Q&A
DAVID ANNAL is a former principal family history specialist at The National Archives
JAYNE SHRIMPTON is a professional dress historian and portrait specialist
ALAN STEWART is the author of Grow Your Own Family Tree
RUTH SYMES is the author of Tracing Your Ancestors Through Letters & Personal Writings
PHIL TOMASELLI is a military family history expert and wrote Tracing Your Air Force Ancestors
What did my wife’s great uncle do during his military service?
Q This photograph shows my wife’s great uncle, William Henry Phillips. He was born on 18 September 1873 in Timoleague, County Cork. I have no information on him until he enlisted in the Fife Artillery in Fife in 1890 (regimental number 75464). Records show that he won medals for service in China and for the Relief of Pekin, while in the Royal Field Artillery. He married in North Shields in 1903 and died in Perth, Perthshire, in 1909. Can you help?
George McLean
A I think it’s certain you’ve conflated two, possibly three, soldiers – probably because one enlisted in Perth and another died there, and two served in the artillery. Judging by the photograph, you’re looking for Quartermaster Sergeant William Henry Phillips, in the Army Service Corps (ASC).
Reading through the first WH Phillips’ attestation paper (on ), he enlisted aged 16 years and seven months at Cupar, Fife, in 1890 and previously served in the Fife Artillery. He was discharged after three
