ancestry and heirlooms

[llywela]

Over the weekend, my parents started sorting through some of the stuff they'd left in cupboards in the house where I currently live, ready for when they put the house on the market. At the back of one of the cupboards, they found a box containing a bunch of commemorative coins - including a couple of very special ones that Mum had almost forgotten she had. I certainly never knew they existed.

This is the first one, front and back:

It's a commemorative medal dating to July 1907, struck to commemorate the opening of the Queen Alexandra Dock in Cardiff, which was celebrated by a royal visit from Queen Alexandra herself, accompanied by King Edward VII and Princess Victoria. It was originally presented to my Great-Great-Grandfather Samuel Tarr, one of the labourers who helped to build the dock.

Queen Alexandra Dock is still there today - it is the only working dock left in Cardiff, and sits close to the area now known as Porth Teigr, the home of the new BBC film studios and the Doctor Who Experience, which was built on top of the old dry dock, where Samuel's son, my Great-Grampy Billy, spent his whole working life.

With the QA Dock coin is another, larger commemorative plaque struck in bronze - this one a memorial plaque that was given to the families of servicemen killed in action in World War I, accompanied by a very bald, typewritten message from the Palace, acknowledging the sacrifice of a loved one. The name on the plaque is George Tarr - that was Samuel's youngest brother. He was just 19 years old when he was killed, somewhere in France in May 1918.


There aren't any photographs of Samuel, so here's a picture of his son, my Great-Grampy Billy, with his own son, my Granddad Reg (also pictured in this icon) - that's the line these objects have come down through to Mum, and then me.

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, how interesting. And it's a sad story, but what wonderful things to have in the family.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

It really is - I love uncovering artefacts and stories like this, learning more about the past and my family with every piece of the jigsaw.

[rosie55.livejournal.com]

What wonderful memoirs of your family to have.
The CWGC website gives this information for George Okey Tarr (killed, as you say in May 1917.


TARR, GEORGE OKEY

Rank:
Private
Service No:
91574
Date of Death:
27/05/1918
Age:
19
Regiment/Service:
Durham Light Infantry

1st/5th Bn.
Panel Reference

Memorial
SOISSONS MEMORIAL

Additional Information:

Son of Margaret Margate (formerly Tarr), of 143, Clive St., Grangetown, Cardiff, and the late William Tarr.

Presumably this is your man? So you do at least now know where his memorial is in France. The fact that his grave is not mentioned implies, I think, that his body was not identified so that there is no known grave for him. Which is not to say that he does not have a grave somewhere, just that it was not known at the time which one of the many unidentified dead he was. These days, no doubt, with DNA, all soldiers can be identified.
There is more information on the Soissons memorial here - http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/79400/SOISSONS%20MEMORIAL

The Great War Forum (http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php) is worth joining if you are interested in following any of this up. There are experts there in almost every aspect of the Great War and since your George belonged to such a famous regiment, there is likely to be an expert who could tell you what the battalion were doing on that day, etc. And possibly even more than that, it really is staggering how much information they can come up with and how quickly.

Thanks for sharing your treasures.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's him - George Okey Tarr. Mum and I unearthed a fair bit of information about him on Sunday, after locating the plaque. His parents had an interesting story, as well - from what we've been able to piece together, it looks as if the late William Tarr did a bunk and left Margaret on her own with 7 children sometime after their move from Somerset to Cardiff; some years later she moved in with another man (listed on the census as his housekeeper, married) and had two children by him. William seems to have gone on to set up home with another woman back in Somerset and it wasn't until after he died that Margaret was able to marry this other chap, James Margate, and legitimise their two children.

I think George's name is on the war memorial in Grange Gardens, where my great-great-grandfather John Melean is also listed - must remember to go back there someday and check.

[justwolf.livejournal.com]

These are so poingnant and interesting: thank you for sharing them.

The coins are beautiful, but I'm shocked by how stark the letter from the palace is.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Aye, the letter really is stark. I suppose they went for the less is more approach - so many deaths, after all.

[primsong.livejournal.com]

As already noted, the letter is terribly brief, isn't it? Still, at least there was one... The coins are quite interesting too. I love finding old family treasures, bits and bobs when sorting; these are exceptionally nice ones.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Makes me wonder how many letters like that had to be signed - the death toll was so horrific, did George R.I. sit and sign a letter for every single one? Talk about RSI!

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

They are living in Mum's glass cabinet now - they will come down to me further along the road, along with the rest of our stash of old photos and documents.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I'm always just a wee bit jealous of people who have cupboards so deep that they rediscover lost family heirlooms and the like - we moved around so much, even when I was young, that pretty much everything was known... Mind you, my storage unit felt a bit like that when I went through it the other month!

What a fab find, and the letter too... Sad to think that George RI must have had to sign so many of those...

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Mum knew she had these, somewhere, they'd just been left behind when they moved - glad they turned up! The memorial plaque is huge - about 10cm across.

[sherrilina.livejournal.com]

So cool that you have this kind of stuff/know so much genealogy! That letter is especially something...I wish I had stuff from my great-great-grandparents, but the one set on the side where we have a genealogist in the family lived in Sicily and Slovakia respectively.