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  • Who Do You Think You Are?

    Q&A

    Feb 11, 2020 8 minutes
    EDITED BY CLAIRE VAUGHAN

    KATHERINE COBB is a member of AGRA based in Somerset

    KAREN CUMMINGS is a member of AGRA, and a tutor for Pharos and the IHGS

    MICHELLE HIGGS is an author specialising in social history and family history

    EMMA JOLLY is a writer, historical researcher and member of AGRA

    DEBBIE KENNETT is a DNA expert and the author of DNA and Social Networking

    JAYNE SHRIMPTON is a professional dress historian and portrait specialist

    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 James get up to during his military service?

    Q We’re researching the names on the First World War memorial in Wincle, Cheshire. However, we’re a bit stumped by James Davenport, a farmer’s son born on 22 November 1898. The Absent Voters’ List for Wincle shows his regimental number, 148243, in the Lancers, 1st Reserve Cavalry. We can’t find anything else. James’ granddaughters remember him talking about eating curries during the war – perhaps he served in India?

    Alan Weeks

    Your Absent Voters’ Roll shows James serving with 1st Reserve Cavalry Regiment and, subsequently, Home Defence Labour (HDL), a general name for the labour units in the UK. The minimum conscription age was 18, so as James was born in November 1898, he couldn’t be called up until November 1916 at the

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