My step grandfather George William Symes was born 12 January 1896 at Minterne Magna, Dorset. He was the son of George Symes (1859 – 1920) and Eliza Symes nee Paulley (1870 – 1946).
George Symes senior was born in 1859 at Puncknowle Dorset, 6 miles east of Bridport. He was the oldest child of Daniel Symes (1834 – 1914), an agricultural labourer, and Sarah Symes nee Trevett (1836 – 1925).
On 2 October 1878, aged 19, George Symes, then a labourer, enlisted in the Royal Artillery. He signed his attestation papers at Bridport on 2 October and joined at Portsmouth on 14 October.
He first served as a gunner, was promoted to bombadier (equivalent rank of corporal) in 1884, and then to sergeant later that same year. He was promoted to Company Sergeant Major in 1892 and discharged at that rank in 1899. He served in India from 1884 to 1892, retiring in 1899 on a pension of 30 pence for life. He was formally discharged at the Tower of London, and became a Chelsea Pensioner (he would have been an out-pensioner as he did not live at the Royal Hospital Chelsea). His character on discharge was “exemplary”.
George first married Rosa or Rose Guppy (1860 – 1892) at Milborne Port, Somerset, in 1886. They had two children: William Hensley Symes (1887 – 1888) and Edward Daniel Symes (1890 – 1950). William was born 27 November 1887 and baptised 1 January 1888 at Milborne Port Somerset. He died, only four months old, at Agra, India on 1 April 1888 and was buried there on 2 April. Edward was born in 1890 at Campbellpore, present day Attock, Pakistan. Rose died of cholera in 1892 at Ferozepore.
In 1894 George married again, to Eliza Paulley (1870 – 1946) at Minterne Magna, Dorset. They had one son, George William Symes, born 12 January 1896 at Minterne Magna.
At the time of the 1901 census the family was at Puncknowle. George Symes was 42, with occupation of ‘military pensioner’. His wife Eliza was 31 and they had two sons, Edward aged 11 and George aged 5.
In 1911, George Symes, a ‘military pensioner and publican’ was living at 61 South Street Bridport. In the same house were his sons Edward aged 21, a cabinet maker, George aged 15, at school. Also living at that address was George’s brother-in-law, Lewis Paulley, age 25, a harness-maker. On census night Eliza was away, with her parents in Minterne Magna.
61 South Street was the pub. The 1911 census states it had 9 rooms, not including the shop, office, warehouse or bathrooms.
George Symes died at Weymouth, Dorset, 18 May 1920.
The building at 61 South Street Bridport is still there and still operates as a pub; it is now called The Woodman Inn.
Sources
- Census records retrieved though ancestry.com
- 1901: Class: RG13; Piece: 2012; Folio: 75; Page: 10.
- 1911: Class: RG14; Piece: 12486; Schedule Number: 22
- Wo 97 – Chelsea Pensioners British Army Service Records 1760-1913 retrieved through FindMyPast: George Symes Birth year 1859 Birth parish Puncknoll, Bridport, Dorset, England Royal Artillery Attestation date 02 Oct 1878 Attestation age 19 years 6 months Attestation service number 5286 Attestation corps Royal Artillery Discharge corps Royal Artillery
cassmob said:
They are brilliant photos to have! Will you be visiting the inn?
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Anne Young said:
I hope to visit. I am worried I am being to ambitious with all I have on my itinerary. The area has changed enormously and the docks have been redeveloped.
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Fran @ TravelGenee said:
I think it is better to have a big list of possible places to visit and accept you might not be able to see them all. Consider them backups. If the weather is not suitable for one place or transport iffy then you have alternatives. I also try to have some spare time with cemeteries. That is code for not stopping for lunch and eating on the run because I spent too much time there. Luckily my husband as a good eye for finding things I miss.
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Anne Young said:
Cemeteries and finding the right gravestone for me are a bit like finding the right ingredient on the shelf in a supermarket – I look and look – have a map – and still can’t find the right grave 😦 My husband much better finding them than me.
The preparation I am doing by writing this series of posts is helping a lot. I won’t be driving past a road sign and wondering I am sure I have relatives from there but who and when … actually I probably will 😉 – I know I can’t cover it all.
Thanks for visiting
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Fran @ TravelGenee said:
Gosh how interesting that just a few hours ago I was thinking the same thing while doing another post. I’ve had my husband out in the hot sun for over an hour when he said let me look at your map and proceeded to find the spot. I was totally in the wrong place. He even finds ones I have not told him to look for like my uncles hidden in a rose garden under a creeper. How did he know to pick up that creeper?
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kristin said:
As your step great grandfather, he married your great grandmother who already had a child? How does that fit into this story? Do I have it wrong?
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Anne Young said:
George William Symes (1896-1980) married my grandmother Kathleen Champion de Crespigny nee Cudmore (1908 -2013) in 1967. George is my father’s step father. We knew George while we were growing up.
This story is mainly about my step grandfather’s father.
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kristin said:
I thought I must have gotten confused. Thank you for straightening it out for me.
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Anne Young said:
Hard enough to keep track of one’s own genealogy, let alone somebody else’s! 🙂
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