PASSENGER LISTS
Jerry Hall was aware that she had English roots on the paternal side of her family. It was her great grandfather, James Hall, who made the decision to emigrate from Lancashire to the United States in the 1880s. He left in 1881 and eventually settled in Texas to begin his new life. He came to Texas at a time of rapid settlement and James found work in the booming railroad industry.
We were able to trace James’s migration to the US using passenger lists. His naturalisation record gave us the exact year of travel (in 1881), the ship he travelled on and the port he arrived at. Passenger lists for people travelling to the US can be found in a number of places. Both Ancestry and Findmypast have extensive collections of passenger lists ( NB – when searching on Ancestry be sure to select “Search all collections” to include American collections of passenger lists, too). Additionally, passenger lists can be searched at libertyellisfoundation.org/passenger (passengers entering New York between 1892 and 1924) and castlegarden.org (for passengers entering New York between 1830 and 1892). also has passenger lists that can be searched for free.
Ernest Kew’s medal roll shows he volunteered for the Royal Army Veterinary Corps in 1915
QI know that my grandfather, Ernest Albert Kew, served during the First World War and think he was discharged because he contracted malaria. On a scrap of paper I found this address: 21 Vet Hospital, Egypt, Exap Force.
I can’t find his army service record but I wonder if this photograph ( shown below) was him recovering in some hospital that treated malaria? John Parker, by email
AinATThere’s not enough detail n the photo to say anyth hing other than it’s a hospi ital – nothing confirms it’s a militarym one. The men wear ‘civvies’, not hospital blues, , the standard blue suit, Ernest was awarded three medals after fighting in WW1 white shirt and red tie that medals, but also the 1914/15 military patients wore. Star. Underneath the However, it is possible to say reference to the Star, in red, is something about Ernest’s written “(3). 11.12.15”. The service. His medal card (3) is the theatre of war first (available on Ancestry) says served in, which in 1915 he enlisted on 17 May 1915, means Egypt, and the date is so he must have volunteered when he arrived there. The as a private in the Royal The National Archives Army Veterinary Corps document WO 379/16 (RAVC). He was awarded “Dates of embarkation of the British War and Victory units going overseas” shows only two RAVC units going abroad in late 1915. They were 20 and 21 Veterinary Hospitals and, since you’ve a document naming 21, it’s likely he served there. Their War Diary is at TNA ( WO 95/4755), showing they arrived in Alexandria on 11 December 1915 and spent the war at Bilbeis, north of Cairo, treating sick mules and horses. Phil Tomaselli John Parker’s photograph is certainly of a hospital, but there there’s no concrete evidence to prove it’s a military one