Family resarch generally involves establishing an individuals full name, date and place of birth, death and census details. This is then expanded to other family members in order to create a family tree.
Martyn gives his name as Thomas John Clement Martyn on his military records but becomes Thomas John Cardell Martyn on later documents.
His date of birth is variously given as 3 January 1894, 1895 or 1896. His Canadian Army file also shows a date of 22 June 1894.
His place of birth is given as Greenhays (Manchester), Greenhaze, Greenhase or Greenheyes, and Surrey is also given as a location.
His father is consistently shown as Archibald Claudius Cardell Martyn.
His mother is shown variously as Elizabeth or Elisabeth Martyn, Williams, Taylor, Vavasour, Cardell, Sutton, Wright and as Cardell Taylor. Obviously not a great starting point!
Initially no birth certificate or baptism details could be found under any of the surnames given for his mother or father
When he joined the London Regiment in 1915 he lodged a statutory declaration in lieu of birth certificate.
This states that his father was Archibald Claudius Cardell Martyn who died 1903 and his mother is Elizabeth Martyn nee Williams, residing in Canada. He gives his year of birth as 1894 and Greenhase as the place of birth.
Establishing the truth was a long and laborious affair. I kept returning to the available information and slowly pieced the story together, but not without following many false trails. It was only after assistance from another researcher, Jane Grooms, that we were able to finally construct a detailed albeit incomplete picture.
The most frustrating aspect was trying to establish exactly who his mother was, as she also gave false information on numerous occasions. Her gravestone even bears a false year of birth.
Identifying his mothers real name finally provided the clue to tracing his history.
A birth certificate was eventually traced showing he was born on 3 January 1896. The address is given as 54 Greenheys Lane, Manchester and his mother as Elizabeth Taylor of 'independant means'. No father is shown.
His name is given simply as Thomas Taylor.
He was baptised at St Clement Church, Greenheys. His mother was again shown at 54 Greenheys Lane. The baptism register is interesting as the next entry is for another single mother who gives the same address. The next census in 1901 shows the property occupied by a Church of England cleric. It is assumed therefore that the woman were in the care of the church, or simply used the address for convenience.
Clearly he added John and Clement as middle names at a later stage. Clement was presumably taken from the name of the church at which he was baptised.
The statutory declaration was presumably created because he had not been given his birth certificate or because he wanted to hide the fact his father was not named.
It incorrectly showed his fathers date of death, his mothers name and his year of birth.
His father actually died in 1905 and his mother was in fact Elizabeth Vavasour by this stage. An important omission given that this identifies him as being related to Alexander Bannerman, 11th Baronet and Commandant of the Air Battalion, precursor of the Royal Flying Corps. Related to Bannerman and Vavasour was Divisional Commander Sir Frederick Shaw and thereby uncle of Thomas.
The transfer of Thomas to the R.F.C. can be explained by a visit by Thomas to 'uncle Fred' in 1915[1]. Shaw rang Brancker (RFC Brigadier General) who approved the transfer of Thomas. The 'old boy network' in action. This may also partly explain the rapid promotion of Thomas and the award of the M.C. and A.F.C which seem inconsistent with his actual performance.
Upon signing up in Canada his record shows him as a banker (Bank of Hamilton). His RFC record however claims he was working for an engineering company.
The RFC were particularly interested in recruits with engineering experience as engine failures and on-field repairs were common. This no doubt explains the sudden change on his c.v.
No record of Thomas can be found on the 1901 census under any of the names given for his mother or father.
His father was Archibald Claudius Cardell Martyn, Cardell being his mothers maiden name.
His Wikipedia entry falsely described him as an 'ace'. This term is used to describe someone who shoots down 5 or more enemy aircraft. Thomas did not shoot down any enemy machines, his roles being bombing and home defence.
His memoirs, his original Wikipedia entry and another published source state that he lost a leg during the war.
His Canadian attestation papers dated 3 March 1915 show no distinguishing marks but the discharge papers in November 1915 indicate he had a gunshot wound on his left hand, mysterious for someone who had no active service at this point. A medical report seemingly dated March 1915 also mentions the gunshot wound. Given this medical report also states he was vaccinated in April 1915 and is stamped September 1915 the dates are suspect, but must clearly pre-date his discharge in November 1915.
His unit embarked for the UK on 1 July 1915 and arrived at Liverpool some 10 days later. He was discharged to the London Regiment on 11 November 1915. The intervening period included sick and general leave, including his honeymoon. He does mention falling off his bicycle during this time. His memoirs make no mention of a gunshot wound.
Why was the 'gunshot wound' not mentioned? Was it too embarrassing to admit he had been accidentally shot during training? Was it actually an injury sustained in the bicycle accident? Or was it an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a discharge?
Whilst with the R.F.C/R.A.F. he was involved in two accidents:
On 27.7.16 he sprained an ankle and received shock when he crashed Vickers Fighter (FB.5 Gunbus) 5675.
He stated in a compensation claim in May 1918 that he also broke a fibula and had cartilage issues which incapacitated him for 6 months, mentioning that the ankle injury continued to cause inconvenience. He didn't fly again for a year, when he joined 101Sq in France. He remained in France until March 1918. He then returned to the UK and served initially with 51 and 38 Home Defence Squadrons.
Clearly he did not lose a leg in this accident.
On 18.9.18 he crashed Sopwith Pup C309 whilst with 190(Night) Training squadron in the UK.
The casualty card states he fractured the base of his skull and jaws. He was sent to convalescent hospital in Cambridge. Medical records up to November 1919 give no indication that his leg was amputated but he did later have an operation on his right ear.
On various trips to the USA he recorded 'none' in the column for disabilities on immigration documents.
The story of his artificial leg seems to emanate from his granddaughter, who recollects seeing it in his later life, and recounts this in his memoirs, published in 2015[2].
It also appears in Isaiah Wilner's book published in 2006[3].
Was the leg amputated after the war? Or did he simply have a leg brace due to the cartilage damage and bluff that he had lost a leg in the war?
It is stated that he graduated from Oxford University.
Enquiries with Pembroke College indicate that he enrolled at the University in 1920 as part of a scholarship scheme for returning soldiers.
No educational record is given other than 'private tuition'
He is last recorded at the University in 1923 and never graduated.
His admission papers to Oxford University state that he had a private tutor.
However his application to join the London Regiment shows education at Wellington School and a course at Queens University, Toronto.
Wellington 'School', presumably in Canada, becomes Wellington 'College', a well known public school in the UK in some references.
He also stated that around 1904/5 he went to the same school as Winston Churchill in Brighton, while his mother travelled to South Africa.
Churchill went to Brunswick School in Hove, near Brighton. However the school moved to Haywards Heath in 1898.
There were several private schools in Hove at this time. It is possible Thomas attended one of them for a short while. However it was not the same school as Churchill.
Finding evidence of his mothers identity proved to be a major challenge.
His mother is shown variously as Elizabeth or Elisabeth Martyn, Williams, Vavasour, Cardell, Sutton, Wright and as Linda Taylor or Cardell Taylor. Her year of birth varies in the range 1875 to 1879.
The only consistency is that she gives Church Eaton as her place of birth.
Church Eaton is a tiny village in Staffordshire with a current population of 500. In the late 19th century there were only a couple a births per year.
Tracing Elizabeth's ancestry should be fairly easy then?
On her second marriage certificate she gives her mothers name as Julia Sutton, and I did note that there was a Julia Sutton born in Church Eaton in 1874.
There was thus the possibly that Elizabeth had been in Church Eaton at some time, possibly at school, and had taken the name of a school friend or someone she knew to use as a false name for her mother.
A breakthrough came when I discovered an Eliza Williams in the 1891 census, living in Church Eaton.
She had been born in 1875 nearby in Stockton, Shropshire with 5 siblings. By 1881[4] the family had moved to Longton in Shropshire and by 1891[4] were in Church Eaton.
It is thus likely Eliza would have been at school with Julia Sutton.
She had moved out of the family home by 1891 and was working as a servant in Church Eaton.
By 1901[4] she was domestic cook to a Dr. Dobbs in Folkestone, Kent along with two of her sisters.
Thomas was born by this time but he does not appear on the Dobbs residence census return.
She does not appear on the 1911 census[4].
I strongly suspected that this was Thomas's mother.
Subsequently I discovered that this could not have been the case as she had married William S Newman in 1903 and a subsequent history was documented with him.
Further research identified his mother as Elizabeth Taylor, born 1878 in Church Eaton to Benjamin Taylor, a farmer, born 1835 or 1838 (depending on which census you believe).
He had married Mary Ann, born 1846, and they had one child before she died in 1875.
Benjamin re-married Ann, born 1850, and they have three further children in 1878, 1879 and 1883.
Ann died in 1887 when Elizabeth was 9.
By 1891 Elizabeth was a servant in Gnosall to the former publican of the Royal Oak.
By 1901 it seems likely she was an actress, living at Flat 13, Beford Court Mansions.
How could a seemingly unknown actress from a small farming village afford to live in such a prestigious address?
I discovered the address was associated with the well known actress Kitty Carson who established the Theatrical Trust, who assisted unmarried actresses with children or facing difficulties.
This would make sense, as Elizabeth had a 5 year old child.
The early life of Archibald Claudius Cardell Martyn proved easy to research.
Born in Cornwall in 1868. His father was George Martyn, a wealthy agricultural merchant (Martyn & Co of Wadebridge) who also had interests in coaches, railways and a bank.
By 1886 Archibald was at agricultural College in Cumberland according to a newspaper report[5].
He cannot be identified on the 1891 census.
He married Mabel Bloxsome in London in February 1895, giving his occupation as engineer.
In 1899 he became a freemason[6] and gave his occupation as bankers clerk.
Martyn & Co, where I presume he worked for his father, were an agency for the Liskeard bank. Better to put 'bank clerk' on a freemason application than 'shop clerk'.
The Boer War saw him join the Imperial Yeomanry in January 1901 giving his occupation as civil engineer.
His wife Mabel Bloxsome was in Wadebridge in Cornwall in the 1901 census.
After the war Archibald returned to the UK and was demobbed at Gosport, Hampshire in March 1902.
He appears to have returned to Wadebridge and was briefly secretary of the North Cornwall Coach Co[7].
He stayed in the UK for less than 6 months before returning to South Africa to work as Inspector of Roads in Potchefstroom and later Johannesburg, taking Mabel with him.
They divorced in 1903 for reasons that will later become clear. In December 1904 at Johannesburg Mabel married George Walrond, an Army officer who had also served in South Africa and who was subsequently killed in WW1.
Note that Archibald married Mabel in February 1895. Thomas gives his birth date at either 1894, 1895 or 1896. My initial suspicion was therefore that Thomas was the son of Mabel and the change in dates was to conceal the fact that he was conceived before the marriage.
This proved not to be the case.
1. Aviation Adventures. The true story of the WW1 Royal Flying Corps pilot who founded Newsweek. Thomas J.C. Martyn. 2015
2. Inside the Founding of Newsweek. How a hot-tempered, one legged RAF pilot launched an American media giant. Thomas J.C. Martyn/Anne Martyn Alexander
3. The man Time forgot. Isaiah Wilner. 2006
4. Census for England and Wales. 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911.
5. The Cornishman. 28 January 1886
6. Wadebridge [Cornwall] Lodge 1954
7. Kelly's Directory for Cornwall. 1902.