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The information I have on this group comes mainly from other people who have been researching the Franklins, most notably Jenny Franklin, and I haven't been able to afford to get to see the documents myself and note the page references etc. yet.
William George Elliot Franklin, [known as George?], born between early November 1873 and early April 1874
William George Elliot Franklin was born in Gibraltar where his father, Colour Sergeant Franklin, was stationed, and we know his age only from the census and from the fact that he was said to be seventy-eight when he died on 4th November 1952. At the time of the census of 3rd April 1881 he was aged seven and living at the Grand Shaft Barracks at Dover along with his mother and his sisters Florence Blanche, Lillian Edith and Ethel Maud. [1881 census for Hougham, Kent]
Family information is that he was usually known as George, but since we know from the census that his brother Ernest Albert was definitely known as George, this may be an error - it seems unlikely that two living brothers would both have been called George. [1901 census for Cork]
We know that he joined the East Surrey Regiment (his father's old outfit), at some point, probably round about 1888 if he was following the same pattern as his brothers. Regimental papers record that he fought in the Ashanti War - probably the Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War of 1894-1896, although there was an additional conflict called the War of the Golden Stool in 1901 - and in the Boer War of 1899-1902.
He married Clara Louisa Willmore at Hythe Parish Church on 14th December 1904, and they had a daughter Darcia Franklin who was born in 1907 in Thayetmyo, Burma. [GRO Statutory Marriages, December quarter 1904, Elham, 2a 2420]
We don't know whether he was still in the army in 1914 or not. If he did join in his teens, like his brothers, then even if he served for a full twenty-one years he should have been a civilian again by that point, but if he joined in, say, 1895 he could still have been a serving soldier in 1914. Elham is close to the School of Musketry at Hythe, so he might well still have been in the army when he married.
We do not know when or if he fought in the Great War. Conscription was introduced in January 1916 but it only applied to single men aged eighteen to forty-one. Married men, and widowers with children, were exempt. William could have been as young as forty-one at that point, though he must have turned forty-two by April: but if he was no longer in the army he could only have been called up if he was widowed and had no surviving children - and we know he had a wife and daughter who were alive in or about 1948.
A few months later the exemption for married men was abolished: but by that point William was at least forty-two. He would only have become eligible for call-up in April 1918, at which point the age restriction was extended to fifty-one, and he would have been about forty-four. Unless he was in a reserved occupation, or sick, he would have been called up at that point, whether or not he actually went into battle.
On the other hand, he may have still been in the army when war broke out, since we don't really know when he joined, or he could have been a civilian and enlisted voluntarily, as his brother-in-law George Shirran did.
What we do know is that as at 1922 he was still in the army, in 1st Battalion The East Surreys, and was a Company Sergeant Major and a well-known "character". Most probably he had finished his term in the army, then re-enlisted in 1914, as a career soldier and not just a spur-of-the-moment volunteer. If he was with 1st Battalion throughout the war he would have been sent into France via Le Havre very early, in August 1914, and remained in France until November 1917 when the unit moved to Italy, returning to France in April 1918. [The Long, Long Trail: The East Surrey Regiment]
By 1948 he was living with his wife and daughter at Niagara Falls, and visited Buffalo (a city seventeen miles sou'sou'east of Niagara) to receive a Meritorious Service Medal from Sir Angus Fletcher, the British Consul-General, on behalf of the king. The Niagara Falls complex, with American Falls in the distance on the left, with the thin skein of Bridal Falls just to their right, separated from them by Luna Island, then the bulk of Goat Island in the centre, straddling the border between the U.S. and Canada, and the Horseshoe Falls, which are in Canada, on the right: from Wikipedia: Niagara Falls William died aged seventy-eight on 4th November 1952. Page 125 of the May 1953 issue of the regimental newsletter of the East Surreys records: FRANKLIN- On the 4th November, 1952, at Millard Fillmore Hospital, Buffalo, New York, William George Franklin, late CSM., The East Surrey Regiment, aged 78. CSM. Franklin served in the South African War and the Ashanti War and was a well-known character in the Regiment. We published a photograph of him in 1948 being presented with the Meritorious Service Medal by Sir Angus Fletcher, the British Consul to Buffalo. The fact that this obituary does not mention his having taken part in any campaigns during World War One tends to suggest that he was based at home during that conflict. ◎ William George Elliot and what is probably his daughter Darcia appear in the Franklin family photograph, q.v.. Florence Blanche Franklin, born between April 1875 and April 1876 Florence Blanche, my great-grandmother, was born in Gibraltar where her father was stationed, and is covered in her own section. Lillian Edith Franklin, born in October or November 1877 Lillian Edith was born in Aldershot, so presumably after her father was posted there on 24th July 1877. All the censuses agree that she was three, twenty-three, thirty-three and so on on the census dates, and she was said to be sixty-eight when she died on 26th November 1945. Her birth was registered in the December quarter, so we can pin it down fairly firmly to somewhere between 1st October and 26th November 1877. [1881 census for Hougham, Kent; GRO Statutory Deaths, December quarter 1945, Aldershot, 2c 246; GRO Statutory Births, December quarter 1877, Franham 2a 95] At the time of the 3rd April 1881 she was aged three and living at the Grand Shaft Barracks at Dover along with her mother, her brother William George Elliot and her sisters Florence Blanche and Ethel Maud. In the Irish census of 31st March 1901 she was single and living with her parents, her maternal grandmother and her brothers Francis Arthur, Ernest Albert (who for some reason is named as George EA) and Lancelot Thomas in House 4 of the prison warders' quarters at the military prison in the north-east ward of Cork City. [1881 census for Hougham, Kent; 1901 census for Cork] Lillian married Thomas Stone probably some time between 1901 and 1905: what seems to be their eldest child was five in the 1911 census. Thomas was evidently in the army: the children were all born in or near army camps and the marriage isn't in the registry for England and Wales, meaning the couple probably married abroad - most likely in Ireland, since the Franklins were in Cork City in 1901, and Lillian's first child was born at the Curragh of Kildare. As at the census of 2nd April 1911 the family were living at Sherborne Road in Farnborough, Hampshire; a town which is contiguous with Aldershot. The details are as follows: Thomas Stone, head of house aged forty-three, a sanitary labourer born on the Isle of Portland, Dorset Lillian Stone, wife aged thirty-three, born at Aldershot, Hants William Stone, son aged five, born at the Curragh Camp, Ireland George Stone, son aged four, born at Middleburg, South Africa Ethel Stone, daughter aged three, born at Middleburg, South Africa Charles Stone, son aged one, born at Farnborough, Hants [1911 census: RG14PN6255 RG78PN297 RD109 SD2 ED5 SN130] Another son, Vincent, was born on the 28th of December 1911 at Sherborne Road, Farnborough. So, we know that the family were at the Curragh Camp in Kildare, Ireland circa 1905-1906; at Middleburg in South Africa circa 1906-1907; and at Farnborough from circa 1909 onwards. Family information is that all the couple's sons went on to be boy soldiers in the Duke of York's, and a family photograph shows the three older boys in army uniform. On the face of it it would seem logical that this would also have been Thomas's old regiment. However, there have been at least four regiments called "The Duke of York's", and only one seems to have born the name in the right time-frame: The Duke Of York's Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars. This was a territorial outfit: ideal for boys to get a taste of army life without necessarily committing themselves, but not a unit which would have been at the Curragh in 1905. It has been suggested on the Victorian Wars Forum that South Africa had a booming economy after the Boer War and Thomas might have already left the army by 1906 and have moved to Middleburg as a civilian seeking his fortune. If so he evidently failed to find it. On the other hand, it was also said that a sizeable British garrison remained in South Africa right up to World War Two, so Thomas could well have been a part of it. All we know for sure, then, about Thomas's army service is that he was stationed at the Curragh camp in 1905 or 1906, and that he had probably been in Ireland for a year or more beforehand, since we know Lillian was in Cork City in 1901 and it's likely that it was in Ireland that Thomas and Lillian met, some time prior to the conception of their first child who was born in 1905 or 1906. Lillian Stone and her children, with Ethel on her right, and presumably William seated on his mother\'s left, Charles behind Ethel, George behind William and Vincent in the middle: from their ages and Lillian\'s sombre clothes the photo\' was probably taken soon after Thomas died Lillian Stone and her mother, Caroline Ellen Franklin née Walsh Lillian Stone and her mother, Caroline Ellen Franklin née Walsh, with Lillian\'s daughter Ethel Stone behind them and probably George Stone behind Lillian and William Stone behind Caroline Thomas Stone died in the September quarter of 1920, aged fifty-two, death being registered at Hartley Wintney which is about five miles from Farnborough, so the family were still in the area. Lillian was left with five children ranging in age from eight to fourteen or fifteen. [GRO Statutory Deaths, September quarter 1920, Hartley W. 2c 195] Lillian's father William James Franklin died on on 21st August 1922 at 58 Park Road, Aldershot. Lillian was present when he died and it was she who registered the death: it is possible that she was actually living with her parents by this point, whether the house was theirs or hers. [GRO Statutory Deaths, September quarter 1922, Farnham, 21 143] Lillian and Thomas's youngest boy, Vincent Stone, emigrated to Canada in 1930, aged eighteen. He sailed on the Canadian Pacific ship Minnedosa, arriving at St John, New Brunswick. Lillian died aged sixty-eight on the 26th of November 1945 at 153 Cove Road, Farnborough, having been a widow for twenty-five years. [GRO Statutory Deaths, December quarter 1945, Aldershot, 2c 246] ◎ Lillian Edith and her son George appear in the Franklin family photograph, q.v.. Ethel Maud Franklin, born between April 1879 and April 1880 Ethel Maud Franklin, the eponymous aunt of Ethel Maud Shirran, was born some time after her family arrived in Chatham on 4th 1879 and before the following April. At the time of the 3rd April 1881 she was one year old and living at the Grand Shaft Barracks at Dover along with her mother, her brother William George Elliot and her sisters Florence Blanche and Lillian Edith. All that is known about Ethel Maud Franklin is that she worked as a psychiatric nurse, and was still unmarried in 1911. She appears in the 1901 census as an asylum nurse at the Kent County Lunatic Asylum, and in 1911 as an asylum nurse at the West Ham Borough Asylum, Goodmayes, Ilford, Essex. This may have had some bearing on the fact that first her niece Edith Blanche Shirran and later her sister Florence Blanche Shirran would move to the West Ham area. [1901 census RG13/789; 1911 census Ilford] ◎ Ethel Maud appears in the Franklin family photograph, q.v.. Judging from this photo', although she was, like her sisters, a little on the stout side Ethel Maud was the best-looking of the Franklin girls: even rather beautiful. Francis Arthur Franklin, known as Frank, born 6th April 1889 Francis Arthur was born in Gibraltar on 6th April 1889, after his father had left the army and become a prison warder at the garrison prison on Gibraltar. We know that his sister Florence Blanche, at least, was with the family at that time, because she married George Shirran on Gibraltar in 1892. In the Irish census of 31st March 1901 Francis was living with his parents, his maternal grandmother and his sister Lillian Edith and brothers Ernest Albert (who for some reason is named as George EA) and Lancelot Thomas in House 4 of the prison warders' quarters at the military prison in the north-east ward of Cork City. [1901 census for Cork] Francis initially worked as a servant, then joined 9th Battalion The King's Royal Rifles at Cork on 28th February 1905, aged fifteen. He was "discharged ... by purchase", presumably meaning he bought himself free, at Mallow in County Cork on 3rd January 1906, having served for three hundred and nine days. Nearly two years later he re-enlisted with the East Surrey Regiment (his father's old outfit) on 4th November 1907. In the 1911 census we find him aged twenty-two (actually, a few days short of it, assuming the census in the East was conducted on 2nd April), a Lance Corporal with 2nd Battalion The East Surrey Regiment. His address was given as Bhamo County Overseas Military District. [1911 census RG14PN34979 RD641 SD4 ED2 SN9999] He presumably fought in World War One: 2nd Battalion East Surreys were in Chaubattia in India from August to December 1914, then back home, in Winchester, until January 1915. Then they were sent to France, landing at Le Havre on 19th January, and remained in France until October 1915 when they were sent first to Egypt and thence to Salonika. [The Long, Long Trail: The East Surrey Regiment] Francis married Mildred Martha Johnson in Reading (so he was living in the town his parents had been living in in 1911) in the September quarter of 1922: depending on the exact date this marriage occured either just before or just after the death of Francis's father William on 21st August 1922. [GRO Statutory Marriages, September quarter 1922, Reading 2c 965; GRO Statutory Deaths, September quarter 1922, Farnham, 21 143] The couple had one child, Mary Franklin, who contributed much of the family history which has informed this record, and seems to have died in 2010 (at least, her email address has ceased to be active). Mary was born in Wareham, Dorset on 17th February 1926, and was baptised at the Bovington army training camp in Dorset. [GRO Statutory Births, March quarter 1926, Wareham 5a 404] After he left the army Francis became a postman. The fact that his daughter was baptised at the Bovington Camp suggests that he didn't do so until after February 1926. Francis Arthur Franklin died on 8th November 1955 at Hounslow, Middlesex aged sixty-six. ◎ Francis Arthur, his daughter Mary and what may be his wife Mildred Martha appear in the Franklin family photograph, q.v.. Ernest Albert Franklin, known as George, born on 12th November 1893 Ernest Albert was born on 12th November 1893 in Gibraltar, where his father was a warden at the garrison prison, and was baptised on 7th December. He appears in the 1901 census for Cork City under the name "George EA", living with his parents, his maternal grandmother and his sister Lillian Edith and brothers Francis Arthur and Lancelot Thomas Ernest Albert Franklin with Tini, Hong Kong 24th July 1920 in House 4 of the prison warders' quarters at the military prison in the north-east ward of Cork City. [1901 census for Cork] Ada Thirza Franklin or Hinkley, probably taken before or not long after her marriage to Ernest Albert Franklin: if the dog is Tini as a pup then this must be well before the wedding, as he was already an adult three months before it He enlisted in 1st Battalion The East Surrey Regiment at Reading on 11th June 1908, aged fourteen years and seven months. He went to France with the regiment in August 1914, landing at Le Havre, and would have remained in France until the beginning of May 1917 when he became a prisoner of war. He was a prisoner until 9th December 1918. [The Long, Long Trail: The East Surrey Regiment] On 15th September 1920 he married Ada Thirza Hinkley at Mitcham in Surrey. Ada had been in charge (presumably before her marriage, not after) of accommodation for bachelors working in Hong Kong. The couple had two sons: Stanley William George Franklin who was born on 30th November 1927 in Rawalpindi, India and who is thought to have died at sixteen, possibly of kidney failure; and Brian Charles Franklin, born on 3rd June 1930 in Mitcham. Caroline Ellen Franklin née Walsh with her Hinkley in-laws and grandsons circa 1928 1 Possibly Ada's sister?? 2Ada Thirza Franklin née Hinkley 3Possibly Annie's father?? 4Probably Ernest Albert Franklin 5??? (dressed as a flower fairy???) 6Caroline Ellen Franklin née Walsh 7Ada's mother Annie Hinkley née Howe 8Possibly Annie's mother?? 9Brian Charles Franklin 10Stanley William George Franklin N°s 3 & 8 appear as a couple in other photographs Ernest Albert Franklin and his wife Ada Thirza Franklin née Hinkley, with their sons Brian on the left (Ada\'s right) and Stanley on the right George/Ernest remained in 1st Battalion until 1922, and then spent ten years in 2nd Battalion The East Surreys and rose to be Company Quartermaster Sergeant, finally being discharged on 10th November 1932 after twenty-four years with the regiment. He went straight back into uniform - as a postman, just like his elder brother Frank. In civilian life the family lived in Mitcham, and Ernest and Ada later bought a bungalow in Whitstable in Kent. During the war their two sons were evacuated to Park Lane, Sulgrave - probably to stay with relatives, since Sulgrave is full of Franklins and close to Helmdon where their grandfather William James Franklin was born. After Ada's death, Ernest became an in-pensioner at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea - that is, a Chelsea Pensioner. He was admitted to the Royal Hospital on 13th March 1961 and died there on 28th July 1970. He is buried at Brookwood Military Cemetery, Woking, Surrey, Grave No.224320, Row E/8. Page 20 of the November 1970 issue of the regimental newsletter of the East Surreys records: With the passing of "George" Franklin the Regiment loses the last member of a well known Regimental family. His father, Colour Sergeant William Franklin enlisted in the Thirty First Regiment in 1863 and served until 1884. Ernest Albert Franklin, or George as he was known, was one of three brothers who served in The East Surrey Regiment, one of whom, F.T. Franklin, was killed in action with the Regiment in 1918. George who was born in Gibraltar in 1893, enlisted as a boy at the age of 14 1/2. He went to France with the 1st Surreys in August, 1914, and remained for 14 years with the same battalion. He was a CQMS in the 2nd Bn The East Surrey Regiment when he took his discharge in 1932 after 24 years' service. He was admitted to the Royal Hospital, Chelsea in 1961 and finished his days in the company of other old soldiers who had served their country well. Family information is that George/Ernest had some kind of falling-out with his son Brian. Brian worked as a bank clerk and then as a medical rep. He married Muriel Kathleen Watton, who was originally from Astwood Bank, Worcestershire, and who worked for a while as a nurse at Mitcham Hospital. The couple married in Mitcham on 6th December 1952 and had one child, a son Murray Franklin, who was born in 1955, and who in turn fell out with his father Brian. Murray went on to marry Jenny Franklin, who is responsible for much of the Franklin research used on this site. ◎ Ernest Albert and what is probably his wife Ada appear in the Franklin family photograph, q.v.. Lancelot Thomas Franklin, born on or about 27th October 1897 We can derive Lancelot's birthdate of 27th October 1897 by counting backwards from how old he claimed to be when he enlisted, but we can't assume this is a hundred percent accurate. Lancelot's brother-in-law George Shirran got his own age out by two days when he re-enlisted in 1914. We know from the census that Lancelot was born in Cork City, where his father was working as a prison warden. In the Irish census of 31st March 1901 Lancelot was living with his parents, his maternal grandmother and his sister Lillian Edith and brothers Francis Arthur and Ernest Albert (who for some reason is named as George EA) in House 4 of the prison warders' quarters at the military prison in the north-east ward of Cork City. On 2nd April 1911 he was thirteen and living with his parents and maternal grandmother at 4 St George's Terrace, Reading. [1901 census for Cork; 1911 census for Reading] Lancelot joined the East Surrey Regiment on the 2nd Feb 1912 at Reading, aged fourteen and (if accurate) ninety-eight days. However, he was probably either pressurised into joining his family regiment or did it as some kind of escape, because he seems never to have really settled into army life. As a soldier, he was even more casual than my mother (who rose to the exalted rank of Corporal, and was once told she was lucky to be a private). He was constantly in trouble for minor offences which seem basically to have amounted to not taking the whole thing seriously and doing more or less whatever he felt like, although it's also possible that he had some kind of mental health or substance-abuse problem. Possibly he'd been teased so much about being called Lancelot that he'd gone a bit off the rails. He was constantly being confined to barracks (and then ignoring the confinement and wandering off) or having his pay docked for, for example: 15th February 1913: inattention at band practice, punished with three days CB. 26th August 1914: absent from Tattoo until 12.10am the following day, followed by disrespect to an NCO, punished with three days CB. 28th August 1914: fifteen minutes late on defaulters' parade at 6:15am, punished with ten days CB. 30th August 1914: quitting barracks at 10:30am when a soldier in open arrest, and going missing until discovered in bed at 6am the following morning. We know that he was in France at the end of March 1918. He probably wouldn't have been sent overseas until he turned nineteen in October 1916, whatever unit he was in. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists him as having been in the 8th Battalion, a Service battalion which was formed in September 1914 and was initially home-based, but landed at Boulogne in July 1915. Lancelot would presumably have joined them in October or November of 1916. His army number was L/10378. [The Long, Long Trail: The East Surrey Regiment] The very last entry in Lancelot's Service Records shows him as absent from parade on 27th November 1917. He went missing presumed dead a few months later, and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission later determined that he had died on 31st March 1918. It wasn't until late December 1919 that Lancelot's identity disc was returned to his parents. The document which accompanied it bore the words "No stars, no medals" - presumably because of his very spotty and erratic army service. In March 1920 Lancelot's parents were informed that he was buried at the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetary in France: the CWGC says that he is "Remembered with honour", and he was eventually awarded the British War Medal 1914-19 and the Victory Medal. His CWGC entry describes him as "Son of Mrs. C. Franklin, of 58, Park Rd., Aldershot." It is not known why only his mother is named: whether because his father had disowned him for his disruptive behaviour in the army, or simply because his father was already dead when the entry was made. William James Franklin survived his youngest child by just over four years. In addition, the 1911 census reports that William and Caroline Franklin have had eleven live-born children, of whom seven are still alive as at that date. The seven are all those listed above, all of whom were alive in spring 1911. Of the four who died we know nothing, but since the births of Caroline's known children go 1873/4, 1875/6, 1877, 1879/80, 1889, 1893, 1897 it seems reasonable to assume that the four missing children were born during the nine or ten-year gap between Ethel Maud in 1879/80 and Francis Arthur in 1889. We do not know if they were infant deaths, or whether four children were born after the 1881 census, lived for months or years and then were taken away by some infection or accident prior to the 1901 census - since no extra children occur in either the 1881 or 1901 censuses. [1881 census for Hougham, Kent; 1901 census for Cork; 1911 census for Reading]
FRANKLIN- On the 4th November, 1952, at Millard Fillmore Hospital, Buffalo, New York, William George Franklin, late CSM., The East Surrey Regiment, aged 78. CSM. Franklin served in the South African War and the Ashanti War and was a well-known character in the Regiment. We published a photograph of him in 1948 being presented with the Meritorious Service Medal by Sir Angus Fletcher, the British Consul to Buffalo.
The fact that this obituary does not mention his having taken part in any campaigns during World War One tends to suggest that he was based at home during that conflict.
◎ William George Elliot and what is probably his daughter Darcia appear in the Franklin family photograph, q.v..
Florence Blanche Franklin, born between April 1875 and April 1876
Florence Blanche, my great-grandmother, was born in Gibraltar where her father was stationed, and is covered in her own section.
Lillian Edith Franklin, born in October or November 1877
Lillian Edith was born in Aldershot, so presumably after her father was posted there on 24th July 1877. All the censuses agree that she was three, twenty-three, thirty-three and so on on the census dates, and she was said to be sixty-eight when she died on 26th November 1945. Her birth was registered in the December quarter, so we can pin it down fairly firmly to somewhere between 1st October and 26th November 1877. [1881 census for Hougham, Kent; GRO Statutory Deaths, December quarter 1945, Aldershot, 2c 246; GRO Statutory Births, December quarter 1877, Franham 2a 95]
At the time of the 3rd April 1881 she was aged three and living at the Grand Shaft Barracks at Dover along with her mother, her brother William George Elliot and her sisters Florence Blanche and Ethel Maud. In the Irish census of 31st March 1901 she was single and living with her parents, her maternal grandmother and her brothers Francis Arthur, Ernest Albert (who for some reason is named as George EA) and Lancelot Thomas in House 4 of the prison warders' quarters at the military prison in the north-east ward of Cork City. [1881 census for Hougham, Kent; 1901 census for Cork]
Lillian married Thomas Stone probably some time between 1901 and 1905: what seems to be their eldest child was five in the 1911 census. Thomas was evidently in the army: the children were all born in or near army camps and the marriage isn't in the registry for England and Wales, meaning the couple probably married abroad - most likely in Ireland, since the Franklins were in Cork City in 1901, and Lillian's first child was born at the Curragh of Kildare.
As at the census of 2nd April 1911 the family were living at Sherborne Road in Farnborough, Hampshire; a town which is contiguous with Aldershot. The details are as follows:
Thomas Stone, head of house aged forty-three, a sanitary labourer born on the Isle of Portland, Dorset Lillian Stone, wife aged thirty-three, born at Aldershot, Hants William Stone, son aged five, born at the Curragh Camp, Ireland George Stone, son aged four, born at Middleburg, South Africa Ethel Stone, daughter aged three, born at Middleburg, South Africa Charles Stone, son aged one, born at Farnborough, Hants [1911 census: RG14PN6255 RG78PN297 RD109 SD2 ED5 SN130]
Another son, Vincent, was born on the 28th of December 1911 at Sherborne Road, Farnborough.
So, we know that the family were at the Curragh Camp in Kildare, Ireland circa 1905-1906; at Middleburg in South Africa circa 1906-1907; and at Farnborough from circa 1909 onwards.
Family information is that all the couple's sons went on to be boy soldiers in the Duke of York's, and a family photograph shows the three older boys in army uniform. On the face of it it would seem logical that this would also have been Thomas's old regiment. However, there have been at least four regiments called "The Duke of York's", and only one seems to have born the name in the right time-frame: The Duke Of York's Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars. This was a territorial outfit: ideal for boys to get a taste of army life without necessarily committing themselves, but not a unit which would have been at the Curragh in 1905.
It has been suggested on the Victorian Wars Forum that South Africa had a booming economy after the Boer War and Thomas might have already left the army by 1906 and have moved to Middleburg as a civilian seeking his fortune. If so he evidently failed to find it. On the other hand, it was also said that a sizeable British garrison remained in South Africa right up to World War Two, so Thomas could well have been a part of it.
All we know for sure, then, about Thomas's army service is that he was stationed at the Curragh camp in 1905 or 1906, and that he had probably been in Ireland for a year or more beforehand, since we know Lillian was in Cork City in 1901 and it's likely that it was in Ireland that Thomas and Lillian met, some time prior to the conception of their first child who was born in 1905 or 1906.
Thomas Stone died in the September quarter of 1920, aged fifty-two, death being registered at Hartley Wintney which is about five miles from Farnborough, so the family were still in the area. Lillian was left with five children ranging in age from eight to fourteen or fifteen. [GRO Statutory Deaths, September quarter 1920, Hartley W. 2c 195]
Lillian's father William James Franklin died on on 21st August 1922 at 58 Park Road, Aldershot. Lillian was present when he died and it was she who registered the death: it is possible that she was actually living with her parents by this point, whether the house was theirs or hers. [GRO Statutory Deaths, September quarter 1922, Farnham, 21 143]
Lillian and Thomas's youngest boy, Vincent Stone, emigrated to Canada in 1930, aged eighteen. He sailed on the Canadian Pacific ship Minnedosa, arriving at St John, New Brunswick.
Lillian died aged sixty-eight on the 26th of November 1945 at 153 Cove Road, Farnborough, having been a widow for twenty-five years. [GRO Statutory Deaths, December quarter 1945, Aldershot, 2c 246]
◎ Lillian Edith and her son George appear in the Franklin family photograph, q.v..
Ethel Maud Franklin, born between April 1879 and April 1880
Ethel Maud Franklin, the eponymous aunt of Ethel Maud Shirran, was born some time after her family arrived in Chatham on 4th 1879 and before the following April. At the time of the 3rd April 1881 she was one year old and living at the Grand Shaft Barracks at Dover along with her mother, her brother William George Elliot and her sisters Florence Blanche and Lillian Edith.
All that is known about Ethel Maud Franklin is that she worked as a psychiatric nurse, and was still unmarried in 1911. She appears in the 1901 census as an asylum nurse at the Kent County Lunatic Asylum, and in 1911 as an asylum nurse at the West Ham Borough Asylum, Goodmayes, Ilford, Essex. This may have had some bearing on the fact that first her niece Edith Blanche Shirran and later her sister Florence Blanche Shirran would move to the West Ham area. [1901 census RG13/789; 1911 census Ilford]
◎ Ethel Maud appears in the Franklin family photograph, q.v.. Judging from this photo', although she was, like her sisters, a little on the stout side Ethel Maud was the best-looking of the Franklin girls: even rather beautiful.
Francis Arthur Franklin, known as Frank, born 6th April 1889
Francis Arthur was born in Gibraltar on 6th April 1889, after his father had left the army and become a prison warder at the garrison prison on Gibraltar. We know that his sister Florence Blanche, at least, was with the family at that time, because she married George Shirran on Gibraltar in 1892.
In the Irish census of 31st March 1901 Francis was living with his parents, his maternal grandmother and his sister Lillian Edith and brothers Ernest Albert (who for some reason is named as George EA) and Lancelot Thomas in House 4 of the prison warders' quarters at the military prison in the north-east ward of Cork City. [1901 census for Cork]
Francis initially worked as a servant, then joined 9th Battalion The King's Royal Rifles at Cork on 28th February 1905, aged fifteen. He was "discharged ... by purchase", presumably meaning he bought himself free, at Mallow in County Cork on 3rd January 1906, having served for three hundred and nine days. Nearly two years later he re-enlisted with the East Surrey Regiment (his father's old outfit) on 4th November 1907.
In the 1911 census we find him aged twenty-two (actually, a few days short of it, assuming the census in the East was conducted on 2nd April), a Lance Corporal with 2nd Battalion The East Surrey Regiment. His address was given as Bhamo County Overseas Military District. [1911 census RG14PN34979 RD641 SD4 ED2 SN9999]
He presumably fought in World War One: 2nd Battalion East Surreys were in Chaubattia in India from August to December 1914, then back home, in Winchester, until January 1915. Then they were sent to France, landing at Le Havre on 19th January, and remained in France until October 1915 when they were sent first to Egypt and thence to Salonika. [The Long, Long Trail: The East Surrey Regiment]
Francis married Mildred Martha Johnson in Reading (so he was living in the town his parents had been living in in 1911) in the September quarter of 1922: depending on the exact date this marriage occured either just before or just after the death of Francis's father William on 21st August 1922. [GRO Statutory Marriages, September quarter 1922, Reading 2c 965; GRO Statutory Deaths, September quarter 1922, Farnham, 21 143]
The couple had one child, Mary Franklin, who contributed much of the family history which has informed this record, and seems to have died in 2010 (at least, her email address has ceased to be active). Mary was born in Wareham, Dorset on 17th February 1926, and was baptised at the Bovington army training camp in Dorset. [GRO Statutory Births, March quarter 1926, Wareham 5a 404]
After he left the army Francis became a postman. The fact that his daughter was baptised at the Bovington Camp suggests that he didn't do so until after February 1926.
Francis Arthur Franklin died on 8th November 1955 at Hounslow, Middlesex aged sixty-six.
◎ Francis Arthur, his daughter Mary and what may be his wife Mildred Martha appear in the Franklin family photograph, q.v..
Ernest Albert Franklin, known as George, born on 12th November 1893
Ernest Albert was born on 12th November 1893 in Gibraltar, where his father was a warden at the garrison prison, and was baptised on 7th December. He appears in the 1901 census for Cork City under the name "George EA", living with his parents, his maternal grandmother and his sister Lillian Edith and brothers Francis Arthur and Lancelot Thomas Ernest Albert Franklin with Tini, Hong Kong 24th July 1920 in House 4 of the prison warders' quarters at the military prison in the north-east ward of Cork City. [1901 census for Cork] Ada Thirza Franklin or Hinkley, probably taken before or not long after her marriage to Ernest Albert Franklin: if the dog is Tini as a pup then this must be well before the wedding, as he was already an adult three months before it He enlisted in 1st Battalion The East Surrey Regiment at Reading on 11th June 1908, aged fourteen years and seven months. He went to France with the regiment in August 1914, landing at Le Havre, and would have remained in France until the beginning of May 1917 when he became a prisoner of war. He was a prisoner until 9th December 1918. [The Long, Long Trail: The East Surrey Regiment] On 15th September 1920 he married Ada Thirza Hinkley at Mitcham in Surrey. Ada had been in charge (presumably before her marriage, not after) of accommodation for bachelors working in Hong Kong. The couple had two sons: Stanley William George Franklin who was born on 30th November 1927 in Rawalpindi, India and who is thought to have died at sixteen, possibly of kidney failure; and Brian Charles Franklin, born on 3rd June 1930 in Mitcham. Caroline Ellen Franklin née Walsh with her Hinkley in-laws and grandsons circa 1928 1 Possibly Ada's sister?? 2Ada Thirza Franklin née Hinkley 3Possibly Annie's father?? 4Probably Ernest Albert Franklin 5??? (dressed as a flower fairy???) 6Caroline Ellen Franklin née Walsh 7Ada's mother Annie Hinkley née Howe 8Possibly Annie's mother?? 9Brian Charles Franklin 10Stanley William George Franklin N°s 3 & 8 appear as a couple in other photographs Ernest Albert Franklin and his wife Ada Thirza Franklin née Hinkley, with their sons Brian on the left (Ada\'s right) and Stanley on the right George/Ernest remained in 1st Battalion until 1922, and then spent ten years in 2nd Battalion The East Surreys and rose to be Company Quartermaster Sergeant, finally being discharged on 10th November 1932 after twenty-four years with the regiment. He went straight back into uniform - as a postman, just like his elder brother Frank. In civilian life the family lived in Mitcham, and Ernest and Ada later bought a bungalow in Whitstable in Kent. During the war their two sons were evacuated to Park Lane, Sulgrave - probably to stay with relatives, since Sulgrave is full of Franklins and close to Helmdon where their grandfather William James Franklin was born. After Ada's death, Ernest became an in-pensioner at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea - that is, a Chelsea Pensioner. He was admitted to the Royal Hospital on 13th March 1961 and died there on 28th July 1970. He is buried at Brookwood Military Cemetery, Woking, Surrey, Grave No.224320, Row E/8. Page 20 of the November 1970 issue of the regimental newsletter of the East Surreys records: With the passing of "George" Franklin the Regiment loses the last member of a well known Regimental family. His father, Colour Sergeant William Franklin enlisted in the Thirty First Regiment in 1863 and served until 1884. Ernest Albert Franklin, or George as he was known, was one of three brothers who served in The East Surrey Regiment, one of whom, F.T. Franklin, was killed in action with the Regiment in 1918. George who was born in Gibraltar in 1893, enlisted as a boy at the age of 14 1/2. He went to France with the 1st Surreys in August, 1914, and remained for 14 years with the same battalion. He was a CQMS in the 2nd Bn The East Surrey Regiment when he took his discharge in 1932 after 24 years' service. He was admitted to the Royal Hospital, Chelsea in 1961 and finished his days in the company of other old soldiers who had served their country well. Family information is that George/Ernest had some kind of falling-out with his son Brian. Brian worked as a bank clerk and then as a medical rep. He married Muriel Kathleen Watton, who was originally from Astwood Bank, Worcestershire, and who worked for a while as a nurse at Mitcham Hospital. The couple married in Mitcham on 6th December 1952 and had one child, a son Murray Franklin, who was born in 1955, and who in turn fell out with his father Brian. Murray went on to marry Jenny Franklin, who is responsible for much of the Franklin research used on this site. ◎ Ernest Albert and what is probably his wife Ada appear in the Franklin family photograph, q.v.. Lancelot Thomas Franklin, born on or about 27th October 1897 We can derive Lancelot's birthdate of 27th October 1897 by counting backwards from how old he claimed to be when he enlisted, but we can't assume this is a hundred percent accurate. Lancelot's brother-in-law George Shirran got his own age out by two days when he re-enlisted in 1914. We know from the census that Lancelot was born in Cork City, where his father was working as a prison warden. In the Irish census of 31st March 1901 Lancelot was living with his parents, his maternal grandmother and his sister Lillian Edith and brothers Francis Arthur and Ernest Albert (who for some reason is named as George EA) in House 4 of the prison warders' quarters at the military prison in the north-east ward of Cork City. On 2nd April 1911 he was thirteen and living with his parents and maternal grandmother at 4 St George's Terrace, Reading. [1901 census for Cork; 1911 census for Reading] Lancelot joined the East Surrey Regiment on the 2nd Feb 1912 at Reading, aged fourteen and (if accurate) ninety-eight days. However, he was probably either pressurised into joining his family regiment or did it as some kind of escape, because he seems never to have really settled into army life. As a soldier, he was even more casual than my mother (who rose to the exalted rank of Corporal, and was once told she was lucky to be a private). He was constantly in trouble for minor offences which seem basically to have amounted to not taking the whole thing seriously and doing more or less whatever he felt like, although it's also possible that he had some kind of mental health or substance-abuse problem. Possibly he'd been teased so much about being called Lancelot that he'd gone a bit off the rails. He was constantly being confined to barracks (and then ignoring the confinement and wandering off) or having his pay docked for, for example: 15th February 1913: inattention at band practice, punished with three days CB. 26th August 1914: absent from Tattoo until 12.10am the following day, followed by disrespect to an NCO, punished with three days CB. 28th August 1914: fifteen minutes late on defaulters' parade at 6:15am, punished with ten days CB. 30th August 1914: quitting barracks at 10:30am when a soldier in open arrest, and going missing until discovered in bed at 6am the following morning. We know that he was in France at the end of March 1918. He probably wouldn't have been sent overseas until he turned nineteen in October 1916, whatever unit he was in. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists him as having been in the 8th Battalion, a Service battalion which was formed in September 1914 and was initially home-based, but landed at Boulogne in July 1915. Lancelot would presumably have joined them in October or November of 1916. His army number was L/10378. [The Long, Long Trail: The East Surrey Regiment] The very last entry in Lancelot's Service Records shows him as absent from parade on 27th November 1917. He went missing presumed dead a few months later, and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission later determined that he had died on 31st March 1918. It wasn't until late December 1919 that Lancelot's identity disc was returned to his parents. The document which accompanied it bore the words "No stars, no medals" - presumably because of his very spotty and erratic army service. In March 1920 Lancelot's parents were informed that he was buried at the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetary in France: the CWGC says that he is "Remembered with honour", and he was eventually awarded the British War Medal 1914-19 and the Victory Medal. His CWGC entry describes him as "Son of Mrs. C. Franklin, of 58, Park Rd., Aldershot." It is not known why only his mother is named: whether because his father had disowned him for his disruptive behaviour in the army, or simply because his father was already dead when the entry was made. William James Franklin survived his youngest child by just over four years. In addition, the 1911 census reports that William and Caroline Franklin have had eleven live-born children, of whom seven are still alive as at that date. The seven are all those listed above, all of whom were alive in spring 1911. Of the four who died we know nothing, but since the births of Caroline's known children go 1873/4, 1875/6, 1877, 1879/80, 1889, 1893, 1897 it seems reasonable to assume that the four missing children were born during the nine or ten-year gap between Ethel Maud in 1879/80 and Francis Arthur in 1889. We do not know if they were infant deaths, or whether four children were born after the 1881 census, lived for months or years and then were taken away by some infection or accident prior to the 1901 census - since no extra children occur in either the 1881 or 1901 censuses. [1881 census for Hougham, Kent; 1901 census for Cork; 1911 census for Reading]
He enlisted in 1st Battalion The East Surrey Regiment at Reading on 11th June 1908, aged fourteen years and seven months. He went to France with the regiment in August 1914, landing at Le Havre, and would have remained in France until the beginning of May 1917 when he became a prisoner of war. He was a prisoner until 9th December 1918. [The Long, Long Trail: The East Surrey Regiment]
On 15th September 1920 he married Ada Thirza Hinkley at Mitcham in Surrey. Ada had been in charge (presumably before her marriage, not after) of accommodation for bachelors working in Hong Kong. The couple had two sons: Stanley William George Franklin who was born on 30th November 1927 in Rawalpindi, India and who is thought to have died at sixteen, possibly of kidney failure; and Brian Charles Franklin, born on 3rd June 1930 in Mitcham. Caroline Ellen Franklin née Walsh with her Hinkley in-laws and grandsons circa 1928
In civilian life the family lived in Mitcham, and Ernest and Ada later bought a bungalow in Whitstable in Kent. During the war their two sons were evacuated to Park Lane, Sulgrave - probably to stay with relatives, since Sulgrave is full of Franklins and close to Helmdon where their grandfather William James Franklin was born.
After Ada's death, Ernest became an in-pensioner at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea - that is, a Chelsea Pensioner. He was admitted to the Royal Hospital on 13th March 1961 and died there on 28th July 1970. He is buried at Brookwood Military Cemetery, Woking, Surrey, Grave No.224320, Row E/8. Page 20 of the November 1970 issue of the regimental newsletter of the East Surreys records:
With the passing of "George" Franklin the Regiment loses the last member of a well known Regimental family. His father, Colour Sergeant William Franklin enlisted in the Thirty First Regiment in 1863 and served until 1884. Ernest Albert Franklin, or George as he was known, was one of three brothers who served in The East Surrey Regiment, one of whom, F.T. Franklin, was killed in action with the Regiment in 1918. George who was born in Gibraltar in 1893, enlisted as a boy at the age of 14 1/2. He went to France with the 1st Surreys in August, 1914, and remained for 14 years with the same battalion. He was a CQMS in the 2nd Bn The East Surrey Regiment when he took his discharge in 1932 after 24 years' service. He was admitted to the Royal Hospital, Chelsea in 1961 and finished his days in the company of other old soldiers who had served their country well.
Family information is that George/Ernest had some kind of falling-out with his son Brian. Brian worked as a bank clerk and then as a medical rep. He married Muriel Kathleen Watton, who was originally from Astwood Bank, Worcestershire, and who worked for a while as a nurse at Mitcham Hospital. The couple married in Mitcham on 6th December 1952 and had one child, a son Murray Franklin, who was born in 1955, and who in turn fell out with his father Brian.
Murray went on to marry Jenny Franklin, who is responsible for much of the Franklin research used on this site.
◎ Ernest Albert and what is probably his wife Ada appear in the Franklin family photograph, q.v..
Lancelot Thomas Franklin, born on or about 27th October 1897
We can derive Lancelot's birthdate of 27th October 1897 by counting backwards from how old he claimed to be when he enlisted, but we can't assume this is a hundred percent accurate. Lancelot's brother-in-law George Shirran got his own age out by two days when he re-enlisted in 1914.
We know from the census that Lancelot was born in Cork City, where his father was working as a prison warden. In the Irish census of 31st March 1901 Lancelot was living with his parents, his maternal grandmother and his sister Lillian Edith and brothers Francis Arthur and Ernest Albert (who for some reason is named as George EA) in House 4 of the prison warders' quarters at the military prison in the north-east ward of Cork City. On 2nd April 1911 he was thirteen and living with his parents and maternal grandmother at 4 St George's Terrace, Reading. [1901 census for Cork; 1911 census for Reading]
Lancelot joined the East Surrey Regiment on the 2nd Feb 1912 at Reading, aged fourteen and (if accurate) ninety-eight days. However, he was probably either pressurised into joining his family regiment or did it as some kind of escape, because he seems never to have really settled into army life.
As a soldier, he was even more casual than my mother (who rose to the exalted rank of Corporal, and was once told she was lucky to be a private). He was constantly in trouble for minor offences which seem basically to have amounted to not taking the whole thing seriously and doing more or less whatever he felt like, although it's also possible that he had some kind of mental health or substance-abuse problem. Possibly he'd been teased so much about being called Lancelot that he'd gone a bit off the rails. He was constantly being confined to barracks (and then ignoring the confinement and wandering off) or having his pay docked for, for example:
15th February 1913: inattention at band practice, punished with three days CB.
26th August 1914: absent from Tattoo until 12.10am the following day, followed by disrespect to an NCO, punished with three days CB.
28th August 1914: fifteen minutes late on defaulters' parade at 6:15am, punished with ten days CB.
30th August 1914: quitting barracks at 10:30am when a soldier in open arrest, and going missing until discovered in bed at 6am the following morning.
We know that he was in France at the end of March 1918. He probably wouldn't have been sent overseas until he turned nineteen in October 1916, whatever unit he was in. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists him as having been in the 8th Battalion, a Service battalion which was formed in September 1914 and was initially home-based, but landed at Boulogne in July 1915. Lancelot would presumably have joined them in October or November of 1916. His army number was L/10378. [The Long, Long Trail: The East Surrey Regiment]
The very last entry in Lancelot's Service Records shows him as absent from parade on 27th November 1917. He went missing presumed dead a few months later, and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission later determined that he had died on 31st March 1918.
It wasn't until late December 1919 that Lancelot's identity disc was returned to his parents. The document which accompanied it bore the words "No stars, no medals" - presumably because of his very spotty and erratic army service.
In March 1920 Lancelot's parents were informed that he was buried at the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetary in France: the CWGC says that he is "Remembered with honour", and he was eventually awarded the British War Medal 1914-19 and the Victory Medal.
His CWGC entry describes him as "Son of Mrs. C. Franklin, of 58, Park Rd., Aldershot." It is not known why only his mother is named: whether because his father had disowned him for his disruptive behaviour in the army, or simply because his father was already dead when the entry was made. William James Franklin survived his youngest child by just over four years.
In addition, the 1911 census reports that William and Caroline Franklin have had eleven live-born children, of whom seven are still alive as at that date. The seven are all those listed above, all of whom were alive in spring 1911. Of the four who died we know nothing, but since the births of Caroline's known children go 1873/4, 1875/6, 1877, 1879/80, 1889, 1893, 1897 it seems reasonable to assume that the four missing children were born during the nine or ten-year gap between Ethel Maud in 1879/80 and Francis Arthur in 1889. We do not know if they were infant deaths, or whether four children were born after the 1881 census, lived for months or years and then were taken away by some infection or accident prior to the 1901 census - since no extra children occur in either the 1881 or 1901 censuses. [1881 census for Hougham, Kent; 1901 census for Cork; 1911 census for Reading]
