John W Evans

[Gaille]

Any idea how I can find out if he served in the Manchesters?

I have been doing the family tree & I 'found' my dads uncle listed on the Cencus's
we have no info on him apart from the basics and I have tried searching online but I am just getting more & more confused as I go along.

The info I have on him is pretty basic:

John William Evans
Born 1875, according to the 1891 Cencus in Liverpool

Fathers name is David Evans (1855-1900) Mother Ann Evans (nee Price died before 1896) Both Parents died Newton Heath & buried at All Saints Newton Heath.

on 1901 Cencus listed as living in Church St Newton Heath as a Shopkeeper, listed as head of household.
Others in household are Stepmother Esther,
Brother George Arthur (my gt-grandad b 20 March 1881-Died 1961)
Half sisters Annie & Esther.
Another Brother Ernest is listed in Plymouth on Board a ship as a crewman on Cencus.

My Grandad was born in 1904 and never mentioned any uncles apart from his Uncle Ernest, (another brother David died between 1891 & 1901 Cencus).
Until I found him on the 1891 & 1901 cencus no one had heard of John William I have tried trawling thu all the records & I cant find any info on him, but I just dont know where to start looking to see if he was killed in action cos there are so MANY J or John Evans's that come up when I try & search.

Any ideas where i start?

Gaille

p.s. any info on George Arthur would also be welcome, he married Mary Ann Mitchel in 1904 & lived in Vernon St & Briscoe Lane Newton Heath.

[harribobs]

not an easy one, there are 400 j evans on the CWGC site

http://www.cwgc.org/search/SearchResults.aspx?surname=evans&initials=j&war=1&yearfrom=1914&yearto=1921&force=Army&nationality=6&send.x=43&send.y=14

some them will be james and jacks but one of them might have the parents details you need to identify him, don't just look at the Manchester Regiment ones, he could have joined any regiment

cheers

chris

[timberman]

I just had a quick look through the J, JOHN, JW ect on the CWGC site no joy I'm afraid.
He would of been 39 in 1914.

Timberman

[slob]

He is still alive in 1911, at 12 Church St as a fruiterer.

Dave

[Gaille]

He is still alive in 1911, at 12 Church St as a fruiterer.

Dave

He is, thats Wonderful news!
Dave, thank you!
You have access to the 1911 cencus? I cant wait to get in & look at that, I have so many things I need to look at.

I literaly had never heard of him until I found him on the Cencus & I admit he has really "got to me", Somehow I think cos we dont know anything about him makes me want to find out more and make sure he doesn't get forgotten and at least I now know I can move on another 10 years with him and work from there.

I dont know why maybe its the thought of a 26 yr old man running his own business & supporting his Step mother, brothers and half sisters, especialy as by that time he had lost both his natural parents & also his brother, something about him makes me want to find out more.

Gaille

[Gaille]

not an easy one, there are 400 j evans on the CWGC site

http://www.cwgc.org/search/SearchResults.aspx?surname=evans&initials=j&war=1&yearfrom=1914&yearto=1921&force=Army&nationality=6&send.x=43&send.y=14

some them will be james and jacks but one of them might have the parents details you need to identify him, don't just look at the Manchester Regiment ones, he could have joined any regiment

cheers

chris

Yeah, this is the problem I am having, there are just SO many J or John Evans's I looked on Ancestry last month & I quite literaly didnt have a clue where to start, there were so many it would have taken me weeks to go thru them all especialy as I had such few details to go on.
My Grandad was named John, but called Jack all his life, So I also always check out "Jacks" when I am looking, most people didnt even know my grandads name wasnt jack.
I have tried to keep an open mind over regiments, I realise men were not always assigned to local regiments to their area, I have a Cameron Highlander in my family tree that had never set foot in Scotland in his life, didnt even have a Scottish name!

Gaille
 

[Gaille]

I just had a quick look through the J, JOHN, JW ect on the CWGC site no joy I'm afraid.
He would of been 39 in 1914.

Timberman

Hi,

His age was something I wondered about, but then looking through the CWGC site I saw lots of older men on their, one I spotted was 57, so I guess older men volunteered as well.
I remember reading somewhere also about white feathers and men older or younger than the draft age signing up after being given them, the men in my family all look younger than their years too, so if he was the same he may have got away with 'losing' a few years.

Gaille

[timberman]

Hi Gaille
A bit late but welcome to the forum.

There's a bit on the Silver War Badge (SWB) on this link in the 1914-1918 section. This was issued so people would know that a person was unfit for active service.

 http://themanchesters.org/forum/index.php?topic=1839.0

There was a post on older men (can't find it  ) I think the oldest we've found was in his 60's

The youngest I've found was 14 when he died, he didn't join because of a white feather he just wanted to fight, I'll dig out his name later.

Timberman

[slob]

The 1911 information isn't from the census.
It is from Slater's 1911 directory, which show the householder at many addresses in Manchester.
It is available online, with other directories, at :
http://www.historicaldirectories.org

It can be difficult to search, for common names like Evans, but if you select the version for 'trades' (there are 4 volumes), choose 'browse directory' and go to page 127, you will find him. He is in the section for fruiterers.

Cheers,
    Dave

[Gaille]

wow I looked at this and its amazing.......to think that over 100 years ago I have a list of traders and what they did!

I sat there just looking at it amazed for ages!

I just checked the 1911 Cencus and Johns there, along with Step-Mum Esther and his half sister ..........and ANOTHER aunt I hadnt seen before (step mums sister)

need to move onwards with him again and see what else I can find out ..........lol I wish his surname wasnt Evans - makes it hard to do a general search!

Gaille

[Gaille]

Thought I would just update you all ...........

I FOUND him!

a few months ago I was looking in a site for his nephew and I vaguely remembered a reference to "your neice" in a letter home by the nephew so I started putting in family names and on a pure whim I put in Johns details .............and there he was!

John W Evans. aged 39, Greengrocer form Newton Manchester ................. EMIGRATED to Perth Western Australia in 1914!

I had a quick wander onto the Australian service records & found him in the Australian forces in 1915, (place of birth confirmed on records it was him) he back in England briefly in 1916 then wounded in France, recouperated back in England before returning to Australia injured by a gun shot wound.
.
He died in Kalgoorli Australia in 1955, leaving behind a whole new part of the family - a wife & at least one daughter!.

Gaille