Until I ventured into the world of Ancestry.com I hadn’t realised that Harry was quite a family name – mine for one. Anyroadup this Harry was born on 23rd November 1909 at 52 Solihull Road, Sparkhill. He attended College Road Council School for seven years leaving at the statuary age of 14 – most of the Raybould clan graced it’s portals at one time or another. He departed Liverpool docks on 11 April 1930 for Canada as the Department of Immigration and Colonisation had a letter of introduction for him at a farm in Winnipeg. He spent a considerable time in Canada working as a farm hand and at one point tried to enlist in the Canadian Air Force.

By 1932, aged 23, he was back in this Country and in the forces enlisting with the 3rd. Carabiniere’s (Prince of Wales Dragoon Guards) Cavalry of the Line. He rose to Sergeant, and subsequently served in India. By 1940 he was married in Basingstoke – close to Aldershot where he was posted with his regiment. He was de-mobbed in 1945. He died on 25th. April 1982 aged 72.

Hilda, his wife had a stage name, her real one is Emily Matilda (Warren) and she was born in Killeshandra, Cavan, Ireland on 18 January 1909. At some point between 1925 when her brother Richard was born, until 1940 when she married the family, or her, must have relocated to England, settling in Basingstoke. She was married in this location in January 1940 aged 31. She died in 1996

Go to Cynthia (Cyndy’s) page, Hazel or Lindon’s Fred’s children.

Hazel writes:

My Dad, Fred Raybould, was a quietly spoken, modest and gentle man. Being one of the youngest and the only son of the Raybould brood one can imagine that he was at times mothered and at times tormented by his older sisters! I say imagine because he never actually spoke about his childhood to me, that I can recall. In fact, apart from a few familiar anecdotes, he said little of his earlier life at all. He did, however, leave a small collection of fragile old paperwork which has made interesting reading, some of which has proved surprising even to me.

We have his Empire Day 1916 Certificate, received aged 6. Although the first Empire Day was in 1902 following the death of Queen Victoria the year before, 24th May, 1916 was the first official celebration of what was to become an annual occurrence until the 1950s when it became known as Commonwealth Day.

He attended College Road Council School for seven years, leaving aged 14.
His Scholar’s Leaving Certificate, dated 21st December 1923 states:
Standard completed: 7
Percentage of Attendance: Excellent
Punctuality: Excellent
Conduct: Very good
General remarks: A willing lad, anxious to do well.

He never said what he did on leaving school but following World War I, even before the Great Depression, good jobs were clearly hard to find. He later described himself as a metal worker and referred to experience with ‘several firms’ but what these were I have no idea.

Looking for a better life, he applied for a ‘Scheme for Training Men with a View to Settlement Overseas’ which, in fact, involved emigration to Canada. Being still only 20 years old, his Dad Walter, (then at 52 Solihull Road, Sparkhill) signed the necessary consent form on 26th Oct 1929 and on 29th November 1929 he went for interview in Birmingham with a Canadian representative.

His application was accepted and on 18th April 1930 he landed at St John’s, New Brunswick. By April 25th he was in Winnipeg, Manitoba being processed by the Department of Immigration and Colonisation and was sent with a letter of introduction to a farm in Elkhorn, Manitoba, as a farm labourer. By November 1930 he was in Regina, Saskatchwan and then in December in Qu’Appelle, also in Saskatchewan, and some time later back to Lauder in Manitoba

In all this time he was working as a farm hand, performing various tasks for truly pitiful wages during the summer months and for nothing but bed and board in the winter.

Whilst at Lauder he applied to enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a metal worker. The reply he received said that although he was well qualified for enlistment they regretted there were no vacancies at that time and did not expect any over the coming year. They did, however, put his name on a list in case anything should become available at some time in the future!

Dad used to tell us that he and others like him – both Canadian nationals and British immigrants used to ‘jump’ freight trains to travel about the country looking for work, but nothing was forthcoming. Things were clearly very hard going and, after trying for 2 years, he decided to ‘call it a day’ and opted for voluntary deportation. This was a common occurrence and was the only way to get a passage home if you couldn’t afford to buy a ticket. Although many disillusioned immigrants took this route home and were granted a ‘clean record with no slur on their character’, in fact young men like him and even families with children were treated like criminals, kept under guard and fed little more than bread and water!

Dad always used to say that he went out there with sixpence in his pocket and came back with the very same sixpence! (In fact he also had an apparently uncashed cheque for $25.00).

One thing he did bring back with him, however, was a new found experience with horses and so, on his return home, still aged just 23, he enlisted with the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales’ Dragoon Guards), Cavalry of the Line and signed up for 6 years – 30.11.32 – 10.04.39.

During the early years he did ceremonial duties in London and used to say that old Queen Mary was a ‘miserable old girl’ and, when inspecting the troops, would prod them with her rolled umbrella!

The 3rd Carabiniers regiment had been created by amalgamating the 3rd Dragoon Guards (Prince of Wales’ Guards) and the Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards) and were a cavalry regiment traditionally serving in India. They had returned to England in 1925 and in 1928 became the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales’ Dragoon Guards). Then in 1936 they were posted back again to Sialkot in Southern India, their old traditional regimental base, so Dad served out the rest of his term in India. In 1938 the regiment began changing from horses to armoured vehicles, especially tanks, and became part of the Royal Armoured Corps in 1939. They continued to serve in India and remained there throughout WWII.

He was an NCO for most of his service and held an Educational Instructor’s Certificate from the Army School of Education, Shorncliffe Garrison (Folkestone, Kent) and had complete charge of the regimental school for 4½ years.

On completion of his 6 years’ service with the 3rd Carabiniers he received a testimonial:
Military Conduct: Exemplary
A very reliable and conscientious NCO. Well educated, a good accountant and educational instructor. Has a quiet manner. Drives a motor car. Very strongly recommended for a responsible job.

After leaving the army he went to work in the Civil Service with HM Inspector of Taxes. However, with the outbreak of World War II he was recalled to army service with the Royal Armoured Corps (effectively his old regiment). By this time he had been diagnosed with osteo-arthritis in his legs and feet and so was not assigned to active duty. He always used to joke about his bow legs – ‘designed to fit around a horse’ so to speak – but clearly there were consequences!

Fred and railings needs to go here (photo: Bournemouth, 1940)

He was a senior NCO for all of his war service, employed largely on clerical and administrative duties, taking charge of training wings. Also working in the PRI’s (President of the Regimental Institute) office on regimental accounts and welfare. He also worked with the War Office as a clerk and was employed by the 21st Army Group HQ as a cipher clerk and in army liaison with 2nd TAF (Training analysis & feedback). His last position prior to discharge was as NCO in charge of military staff at the Residential Leave Club at Cadogan Services Club, London SW1, where he was completely responsible for the running of the hostel and allocation of 200 beds.

(photo: Bournemouth, 1940)

Once again his testimonial said:
Military Conduct: Exemplary.
At all times we found him trustworthy, conscientious and alert, very reliable and capable in his dealings with staff and all personnel using the Club.

He was demobbed in 1945 and transferred to the Army Reserve with effect from 28th November 1945.

I have no idea when or how, but Mum & Dad must have met somewhere between 1932 – 1936, when Dad had joined the Cavalry of the Line and before he was posted to India. Mum was Irish and, like all but one of her brothers and sisters, came to England to work. They all settled in and around the Basingstoke area (working mostly at Thorneycrofts – famous makers of lorries and military vehicles, they also made munitions during both WW).

Mum went to a teaching hospital (I believe in London) to train as a children’s nurse.
However, before her training was far advanced it was realised that her deafness was too great a handicap to continue. She therefore went as a private nurse/nanny for one of the hospital consultants initially and then possibly for one of Thorneycroft’s managers.

Her deafness began at around age 8, I understand, a complication following a childhood illness and progressively deteriorated over the years. As hearing receptor nerves continued to die away – it was not just a case of greater amplification with a hearing aid – because there was nothing to amplify other than unintelligible noise. One can hardly imagine or appreciate how difficult and isolating this must have been!
They were married on 23rd March 1940 in Basingstoke where her brothers and sisters were living. Her Mum & Dad and sister back in Ireland were unable to attend. Dad, of course, was in the army and had to return to quarters, for a while, initially, in Aldershot. Mum, I believe, stayed with her older sister Georgina in Basingstoke, not far away. Another anecdote Dad used to tell was of siphoning off petrol from his army tank to put in a little Austin Chummy or Ruby so that he could visit Mum during the blackout!

That arrangement couldn’t have lasted long because Cindy (Cynthia) was born on 23rd May 1941 back in Birmingham, although I have no idea of the address. I came along on 31st May 1943 in the Military Families Hospital associated with Catterick Camp in Richmond, Yorks. On my birth certificate Dad is described as Sergeant 406589 RAC Small Arms Examiner.

Finally Lyndon was born on 18th July 1947 at 95 Cleeve Road, Birmingham – Walter Raybould’s old address. We left there in 1949 when we moved to 83, Bryndale Avenue, Kings Heath, Birmingham.

After leaving the army Dad returned to the Civil Service and HM Inspector of Taxes until 1949, after which time he went with a private accountancy client who held out the prospect of a much better career. Unfortunately this turned out to be not such a good move.

His new employers, a company of 3 elderly brothers, owned many of the most prime positions in central Birmingham. These were all on long term leases that were coming to an end and, as a result, the business began slowly dwindling. But they promised Dad that when all the leases had been renegotiated they wanted him to be in charge of running the company, so they persuaded him to stay on even though his work then became part time. They pleaded with him to stay, and so he took on a number of other part time jobs to supplement his income – going from one to another morning, afternoon and evening. What a work ethic – and all wasted!

First one of the brothers died, and then another became ill, so they decided after all to give up the business leaving Dad ‘high and dry’ after all their promises! It was then that we moved to Yew Tree Cottage, Minworth, Sutton Coldfield, when he went to work as an Office Manager at Upper Thame Water Reclamation Division (sewage works – to you and me!), part of Severn Trent Water Authority. It really wasn’t as bad as the name implies (really!) and we had a very charming old tied cottage that was Mum & Dad’s pride and joy for their final years.

Dad worked there for 15 years until his retirement aged 65. He had intended to stay on longer but a slight stroke aged 64 persuaded him otherwise. After he retired, Mum and Dad did manage their one and only trip to New Zealand to see Cindy and Del and their, still young, three children – Simon, Kim and Julie – so that was a great joy and the only time they ever saw all the family together.

Dad died at the Good Hope Hospital, Sutton Coldfield on 31st March 1989, aged 79, following a series of strokes and was buried at Yardley Cemetery. Mum joined him there in September 1996 aged 87.

This email I received from Hazel

What a wonderful record – and great that you were able to convert them to video. I only wish I could identify everyone more easily.  For whatever reason (and I really don’t know why) we didn’t see a great deal of the rest of the family when we were growing up.  Such a great pity – I think we missed out on such a lot.

I can vaguely place most of them – but tell me who Andy Raybould is (and presumably his son Ethan) – I’m not aware of the connection there at all – except that I have vague recollections of a distant cousin in the Cradely Heath area at some time?

In the group line up at my mum & dad’s wedding I’m pretty sure that it’s mum’s brother Bill Warren (second on the left) – he used to do Charlie Chaplin and Arthur Askey impressions!  To the right of my dad is Ernie Candy and Ena (Georgina) Candy – mum’s sister, and on the extreme right Ron Candy (Ena’s stepson).  They all lived in Basingstoke and I believe the wedding took place down there.

Hazel

Fred in Canada

Also one of Fred & Edna with dogs – Wendy & Bonzo (Ivy’s dog) in Ivy’s garden. No date. 127 Pierce Avenue, Olton.