WW1 soldier - CONSTANCE Arthur Evan, Longhope, 13th Glosters (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Saturday, March 22, 2014, 22:39 (3893 days ago) @ ScowlesBoy

Hi Dink,
Tonight I've been using the free search page of the British Newspaper Archive, once again "stocking up" on likely hits prior to taking out a short subscription.

I found this hit, which suggested to me young Arthur may have sadly died from wounds suffered during the War.

The BNA hit clue says
“... Longhope FUNERAL OF AN EX SOLDIER. mam i ex u r tcrmaster-Sergeant Arthur Evan Constance, only son of Mr. and ... ”
Saturday 27 March 1920 , Gloucester Journal, article of 297 words.

I think Arthur was a Quartermaster-Sergeant, hopefully downloading it will give more clues. Judging from the tiny image of the newspaper page on the search engine, plus the family's standing within the village, this looks like a detailed article.

I cannot see Arthur within this site's PRs, but from GlosBMD;

Birth Details

Child Surname Child Forename Father Surname Mother Surname Mother's Former Name Year District Office Register Entry
CONSTANCE Arthur Evan CONSTANCE CONSTANCE WATKINS 1889 Gloucester Gloucester, Huntley 17 468
(September Qtr according to FreeBMD)

And;

Deaths Mar 1920 (>99%)
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CONSTANCE Arthur E 30 Gloucester 6a 392

The most likely Marriage for Arthur's parents seems to be;

Surname First name(s) District Vol Page
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marriages Dec 1882 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Constance Evan Samuel Nottingham 7b 664
WATKINS Clara Ann Nottingham 7b 664

The district does seems odd but I think their Death records confirm it's the correct family ?

Deaths Mar 1934 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Constance Evan S 73 Westbury S. 6a 355

Deaths Mar 1943 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONSTANCE Clara A 82 F.of Dean 6a 408

I'm surprised I cannot see any of the above burials, including Arthur, in this site's PRs, or any of their Memorial Inscriptions on the Longhope Village Website.

However I see the 1881 Census has Evan S. Constance, a sawyer b1861, at home in Longhope with parents Eli, a woodturner born Longhope 1822 and Ann b1819.

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Dink, this is Arthur's entry in this site's excellent new database.

Record ID: 1039
Year:
Surname: CONSTANCE
Forename: Arthur Evan
Rank: Private/Lance Corporal
Regiment: 13th (Forest of Dean) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
Service Number: 18311
Residence: Longhope
Notes_1: Enlisted February 1915 KIA
Notes_2:
Newspaper:
Date_Published:
Image:
Soundex: C523

The entry stated "KIA", or "Killed In Action".
I presume you obtained this from his Medal Index Card, I see Ancestry doesn't have his Service or Pension records ? (I cannot access the card image).
If so then this seems odd regarding his Burial as an "ex soldier" in 1920. Arthur's death is not recorded on the CWGC website.

I ask not to query your excellent database work, but because I'm trying to best understand how the War Office compiled their records such as the Medal Cards, as he apparently died in 1920 long after the Western Front War ended. As far as I'm aware the 13th Glosters ceased to exist in 1918, unless of course Arthur was transferred to another unit and went onto fight in the Middle East, for example ?

However as I understand it the deaths of servicemen were not recorded in the usual BMD Records, so he wouldn't be listed on FreeBMD etc, unless PERHAPS? if he died in a UK hospital ??

Thanking you in advance for any thoughts you may have,
Cheers, Jeff.

PS Regarding the 13th (Forest of Dean) Glosters I've just found this informative website about them that will hopefully be of interest.
http://www.malvernremembers.org.uk/the-13th-gloucestershire-regiment
http://www.sungreen.co.uk/Forest-of-Dean/Glosters.html