How this all started
“Oh, and this is Grandma and Grandpa Calvert”, my auntie said, “I think this photo was taken around 1918. It must have been for Aunt Martha’s wedding.”. Certainly, Grandpa Calvert has a flower in his button hole, but Grandma looks sad and appears to wearing mourning jewellery. Also, why is she holding a pamphlet if it’s a wedding photo? I was intrigued and decided to look more into the story of my great grandparents.
Initially, I spoke to my mum. She told me all about her aunts and uncles, and I started to construct a family tree. I discovered Aunt Martha was married in 1920, and had an older brother called John. “No”, Mum said, “Martha was the oldest.”.
I paid for a certified copy of the birth certificate to show my mum. “But the names are right, and the address is in the right area. But your Nanna never, ever said anything about a brother called John. Only Uncle Will, Fred, and Jimmy.”. John Henry Calvert was also included on the 1901 and 1911 census but after that, nothing.
World War One
The First World War started on 28th July 1914, when John was 19 years old and my nanna was an infant. Ten days later, Lord Kitchener appealed for 100,000 men to join the army but over 750,000 enlisted within the next eight weeks. During the course of the war a further 2.5 million men were conscripted. There is a distinct possibility my great uncle fought in this war.
With the limited information I had, and no immediate search results through online family history sites, a different approach was necessary. I ended up compiling a folder of military records, which I sorted by service number. With this, I could establish which records did not relate to my great uncle. It is mostly this information documented on my blog.
For each serviceman I have located I have included one blog post, with links to the source material and references. Once I have established a person is not my great uncle, I have stopped investigating them. However, if you would like more information adding to the record, to act as an online memorial I would be happy to oblige. Please reach out to me using the contact page.
The Forgotten Uncle 