Henry Deeley
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Henry Walter Deeley (abt. 1886 - 1914)

Henry Walter Deeley
Born about in Aston, Warwickshire, Englandmap
Ancestors ancestors
[spouse(s) unknown]
[children unknown]
Died at about age 28 in Ypres, Belgiummap
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Profile last modified | Created 8 Jul 2015
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Contents

Biography

Corporal Henry Deeley served in the British Army in World War I
Service started: 1902
Unit(s): King's Royal Rifle Corps
Service ended: 1914 (KIA)
Roll of Honor
Corporal Henry Deeley was Killed in Action at First Battle of Ypres during World War I.

Birth and Early Life

Henry was born in 1886, in Aston. [1] He was the first son of Henry Walter Deeley and Anna Maria Cleaton his wife. In 1891 he was living with them at 69 Wheeler Street Lozells. This street contained 'good quality artisan housing'[2]but the census shows that the address was shared between 4 households.[3]

By 1901, Henry Walter and his family had moved to Nechells again in Birmingham. He was living with his family and aged fourteen .He working as a post office messenger. [4]

Army service

His army service is detailed in many documents contained in his service records[5]

Enlistment

On 27-9-1902, Henry Walter joined the British Army, his age at enlistment is given as 18 years 2 months . (HIs birth appears to have been registered in the 3rd quarter of 1886 and his age at the 1891 and 1901 censuses agree with this so it seems that he added on two years to his age). He continued in the army for the rest of his life and this possible fiction was maintained) He initially enlisted in the South Staffordshire regiment but within in short time transferred to the Kings Royal Rifle Corps. At enlistment he was described as being:

5ft 3in tall,
Fresh complexion
Blue eyes
Black hair.
Chest 31 1/2inches with Max Expansion to 34 inches.

His religion was noted as Anglican (yes in the box) but later changed to Wesleyan. He signed up for a short service engagement with 3 years in active service and 9 in the reserve.

Service Abroad and Health

His early service took him to Malta. The climate seems not to have suited him as he spent 135 days from mid March to the end of July 1904 in hospital with 'Mediterranean Fever" . Nevertheless, he must have enjoyed the life and in October 1904, he extended his service for 8 years in the colours. Did he celebrate by sowing his wild oats? Perhaps , by November of the same year was back in hospital for another 96 days with an STD. His ill health continued and he spent another 16 days in hospital with fever in 1905 In 1906, he spent time in Dungra, India and was appointed as a Bugler in December of that year. In 1907 his ill health returned and he spent another28 days in hospital with a fever.

Marriage and Children and Promotion

A return to England had him stationed in Gosport,Hampshire . He met Elinor Bennet , originally from Galway in Ireland whom he asked to marry. Elinor though was a Roman Catholic and Henry decided to change his religion to hers. He had to request permission to do this and was visited by Rev G Harland to discuss the matter. Rev Harland in a (very damaged so not all legible) note to Walter's commanding officer appears to have said that it wasn't really in his remit to answer one way or the other and that he left it to the man's conscience. However it was to his regret that such a necessity should have arisen. The permission to change is dated a month after the wedding actually took place. He married Elinor on 16th April 1909 (marriage cert forms part of service records) at St Marys RC chapel in Alverstoke.

On 25 April 1910, Henry was promoted to Lance Corporal and 'reverted from being a bugler' in the following month In July his daughter Eileen Patricia was born. The records don't show where Henry was posted during the next few years, he was though living in barracks at Gosport at the time of the 1911 census (his wife was living in Army quarters elsewhere in Gosport at the same census) [6]

On 2nd February 1913 his daughter Ella Helene was born.
On 19th June 1913, he was promoted to Corporal.

Having spent eleven years in the Army , Henry prepared for discharge.His commanding officer wrote on the 3 June

Conduct Exemplary
has always been a bugler
Thoroughly honest soldier and trustworthy NCO

His discharge date was set for 28th September 1914; the UK declared war on Germany in August 1914 and Henry's discharge date was crossed out. He remained in the army.

War Service

As Henry was already in the army at the commencement of the war .He was one of the first to be sent to France landing in Rouen on 13th August 1914, part of the 1st division of the British Expeditionary Force. The expeditionary force, fought their way through France and into Belgium. Family stories have said that Henry was so short that he rode a motorcycle, that he rode with Prince Maurice of Battenberg in a side car beside him and that they died together. It transpires that this battalion was indeed a motor cycle regiment but the Prince died on the 27th October 1914, the day before Henry was killed. Henry's death is recorded in the war diary

28 October 1914
"The headquarters was in a cottage, just behind a wood into which we had moved just before daylight from another house behind B and D company's trenches. Cpl Deeley and Rfm Wilcock were hit inside the house by bullets, the former being killed."[7]

Although his place of death is recorded, he has no known grave. His name is one of the over 54,000 inscribed on the Menin Gate Memorial. [8]

In his memory, on Sun 26 October, 2014, a quarter peal was rung at the Church of St Peter's Harborne to commemorate the centenary of his death.

Sources

  1. General Register Office, England; index of births
    DEELEY, HENRY WALTER (mothers name at birth) CLEATON
    GRO Reference: 1886 D Quarter in ASTON Volume 06D Page 302
  2. William Dargue A History of BIRMINGHAM Places & Placenames http://billdargue.jimdo.com/placenames-gazetteer-a-to-y/places-l/lozells/
  3. 1891 census RG12; Piece: 2392; Folio: 15; Page: 23; GSU roll: 6097502
  4. 1901 Census RG13; Piece: 2874; Folio: 90; Page: 24
  5. The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO). War Office: Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ (Microfilm Copies); (The National Archives Microfilm Publication WO363) Henry Walter Deeley KRRC regimental no.4929
  6. Name Henry Deeley Age 26 Gender Male Birth Place Birmingham, Warwickshire, England Place New Barracks, Gosport Marital Status Married Military Unit 1st Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps 1911 Census : RG14; Piece: 5646 Depository Ancestry.com NB mistranscibed Duley
  7. War Diary KRRC. 1st Batt.2 div. Aug 1914-Dec 1915 National Archives Kew
  8. Commonwealth War graves Commision. http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1609630/DEELEY,%20HENRY%20WALTER Rank: Corporal Service No:4929Date of Death:28/10/1914Age:28Regiment/Service:King's Royal Rifle Corps "C" Coy. 1st Bn. Panel Reference:Panel 51 and 53.Memorial:YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIALAdditional Information:Son of the late Henry Walter Deeley; husband of Eleanor Winifred Wilkes (formerly Deeley), of 3/89, Willis St., Ashted, Birmingham.




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Henry by comparing test results with other carriers of his ancestors' Y-chromosome or mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Henry:

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Rejected matches › Unknown Deeley (1887-1887)