Part 109r – Robertson Genealogy – Granduncle William Thomas Robertson – WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards

Afternoon,

As I said to myself when I started the Blog, “Self… This is gonna be a relaxed genealogical plus other stuff Blog. I needed to not get myself all tied up in “this is the only way to do it methodology”.” And here it is.

Already this morning I’ve been to Grenada twice, to the Smith and Thomas families; an 1840 Marriage and an 1819 Baptism. And now I’m checking out a British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Card. I discovered this Index Card at Ancestry.co.uk some time ago.

Sources: Ancestry.co.uk and
Army Medal Office, The Western Front Association

It is for one W.T. Robertson, and I just happen to have had a granduncle William Thomas Robertson. One never knows what one can discover when one starts checking out a source for clues.

My granduncle William Thomas Robertson was the brother of my grandfather Frederick Henry Robertson. I touched about my grandfather, Dada, as I knew him, in my postings of September 27 and Part 66r.

Insert: Left - Granduncle William Thomas Robertson and right- Grandfather Frederick Henry Robertson.

Not being sure that this is the Medal Rolls Index Card for granduncle William Thomas, I’ve highlighted possible clues on the image above in yellow to try and logically determine whether it is or not. I’ve not transcribed the completed Index Card as you can see that there are a considerable amount of numbers, dates and abbreviations that may be beyond my frames of reference.

Possibilities, highlighted:

1. Surname Robertson – The same
2. Initials W.T. and subscripted name William Thomas – The same
3. Gord. Hrs/off/ - May stand for Gordon Highlanders and Officer; which granduncle William was.
4. Lt. – Abbreviation for Lieutenant – His occupation is listed as Lieutenant Gordon Highlanders on the 1916 Marriage Entry to Dora Frances Dick. (I will be entering the image of granduncle William Thomas Marriage Entry in a subsequent posting.)
5. Gordons – May represent the Gordon Highlanders
6. Lt. W. T. Robertson – Again the same as number 1, 2, and 4, above.
7. Initial Grantham address crossed out and replace by 19 Upper Walthamstow Rd., Walthamstow. – His parents, my great-grandparents Alexander Pirie and Elizabeth Charlotte (née Merrifield) Robertson lived in Walthamstow at the time of the years of 1914 and 1915 indicated on the Card.

I did check out online as to a description of the 1914 Star Medal aka the Mons Star. From my understanding it was presented to those who served with the British Forces in France and Belgium between 5 August and 23 November 1914. I also wanted to see what it may have looked like. There are a number of sites online regarding medals and a number of them have the medals available for purchase.

For you information you can check The Great War 1914-1918 website for more details regarding the Index Cards and the various Medals.

And to my delight, I found this piece of trivia... "The origin of the term Pip, Squeak and Wilfred, obscure at best, relates to four British campaign medals instituted as a consequence of the First World War." Check this link.

Any thoughts or questions, please email me or comment directly to this posting.

Enjoy,

Jim