Major Hotham was a retired officer who rejoined his Regiment - the Royal West Kent's - on the outbreak of war. He was appointed as 2i/c of the first Service Bttn, the 6th, and was serving with them at Purfleet - and apparently doing a pretty good job in getting the new battalion up and running, when he died of natural causes in his army cot. This was around end of October 1914. The local newspaper reported his death at Purfleet Camp whilst serving with 6th bttn, and there are several references corroborating Major Hotham's WW1 service in the Queens Own Gazette - he might even be mentioned in the Regimental History.

Any ideas why he is missing from CWGC records apart from an error and is this ample evidence to get his name added although I have no idea where he is buried at this time.

Regards,

Jon

Do you know his initials or first names?

Jon

It is no evidence at all. Newspaper reports are totally unreliable.

You will need his full name for a start and his date of death. His death certificate should provide all these and will possibly confirm or not his entitlement to commemoration.

If you get those details, GWF can put him forward for recognition if he seems to qualify.

His burial location would be nice but not essential.

If he was a serving officer at death, he would qualify and would have been left out purely by an army admin c*ck-up.

Jon

If I may preempt Terry's response....if he was a serving soldier then inclusion on the CWGC records is automatic once you provide them with evidence of this. You will need the death certificate. The additonal info from newspapers , etc provides corroboration but is not the level of proof of death.

John

John

'Pre-empt' means you have to do it before!

I'm having that sense of deja-vu.....again

Terry and John - thanks for your replies and attemps of upstaging!!

Terry - I admit the newspaper might be viewed as unreliable (heaven forbid) by official sources, but as a matter of interest how about the various references in the Queen's Own Gazette - the official "news line" of the Regiment. I can probably find something that states he was found dead by his batman.

Jon

And two references in the Regimental History:

"... and with the aid of the nucleus of Regular officers and men left behind, of the old soldiers who rejoined and of retired officers who, like Major F. H. Hotham, Captain H. C. W. Beeching, and 2nd-Lieut. E. Hudson, came back to serve, the 6th’s progress towards efficiency was remarkable."

and

"Major Hotham had died suddenly at the end of October and was succeeded as second-in¬command by another old officer of the Regiment, Major F. F. Venables."

And noted in the War Diary of the 6th Bttn:

30/10/1914 – PURFLEET – Major FH HOTHAM died suddenly in his sleep during the night of 29th/30th inst., and struck off strength.

None of it is official. Would you trust a journalist?

You only have two things to prove using official documentation...

1) That he was a member of a Commonwealth armed force at his death
2) He died within the qualifying dates.

What you have got so far is only supporting evidence which is not reliable on its own. It is only a good indication that you are on to something.

His service record would be good along with his Death Certificate.

I believe a number of UK based men were missed from 1914 - before things 'got going'. These names, of course, had to be collected retrospectively and some slipped the net.

There is only one Hotham male death registered at that time - Francis H. Hotham aged 49 - registered in Orsett District. Is that your man? If not, you already have doubt.

We cross posted!

I see that F H is your man and so a simple gathering of the documents you have and the Death Certificate will suffice to go forward.

That would be the man. I know he was 49 (his age was reported in the newspaper!!)

So the CWGC are going to make me spend £8 on a certificate despite the newspaper, the Q.O. Gazette and the War Diary all making mention of this and the story further corroborated by an entry of death recorded in the approriate index of the register.

Are TR Enterprises making something out of this??



Ditto

It is only £7 - so you have saved already!

I am afraid everyone has to pay - even the MoD! It just depends on how much you want to see him properly recorded.

As TR is not around at the moment, I'll do you a deal. I'll get the DC and you scan the other stuff and email to me. Between us we should get it sorted.

Terry now I feel completely awful. How about I scan the other stuff and you get the DC and also buy the first beers and a curry next time?

It's a deal but I'm not sharing a room with you again after that lot!

Jon

DC ordered.

Terry - I will have a word with TR and make sure you are adequately remunerated. I'll get the bits and pieces together and send on - should be with you by the time the certificate arrives.

Jon

Nice one Gents

Hope this all comes off

Chris

Yes, good stuff - it's nice to see him properly represented.

Cheers

Gilbert

A quick update.

Terry now has the death certificate, which refers to Major Hotham's service in 6th Bttn QORWK. This together with other corroboratory evidence has been presented by Terry to the CWGC.

Hopefully the good news that Major Hotham has been added to the CWGC official list will follow shortly.

So the champagne is still on hold but to date, all thanks to Terry Denham.

An interesting topic gentlemen! And we thought we had a lot of paperwork in the colonies. I shall send a note to Library and Archives Canada advising them that they are in fact correct with their plan to slow the application of their resources.



Love to see determination pay off - congratulations on your work!

Major Francis Herbert HOTHAM
6 Bn, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regt)
Died 30.10.14 Age 49
Commemoration: Brookwood (United Kingdom 1914-1918) Memorial, Surrey, UK

Grays New Cemetery Grave Number 988 Section 3

Grave found

Chris,

That is outstanding Two and a half years in the making and 95 years, still not too late to get a headstone.

Cheers Andy.

Andy

the council's records do not show if the grave is marked or not

Chris

I made a trip to Grays this morning and I am certain this is Hotham's grave. Whilst the referencing is virtually non-existent, this grave appears to be in about the right place. The name is not visible but the side-surround states "Born 20th Sept 1865, died 30th Oct 1914". Hotham's birth was registered in 4Q 1865 and therefore consistent with a Sept 1865 birth.

Many thanks to Chris Harley and Terry Denham for all their hard work on this.

Jonathan

thanks for the photo - now may he rest in peace

Chris

Jonathan

could you send the photo on to Terry Denham please as it help with the CWGC recognition process

Chris