True Identity of a fallen soldier in the Great War Part 4

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cnosni
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Post by cnosni »

The search of General Register Office Indices from 1861 to 1905 produced no record of a Robert Hoonan being born in Leeds.Furthermore there were no records for one in the West Riding, all of Yorkshire, and in fact England and Wales.Mindful of spelling mistakes with surnames i searched for any potential family members who may have married or died with the surname Hoonan, this time from 1837 to 1915.There were no records in Leeds or the West Riding of anyone with the surname Hoonan.However in England and Wales there wre only 3 examples of the surname, which when further research was undertaken on these 3 individuals found that they were wrongly transcribed onto the indices.Though this only covered England and Wales i was aware that there were "Hoonans" in Ireland.So i began to wonder did Robert Hoonan THINK he was born in Leeds, told the recruiting officer that he was, but was actually born in Ireland?A distinct possibility especially if someone has moved from their place of birth at a young age to another or multiple locations.IF he thought he was born in Leeds then it means that he would have spent the bulk of his life in either Leeds, the West Riding or England and should therefore appear in at least one, if not more, census of England and Wales.So my next step was to search the various census on both Ancestry and Findmypast, just in case one of the sites had made a mistake in transcription.
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cnosni
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There was indeed a return in the 1901 census of a Robert Hoonan born St Helens 1889.Certainly the right age to have fought in the First World War,and certainly old enough to have done so by April 1915.A check of teh 1911 census shows him still living in St Helens, aged 22, occupation Coal; Pit Hewer.However the surname is shown as "Honan", similar enough so still worth a look at.Another check of GRO indices showed a birth registration in Prescott, Lancs, for Robert Honan in 1888,his siblings listed in the 2 census also appear being registered as Honan.But, he is born in Lancashire and appears as such in the census so he, Robert Honan in St Helens, would have known this so would he have put his place of birth as Leeds when he joined the army?It was time to look and see if there were any war or post war records for Robert Honan.    
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cnosni
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A search of the Military records on Ancestry produces no Army Service record for a Robert Honan but it does produce a Medal card index record which shows a Robert Honan as being a member of the Royal Army Medical Corps who appears to have been "out in the field" from 3rd April 1915.Thats as much as is known about this Robert Honan in the military records, there is no indication on the Medal Card Index that he has died in the war, however it does show he served in Egypt.    
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cnosni
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Then a search of the GRO indices shows a marriage registered in Bromley,Kent for a Robert Honan in 1922 to a Florence Hardy.Ok, this could be another Robert Honan altogether, but a search of the death indices shows a death registered in Bromley in Kent for a Robert Honan in 1972, aged 83.The date of birth recorded is 5th Novemebr 1888.The Prescot birth registration of Robert Honan in 1888 was recorded in the quarter of October to December 1888.I was satisfied that the man born in St Helens in 1888 and who appeared in the 1901 and 1911 census did not die til 1972, and was therefore not a Robert Hoonan who was in the 2nd Dukes and who died in 1916.So the only possible alteranative person to have been Private 3/10645, besides my great uncle,was now pretty much ruled out.    
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cnosni
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Post by cnosni »

Just quick question, is anyone following the story and if so are you interested in more?
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Post by PC - Dublin »

I certainly am Chris.

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Croggy1
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Post by Croggy1 »

Yep, me too.

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cnosni
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Post by cnosni »

Cheers, it will get more interesting i assure you.Its a sort of mathematical/scientific way of presenting family history.Im of the mind that if you cant show your working out then you cant justify your answer.I know there will probably be some people reading these threads who have jumped a few steps forward already, like that Uncle Mick bloke who is far too clever for his own boots
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jim
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Post by jim »

I'm sure we all love an Agatha cnosni mystery!

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cnosni
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Post by cnosni »

jim wrote: I'm sure we all love an Agatha cnosni mystery! Oh a mystery it surely is.I have condensed it somewhat, i started this all in 2006 so theres a bit of compression and tidying up tomake it more reader friendly.Hopefully another part today then away til Friday
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