Frank Edgar Ash - Great War Soldier

[Ken Lees]

I am struggling to find anything at all about Frank Edgar Ash

I know that he served in as a territorial soldier in Liverpool from some time before 1908 up to the beginning of WW1 and then served in France from 1915 to 1919.

So, he must have lived in or around Liverpool during that time, but I can't find any trace of him. I've looked on Ancestry but can't even find a Frank Edgar Ash (or similar) on the census of 1901, 1891 or 1881. All I can find on Ancestry is his medal index card which doesn't add anything beyond his medal entitlement, etc.

Anyone got any suggestions of where to look next?

Thanks,

Ken

[jan44]

Hi Ken,

Is this Frank's medal card on the national archives site?

Maybe some of the records are in the burnt series.

Image details

Description Medal card of Ash, Frank Edgar
Corps Regiment No Rank
Liverpool Regiment 9th Battalion 330065 Company Serjeant Major

Date 1914-1920
Catalogue reference WO 372/1
Dept Records created or inherited by the War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies
Series War Office: Service Medal and Award Rolls Index, First World War
Piece A'Alezu - Barnes C E
Image contains 1 medal card of many for this collection


Jan

[Ken Lees]

Hi Jan,

Yes that is his MIC which I have downloaded from Ancestry.

There are no records for him in the National Archives as far as I am aware. Ancestry has the burnt records online but nothing comes up for Frank Ash.

Ken

[Tilly]

Hi

I could only find 3 Frank Edgar Ash births on Ancestry one in 1872 uin Portsea Island but he died in 1873. The other were 1882 in Bedminster and 1889 in St Pancras. The 1882 one is in Bristol in 1901 but could have moved to Liverpool later he's an ironmoger's assistant apprentice. The St Pancras one is with his parents in St Pancras in 1901. The 1882 one seems the most likely to me. Perhaps someone with a directory for after 1917 could look and see if there's a Frank Ash in it.

Tilly

[Ken Lees]

Thanks Tilly, a couple of possibilities there.

If only the 1911 Census was available!

Ken

[Tilly]

Hi

Hopefully next year. I'm hoping I might find my grandmother the elusive Elizabeth or Lily Jones!!

Tilly

[CaroleW]

Hi

I am assuming he survived WWI as he is not on the CWGC website

Are you descended from him - if so - who did he marry?

The 1889 Frank Edgar b Pancras was the son of Edward and Mary Ash according to the 1901 census. Edward was b Devon 1833 and Mary E was b Bloomsbury 1854

In 1891 there is a Frank E Ash aged 9 b Totterdown Somerset who was a pupil at Long Ashton School in Somerset (1882 Bedminster birth)

In 1901 is the ironmonger mentioned in an earlier reply - parents were Alfred John and Annie

[Ken Lees]

Thanks Carole,

I have had a good look at the Census and compiled the information on the two Frank E Ash possibilities.

I know he survived the war as he was discharged in 1917 as a result of wounds he received during the Battle of the Somme in 1916, but I know very little about him beyond that.

He is not a relation. I am researching a number of men who served in the 9th Battalion of the King's Liverpool Regiment in the Great War and he is one of the men I have chosen as he enlisted in the Liverpool Territorials in 1909 and rose to the rank of Company Sergeant Major before his wounds ended his war.

I presume that whichever one of the two possibilities he is, he moved to Liverpool prior to 1909 and settled there. I'd love to find out more about him.

Thanks again,

Ken

[Ken Lees]

After a pause to concentrate on other research subjects, I am back on the trail of Frank Edgar Ash.

I now know (from the 1911 Census) that he lived at 8, Pembroke Street, Liverpool in 1911, with his father Edward. Their occupations were both "picture framer".

Armed with that information I can now confirm that Frank was born in late 1888/early 1889 at Pancras, London and I have him there on the 1891 & 1901 Census returns.

But I can't find him after 1911. Did he stay in Liverpool? Did he marry? Did he die in Liverpool?

Any help to answer any of these questions would be appreciated as I seem to have hit a brick wall.

Of course, he could have been mentioned in one of the Liverpool newspapers, especially as he was wounded in the Great War, discharged as a result of his wounds and also awarded the Military Cross.

Fingers crossed,

Ken

[Tina]

Hi Ken
There's a birth rego in Free BMD Pancras march qtr 1889 1b 82 for a Frank Edgar Ash.

Tina

[Ken Lees]

Thanks Tina,

I've sent for a copy of his birth cert.

I also found his father's death in Liverpool in 1913.

Trawling back through the Census returns I found that his father, Edward (born 1833) had been married previously and Frank was next to youngest of Edward's second family.

So, I've done quite well from 1911 backwards, it's going forwards I'm struggling with now.

Thanks again,

Ken

[Tina]

Well done Ken about Edwd and his marriages.
I think Jan has 1914 Directory.
I'll send her a pm.
Going forward is not easy!
All the best with birth cert.

Tina

[jan44]

Ken & Tina,

I had a look in the 1914 directory no Frank Edgar Ash but his father Edward Picture Frame Maker was at 11 and 13 Pembroke Street.

Jan

[Ken Lees]

Thanks Jan,

That's a little odd, as Edward died in 1913, but I suppose there was always a lag between the information being submitted and publication.

Was it normal for just the senior family member being named in the directory?

Thanks again,

Ken

[jan44]

Hi Ken,

I think the directories were normally published about a year after being put together, it was usually the head of the household that was listed in them.

The only thing I can think of trying would be the elec rolls.

Jan

[Tina]

Thank You Jan

Tina