Sgt John Parr RA

[en1gma76]

Hi i am really hoping you can help me i am trying to find info on my great grandfather his name is John Parr he was born in 1885 Jan/Feb/Mar i have found that he was killed in 1921 in the Indian sub continent of Karachi the details as follow - Death Indian sub continent - Corps/Ship = Unknown Station = Karachi Aged = 36, He also has a medal i'm not sure what for but the details on that are 362218 Act Sgt J.Parr RA i have been trying to find out what he was doing there how he was killed anything really as this is all a mystery He was born and lived in prescot as far as i know.

Thanks for looking
Jayne

[MaryA]

Age = 36
Is that a typing error or do you have the wrong death?

[en1gma76]

Sorry my mistake wrong death 1885 lol

[Blue70]

You should be able to order the death certificate from the GRO:-

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/


Blue

[daggers]

Jayne
Your man has a medal index card for service in WW1 which will show his entitlement to the campaign medals for war service. He was in the Royal Garrison Artillery and had the rank of Acting Sergeant. (The RGA was merged with the Royal Field Artillery after WW1).

If you have access to Ancestry you can get the card, free. If not, it will cost two pounds via the National Archives, documents online.
I cannot help with the death question. Sorry.
Daggers

[en1gma76]

Hi Daggers
Thanks for the info i am going to the library tomorrow to access ancestry so will get a copy while i am there, i'm new to all this and it certainly isn't as easy as they make it out on the tv lol but i am enjoying it so far.

Jayne

[dickiesam]

Hi Jayne,
You should order a copy of his death certificate which will give the cause and actual date of death. The cert can be ordered online from the GRO in Southport: http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certi ... efault.asp The cert will cost £9.25 including post and will usually take about a week.

You will need these details to complete the order:
Death: PARR, John
Place: Karachi, Indian subcontinent.
Year: 1921
Page: 136
Age at death: 36
GRO Army Death Indexes (1881 to 1955)

[MaryA]

Sorry I tried to upload this earlier, but photobucket wasn't playing, better late than never, hope somebody will be able to interpret for you.

[daggers]

The 'TF'on that card shows that Parr was in a Territorial Force unit, in wartime at least. As he seems to have continued to serve postwar there is a good chance that his service records survive. They will be held by the MoD at Glasgow, will cost you, and will take months to arrive.
I suggest you wait for the death cert before trying this.
D

[dickiesam]

A snippet on the history of the Royal Garrison Artillery from Wikepedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Garrison_Artillery
The Royal Garrison Artillery came into existence as a separate entity when existing coastal defence, mountain, siege and heavy batteries of the Royal Artillery were amalgamated into a new sub-branch. A Royal Warrant provided that from 1 June 1899:
"... the mounted and dismounted branches of the Royal Regiment of Artillery shall be separated into two corps... to be named respectively (a) the Royal Horse Artillery and the Royal Field Artillery: (b) the Royal Garrison Artillery."
The RGA retained the badge and dress uniform (dark blue with scarlet facings) of the Royal Artillery Regiment but personnel were normally clothed and equipped as dismounted men. After 1920 all RGA personnel were classified as mounted men, whether serving in horse-drawn, mountain or tractor-drawn batteries.

[en1gma76]

Thank you very much all of you

i am going to get a copy of his death certificate next
just wondering does anyone have any idea what was going on in karachi at the time as to why he would of been there in 1921 ?

Also what does 122b mean on the medal card ?

[daggers]

Those numbers are a reference to Medal Rolls which can only be seen at the National Archives at Kew. There may be some more information there, or maybe not.

Parr's number is in a block allocated to a local Territorial unit, the Lancashire and Cheshire Fortress Artillery, part of the Royal Garrison Artillery during WW1.
I shall try to find more about them and their movements.
D

[Blue70]

There was a campaign against British rule in India led by Gandhi. It was mostly peaceful but there were other very extreme factions around. In 1921 there was a Moplah uprising in southern India where Muslims declared a Caliphate killing Whites and either killing or force converting Hindus. This was far away from Karachi but will give you an idea of the tensions in India at the time.


Blue

[dickiesam]

Thank you very much all of you

i am going to get a copy of his death certificate next
just wondering does anyone have any idea what was going on in karachi at the time as to why he would of been there in 1921 ?

Read about Karachi, the former capital of Pakistan, here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Karachi
The British Raj ruled until 1948, soon after the country that is now Pakistan had been separated from the state of India. There would have been a considerable British military presence throughout the whole of India.

[daggers]

Jayne
Success! There is a set of papers for Sgt John Parr on Ancestry, under the military records section.
If you do not have an account you may be able to join for a trial day,or via a local library.
The details to use in searching are his names and 'Artillery' in the keyword box.
As he re-enlisted in 1919 he got a new number 230727, and embarked for India on 17 Nov 1919.
He died of pneumonia on 29 Nov 1921 at Allahabad, and seems to have been serving in 8th (M) Battery, RGA.
There are several pages of records, with details of his wife and children. There are sketchy details of his war service which show that he joined up very early on, having been a miner.
Daggers

[Blue70]

Good find Daggers. Here is an extract that mentions his death:-






Blue

[en1gma76]

Hi Blue70 and Daggers
Please please can you tell me where exactly you have found these bits of info i have spent the last 2 hours trawling all over ancestry.com and found very little
just his war medal card and the pension record helpppp

Jayne

[Blue70]

Hi Jayne,

Your John Parr is at the top of the search results here:-

Ancestry Search Results


This is the record as it appears as a transcript:-





Blue

[en1gma76]

THANKYOU VERY MUCH
your link did work and i have managed to print it off

Jayne

[daggers]

Jayne
Did you see all the pages of the record? There are small arrows near the top right hand corner to click on for successive pages.
D