George James Carson 1889-1955

My Carson ancestors

My mother was Doreen Carson (1933-1989). Her father was always known as Billy Carson. He worked as a painter and decorator for the Co-op in Weymouth, Dorset. As with many people I’ve met through family history research, I didn’t get interested in finding out about my past until those who had some knowledge they could pass on to me had passed on themselves. My mother died well before family history was an interest and anyway she was never one for keeping pictures or souvenirs of the past. Her brothers had either died or gone abroad and so any family recollections, papers, photographs were virtually non-existent when I started my research. I have two sisters, one of whom was very close to my mother, and she has some memories of things that my mother had said about the family, but these memories (although better than mine) are scanty. My investigations into the Carsons started with these family stories. These, or at least the ones I could remember always suggested that The Carsons came “from over Portland”. While that might have just referred to the geographical place, there was often a connotation associated with “from over Portland” that implied something a bit odd or a bit suspect about someone’s origins. The isolation of families on the Isle of Portland and the proliferation of just a few, presumably inbred families (Stone, Stewksbury and others) and localised customs and rituals often gave rise to rumours about the oddities of Portlanders. My grandfather always seemed normal to me, and a lovely kind and generous man, but he nearly always did carry a sack with him going to work, coming home from work, going “up the allotment” or “out the back”. There were also hints around that the Carsons were a “bit posh”. And that Billy had rather come down in the world by marrying my grandmother. I think I remember some phrase like “Well . . . Billy’s father was employed in the Government, he was quite important.”

After a few years of investigating my father’s Tolley family I had mastered a few tricks and techniques to get a plan of action going. After putting together some basic facts from what I knew I found my grandfather’s marriage registration details from FreeBMD and obtained his marriage certificate. I was surprised to find that Billy was in fact William Thomas Henry Carson - that did sound a bit posh. His father was William George Carson and William George’s occupation was given as Civil Servant. My grandmother’s occupation was listed as being a “Daily Help”, so it looked as though the stories I’d started with might have some foundation.

From there I tracked my Grandfather’s birth, and found out that he was born in Colchester and at that time my Great Grandfather William George was in the army and was a corporal in the 2nd Dorsetshire regiment. So maybe not that “posh” after all!

I eventually found out a great deal about his military service, and discovered that he spent a great deal of his life in India, and indeed that my grandfather spent his early years there too. And I discovered that my grandfather had a brother and a sister who were actually born in India. Finding my great grandfather’s military records in the National archive was a turning point in my Carson research. Many of the Carson family served in the Army and their military records have a wealth of information which I could never have dreamed of finding anywhere else. Altogether there were 34 pages of records about my great grandfather William George, his appearance, his eyesight, his chest measurement, his tatoos (more later about these), and his medical history. These papers also the detailed the medical history of my great grandmother who’s health was compromised after the birth of her third child in India, and as a result she was sent home along with my great grandfather who was her “escort”. Army records are thorough and pretty comprehensive and from them I got details of birth dates, residence etc, and with a bit of sideways searching it was a relatively simple matter to get back to my Great great grandfather James Page Carson, and to his father John Carson who died before 1841 (His wife is a widow in the 1841 Census.) John Carson is so far the earliest of the family that I’ve managed to find.

I’ve not been able to get back earlier than this with the Carson line. Unfortunately John’s marriage to my great great great grandmother Mary Page happened in 1829 before Civil Registration (brought in in 1837) and the parish register information for their marriage in St Leonard’s Church, Wallingford gives only the scant details - Dec 10 1829 CARSON John, Bach, otp PAGE Mary, Sp, Benson Oxon, by lic. Wits Sarah WERNHAM & George WERNHAM married by John Langley, Rector.

So I’ve got no details of John’s parents, occupation or even his age. In other records John is described as a shop-keeper, a draper and a tea-dealer in Wallingford and (possibly) in Benson in Oxfordshire. It seems that John, being described as “of this parish” was a resident of Wallingford, but that is as far as I’ve managed to get with his origins. Certainly the Carson name is not common in Oxfordshire, and most distribution maps that I’ve found suggest an origin which is Irish, Scots, or certainly from northern England.

 I have a death certificate for a John Carson, occupation given as “Tea dealer” who died in Chiswick in London (but by my reckoning he should be about 10 years older than the certificated age (assuming he was about the same age as his wife), so I don’t know if this is the correct John Carson.

The evidence for this certificate being the correct JC however is supported a fair bit ( I think) by the fact that John’s sons James and George came to London in the late 1850s/1860s and they initially lived pretty close to Chiswick in the Brentford and Ealing areas, so maybe there was a family connection there. I’d be very interested in hearing any views/memories that any living Carsons would have about where the line started from.

So, having gone back as far as I can with the Carsons, let’s start from John Carson and track forwards and tell a little more of the story.

John Carson ( - d before1841)

Married Mary Page (1801-1867) in St Leonard’s Church in Wallingford in 1829. Mary’s mother (also Mary) was recorded in the 1841 Census as being a publican in Benson (a small Village just inside the Oxfordshire/Berkshire border). There were several pubs/inns in Benson and I’m not sure which one the Pages were associated with. There is a book by Kate Tiller called Benson, A village through its history which describes the architecture and layout of the village, with some old sketch maps, and it may be possible to use this along with the 1841 Census to count the houses on the ground and plot out which pub it was.

John and Mary had two children, my great great great grandfather James Page Carson (1835-1915) and George Carson (1837-1913). James Page Carson was baptised in the Bensington Independent Chapel (Bensington is an old local name for Benson), and John is recorded as being a draper. In a trade directory for Oxfordshire in 1840 he is recorded as a tea dealer; James’ marriage certificate says he was a shop keeper, and George’s marriage certificate says his father was a linen draper.

The Carson brothers, James and George.

As far as I can tell both brothers spent their early life in Benson with their widowed mother Mary. They are both recorded as living at home with her in the 1841 and 1851 Census. By 1851 James is working as a miller, but George has no stated occupation. By 1861 James and George have moved away south. James appears married in Ealing in London with a wife Sarah, and two young children, Charles Frederick James, and Henry Thomas. He is recorded as working as a bricklayer’s labourer. George on the other hand in 1861 is recorded as being in North Camp Aldershot and is serving as a private in the Coldstream Guards. A good website: http://goo.gl/zJL8 has an account of the history of the camps and a picture of the area around the time that George was serving there.

Their mother Mary incidentally spent the remainder of her life around Benson and Wallingford, and after her sons went off to London she entered the Wallingford workhouse sometime after 1851 and died there in 1867.

George Carson (1837-1913)

In 1871 George turns up at 12 Oak Street in Ealing. He is still a private in the Coldstream Guards, but he is apparently married to Mary, who’s working as a laundress and there is a young girl, recorded as George’s daughter who is listed as Ellen E(lizabeth) French. A little bit of rootling around the parish records in Ealing shows that there was a very large French family living around Kings Arms Place and Oak Road throughout the 1830s until the 1880s. Charles French (1806-1877) and his wife Mary Ann, nee Willshear (1810-1884) had 11 children all baptised at St Mary’s Church. Their fifth child, Mary Ann (b 1842) is the correct age to be the Mary living with George in 1871. Further digging shows that the girl Ellen, was baptised in Ealing on 12 July 1865 but at Holy Trinity Church, not the usual French “family” church of St Mary’s. The register details show that the baptism was a private one (usually given when a child was sickly and perhaps not expected to live), and no name was entered for the name of the father. I have no evidence that George was Ellen’s father. And, I have not been able to find any evidence that George and Mary Ann were ever married. I cannot find any record in the civil registration indexes for a marriage certificate, and (so far) I’ve not found any record in any of the church registers that I’ve been able to look at around Ealing. That’s not to say that they weren’t married, there are many reasons why a registration record can be missed out of the General Register Office Index. And it’s possible if George was soldiering in Aldershot they might have married there. And, George’s brother James was baptized in a non-conformist chapel back in Benson, so the family might have been non-conformist and that could account for my not being able to track the record down.

However the plot thickens when we get to the next Census in 1881. George is still living at 12 Oak Street, this time recorded as working as an excavator (maybe canal work or the London Underground?), but he is recorded as being unmarried, and certainly there is no trace of Mary Ann. I’ve looked for a record of a death for Mary Carson between 1871 and 1881, but have drawn a blank there as well. There is a marriage recorded in the Brentford registration district (which covers Ealing) in 1877 for a Mary Ann French, which might mean that she was never married to George and she just left him and married someone else. That is still to be researched.

So that’s the mystery. And, the same mystery in almost the same form exists with George’s brother, my great great grandfather James Page Carson, more of which later.

After his appearance in the 1881 Census as an unmarried man George weds Mary Benstead (1851-1917) in the Church of St John the Evangelist, in Smith Square, Westminster on 21 June 1885. He also says he is a bachelor and gives his occupation as a stoker.

I believe they had their first child Harriet Eva in early 1886, but she died in early 1888. (The birth and death registrations are in the correct district for where George and Mary were living). I need to buy the birth certificate for this child to be 100% sure. My reasoning is that in the 1911 Census, where people are asked about number of children born and number still living, there’s an indication that George and Mary had three children of whom only 2 were alive in 1911. George and Mary were married in 1895 and their first son George James was born in 1889 which is quite a large gap. Harriet Eva’s birth would have filled that gap, and Mary Benstead’s parents were Edward Benstead and Harriet Turvey.

George James Carson (1889-1955)

George James Carson was born on 9 December 1889 at 6 Fynes Street Westminster, situated between Victoria and Millbank on the Thames.

The family are living at the same address a few months later when the 1891 Census takes place. George James’ father George is here described as an engine driver, and on George James’ birth certificate as “stoker at the law courts” This might mean that he was employed at Westminster Hall, near Parliament - Westminster Hall was the original site of the Central Law courts, but as far as I can make out legal work declined there with the building of new courts in the Strand which were completed in 1882. Certainly George gave his occupation in 1911 as working for the Government at the law courts.

In 1901 the family had moved to 24 Smith Square, further into the heart of Westminster. By this time the family has expanded with the birth in October 1892 of Charles Alexander Carson (1892-1964). Father George is recorded as being a “stationary engine driver”. Again I’m not sure what that means in reality, but all these records seem to suggest some sort of work with steam engines, boilers or the like. The term stationary engine driver in the countryside usually referred to people who operated steam engines for threshing machines etc, but I’m not sure what that would mean in the context of a Law court in the centre of London.

It is from here that we can get quite a detailed view of George James’ life and information about his family because on 21 October 1908 he joined the army and was enlisted in the 2nd Battalion of the Manchester Regiment. From then on his life is well documented (often in triplicate) by the Army. His army service record and pension application (after WW1) survive in the National Archives and contains a wealth of interesting information.

From these records we can see that between January 1904 and December 1906 George James was employed as an errand boy working at Bessborough Stores, in Roehampton Street in Westminster. Bessborough Stores are no longer there, but Pimlico Underground station leads out onto Bessborough Street which is close by to Vauxhall Bridge. At this time he was living at 21 Turner’s Buildings, part of the Millbank Estate where the family had been living since February 1905. From 1907 to 1908 George James was working for Mowlem and Company as a labourer, or at least that’s what they thought. George James says differently.

On enlistment in 1908 the army sought references from three sources - George James’ employers at Bessborough Stores and Mowlems. They also contacted the London County Council (I presume the LCC were the landlords of Turners Buildings). The Bessborough Stores reference said that George James was sober and honest, as did Mowlems. Mowlems seem to think that he was employed as a labourer, whereas George James claims to be an electrician on his forms. The LCC referee, SW Wright said “Sir, I do not know the lad herein referred to. A Mr Carson & family has lived at 21 Turner Bld’s since Feby 1905 and are very respectable quiet people, but I have never seen, to my knowledge, any of the children.”

George James’ initial examination on his Army enlistment describes him as follows:

(My great grandfather, William George (George James’ cousin) also had a Buffalo Bill tattoo. I don’t know if they were fashionable then or perhaps they were a souvenir of a visit to a Wild West Show?)

A transcription of George James’ Army service record shows he had periods of service at home and also in India and in France. He saw active service and was wounded late in 1918 and returned home in October 1918. His military career would seem to show that he was at times rebellious and at odds with authority, but even so he was discharged with his character being described as “Very Good”, so perhaps he wasn’t much different to the range of other soldiers.

 Army Service Record Transcription. Illegible material represented {????}

• 21 Oct 1908 Attested Private 2nd Battalion Manchester Regiment.
• Class “C” education certificate.
• Joined at Portsmouth on 24 Oct 1908.
• 2 Feb 1910 Stationed in India.
• 8 Feb 1910 - Posted to 1st Bttn Manchester Regt.
• 3 Oct 1910 - Awarded 3rd Class Education Certificate.
• 1 Nov 1910 - Awarded Class II proficiency pay.
• 1 Jan 1912 - Awarded Good Conduct badge.
• 4 Sept 1912 - Amritsar. Absent 23 hours from 12 midnight until 11 pm. And neglect of duty whilst acting postman. Punishment 8 days confined to barracks.
• 6 Sep 1912 - Good Conduct badge forfeited.
• 9 June 1913 - Awarded Class I proficiency pay.
• 28 July 1913 - Jullundur. Absent from route march 6 am. Punishment 5 days confined to barracks.
• 6 Sep 1913 - Good Conduct badge reset.
• 14 Feb 1914 - Awarded Class II proficiency pay
• 27 Aug 1914 - Stationed in British France.
• 17 July 1914 - Conduct record: Clean, sober, smart and hardworker.
• 31 Dec 1914 - Appointed unpaid L/Cpl.
• 26 Feb 1915 - Posted D company L/Cpl.
• 26 Feb 1915 - Stationed at Home.
• 23 Apr 1915 - Post 1st Bttn Manchester Regt L/Cpl.
• 1 July 1915 - Appointed Paid L/Cpl 3rd Bttn Manchester Regt.
• 20 July 1915 - Revert to Pte.
• 20 July 1915 - Posted to 2nd Manchester Regt as Pte. No6 Entrenching Bttn
• 20 July 1915 - Stationed in France.
• 20 Aug 1915 - Appointed acting Cpl.
• 8 Dec 1915 - Reverted to Pte for striking a soldier (Private Warren).
• 25 Dec 1915 - Offence “When on active service not complying with an order”. Severely reprimanded
• 29 Mar 1916 - Appointed acting Cpl.
• 10 Apr 1916 - Reverted to Lce Cpl on proceeding to {going Pon}
• 10 July 1916 - Posted to D company L/Cpl.
• 10 July 1916 - Stationed at Home.
• 1 Sep 1916 - Posted to 3rd Bttn Manchester Regt as L/Cpl.
• 16 Jan 1917 - Posted 2nd Bttn Manchester Regt, BEF as Cpl.
• 16 Jan 1917 - Stationed in France.
• 9 Mar 1917 - {???????} {D??} Posted Cpl
• 9 Mar 1917 - Stationed at Home.
• 28 May 1917 - Cleethorpes. When on Active Service overstaying his leave from Tattoo until 9pm on 4th March. Reprimanded and forfeits 8 days pay.
• 29 May 1917 - Posted 3rd Bttn as Cpl
• 4 Jun 1917 - Ffts 8 days RW for aba 28:5 yr to {??????}
• 11 Aug 1917 - Cleethorpes. Irregular conduct. Reprimanded.
• 6 Dec 1917 - Cleethorpes. Absent from reveille until noon 10 Dec 1917 (4 days & 6 hours). Severely reprimanded and forfeits 5 days pay.
• 20 Jan 1918 - Cleethorpes Absent until 21 Jan 1918
• 22 Jan 1918 to 28 Jan 1918. - In open arrest.
• 28 Jan 1918 - In arrest awaiting trial.
• 4 Feb 1918 - Tried by RCM & convicted of “When on active service absenting himself without leave and sentenced to be reduced to the ranks and 28 days detention. Days detention remitted by Confirming Officer.
• 4 Feb 1918 - Private.
• 2 July 1918 - Posted IBD Pte, BEF.
• 3 July 1918 - Posted 2nd Bttn Pte.
• 3 Sep 1918 - BEF.
• 3 Oct 1918 - Wounded, GSW Arm.
• 5 Oct 1918 - Stationed at Home.
• 5 Oct 1918 - Posted 2nd Bttn Pte.
• 19 Nov 1918 - Posted 3rd Bttn Pte.
• 13 Feb 1919 - No 1 Dispersal Unit Harrowby, Grantham, Lincolnshire.
• 12 Mar 1919 - Demobilized and transferred to Section “B” Army Reserve. - Address Greatcotes nr Grimsby.
• 20 Oct 1920 - Discharged {???? 32A ?????? ????? ???????} Character on Discharge: “Very Good”
• 18 Oct 1921 - Application for pension on the grounds of heart trouble and nervousness. Rejected.
• 19 Sept 1922 Joins Army Reserve at Preston - Number 3512252

Medals Awarded: 

• 1914 Star.
• British War Medal.
• Victory Medal.

 I suspect more details of George James’ active service (battles he may have been in etc) might be found in a detailed history of the Manchester regiment, but I haven’t done that so far.

I’m also interested in why George James joined the Manchester Regt. Could it be that there was some family connection in the north of England? As I said before the Carson name tends to derive from Ireland, and Scotland, so is there a link there? I’m probably just speculating here. My great grandfather joined up with the Dorsets, and there was no connection there, so maybe it was just that either or both of them just fancied a change of scene from London and fell across the first recruiting office they came across?

Whilst still in military service and stationed in Cleethorpes George James went to London and was possibly present at the death of this mother Mary at the end of September 1917 He was listed on her death certificate as the informant of her death.

During May of 1918 George James replied to a letter from the Army informing them that with the death of his mother in the previous year he, George, was now official next-of-kin to his brother Charles Alexander who was serving with the Royal Engineers (I think in France) at that time. Charles also has surviving military service records which I’ll mention later. George James was writing from the Military Hospital in Abbey Dowe West, Grimsby. I’m not sure why he would have been there. I don’t think there’s anything in his record that suggests illness or injury. He was shot in the arm in France but that wasn’t until later in the year. Again there’s nothing I can see in his history to suggest that he was serving there as an orderly or in any other role. Again, perhaps looking at the history of the Manchester regiment may give a clue.

During his military service at the end of the previous year, George James married Gladys May Toyne (1899-1982) on 25 October 1917 in Tetney. I guess he must have met her first when he was stationed in Cleethorpes in early 1917. Toyne appears to be a common name in Lincolnshire and the surrounding area and relatively rare elsewhere in Britain. On the wedding certificate Gladys gives her father’s name to be Walter Toyne. I have had no luck so far in tracking his parents and taking the line further. There are Toynes in Friskney & Spilsby and I’ve looked at transcripts of those parish records at the Society of Genealogists library in London, but I can’t find a birth record for Walter or any likely candidates.

George James and Gladys had their first child George Douglas Carson on 29 March 1918, five months after their marriage.

In 1919 after he was demobilized, George James gives his occupation as electrical engineer and his address is the Gables Farm, Tetney.

In 1920 on his application for a disability pension from the army following the war, George James’ address is given as 19 Wade Avenue, Hope Street in Grimsby. His request for a pension on the grounds of heart trouble and nervousness was rejected.

Between 1920 and 1921 there is correspondence from the Infantry Record Office which appears to suggest that he may have enquired about, or been asked to re-enlist in the army as a private in Section D Army reserve East Lancs. In an completed form dated 3 June 1921 George signs to say that he is willing to enlist. He says his address at this time is 53 Holles Street Grimsby.

There is a slightly tetchy note dated 14 June 1921 from OC Records Preston to RO Grimsby which says -

“Will you please tell me how his case stands. I forwarded a FD459 for the enlistment of this man into Sect D for Manchester Regt to you on 7th inst. This is the last vacancy & I have 7 other men who want it so if Carson doesn’t intend to enlist I’d be glad to have his papers back.”

The reply to this seems to be on 17 June 1921 “Sir this man is not now desirous of joining Sect D Army Reserve. I have expected him every day this week to go to Lincoln for examination by he’s failed to report. States he cannot afford the time off from his work.”

I don’t know what work he was doing then, or how he earned a living from then on, or indeed very much more about him although it would seem that he and Gladys had busy time in the next few years.

Birth registration records suggest that he and Gladys had at least 7 more children after 1921 - Bettina Gladys Carson (1921-2005), Ronald Vinter Carson (1922-1985), Muriel Carson (b1924), Ellen M Carson (b1926), Audrey Carson (b1928), Mavis Carson (b 1930), and Bernard J Carson (b 1933).

I think I’ve managed to follow most of these children and I’ve done an outline tree which I hope is reasonably accurate.

George James died on 4 Sept 1955 due to a combination of high blood pressure and a stroke at 110a Scartho Road, which I believe is now the address of the Diana Princess of Wales Hospital. According to his death certificate he was living at 274 Wellington Street, Grimsby, and he had been a Fish Lumper working on the docks. He was 65.

I think Gladys outlived him and didn’t die until the end of 1982; there is a death registration recorded in Grimsby in the December quarter of that year.

 

 

Researched by: Martin Tolley, Greens Norton, Northamptonshire

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