I have mentioned this name to the forum before. I still cannot identify this man. I am at the end of my tether as i cannot find a reference to him anywhere!!

I have checked the usual places, local papers, census (although there is a Leonard Bocking in the 1891 close to my area), MIC's, CWGC and Soldiers Died.

I NEED HELP, PLEASE!!

It is driving me crazy.

Cheers

Just prehaps the engravers got the christian name wrong?
So how about

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_detail...?casualty=41970

a slightly late saterday night guess

The problem you have is there are 63 Bockings on the NA site:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...Spec=Score+desc

Could this be a miss-spell such as Docking?

There is a Leonard Docking on the NA site:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...;resultcount=51

Although he's not listed as having been killed.

But there is this chap:

Name: DOCKING, BERTIE LEONARD
Initials: B L
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Middlesex Regiment
Unit Text: 2nd Bn.
Age: 20
Date of Death: 01/11/1920
Service No: 6192251
Additional information: Son of Alfred William and Bessy Maria Docking, of 191, Essex St., Norwich.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: G. 95.
Cemetery: ALEXANDRIA (CHATBY) MILITARY AND WAR MEMORIAL CEMETERY

Steve

There was a London policeman Leonard Bocking who received a George Medal in 1954
http://www.historybytheyard.co.uk/gallantr...t_1946-1954.htm

Bocking
Leonard Geoffrey
1954
George Medal
PC
With PC George Sinclair. For outstanding courage and tenacity in attempting to arrest an armed murderer in Clifton Gardens, Maida Vale.

Probably not your man, but maybe a connection. You can contact them for more information

All,

Thanks for your replies so far.

I never thought that the surname could be spelt wrong!! I'm not sure it is the Leonard Docking found as Norwich is a long long way from Notts! Enitirely possible though i suppose!

Just done a quick search on SDGW surname ending ocking and came up with this lad:

Name: HOCKING, JOSEPH
Initials: J
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Royal Warwickshire Regiment
Unit Text: 10th Bn.
Age: 21
Date of Death: 17/04/1918
Service No: 27551
Additional information: Son of the late William Richard Hocking, of 16, Longden Terrace, Stanton Hill, Mansfield, Notts.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 23 to 28 and 163A.
Memorial: TYNE COT MEMORIAL


Maybe, just maybe.................

Highly unlikely, but just in case......

Name: HOCKING, LEONARD VICKORY
Initials: L V
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
Unit Text: 7th Bn.
Age: 19
Date of Death: 03/05/1917
Service No: G/20002
Additional information: Son of James and Annie Hocking, of Alexandra House, Clovelly Rd., Bideford, Devon.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Bay 2.
Memorial: ARRAS MEMORIAL

Name: COCKINGS, LEONARD
Initials: L
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Lance Corporal
Regiment/Service: Northamptonshire Regiment
Unit Text: "C" Coy. 1st Bn.
Secondary Regiment: Royal Dublin Fusiliers
Secondary Unit Text: attd. 1st Bn.
Age: 21
Date of Death: 31/05/1917
Service No: 200622
Additional information: Son of Mrs. Mary Young (formerly Cockings), of I, Dell Place, Park Rd., Rushden, Northants.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Bay 7.
Memorial: ARRAS MEMORIAL

Still think now alcohol free that my Bernard is a possible. But anyway it would not be the first mistake in wartime records. Is Stafford anywhere near mansfeild?

http://www.1901censusonline.com/results.as...i=person_search

Andrew,

Thanks for those 2, they are possibles i suppose!



It's a not too far away, not sure of the mileage. Will have a look into this one.

Thanks

Bringing this back to the surface, as still no where near getting him identified.

How about:

Birth : Leonard Bockin 1883 Oct-Nov-Dec Grantham (1837-1933) Leicestershire, Lincolnshire Volume: 7a Page: 456

Marriage : Leonard Bockin 1904 Apr-May-Jun Mansfield Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire Volume: 7b Page: 165


1891 Census

Name: Leonard Bockin
Age: 7
Estimated birth year: abt 1884
Relation: Son
Father's name: John
Mother's name: Elizabeth
Gender: Male
Where born: Bottesford, Leicestershire, England

Civil parish: Bottesford
Ecclesiastical parish: Bottesford
Town: Bottesford
County/Island: Leicestershire
Country: England

Street address: 14 Chapel Street.

Registration district: Grantham
Sub-registration district: Grantham South
ED, institution, or vessel: 22


Household Members: Name Age

Ada M Bockin 10
Edith Bockin 3
Elizabeth Bockin 47
Grace Bockin 5
John Bockin 46
Leonard Bockin 7
Robert I Bockin 13





1901 Census

Name: Leonard Bockin
Age: 17
Estimated birth year: abt 1884
Relation: Son
Father's name: John
Mother's name: Elizabeth
Gender: Male
Where born: Bottesford, Leicestershire, England

Civil parish: Bottesford
Ecclesiastical parish: Bottesford St Mary
Town: Bottesford
County/Island: Leicestershire
Country: England

Street address: 10 Belvoir Road.

Occupation: Railway Porter

Registration district: Grantham
Sub-registration district: Grantham South
ED, institution, or vessel: 22
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 204

Household Members: Name Age
Edith Bockin 13
Elizabeth Bockin 57
John Bockin 56
Leonard Bockin 17
Robert J Bockin 24




The entries on the Marriage register page:

Leonard Bockin 1904 Apr-May-Jun Mansfield Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire
Sarah Ann Clarke 1904 Apr-May-Jun Mansfield Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire
George Henry Hayes 1904 Apr-May-Jun Mansfield Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire
Grace Annie Lancashire 1904 Apr-May-Jun Mansfield Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire




Surely him, but now the Military Connection ????


Steve.

Steve,

You are a legend, got to be him.

Have searched CWGC without the G on the end but still nothing.

Now need to find his military service

Found a Bernard Bocking on the CWGC:

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_detail...?casualty=41970

Bernard - Leonard - not too great a leap of the imagination to see two mis-spelled letters creating a new first name - just a possibility...

Never forget that just because the name is on a memorial it is also on the CWGC lists.

Anthony

A Charles L Bockin:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...p;resultcount=5

Perhaps? May be?

Regards
Mel

No entry in Du Ruvigny's.

Can't locate him on the Times Casualty Lists.


Steve.

Mel,

Cheers saw him earlier, however no Bockin on CWGC.

Steve,

Cheers for looking, now where?

Anthony

I agree with the cautionary note of welshdoc that you should not always expect a CWGC entry. As with the Sgt William North of the Leics thread posted today, there is an example of someone who died during the war after discharge with a disease (pulmonary TB perhaps contracted during service) but no CWGC entry.

How about a trawl for the death certificate of the Leonard that stebie magnificently identified?

Worth a punt if only to preserve your sanity and hair

regards

Mel

Mel,

Thanks for the advice. I have been thinking that he is a non commemoration.

I have had a look and cannot put a date of death in the search because i don't have one, i don't have country registered in and do not have an age

Is there anyone who looks for death certs regularly who could have a quick look for me, i seem to be missing something here!

Many Thanks for help with this.

To save others the bother, I've looked through the BMD deaths registers up to the end of 1929 and not found him yet.
His older brother Robert J[ohn] Bockin died in Nottingham in Q4 1927 at age 50.
There's a Leonard BockinG that died in Stockport in Q1 1929 but the age does not fit - this one was 67.

Regards,
Adrian

Adrian,

Thanks.

Adrian

I wished I had seen your post before I did my trawl

I did 1914-19 and only came up with one Bockin - Ada who died in the second quarter of 1918 aged 51.

Wrong age and gender!

regards

Mel

Mel,

Received your PM thanks.

He could have been anything i really don't know!

Where next?

Bottesford, perhaps? Could he have been better recorded (if at all) on his birthplace's memorial?


Steve.

Steve,

Thanks mate.

I know he had to have been killed or died before June 1923, the Memorial was unveiled then. They didn't start discussing the war memorial being built until 1922.

This is so frustrating!

Steve,

Bottesford, Leics and Lincs have both come up Negative. I'm starting to think that this chap is an alias or used an alias that has never been discovered

I don't think that i'm ever going to find out who he could be. Shame, because it looks as though you have found him below.

I have also had a walk around the 2 cemeteries here reading headstones for a private memorial but not a sausage.

Next step, where??

This is so frustrating. You were so close!!

Anthony,
As you know I'm as interested as you in solving this (well, actually not, as you are getting to the point of being insanely obbessed - but you know what I mean) but I've got a little lost as to what we do know and what has been speculated. If you've got the will power, would it be possible to briefly summarise where you are with this?

Okay,

Here goes:

This is what we know- Leonard Bockin was born in Bottesford, Leicestershire in 1884. The 1901 Census shows that he was a Railway Porter, living at 10 Belvoir Road, Bottesford. He was living with his father John aged 56 and his Mother Elizabeth aged 57. His Brother Robert aged 24 and sister Edith aged 13 also resided.
He was married in the April, May, June quarter of 1904 in Mansfield to Sarah Ann Clarke in Mansfield.

His name appears on the roll on the documents in the Nottingham Archives

He can be found with a reference to Mansfield, see above

His name is shown on the memorial cast in bronze as L Bocking

I have searched 2 cemeteries in Mansfield Woodhouse looking for a private memorial to him, nothing

He does not appear on the Bottesford War Memorial in Lincs or Leics

He does not appear in the 3 local papers covering a large area of Notts


What has been speculated

He was a Canadian, Australian, New Zealander or other Commonwealth force.

He is an ALIAS, whose real name has not been found (or it has but we don't know about it)

He never actually served overseas, hence no MIC

He is not commemorated by the CWGC but there is no death certificate to be found anywhere

He was in one of the Home Defence forces, the Royal Defence Corps Etc.

He was a visitor to Mansfield Woodhouse and someone added his name at the time.

His name is spelt wrong.

He doesn't actually exist, not a real person.

This chap has been suggested but does not appear to have been a casualty Charles L Bockin Royal Garrison Artillery 87379 Serjeant

I think this sums it up to be honest, looks to me as though we have every angle covered

Here's his name in the Nottingham Archives Docs:

And on the War Memorial:

Anthony, I take it that you've checked the local paper archive for any mention of him. Have you tried looking for relatives who might be able to shed some light? It's a long shot, especially so long after the event, but it might be worth looking on genesreunited or the Ancestry boards.

Hello Anthony.

I don't know how far you want to take this, but here are one or two ideas from a family historian's perspective.

I don't think that it is actually proven that the Leonard Bockin whose birth was registered in the December quarter of 1883 is one and the same as the one who married in the June quarter of 1904, but there are so few Bockins on www.freebmd.org.uk that I think the assumption is justified.

Two females are shown on the June 1904 marriage page - Sarah Anne Clarke and Grace Annie Lancashire, and without the certificate, or other information, it is not possible to say which was Leonard's wife.

There are three ways of finding out who married whom.
1. Wait for the new GRO indexes to be released on the internet in 2008, where the surname of the spouse will be shown for all marriages;
2. Buy the certificate for Lionel Bockin (7.00 GBP and you can do this on-line through the GRO)
3. Take a punt on one of the two Bockin births shown on FreeBMD for Mansfield - Mabel Bockin in September 1906, and Ethel Bockin shown in June 1908 - and buy that birth certificate (7.00 GBP). I'd suggest Ethel.

Assuming that they are both Lionel's children, you will get the name of his wife as the mother of the child. Importantly, you will also get his occupation. If this is still a railway employee, it may be possible to work from any railway company employee records to find out about his military service. Railway companies sometimes kept rolls of WW1 service as well as individual records.

I note that there are no more Bockin births registered for Mansfield shown on FreeBMD. The two for the Rugby registration district are, in my opinion, the children of Charles Lionel Bockin (as far as I can see he was born in Bolton in 1879, and married in Rugby in 1909; he is the one with the medal card).

So what I would then do is to start searching the actual BMD index images available on www.ancestry.co.uk from, say, 1908 onwards, and record all the Bockin entries. There will not be many. This seems an arduaous task, but it may pay a dividend. If Lionel Bockin died in England you should find the registration. And, if we have the right man from the memorial, there's a good chance that his widow would have remarried after his death. She would have been young enough, and possibly had two children to support. So if you have her name (as above) you may be able to determine the window during which Lionel died.

Finally, there seems to be a Mansfield Family History Society, so they might be worth a try. If Lionel did have children, it's possible that someone else has some information about him.

None of the above may solve the mystery, but it's never over until the fat lady sings.

Noel

Anthony

Re the name confusion Bocking v Bockin.

There is a birth registerd in the Dec Qtr 1904 Mansfield RD Constance Grace Bocking

The death of presumably the same person is registered in Mansfield March Qtr 1926 as Constance G Bockin, aged 21 years (this time without the 'g')

Could this be the first child of Leonard Bockin(g)?

If so it could point to the family still being in the area in 1926.

Something else to add to the mix

Regards

Pam

Anthony

Another piece of non military information:

The Marriage Indexes have a marriage registered in the Mansfield RD in Dec Qtr 1919 of:

Sarah A. Bockin and William T Collins (7b 376)

Probably Leonard Bockin(g)'s wife the former Sarah Anne Clarke

If so presumably he must have been dead by the time of the remarriage

Regards

Pam

Nice work Pam! I was busy looking up the indexes for someone else, so well done.

Sarah A.'s second marriage certificate would show her as a widow (if we have the right person).

Looks promising.

Noel

Edging closer, Anthony....


I think I can just see someone out of the corner of my eye....


Leonard? Is that you.....?


Steve.

Would sir be interested in me pressing the Send Message button to this person on GenesReunited?

Click to view attachment



Steve.

Steve, nice work.

I did not get a match on Leonard Bockin and went no further. I also do not get a "hit" with Ethel.

Hmm, that may mean that Mabel is not Leonard's daughter, or that the researcher has not pursued Mabel's family any further.

Whoever she was, it appears that Mabel must have married and had issue, and that the family is extant.

But we are edging closer all the time.

Noel

Message sent to Genesreunited's John.


Fingers crossed.



Steve.

Good work folks. I have the feeling that the circle is tightening.

You should all see the smile on my face, i wont get too carried away though.

The information you have all given is absolutely first class, i really cannot thank you enough for all this.

It's brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

Steve, Noel, Pam, THANK YOU!!!

Fingers toes and everything else crossed.

Please....Please...

Well done folks. You can find Lord Lucan next - it'll be a doddle!

Bernard

Bernard,

He hasn't quite been found yet!!!

Anthony,

It crossed my mind last night that perhaps our man went to sea. I just checked the Register of Seaman's Services on-line at TNA and he is not listed under Bockin or Bocking.

However, other possibilities (unless you've already checked) are that he was in the RND, RNVR, or Mercantile Marine Reserve. The medal rolls for these ae not on-line but are at TNA under ADM 171.

Anyway, fingers crossed that we're getting close!

Noel

Noel,

Hadn't even considered that! Good thinking.

I need to draw up a plan where to go next, needs to be set out quite clearly in bullet points i think

Anthony, one more thing. I should have thought of this, too - must be getting old!
See the thread on Lt. Gordon Allan. We should check the GRO overseas deaths index.

Noel

Already been done!!

That was one of the first things that i asked Terry Denham to do for me!!

Anthony,


HE EXISTED!!!


A fairly short reply from John :





That's all so far.


I'll try and get some more info if possible.


Do you want to let me have your e-mail Anthony, so I can pass it on?


Steve.

Oh, how exciting! I do hope it's the right Leonard, and that John knows his story.

My fingers are crossed for you, Anthony.

Steve,

Excellent, thank you so much.

If you wouldn't mind i would like the email address. But you are doing such a fantastic job, i don't want to jinx it!!

This is getting great, let's hope we find him soon.

3 years it's taken............

Haven't got his e-mail address yet.

If you let me know your e-mail address I will pass it on to him.


By the way, it seems that Mabel married a Smith. I wonder, I just wonder....


Steve.