George White or Keiff!

[Kelly80]

I have a mysterious great grandfather, who, for whatever reason, changed his name.

He was born as George Frederick William Keiff. Born on 8th September 1879, Islington, London.

However, just after the birth of his first child in 1907 (my grandmother Louisa), he changed his name on all future birth records for his other children, census returns etc to George William White.

Because of his age when the a Great War started, he may well have been enlisted but I don't know where to start when trying to find if he did or not.

I have an ancestry subscription. I've check military records for George under his birth name and there are no matches. That's no surprise given what I know about his name change.

So I searched for George William White and there are loads of them! So many medal roll entries for numerous George William White's. How do I work out which, if any, are my great grandfather?

[apowell]

Hi Kelly,

I'm afraid the short answer is it's near impossible to work out if George did serve in the First World War given the little information. The service and pension records are the best source but 60% of those were destroyed. The medal index cards only give details on medals, Regiment and name so are very little help in tracing your relation and given the common surname of White again it's impossible. I checked the surname of Kieff which is more uncommon on the documents available but no luck.

Is it possible you could get any information from family members eg. photos or word of mouth. The other possibility is if any children were born during the war years 1914-1918 you should find the father's details including regiment served and Regiment number.

Regards
Adrian

[Kelly80]

Thanks Adrian.

My great grandmother was his eldest child born in 1907. He also had a daughter born in 1909, a son in 1912, twin sons in 1913 and a daughter in 1915. The youngest daughter was called Eileen. I don't have her birth certificate or record, but I'll go searching for it now.

I have no living relatives that know of any military details for George. I font believe we have any photos either.

[Kelly80]

Ok, So I've found Eileen's birth certificate record (after a lot of searching through endless streams of Eileen White's!)
I'll order the certificate and fingers crossed this will be the lead I need.

I've also ordered a birth certificate for Arthur L Doubtfire, in a similar vein, to see if my other great grand father on my mothers side, John Doubtfire, served in the military during the war. I'm hoping that will come back and confirm the one entry that pops up on the ancestry search of the medal rolls. One John Doubtfire, serving in the Buffs (East Kent) Regiment, G/4836.

Fingers tightly crossed.

[apowell]

Hi Kelly,
quote:
'I've also ordered a birth certificate for Arthur L Doubtfire, in a similar vein, to see if my other great grand father on my mothers side, John Doubtfire, served in the military during the war. I'm hoping that will come back and confirm the one entry that pops up on the ancestry search of the medal rolls. One John Doubtfire, serving in the Buffs (East Kent) Regiment, G/4836.'

I'm afraid the above John Doubtfire mentioned couldn't be your relation because he was killed in action in 1915:

Name:
John Doubtfire

Birth Place:
Bermondsey, Surrey

Residence:
Bermondsey, Surrey

Death Date:
3 May 1915

Death Place:
France and Flanders

Enlistment Place:
Deptford, Kent

Rank:
Private

Regiment:
Buffs (East Kent) Regiment

Battalion:
2nd Battalion

Regimental Number:
G/4836

Type of Casualty:
Killed in action

Theatre of War:
Western European Theatre

The son mentioned Arthur L Doubtfire was Bapt 1917.

I'm sorry to bring bad news put at least you know it can't be that one

Regards
Adrian

[Kelly80]

Yeah, I came across that death record a bit later so I'd already discounted him.

There aren't any other medal roll records for John Doubtfire's though.
So I'm probably out of luck now.

Still, both birth certificates are on order now, so I guess I wait and see if that unearths anything.

[apowell]

Hi,

Yeh well worth getting those certificates and you may get some useful information.

Good luck in your research.

All the best
Adrian

[Kelly80]

So the birth certificates turned up.

George Fredrick White (George Fredrick William Keiff) is recorded on the birth certificate of his son Arthur as being a Bombardier in the RFA. There is no further information or service number there. It does say he was previously a Motor Bus Conductor.

For John Doubtfire on his daughters birth certificate there is no sign of any military sign up. He is simply noted as being a box makers porter.
Bit of a puzzle why it seems him and his two younger brothers didn't serve even though they'd have been a prime age too. His middle brother William did serve however, and I do have his service number.