Genealogy Clues on Find a Grave

Find a Grave can be a very rich source of genealogy clues! I'm continuing my project of posting brief bios of ancestors online, to keep their memories alive. (This is a way to repurpose content from bite-sized family history projects, my talk for the New England Regional Genealogy Conference in April!)

Having written a few paragraphs about Arthur Albert Slatter (1887-1917), my husband's 1c1r who, sadly, was killed in action during WWI, I set out to repurpose it on multiple websites, including Find My Past, Fold3, Family Search, and Find a Grave.

Linked family members = clues

I've visited cousin Arthur's Find a Grave memorial page in the past. The page was originally created by a group focused on war graves, with photos of the Arras Memorial by another dedicated volunteer. 

To post a bio on a memorial I don't manage, I use the "suggest edits" function, and type (or paste) in a few sentences or even a few paragraphs. If I manage the memorial, it's easy to post the bio with a click.

In the process, I also look at any linked family members related to the person on the memorial page. Here, checking the links to Arthur Albert Slatter, I recognized the name and photo of his father (Henry Arthur Slatter, 1866-1942). I posted Henry's photo myself a while back. 

See image of Arthur's memorial page at top, where I've circled Arthur's parents' names? Alice is shown with a maiden name. A clue for me to check out! Of course, everything is a clue until confirmed.

"Alice Good, widow" 

I had previously noted, from Henry Arthur Slatter's military records, that he married widow Alice Good in 1887 (document excerpt at right). But until now, I haven't actively looked for Alice's maiden name. 

Alice's Find a Grave memorial offered me the clue I needed to investigate further. Using Ancestry, I quickly located Alice's 1882 marriage (to Harry Thomas Good) and added not only her first husband and her maiden name but also the name of her father to my Slatter family tree.

Then I inserted Alice's maiden name into my bio of her oldest son and submitted the request to the manager of Arthur Albert Slatter's memorial page, asking that the bio be posted. It's already up on Family Search, Find My Past, and Fold3, to help future generations know something of his name, his service, and his sacrifice.

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"Genealogy clues and cousin bait on Find a Grave" is the title of one of my most popular presentations. Links between relatives with Find a Grave memorials can be  wonderful clues to family history -- and excellent cousin bait as well! 

For Remembrance Day, Honoring Lance Sgt Arthur Albert Slatter

My husband's 1c1r, Arthur Albert Slatter (1887-1917), was among the second generation of Slatters to choose military service as a career. 

Born in London, England, on July 2, 1887, he was the son of hubby's great uncle, Henry Arthur Slatter (1866-1942) and Alice Good Slatter (1864-1914). Great uncle Henry was a military bandmaster and not surprisingly, his son Arthur was musically inclined.  

With Remembrance Day approaching, I thought this post would be a straightforward bio of Arthur and his death while serving in World War I. To my surprise, there was more to the story, as I learned by digging deeper into his military service.

Serving with the Royal Fusiliers, 1902-1914

In 1902, supposedly at the age of 16 years and 11 months, Arthur enlisted for a dozen years of service in the Royal Fusiliers. He said he was a musician (see paperwork at right). 

In reality, Arthur was not yet 16, if his baptismal record and second record of military service are both correct--and I do believe them!

Thanks to Fold3 and Ancestry, I could read all pages of Arthur's paperwork documenting his initial time in the Royal Fusiliers. He trained as a stretcher bearer and ambulance driver, passed a swimming test, and qualified in chiropody (treating feet) at Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight. By 1913, he had been promoted to a corporal. This was one year before he was due to complete his 12 years of service.

From London to Vancouver, 1914-1915

In the ordinary course of events, Arthur would have gone on to the next stage of his life after earning a pension for a dozen years of service with the Royal Fusiliers. 

He was, in fact, honorably discharged on July 17, 1914, "on the termination of his first period of engagement." This was only a few weeks before the United Kingdom became embroiled in World War I. 

After leaving the Royal Fusiliers, Arthur journeyed to Vancouver, Canada, where his parents had moved in 1911. Arthur's father Henry was bandmaster of the 72d Seaforth Highlanders, and Arthur joined up as well. But tragedy struck on Christmas Day of 1914, when Arthur's mother Alice died at the age of 50. 

On May 20, 1915, after six months with the 72d, Arthur signed papers to serve with the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Forces. He was single, in his late 20s, and he stated his occupation as "musician." (See excerpt above.)

The Plot Thickens

Upon enlisting, Arthur was made acting sergeant of the 11th Canadian Mounted Rifles and then promoted to provisional band sergeant by June, 1915 (see document directly above). By November of 1915, however, the red ink tells the story of an unexpected event: Arthur was discharged as a deserter, having apparently gone away in October of 1915. 

Yet Arthur somehow made it across the Atlantic and rejoined the Royal Fusiliers. That's clear from the index card at right. He was officially listed as wounded and missing in action in France as of May 20, 1917. At the time, he was serving in Company C of the 20th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers. 

In addition, I found documentation that Arthur was awarded a Victory medal posthumously for WWI service in the 1st and 20th Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers. 

Somehow, Arthur unofficially left the Canadian forces and rejoined the Royal Fusiliers, but so far I haven't located the exact paperwork to indicate how he managed to do this in wartime.

Memorializing Arthur Albert Slatter and the Royal Fusiliers

More than 20,000 servicemen of the Royal Fusiliers, including Arthur Albert Slatter, lost their lives in World War I. The graceful Royal Fusiliers Memorial in London is a fitting way to honor their memories and service. 

Arthur's name isn't actually on the London memorial, but it is on the hauntingly stately Arras Memorial which serves to commemorate the passing of the many thousands of soldiers who died in the area during World War I.

Lance Sgt. Arthur Albert Slatter's name on the Arras Memorial has been transcribed and photographed on Find A Grave by volunteers. He has his own memorial page (shown at top of this post) that I've now linked to the memorials of his parents.

There is one more memorial to Arthur Albert Slatter: His parents, Henry and Alice, chose to add their son's name to their joint gravestone in Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, Canada. Arthur's name is not in the cemetery's database because he's not actually buried in Vancouver. But looking at the photo of Henry and Alice's gravestone, I noticed his name/date below theirs. 

When Henry Arthur Slatter died in 1942, his obit stated that his son Arthur Albert Slatter had been killed in action during World War I, a final bit of evidence that I am honoring the memory of the correct Slatter ancestor on my husband's family tree.

This is my Genealogy Blog Party post for November, 2020.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #6: The Slatter Brothers, Canadian Military Bandmasters

Hubby's grandma Mary Slatter Wood (1869-1925) was the younger sister of three distinguished gentlemen who left their birthplace in England for successful careers as military bandmasters in Canada:

• Albert William Slatter (1862-1935) moved to Canada in 1906 and became bandmaster and music director of the 7th London Fusiliers in Ontario, Canada. He and his wife Eleanor Marion Wilkinson had 6 children: Maud Victoria, Ada, Albert, Ernest, and twins Glynn Edward and John (Jack). Albert attained the rank of Lieutenant in 1920 and the rank of Captain in 1923. Thanks to the Royal Canadian Regiment, I know more about Capt. Slatter's military career: He served 28 years in the British Army before moving to Canada and joining the 7th London Fusiliers, as shown in the 1914 pay list (above).
• John Daniel Slatter (1864-1954) arrived in Canada in 1884, married Sophie Mary Elizabeth LeGallais in 1887, and had 6 children who survived childhood: Albert Matthew, Frederick William, Edith Sophie, Bessie Louise, Walter John, and Mabel Alice. The photo below shows Captain John Slatter in 1917 at Camp Borden, where he trained buglers during WWI. Capt. Slatter was a world-famous bandmaster, as I've written in earlier posts. In recent months, I also learned that he touched the lives of young men like Thomas Clark McBride.



Captain John Daniel Slatter, 1917




• Henry Arthur Slatter (1866-1942) arrived in Canada in 1911 and became bandmaster of the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders in Vancouver. Henry and his wife, Alice Good, had 3 children who survived infancy: Arthur Albert, John Henry, and Dorothy Florence. Alice died on Christmas Day in 1914, and it looks like Henry remarried to Kathleen, and had a son Jackie, according to the 1921 Canada Census. The brief obituary from the Ottawa Journal of July 18, 1942 reads: "VANCOUVER, July 17, Henry Arthur Slatter, 76, one of Canada's leading bandmasters, and brother of Capt. John Slatter of Toronto, died here Wednesday." The Vancouver Public Library is sending me a 1928 article about this youngest Slatter bandmaster.