If you have any questions about the information presented on this site you may find the answer here. If not, please leave a question in the comments section below.
Where do the photographs in this website come from?
Each image has been taken from the Hastings and St Leonards Pictorial Advertiser which was a paper that started being published in the 1860s. Copies of every issue printed during WW1 have been digitised by the East Sussex Library Service as part of their commemorations for the War. The digitised copies can be viewed in their entirety on the East Sussex WW1 Website.
What geographical area did the paper cover?
There are details of people from the Hastings and St Leonards Borough and also from the Rother Borough including Rye and Battle. The ‘Regiments, Ships and Places’ page shows the names of the towns where people lived. In Hastings and St Leonards I have broken location further into the smaller areas people identified with such as Hollington and Silverhill.
I can’t find my relative on this site, but I know he / she lived in the area and served during the War.
The photographs and information sent in to the Advertiser were done so by the parents, friends and relatives of those serving. I doubt whether everyone that served had a photograph published.
The work on extracting photographs from the Paper had now completed. The Advertiser ceased being published in March 1918, and the Hastings Observer did not continue to publish the photographs being sent in. This means that regretfully, it won’t be a complete record of everyone that served. I would like to add anyone that has been missed. If you have details of a relative who lived in Hastings or St Leonards and contributed towards the war effort, please submit their details using the form here.
Some images that were published in the Advertiser have been partially obscured during the scanning process. I have not included these images as not only the image itself is of poor quality, the text accompanying it is partly missing too.
My relative didn’t live in the area, but he is on this website. Why?
Hastings and St Leonards was used as a staging area for soldiers as they awaited posting to active service. These soldiers stayed with families in the area, and became friends with them. The hosts often sent the details of their guests to the paper for publication.
Why is the quality of some of the photographs is poor?
There is a mixed bag of quality in the images on this site. There are a combination of factors as to why this is. It stems from the original image sent to the Pictorial Advertiser, the quality of transfer onto the paper during printing, how well the paper copy was kept over the last 100 years and the process of scanning into a digital form. At one or all of the stages above some fading, warping or degrading will have occurred.
How accurate is the information about individuals?
I have presented the core information in the same way as the Pictorial Advertiser. I have added to it where some clarification is needed or there is other relevant information available. I have included the date that the information was published to add context to the information provided with the photograph. For instance, an individual who was training in 1914 will have been posted to a regiment subsequently. Like the photographs themselves the information is a snapshot of a particular moment in time.
With regard to the addresses provided with many of the photographs, it is not clear whether that is the address of the individual or the person that sent the image in. I have included the address as it may be useful for people researching their family tree.
There are occasional errors in the details published by the paper, which I have tried to correct where possible. These include occasional misspelling of surnames, initials.
Naturally there may be some typos or misreading of the text as I have transcribed it. If you notice any, please let me know and I will correct it.
I use several websites to provide further details about some of the people on here. I use two sites frequently, the first being the Imperial War Museums’ ‘Lives of the First World War‘ which has free searchable records for all Commonwealth service personnel. The other website is the Commonweath War Graves Commission website. Both these websites have helped to provided further details about an individual, including full first names, rank and fate. Other websites I use often are detailed in the useful links shown on the website.
A surprising number of men from the Hastings and surrounding area served in the Canadian and Australian forces during the First World War.
In the UK, researchers of UK service records have to pay to access the archives. However in Australia, New Zealand and Canada you can view the majority of soldier’s enlistment papers free of charge. The three websites I use are as follows:
Why do have some individuals have more detailed profiles?
The details supplied to the paper are often frustratingly scant. First names and initials are sometimes not included, which makes finding further information about them difficult if not impossible.
Those people with common second names are the hardest to research is these cases. I want the records on this website to be as accurate as possible, so where there is doubt about the identity of an individual I have left the information as presented in the paper. Where I have been able to add further, definitive, data I have added it and noted the source.
On some individuals I have conducted some further research. I have used the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website to find out details about all those who are stated to have died during the war. On others, particularly Naval personnel, I have provided links to information about the ships they served on. Often my own curiosity has led me to research further into a particular ship, battle or incident. Where I consider it relevant I’ve added to an individual’s details.
Can you help?
I’ve tried to be as accurate as possible with the information provided with the photographs, however I’m reliant on the information provided with them. There are bound to be errors within this work. If you spot any errors, and can provide corrections, please let me know.
I only have copies of the Hastings & St Leonards Pictorial Advertiser up until March 1918. Unfortunately East Sussex Libraries don’t have later editions, meaning that 5 months of editions are not included on the site. If you know where I could get hold of these later editions, please let me know.
Who is behind this website?
My name is Kieron Pelling and I was approached to do some photographic work by East Sussex Council for their World War 1 Commemoration website. They shared with me the electronic copies of the Hastings and St Leonards Pictorial Advertiser so that I could find suitable photographs for the ‘Then and Now’ images I have been producing for them. These can be viewed on my other website Compelling Photography.
Do you have any other questions?
Please ask them in the comments section below!
24 COMMENTS
Very good…..a labour of love….I have also researched 3000 Royal Sussex Regiment soldiers over 20 years.
Maybe you would like to take a look ?
http://theorangelily.jimdo.com/
best regards
Les
Thanks Leslie, I did take a look at your site. That too is a labour of love, an excellent resource for those that want to research further into the regiment. Kind Regards
Hi Kieron !
Ref your particulars text for F.G. Masters…….wrong text, probably from Thomas Godsell…Masters not fallen…..probable survivor as not on CWGC. Hope this helps.
best regards
Les
Hj Kieron !
Referenve your entry for F.G. MASTERS……….masters was a probable survivor….. Your CWGC text refers to THOMAS (probably GODSELL)……Hope this helps.
best regards
Les
Sorry—-typo…I mean GOODSELL
Thanks for pointing out the error there – a copy and paste error I think! Corrected now. Regards, Kieron
I traced my Grand Uncle Thomas Wilfred JACOBS in the 1901 census to the battleship HMS Royal Oak where he was Able Seaman, aged 23, on board at Malta in the Mediterranean. His captain was A W E Prothers.. When the Royal Oak was torpedoed he was not on the list of seamen. Where else could there be information regarding him?
I am looking for a photo of a gunnery instructor class for a Llewelyn prize for top of his class in 1951, ( RCN . CPO Norman Anderson )
Hi Stephen, thank you for commenting. This website is specifically about the First World War, so I’m not able to help you with your query unfortunately. Regards, Kieron
Hi,
Can you tell me more about what the 5th Sussex RFA did during WW1?
I believe the J Perkins on your site is my Great Grandfather.
Many thanks
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
The 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment appears to have been part of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division of the British Army from 1915. The 5th fought in the battles of Aubers and Loos, the Somme, Ypres and some in Italy in 1917. More information here: http://battlefields1418.50megs.com/5sussex.htm
Kind Regards, Kieron.
My husband’s grandfather was a Chilean Captain of Corbeta Jose S Muñoz Marina de Chile. HE was from October 1992 to October 1913 in the HMS Dominion. Where can I find more information about it?
I have been sent a request about men called Metcalf from Hastings. As a member of the Metcalfe Society, and the Committee member who has been gathering information about the extended family during WW1, I have accessed a large number of records over the past couple of years and we will be publishing some, in not all, of our research later this year. I have a look for the men the lady mentioned but need more details to find them on our database, if they are there. Can you help? I understand that you are looking for more information on them but without a specific name, it would be difficult to find them
Hi Jo. The information about the Metcalf men I have recorded on this website is limited to that supplied with their photographs. The links to these individuals are below. I’m always happy to add information to their records, if you are able to provide it.:
http://www.ww1rollofhonour.co.uk/index.php/2018/04/metcalf-alfred-douglas/
http://www.ww1rollofhonour.co.uk/index.php/2015/12/metcalf-charles/
http://www.ww1rollofhonour.co.uk/index.php/2015/12/metcalf-frederick/
http://www.ww1rollofhonour.co.uk/index.php/2015/12/metcalf-percy/
http://www.ww1rollofhonour.co.uk/index.php/2017/04/metcalf-f/
Kind Regards, Kieron
My Grandfather William Pollard lived at Gloucester Cottages in The Croft and served in WW1 enlisting initially in 5 Cinque Ports Bn. How can I get him added please?
Hi Alan, I’ve created page where you can provide details and a photograph of William Pollard and I’ll add him to the records on here. The link is: http://www.ww1rollofhonour.co.uk/index.php/add-a-serviceman/. Kind Regards, Kieron
Im trying to find additional info on Private A R ( Arthur Robert ) Rushmer. S/36801 who died in France 31/03/1918. Know he is buried in Pargny Cemetery. Trying to assist an elderly Gentleman who is his nephew. He thinks that Arthur was awarded medal(s) but very vague cos of age etc.
Hi Roland. There is a little more information and photograph of Arthur here: https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/lifestory/3857211. Hope this helps! Kind Regards, Kieron.
Hi Kieron,
I undertaking a one name study on the Hunnisett/Honeysett family http://hunnisett.one-name.net and have set myself the task of researching all the men who fell in the familyin the Great War. My husband’s own line came from St Leonard’s so I was amazed to find a photograph of his grandfather and 4 of his maternal May great uncles on this site, whose war history I have been trying to work out (they never talked about it, of course). I thibk this project is brilliant & I have never seen any of these photos before.
I have started a blog, http://cherylhunnisett.com/ , writing up the stories I have found. I would love to put this photograph with the story of the St Leonard Hunnisetts and Mays, with a proper attribution and link to this website. Happy to share what I have found too.
Hi Cheryl. Thank you for your kind words. Please feel free to use the photographs and information on here for your research, and if you’d like to add to the information I have, I’m happy to add it. Kind Regards, Kieron.
My grandfather William John Keats was wounded on 22/11/1917, do you know where the Middlesex Regt were on that date.
Thank you.
Hi William, this link provides an overview of the Middlesex Regiment’s service during WW1, broken down by battalion: https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/the-duke-of-cambridges-own-middlesex-regiment/. Kind Regards, Kieron
Hello. Do you know if ordinary men from non-medical backgrounds ie farmers ended up in the royal medical corp during World War 1?
Thank you
Hi Mary. I couldn’t really say for sure, but I think that men with certain trades or specialisations were mostly put into roles that would make the most of those skills. This particularly related to engineers, people that worked with animals and from medical professions. I’m sure that some men from farming backgrounds would have ended up in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Not sure that is much help though. Kind Regards, Kieron.