Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

Hello, I am hoping you can assist me in my quest to locate information relating to my paternal Grandfather..William Murphy b.circa 1888. Before the 14/18 war he was shown in the census as living with his father in Bright Street, Liverpool.
My father, also a William Murphy, told me that his father volunteered for the Kings Regt but was inalided out as the result of wounds, possibly in 1917. He certainly was married in 1917 to a Elizabeth Gertrude Hamilton. He died in 1935 and is buried in Everton Cemetary.

Grandfathers own father was Irish and so I have assumed, rightly or wrongly, that he probably joined the 8th Battn....Liverpool Irish.
Despite my best efforts I have had no success in finding him.
I suspect he may have been gassed but cannot find a list of wounded soldiers and the waf diaries only name officers, not the lowly private soldiers.
Please can you help me establish what happened to him?
in anticipation, Pauline Pym

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I don't think there is a comprehensive list of wounded soldiers, however one of our members has created one from the newspaper lists, a labour of love and hard work, and I know she will check it for you when she comes on line.

Thankyou for the welcome...a nd the reply. Pauline

I have the following in my lists so far.

14th-Sept-1916 King's Liverpool Regiment Private W 30319 Murphy Liverpool Wounded-Shock-Shell No Record
12th-Jan-1918 King's Liverpool Regiment Private W 30319 Murphy Liverpool Wounded No Record
9th--Nov-1917 King's Liverpool Regiment Private W 30319 Murphy Liverpool Wounded No Record

I was unable to locate a medal card for this W. Murphy

And I have these as well.

13th-Sept-1916 8th (Irish) King's Liverpool Regiment Corporal William 2212/305486 Murphy Liverpool Wounded
21st-Aug-1916 King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment Private William 20038 Murphy Liverpool Wounded
31st-Aug-1916 Cheshire Regiment Private William 28761 Murphy Liverpool Wounded
11th-July-1917 Royal Garrison Artillery Gunner William 77273 Murphy Liverpool Wounded
20th-May-1918 Rifle Brigade Rifleman William S/9634 Murphy Liverpool Wounded
3rd-June-1918 Royal Field Artillery Gunner William 675939 Murphy Liverpool Wounded

What you will have to do is, eliminate as many as you can by searching for Service records/deaths etc

Thanks Kathy, knew you would check out your invaluable database.

have you got a copy of his marriage certificate? What does it record as his profession?

Dear Kathy, many thanks for this info. Some of these numbers are new to me so will chase them up. As a matter of interest where did this info come from?

I have some info I would like to pass on to you...you may already have it of course but at least better twice than not at all.
yesterday I went through the casualty lists inEvrard Wyrall's book on the Kings Regmt, Liverpool. By comparing that with yours I can say that the following peope called William Murphy were Kia between 1914 to 18. I did not record which year I am afraid as I was on an elimination exercise but at least you know where the info came from
From you list 305486 was KIA

The following Kings Regmt W Murphys were also KIA
004950
018489

The following W Murphys were also Kings Rgt men...from Ancestry.
381573
0022789
021419
029130
002495
085176
111497
305253
00212
305648
109016
006789

Apparently the volunteers had different service numbers to the rest...do you know what they were by any chance? This would aid elimination.

I am happy to keep you updated with information as I proceed from here and with (hopefully) , the final succesful outcome. From now on I will keep the dates and sources too .I have no doubt that you already have a stack of info. There is just a possibility that I may turn up something new and it may be of use to another Murphy searcher.

my other records at present are not accesible but from memory I think the occupation on his marriage certificte was given as 'seaman'. I do not think he saw out the war due to injuries recvd. That is why I wanted to track him via the service recordsvto begin with....the death certificate will give cause of death of course but with the cost of certificates these days I want to leave that to a later date.
Thanks for your help so far. Will be in touch. I will keep going with Kings for the time being but may have to loo a bit wider...p'raps Dad was mistaken. Regards, Pauline

Hello , would you by any chance have a list of sklver war badge holders please?
it suddenly struck me that my grandafather did not return to the war after being wounded. I can vaguely remember my Dad talking about his father having a silver badge. If that was the case then there would not be a medal card for him.
Regards, Pauline Pym

I have merged these two queries otherwise there would be no record of who you are referring to.

Ancestry do have a list of Silver War Badge recipients. http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=2456

It is never safe to assume that a man served in a particular regiment because of ancestry, geography or any other reason. Of course many locals joined the King's Liverpool Regiment, but many served in other infantry regiments or in the Artillery, Engineers, Service or Medical Corps etc etc.
Keep an open mind!
D

Many thanks D, I have done so and I am relying on my father's information too. I think I have located him in the 8th Battalion. I can vaguely remembef Dad saying that his father did not have any medals but was given a silver badge.it would fit in well with the other info I have. Ther are only a limited number of service records left to go through. We shall see. Pauline

Can I ask? have you requested information on this query before on other Forums. I vaguely remember something regarding this on the Merseyside Genealogy Forum. As MaryA stated I am trying to compile a database of Soldiers from the Liverpool & SW Lancs area using alternative resources. (Newspapers). If I am lucky to come across a address for a soldier especially those who have a common name, I will insert that address next to his entry. This is a ongoing project and as and when I obtain information I update the entries.

Hello again, I have not researched this for a long time and due to a variety events have had to start again. Having said that, I never got as far as I have these last couple of days..I now think I may have found him with your assistance. I do have some personal info on him but not a great deal. I am more than happy to let you have what I have, P

Please don't assume that the W/ William Murphy entries I have posted are your William Murphy. These lists I am indexing are not complete? These lists were published by the War Office and issued to the Local press but they do not portray the true extent of Casualties that actually occurred (They fiddled the lists) There may well have been many more Soldiers called W. Murphy who were wounded and their details were omitted from the actual official lists. (I have evidence of the fiddling that was going on) Still Fiddling now????

Also, can you answer my question? have you posted on the Great War Forum about this query or any other Forum?

Hello, I have used the info you provided for elimination purposes only.by using the silver badge list I have narrowed it down still further and may have found him but still have some way to go.
as for the sites....I may have used the sites in the past but certainly not in the last 2 years . Unfortunately my papers got lost in ahouse move...including the source lists..so have had to start again. The Merseyside site rings bells.
I have used a number of sites as I have also been researching my maternal ggfather at the same time...but he was in the navy. Sorry to seem so vague but the Murphh line is not the only one I have been looking at. P