Mcarthur

[yvonneh100]

Searching for McArthur, David, Leslie or Leonard. A bit of a long shot! He either emigrated as a kid or was born in Australia or New Zealand, most likely the former. Came back to UK after ww1. Served in forces 1914-1919, not sure if with British or Australian. Beleive he enlisted in Liverpool New South Wales Only clue is number 6 Brigede 2nd Division. Does this mean anything to anyone?
Served in Merchant Navy after the war on the Hardwicke Grange.
Always lied about his age, but was probably born on 16th October between 1887 and 1899.
If anyone has any ideas where I can start, I have been looking for my grandfather for the last 10 years and always hit a brick wall. All help appreciated. Many thanks Yvonne

[trish251]

Hi Yvonne

Have you searched the national archives in Oz - www.naa.gov.au

Follow the search records link and search as a guest. There is a Leonard Mcarthur in WWI who was born in England, enlisted at liverpool. His full service details are online. (view digital copy)

You can also look at the WWI nominal roll
http://www.awm.gov.au/database/133/index.asp  which lists all soldiers in WW1 in Australia.

There is only 1 David  (Killed in Action so not yours)
and 1 Leslie (came from Broken Hill, entered in South Australia)

Trish

[gennig]

Hi Yvonne

The National Archives has all three names on the records.  They have all been digitised. Leonard's states he enlisted Liverpool NSW.

www.naa.gov.au

Cheers
Genni

[yvonneh100]

Many thanks  , I have had a look at those sites with varying success, partly because my geography of Australia is pretty limited and I am not quite sure what I am looking at. I will look at them again as I think they have changed quite a bit since I last looked. Part of the problem is that as I do not have his parents names or a def date of birth I cannot tell if I am looking at the right man. He was never even quite sure what his first name was! Any help with the army stuff would be really useful if there is anyone out there who can help.

[yvonneh100]

trish, how did you find that Leslie came from Broken Hill? I only get an  adobe printout when I look at this page? Ar you then looking at a records site? Thanks Yvonne

[Mungbeans]

I downloaded the Enlistment page for Leonard McArthur.

Its hard to read the image but it lists his next of kin as Alice McArthur and he is recorded as a bachelor. 

It says he was born in the parish of C___berry (looks like Canonberry) near the town of London in the county of Essex.

21 years and 2 months as at 25 Jan 1916.  This would place his dob in the last quarter of 1894.  A quick search on FreeBDM didn't turn up his birth record, but the index isn't complete yet.

[trish251]

trish, how did you find that Leslie came from Broken Hill? I only get an  adobe printout when I look at this page? Ar you then looking at a records site? Thanks Yvonne

Hi Yvonne

The Broken Hill comes from the National Archives site. As Genni said, there are 3 records there - all with digital images. This in itself could be interesting as someone else has been checking these records - you may have a relative also searching - but rather difficult to find who this was.

Trish

You can download & study the digital images. They give an age and place of birth, plus next of kin. This may help locate a birth record in England for you to check. If you have difficulty with the images - use the "enlarged image" option

[gennig]

Hi Yvonne

On looking at Leonard McArthur's digital image I noticed he served 39B (Belmore) for 3years.  I assume that this is a British Brigade, which means he possibly arrived in Australia as a young adult.

The NOK Alice McArthur is stated as being his mother.

I had a look at the 1901 Census to see if Leonard was there.  The closest I could find was the following:-

RG13/1573 Folio: 152 Page: 24
14 Greengate Street, West Ham

John McArthur 43 Head M London Islington Labourer in Shipyard
Alice McArthur 41 Wife M London Millwell
Leonard Chandler 6 Nephew London Islington 

Cheers
Genni

[yvonneh100]

Many thanks for all the replie . Computer has been down for a while so unable to post. Will follow up all suggestions.