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Following on from previous post on this thread by Steve (Moranthorse1) regarding 3070 WILLIAM EDWARD ACRAMAN - see: www.angloboerwar.com/forum/6-places/3059...lmont?start=12#88229

I missed Steve’s post at the time but reading it recently I could not resist trying to fill some gaps for a man born in Pembrokeshire with the bonus of an unusual surname. Needless to say my research has taken me wider than I originally intended and perhaps I should title this piece the Acramans of Abergwaun.

One could say that medals & bravery ran in the blood of William Edward Acraman (1869-1943) but we need to go back to the year of 1844. The happenings in Fishguard Bay in early November 1944 were reported in the Shipping & Mercantile Gazette of 5 November 1844 as follows:

FISHGUARD – November 4: For the last few days we have been visited with violent gales of wind; yesterday it blew quite a hurricane. Two brigs and two schooners were seen in the bay in distress; one, the Ann Elizabeth of Aberystwyth, laden with iron pipes, from Chester River for London, parted her chains, and came on shore at Goodwick Sands in the bay. She was soon followed by the brig Antelope from Bangor for London, laden with slates. I prevailed on five brave fellows to accompany me to save the lives of the crews. We dragged the boat a great distance, and succeeded in landing them. We again put to sea, and with the greatest difficulty recehed the brig, the sea making quite a breach over her at the time, she being side on. Both vessels filled. The names of the parties who took of the crews are John Acraman, merchant, Captain James Rowland, Captain Wm. Rees, Captain Wm. Morgan, and Enoch George and Wm James, seamen. I am fearful the brig will become a total wreck.

The Pembroke & Goodwick History blog reports 2 Captains and 10 seamen were saved and all those named above received the RNLI Silver Medal (confirmed by RNLI website).

John Acraman was the grandfather of William. He had moved his family from Somerset, where Acramans were prolific, to Fishguard (Abergwaun in Welsh) a year earlier. He and his wife Elizabeth had three sons John junior b 1837 in Somerset, Ivor b 1839 in Bridgwater, Somerset, and Thomas b 1844 in Fishguard.

Ivor in turn was to have six children all born in Fishguard, three boys followed by three girls, and William Edward was the youngest of the boys. He was born on 27 September 1869 and baptised in the parish church, St Mary’s, on 26 December 1869. His two older brothers were named Arthur Llewhelyn and Ivor Yorath and all three between them were to be awarded at least 15 medals – William 10, Arthur 3 & Ivor 2.

I think their father, Ivor was a bit of a rogue, and they were kept on the straight and narrow by their mother Joanna Nicholas who married Ivor in 1866 in St Mary’s Church. Joanna was born in Fishguard and was the daughter of a local merchant and her brother would become Canon Nicholas, Rector of Flint and Senior Chaplain to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. When Ivor married he was a mariner and, based on his absence on Census returns he spent more time at sea than on land, alternatively William’s parents became estranged and there is no definite evidence they co-habited after the birth of their youngest child in 1877. Other evidence that they were estranged lies in William’s letter which is very much addressed to his mother; the conflicting information Ivor senior & Joanna independently gave on the 1911 Census; when Ivor died in 1917 in Cardiff, Joanna was living 70 miles away in Radnorshire and it took 18 months for his will to be sorted out in Joanna’s favour.

The 1891 Census return for Fishguard is of interest as it shows Joanna and the four youngest of her children living next door to Fishguard Post Office in Hamilton Street. William’s occupation was given as “assistant schoolmaster”.

William presumably did not find teaching to his taste and in July 1891 enlisted in the Grenadier Guards as shown by this article from the Western Mail of 18 March 1912:

PROMOTED FROM THE RANKS - HONOUR FOR A SOUTH WALES SOLDIER

The current issue of the “London Gazette” announces the promotion of Sergeant-major William Edward Acraman, of the 2nd Grenadier Guards, stationed at Windsor to the rank of Lieutenant and Quartermaster.

Lieutenant Acraman, who is a South Wales man, joined the service 21 years ago, enlisting at Cardiff in the Grenadier Guards in July 1891. His promotion was so rapid that within eleven years he was regimental sergeant major, the youngest soldier to attain this rank in the Guards.

On the opening of the South African War he proceeded to the front with the 3rd Grenadier Guards, and served in South Africa throughout the campaign. He has six medals, including the Queen Victoria medal with six clasps, the King Edward medal with two clasps, the medal for distinguished conduct in the field, the long service and good conduct medal, and the King George Coronation Medal.

Lieutenant and Quartermaster Acraman is a native of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, where his parents Mr. and Mrs. Ivor Acraman still reside. His brothers are Mr A. L. Acraman, of the Conservative Club, Cadoxton, Barry, and late Sergeant-Major of the 41st Welsh Regiment, for a number of years stationed at Cardiff; and Captain Ivor Acraman, deputy dockmaster at Manchester and formerly master of the Manchester Port. For some years previous to his enlistment Lieutenant Acraman was connected with the teaching profession.

Embedded in the article was this photograph on which, despite its poor quality, one can make out he his wearing his DCM, QSA & KSA. There is an error in the third paragraph of the article as they appear to have counted his long service and good conduct medal as two medals.



The mention of 41st Welsh Regiment in the article is interesting. The Welsh/Welch Regiment was created under the Childers army reforms of 1881 by the amalgamation of the 41st (Welch) Regiment of Foot and the 69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot. A surprising amalgamation to say the least. Time and again I find the Regiments of Foot took a long time to fade from local memories.

Ivor junior was a Captain in the sea captain sense and the Manchester Port was a ship of substance as shown by the postcard below. Inland Manchester was a port because of the Manchester Ship Canal built to deflect some of Liverpool’s port derived wealth to Manchester.



1911 & 1921 Census returns allow us to carry out a review of William’s parents and his siblings – ABW forum readers please note the next 9 paragraphs have nothing directly to do with William or the ABW.

Ivor the father, aged 71 in 1911, was boarding with a 57 year old widow and her two teenage children in Fishguard. His marital status is given as “married” and his occupation as “Master Mariner” but with an added “out of work”.

Joanna the mother, aged 66 in 1911, was residing with her second oldest daughter Catherine. Catherine is married to a Head Teacher and were living at the School House, Llangunllo, Radnorshire and have a 7 year old daughter. Catherine was working as an Assistant School Mistress. Also present was Joanna’s youngest daughter Florence who is single and the occupation box was left blank.

A little strange already and even more strangely Catherine’s husband has entered “Widow” against Joanna’s name. He has also entered 43 years of marriage against his mother-in-law’s name with six children all still alive. Ivor senior and Joanna actually married in January 1866 and adding on 43 years brings us only to 1909. Ivor senior died in 1917 but Joanna lived on until 1932 and the 1921 Census found her still living at the School House in Llangunllo, by when the number of people living there had grown by two more grandchildren.

I need to pause and doff my cap to Catherine – in 1911 it was illegal for married women to be school teachers and although it was made legal, out of necessity, during WW1, come peace councils across the land imposed a marriage bar. The lady school teachers of the Rhonnda Valley took their dismissals to court and amazingly lost the case but then the judge was a man. There were fair and far-sighted councils and one must have been Catherine’s employers, Radnorshire County Council, I am proud to be able to report that Smethwick Council were in the same league – unbelievably some councils operated a marriage bar into the 1950’s. I think these Acramans were not only a family of substance but also of fortitude and determination.

William’s eldest brother, Arthur Llewhelyn, aged 44 in 1911, was the Club Steward at the Conservative Club in Cadoxton, Barry, Glamorgan. His wife Annie, who started life as Annie Llewellyn in Fishguard, was assisting him in running the club and they had two children and a domestic servant. There is no doubt that Arthur rejoined the Welsh Regiment and served in the Great War, his Medal Roll Index Card shows he was also commissioned and by the end of the conflict had been promoted to Captain, he embarked for France on 5 December 1915 and was subsequently awarded the 1915 British Star, British War Medal and Allied Victory Medal. However, I can find no evidence that during his first period of service he served in South Africa and it is noticeable that the 1912 newspaper article above does not ascribe service in South Africa to him. By the time of the 1921 Census Arthur and family had moved to Cardiff where Arthur was employed as a clerk at the Crown Preserved Coal Company based at Cardiff Docks. By the time of the1939 Register Arthur was a widow and had moved to the Rhondda Valley where he was living with his, Arthur Llewhelyn junior, a qualified Pharmacist and his daughter, Winifred, a Deputy Medical Officer of Health. Arthur passed away in 1945 aged 77.

Next in line Ivor Yorath, aged 43 in 1911, gave his occupation as “Assistant Dockmaster” working for the Manchester Ship Canal Company. Newspaper reports two years earlier tell us he had just been appointed to the post of “Sectional Canal Superintendent and Assistant Dockmaster of the Manchester and Salford Docks”. One of these 1909 article adds when he was sixteen he was awarded a medal by The Royal Humane Society for saving life.

The “Jottings” in the Runcorn Guardian of 18 October 1918 tell us that “On Tuesday last week Captain Ivor Yorath Acraman, canal superintendent for the Manchester Ship Canal Co. at Runcorn, had the honour of receiving the M.B.E. Order from the hands of his Majesty the King at Buckingham Palace”. There is then a detailed description of the medal and the closing lines read: “Captain Acraman has been decorated for valuable service given to his country in connection with transport work. A typical British seaman, he has a breezy personality, and a cheery disposition, qualities that make and bind acquaintances who wish him well. A native of Fishguard, in Pembrokeshire, he has followed the sea from boyhood, and all the waterways of the wide world are known to him.”

Returning to the object of the tale – Steve has given us sight of the letter William wrote to his mother describing his participation in the Battle of Belmont. At the end of the Boer War William stayed on in the Grenadier Guards. In 1903 he married Edith Langton, born in Newbury, Berkshire. I cannot find William on the 1911 Census but Edith and their three children were residing in married quarters in Blenheim Barracks in Aldershot.

As Steve reported, William served in the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards during the Great War. The Battalion disembarked at Le Havre on 13 August 1914 just over a fortnight after war was declared. However, the battalion’s British Star Medal Roll shows that William did not arrive in France until 28 December 1914. Thereafter, he was an ever present until at least January 1918. Throughout this period he acted as the Battalion’s Quartermaster starting with the rank of Lieutenant and by the end of the war had been promoted to Captain. In January 1919 his promotion to Major was gazetted. Whilst still a Lieutenant he was awarded the Military Cross as part of the King’s June 1917 Birthday Honours.

The Battalion War Diaries show the battalion was regularly in the thick of it and over 1,200 Officers, NCO’s and other ranks perished. The War Diaries run to January 1919 by when they are stationed in a village near Cologne. It is interesting to note that when William first arrived in France he was 45 years and 3 months old and on the day peace was declared he was 49 years and 1 month old.

William’s service continued after the Great War and in February 1921 he was awarded the Croix de Guerre. Four months later the 1921 Census found him residing in Chelsea Barracks. This time I cannot find Edith and their children on the census.

When William eventually retired from the army (date unknown) he and Edith decided to live in Worthing and newspaper reports show he took an active part in local life and served on Worthing Town Council and was an active member of the local branch of the South African Veterans Association. The 1939 Register found him and Edith living at 37 Forest Road, Worthing and they appear to have told the enumerator that they were living off private means, which sounds a bit like “mind your own business”. William passed away eleven days short of his 74th birthday and Edith about 8 years later, both were still living at 37 Forest Road when they passed.

Shortly after his death William’s will made the news as he had bequeathed a field in Fishguard to his son, a police sergeant at the time. At some time William had been given the field by an uncle as an inducement to returning to Fishguard once he retired from the army but the ploy obviously did not work.

The Medals:

William Edward:
Queen’s South Africa Medal with 6 clasps
King’s South Africa Medal with 2 clasps
Distinguished Conduct Medal
King George V Coronation Medal
Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
1915 British Star
British War Medal
Allied Victory Medal
Military Cross
Croix De Guerre

Arthur Llewhelyn:
1914 British Star
British War Medal
Allied victory Medal

Ivor Yorath:
Royal Humane Society Medal for saving life.
Member of the Order of the British Empire.

Sources:
Newspapers as stated (on-line)
TNA Census returns etc via Ancestry & Find My Past (on line)
RNLI History of Fishguard Lifeboat Station (on line)
Hanes lleol Abergwaun ac Wdig/Fishguard and Goodwick local history (on line)
2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards Great War Diaries – TNA original mainly hand written, and Kindle edition (at small cost) transcription via Grenadier Guards On-line Website. Contains additional information via a preface and alphabetical list of all members of the 2nd Battalion who perished as a result of the Great War.
The Grenadier Guards in the Great War of 1914-1918 by Frederick Ponsonby (3 Volumes) – viewable & searchable copies on-line via several sources.

David,
Thank you for researching the Acraman "dynasty" further. I think you would definitely be fortunate to count one of them as a friend or comrade in arms.