We are stuck trying to track down any information on my Great Grandfather - William Douglas Marston.

He had a son called William Frederick (known as Fred) - My Grandfather.

We know he was killed in action in France - and have his record of death. He was just 21, and according to the information given, he was born in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, but enlisted in Bishops Castle (this is where a large number of my family are from, including my mother and her siblings).

But trying to find the birth record of William Douglas Marston has been a nightmare, and so far we've come up completely empty handed.
Unfortunately we don't know if he married my G/Fathers mother, and if so what her name was (no-one in the family can recall her being mentioned).

Truth be told, if it wasn't for the fact we have photographic evidence William Douglas existed, plus his death records, I'd be wondering right now if he was real!

We did find a Douglas Marston, born around the right time in Bishops Castle - but we can't find out any more information about him either (His father was called William, and so we wondered if his son was known as Douglas, even if his first name was William).

Any help would be great!


Any help someone can give would be appreciated.

There is a record of a birth registered in Cleobury Mortimer in 1896 of a Douglas William Marston but would he be too young to have died in action in WW1?

Hi Jatne and/or Sara

I got an email from you requesting a look at my family tree but I was not sure why the I got the answer to your question relayed through the message board. That is the introduction, now the details.

My great great grandfather was Douglas Marston. Whilst Marston is common in Shropshire I have not found many Douglas. Have to say the only Douglas I really new is my brother. Who was named after his gg grandfather. Douglas Marsden was born in 1818 in Bishops Castle and married Sarah Sayce (born 1819 BC) in 1843 at BC. They had a daughter Sarah born at Lydbury North in 1856. She lived with Douglas and Sarah until 1891. In 1901 she lived with her sister Jessie Marston who married a Joseph Davies and lived in Church Street BC. It appears that Sarah had a number of children but I have not found any fathers yet. Never enough time to do everything. Her children are William (1871 BC), Harold Sayce (1880) & Jesse (1891). William married Fanny ? last name & date. In 1901 William & Fanny lived at Church Street BC. They had a son called Douglas born 1897 at BC. Again I have not followed this up yet. Private William Douglas Marston of the 6th Battallion King's Shropshire Light Infantry (33626) was killed on the 20 November 1917 and is remembered on the Cambrai Memorial Louveral. The Ancestry military details give the same information but say he was born in Bridgnorth and resided at Ludlow but enlisted at BC. It does not mention any age so I cannot say he is related or the same Douglas born to William and Fanny but 1897 was be an age for WWI as he would be 20 when he died and many enlisted much younger.

Hope this gives some hope tha he existed. There is another D W Marston on the Commonwealth War Graves site of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers but I believe this to be David William Marston from the USA. Another William Douglas Marston was in the Army from 1914 - 1915 but he was born in Valporiso South America so I have excluded both from my search at the moment.

If I can be of further help I can be contacted on hilljames@bigpond.com

Regards

Jim Hill

Thanks everyone for the replies. On further investigation we have narrowed the situation down, and found out William Douglas isn't as related as I first thought.

Many thanks again for the replies.