Thomas Richens ............... a British Home Child and the story which began with his medal .... part 1

I am looking at a British War Medal.

Now on one level there is nothing extraordinary about such a medal.

Over six and half million were issued at the end of the Great War along with another 110,000 made in bronze.

But of course each one has a story and each story is unique.  This one belongs to George Davison who died on the Western Front just five months before the end of the Great War

Most of us will have at least one family member who fought in that conflict.

I can count a great grandfather, a grandfather, two great uncles, and two uncles who followed the Colours serving in the West Kent’s, the Sherwood Foresters, and the Black Watch, along with one in the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Great uncle Roger who served with the CEF was a British Home Child who went over in 1914, ran away from his last placement the following year and joined up lying about his age and changing his name.

And that brings me to Thomas Richens who was also a BHC and his medal which  Lori Oschefski came across on eBay.

It was on offer for $39 and came with a copy of his Attestation Papers which provided his age, place of birth and next of kin.

At present we know he was 17 when he enlisted in December 1915 and that he gave his occupation as “farmer” and later as a "liveryman" and that he was 5', 3" and weighed 125 lbs.

Given his age after arriving in Britain in the October of 1916 with the 130th Battalion he was transferred to 12 Reserve Battalion and did not see active service in the “field” until May 1918.

In time I would like to see his full military records if only because on this side of the Atlantic such military records are rare. Nearly 60% were destroyed during enemy action during the Second World War which means of my five who fought the only complete set are from Canada.

Mr Richens survived the war, was married in 1924 and died in 1966.

And here the story takes a twist. Lori with the help of Georgina Sales has filled in some of the gaps from when he was demobbed and has located his family who knew nothing of his BHC past but offered up a second close relative who had also been migrated.

All of which shouldn’t surprise us.

Most who have a family member sent over from Britain knew nothing of their story and some have had a struggle just to get the basic facts.

That is less of a problem than it once was which in part is due to the sheer volume of material now online but also to the diligent efforts of Lori, Georgina and many others who run sites dedicated to the history of BHC and are more than willing to help with research.

Which brings us back to Mr Richens.

His military records say he was orphaned when he arrived in Canada in March 1909.  Tantalizingly the records offer up a Mrs Wilson who was next of kin.

This was his sister Mary born in 1896 and thre are some clues to what happened to her.

But Mr Richens’s parents have  failed to come out of the shadows.

They were living in Hardings Court off the High Street in Bretford in 1901 and Mr Thomas Richens senior described himself as a “General Shop Dealer” which was pretty much what his father had been as well.

The family consisted of Thomas, who had been born in 1857, Jane who was seven years younger than her husband and their two children Mary and Thomas.

I can track Mr Richens senior back to 1851 but as yet can’t find anything on Jane, nor has a marriage date turned up or a death record for either of them.

I had high hopes that the street directories would bring me closer to the family but they still have offered up nothing.

It will all be out there but as yet refuses to budge.

It may be that something will come from the Canadian records of his arrival, but I am not experienced with these.

But someone I know will be able to delve deeper and that is the exciting thing about this story, for there are a few of us beavering away on both side of the Atlantic to bring Mr Richens out of the shadows and do justice to both that medal and the story of a British Home Child.

Pictures, British War Medal of George Davison, from the collection of David Harrop, Attestation Papers of Thomas Richens, courtesy of Library and Archives Canada http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/first-world-war-1914-1918-cef/Pages/image.aspx?Image=604057a&URLjpg=http%3A%2F%2Fdata2.archives.ca%2Fcef%2Fgpc015%2F604057a.gif&Ecopy=604057a

Research by Lori Oschefski,  Georgina Sales and Andrew Simpson