Leonard Drake Leonard was the second son of William Henry Drake and Mary Ann (formerly Robinson) of Hampstead, London, born 1890 London St Pancras. Leonard was educated in Scotland and in 1911 he was a banker in London. Leonard was a 2nd Lieutenant in the 11th Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment) and he died 5 Oct 1916 unmarried [Click to continue…]

This is one of four stories about sibling members of a Howes family, compiled and contributed to www.howesfamilies.com by John Howes, the grandson of one of them.  The four siblings, all of whom had their lives profoundly affected by the war are (Peter) Frank Howes,  Leonard William Howes, Cyril Frank Howes and Eleanor Margaret Howes. (Clicking [Click to continue…]

Joseph was my great-uncle and he provided a vital clue in validating a story I hadn't believed. I had been told by my father, just before he died at 95, that my g.grandfather, a Coalminer from County Durham, had taken his family to Alabama to work in the mines there, but returned after a few years. Since nobody had mentioned this before I found it [Click to continue…]

Thomas George Rayment was born in November 1895 at Windeyer, New South Wales, Australia, to strict Methodists parents named Emily and Thomas George Rayment.  The fact that he and his father had exactly the same names quickly proved to be a source of more than a little confusion, as a result of which Thomas George Rayment (Junior) soon became known [Click to continue…]