, sic) in Little Somerford, Wilts
UK Census 31 Mar 1901: aged 26 abode: Sutton Benger, Wilts
Marries 24 Dec 1902: Edith Mary Shepherd (abode: school house, Sutton Benger) at Chippenham, Wilts

Emigrates 7 Feb 1905: from Liverpool to Toronto, Canada, ship: Lake Champlain (alone)
Marries 21 Sep 1910: Daisy Mary Priest, (states he is a batchelor) at Blind River, Ontario, Canada

UK Census 2 Apr 1911: Edith Mary Barnes, school teacher, living with her mother, states she has been married 8 years (crossed out) no children

Attestation CEF 1915: writes wife's name as Edith then crosses it out and writes Daisy, several times. Shaved 5 years off his age, states he previously served in the Chippenham militia.

Military: lots of info. (He did transfer to Canadian forestry 1/2/1917) 'Overage' is noted several times within medical documents, year of birth latterly reverts to 1873

UK Census 19 June 1921: Edith Mary Barnes, school teacher, mother living with her, states she is widowed.

Edith Mary Shepherd/Barnes all info checked, bap: both parent's names, marriage: father's name and 'deceased' (ties in with her family census records growing up, mother widowed before Edith & Harry are married), latter censuses after Harry emigrated: mother's name Henrietta as in all previous info, including places of birth throughout the whole timeline.

I haven't included any Canadian census and other info as I'm sure you already have that.

Interesting picture...

 

[Gervaise94]

Hi there,

Thanks! This is great. Pleased to hear you are compiling a one place study of Little Somerford. I'd love to see the rest of the research you find - where is it being compiled? My family and I made a trip out there and have some photos that could be of interest to you such as graves, the Volunteer Inn that the Barnes family ran for years, the house Harry Barnes lived in etc.

I have also found a lot of this info since and put it on our family tree on Ancestry (under 'Patenall family tree'). Seems like you have most of it.

You can also add to your research that he also fathered an illegitimate child (my grandfather) with Edna Louise King, who lived in Mortimer where he was stationed in the Canadian Forestry Corps at Upton. His son was called Harry Thomas Barnes-Hunt. Harry Barnes went back to Canada six months before his birth so whether he knew about him or not is a mystery. My grandfather never talked about his father but he used to receive official letters in the post with the surname 'Barnes-Hunt' which my mother was curious about. Ancestry DNA test led us to Harry Barnes!

Would love to find a photo of him so if you ever find one, do let me know.

Thanks so much again for this info.