Researching Quartermaster Sergeant Percy Charles Thompson, 2 Essex Regt, d 1912

Hi everyone I will remove post if I am breaking the rules, I am trying to research a gentleman by the name of Percy Charles Thompson of the 2nd Battalion Essex regiment, he was quartermaster sergeant and died in 1912
thanks for reading

 

UK, Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects, 1901-1929
Name: Percy Charles Thompson
Gender: Male
Death Date: 23 Jul 1912
Rank: Or Me Sgt Someone cannot transcribe properly
Regiment: 2nd Essex
Regimental Number: 4086
See image attached


Your title says Thomspson - it should only have 1 x 's'

Web: Global, Gravestone Photograph Index, 1265-2014
Name: Percy Charles Thompson
Birth Year: 1876
Burial Year: 1912
Burial Place: Ipswich, Suffolk, England
Death Age: 36
Cemetery: Old Municipal Section H
Notes: QM Serg. 2nd Batt. The Essex Regiment.
Original URL: http://www.gravestonephotos.co...

England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915
Name: Percy C Thompson
Estimated birth year: abt 1876
Registration Year: 1912
Registration Quarter: Jul-Aug-Sep
Age at Death: 36
Registration district: Ipswich
Parishes for this Registration District: View Ecclesiastical Parishes associated with this Registration District
Inferred County: Suffolk
Volume: 4a
Page: 879

England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915
Name: Percy Charles Thompson
Registration Year: 1876
Registration Quarter: Jan-Feb-Mar
Registration district: Ipswich
Parishes for this Registration District: View Ecclesiastical Parishes associated with this Registration District
Inferred County: Suffolk
Volume: 4a
Page: 680

There are several family trees on Ancestry for him
Percy Charles Thompson
1876–1912

BIRTH ABT. 1876 • Ipswich, Suffolk, England
DEATH 23 JUL 1912 • Suffolk, United Kingdom

Seems in 1911 he was based in Ireland:
Name: Percy Charles Thompson
Relation to Head: Head
Residence Date: 2 Apr 1911
Townland/Street: Curragh Military Camp
District: Kildare
County: Kildare
Household Members:
Name Age
Percy Charles Thompson
Sarah Jane Thompson 40
URL: http://www.census.nationalarch...


TD

 

Thanks for your hard work Tricky I have changed the title, you have found some great information

 

This is a photo of the gentleman I am looking into

 

Looking at the photo I have taken a guess that he has a Boer War medal on his chest - this MIGHT be him

UK, Military Campaign Medal and Award Rolls, 1793-1949
Name: P Thompson
Service Date: 1899-1902
Service Place: South Africa
Campaign or Service: South Africa - Second Boer War
Regiment or Unit Name: 2nd Battalion Essex
Regimental Number: 4086



TD

 

Thanks again Tricky great information

 

Just to clarify, the medal on Percy's chest is the Queen's South Africa medal for the Boer War, showing four clasps which matches the information on the medal rolls posted by TD. Great photo by the way.

 

I found another 2/Essex Roll, this is from May 1902. No new info though.

 

Cheers Bomboo thanks for the medal information, you are right about the photo I have more of the gentlemans funnel where the streets are line with hundreds of people, he must have been a very well to do gentleman.

 

Ah! funeral!
Any chance you might contact Ipswich newspaper archives for July/August 1912?
Or Suffolk Records Office?
If his funeral was that well attended, there's likely to be a newspaper report.

Just out of curiosity, I checked to see if any Thompson were WW1 casualties from Ipswich
Private. THOMPSON, STANLEY MORRIS. Service Number 201191. Died 20/07/1916. Aged 19
4th Bn. Suffolk Regiment
Son of Morris and Annie Thompson, of 20, Bulstrode Rd., Ipswich.

Private. THOMPSON, ALBERT. Service Number 473013. Died 10/10/1918. Aged 23
1st East Anglian Field Amb. Royal Army Medical Corps
Son of the late Arthur Thompson, of Long St., Ipswich
Now how strange would it be if that was a relative, on 10th October 2017?

 

I also have a newspaper cutting showing the photo I have, I found these in a carboot sale in Liverpool

 

Great information Kevin thanks for looking

 

So you have just the photo or more details in the clipping?
TD in post #2 mentioned that in 1911 there was a 40 year old Sarah Jane Thompson living with him in The Curragh.
It would seem more likely to be his wife, albeit a few years older (second marriage for her?) rather than a sister, in barracks.
It obviously meant a lot to someone and if they have just surfaced in Liverpool, perhaps their child, kept these through the years until recently passing away and the contents turning up at a boot sale.
Have to say a rather sad end for a fine looking soldier, with 4 Boer War clasps.

Nice of you to save them, even if surviving family(?) haven't.

 

Hi Kevin I have photos of the funeral plus this photo that I think it’s my gentleman standing behind a bar

 

Bamboo
The other Roll you found is also on Ancestry but I left it off as it doesn't provide any further enlightening information

Kevin
Yes I would say the woman on the 1911 Irish census in The Curragh was his wife

Vespa
The photo above of your man at his funeral - he looks quite good for a corpse

TD

 

Thanks TD. I've got several pdf versions of QSA medal rolls on my computer, it made a change to actually have an image for a forum members enquiry. I was also trying to come up with an image of a QSA medal with the four clasps, but this was the best I could do (clasps only).

 

Nice one Squire

TD

 

Sarah Jane was his wife
National Archives: Census of Ireland 1911

Residents of a house 12 in Curragh Military Camp (Kildare, Kildare)

Surname Forename Age Sex Relation to head Religion
Thompson Percy Charles - - Head of Family -
Thompson Sarah Jane 40 Female Wife

It seems they had be married at the time of the Census for less than 1 year
(See document below)


In fact there were quite a few Thompsons in the area and probably the Regiment


Surname Forename Townland/Street DED County Age Sex
Thompson J Military Barrack Kildare Kildare 28 M
Thompson Elizabeth Military Barrack Kildare Kildare 30 F
Thompson A E Military Barrack Kildare Kildare 18 M
Thompson William Alfred Military Barrack Kildare Kildare 27 M
Thompson W Military Barrack Kildare Kildare 22 M
Thompson Sarah Jane Curragh Military Camp Kildare Kildare 40 F
Thompson Percy Charles Curragh Military Camp Kildare Kildare


TD

 

Ooooooops - from Wiki
Curragh Camp - Wikipedia
The problem of sexually transmitted diseases due to the prevalence of prostitution and men willing to partake in their services can be seen by the numbers reporting with gonorrhea in the military hospital in the 1911 Census

TD

 

Great article to read thanks Tricky, the photo with the gentleman standing behind the bar is the place in this photo i think as this came with the collection.