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With the help of information provided by his father, actor Robert Lindsay investigated the life of his paternal grandfather, Jesse Stevenson.
On investigating his mother’s side of the family, there were several surprises in store for Robert. After having two children out of wedlock, his grandmother settled with Raymond Dunmore and had a further four daughters. Another two daughters died young and were buried in public graves in the local cemetery.
Further investigation of Robert Dunmore showed that he had been at the disastrous attempt to take Constantinople by sea in 1915. The ship "Prince of Wales" was involved in landing Australian troops on the beach at Gallipoli. It is probably here that Raymond was ‘blown up’, and given the horrors of the campaign, explains why he chose to not to talk about it.
There are several sources you can use to investigate your ancestors’ military history. A good place to start is with the records of commissioned and non-commissioned officers, held at The National Archives. You can also search and download First World War medal index cards online and you may find the regimental war diary – search by typing in the regiment’s name.
If your ancestor served as a naval rating during the First World War you can search for the service record online
If you are interested in looking at a ships’ log you can search series ADM53 on The National Archives’ catalogue by the name of the ship. You can also consult this research guide for more information.
Company records of local businesses, if they survive, will probably have been deposited in local record offices. You can search for these on www.a2a.org.uk
or National Register of Archives
