A History Mystery

Hello friends!

I have a little family history mystery which no one in the family can solve. So I put my best thinking cap on and try to work out what it is.

Going through a box of my late mother's belongings, I came across a small brass match case. It is very obviously something from the First World War and has two significant engravings on it out of three sides, all of which are engraved.

The least significant engraving is this one.

The main areas of engraving on this side are a Cross in the centre, which flanked by what appeared to be two oak leaves. There is a crown in the top part of the cross which might point to a regiment, or simply be indicative of the owner being a soldier of the King, and the date 1914 on the opposing side of the cross.  Directly in the middle is a capital letter W.

Let's take a look at the two sides and what's engraved on them. 

The opposite large side has the wording D Williams engraved on a banner across the centre and it is flanked by what appears to be two stylised daffodils.

I will come back to my thoughts and discoveries on this shortly. But first, I will share with you what is engraved on the spine of this book like box.

It is not easy to make out the engraving, because it is highly stylised. However, after much experimenting with letter combinations, I have. discovered it is AUDRUICQ.   Audruicq is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.  

Further research revealed to me that during the First World War it served a

s a transport hub where goods arrived in bulk by ship and were broken down into wagon-loads and sent on by rail

 to the Front.  It was also a centres for collecting, sorting and despatching reinforcements to units in the field.

Now onto the name, which is the most important part.  D. Williams.  I know of only one D Williams in the family.  He was my cousin, the late Rev. David Williams and he most certainly was not born until well after WW1.  In truth, he wasn't old enough to go to the Second World War either. So it's not him. The only evidence of anyone going to the First World War I have on that side of my family is my grandfather J.G. Williams, who also happens to be the grandfather of Rev. David.

So, who is this D. Williams of the matchbox cover?

I have done some basic family research and I find it rather fascinating, but it does draw me in and becomes cost prohibitive by the time you order and pay for all your certificate copies, etc.  Unfortunately, on my mother's father's side, the information I have is scant at best.  Now that there is no one left to ask, as happens with so many other people, I am full of regret for not having asked questions while the relevant people who could provide answers were still alive.

Rev. David and I shared a grandfather, but we had different grandmothers because Dacu {Welsh for Grandfather} was married twice.  

Due to my grandmother being his second wife, I am finding it very difficult to go back further into the family history on that side. All of the history that I have to my fingertips came from my mother and does not contain much information from his first marriage.  I suppose if I really wanted to dig around, I could find the information. However, I did manage to do a little research in which I found out that my grandfather and his younger brother, apparently named David, ended up in the workhouse when they were around 9 and 7 years old respectively. How sad it that?  Orphans and in the work house at such a tender age.  When I learned they had ended up in the workhouse at such a young age, my research came to a grinding halt. I couldn't seem to get past that my grandfather had been in the workhouse from such a young age.

So have I found the D Williams, whose name is engraved on the matchbox? I think perhaps I have. Although scant, the information I have  certainly would make him eligible to be conscripted or able to be a volunteer for the war.

The only thing is this: everybody to whom I have spoken has no recollection of another David Williams, or for that matter, anybody with the initial D {Williams} in the family.  To date, I have not found any record of how or when D. Williams of the matchbox died.  Did he die in France, or did he return home?  My records are scant, and as happens there are many possible candidates on Ancestry and Find My Past with the same initials or names living in the general area.  

Anomalies and errors in the Censuses don't help, nor does the changing street names and construction over the relevant decades.  For example, there are few alive today who know the location of the Reading Room, or that Goat Street was formerly Ship Street, or that Oakley Street was not part of Nun Street as it is today.  Accurate family research is not limited to just censuses. birth certificates, death certificates and marriage certificates.  You have to be prepared to sift through maps and all kinds of other documents and records in order to correctly identify people.  Tithe maps are particularly interesting!  I digress.

I am wondering if my Uncle Billy, {father of Rev David Williams, and son of JG Williams} was the only one who knew of this other D. or David Williams? It is highly possible that he did know of him, and if he did indeed perish in the First World War, maybe Uncle Billy named his first born son after him.

Unless I decide to dig further, or someone in the family discovers something new, I guess we'll never know who D Williams was.  I am about to pass this little piece of history on to my cousin, Rev David's son.  Maybe he will pick up the baton with success?

So my friends,

Until next time

Stay well, Stay safe

Debbie xx