Person

Draper Thomas Carr and his wife Mary Ann lived in Sunderland Street, Houghton le Spring and she had four children, all boys, whilst living there. Thomas Palliser (b.1891), Hugh (b.1890), Walter Frederick and Henry Wilfred (b.1874). From the records the only child to have been baptised was Henry, was he a sickly child?

At the time of the 1901 census the family were living in Colliery Row, Chilton Moor and they were still there in 1911 when young Thomas was under manager at Lambton Coke Works, Hugh was an apprentice at 6th Pit at Lumley and Walter was an apprentice at Lambton Engine Works. Henry Wilfred did not appear to be in employment at that time, perhaps because by the beginning of July he was on board the “Virginian” heading to a new life in Montreal.

Henry served for two years in the 5th Regiment of the Royal Highlanders of Canada, but when they were placed on service for local protective duty only, Henry enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 24 September 1914 for overseas service. He was posted to the 13th Battalion of Royal Highland Regiment of Canada as an acting Lance Corporal, although he reverted to the ranks on embarkation for France on 10 April 1915.

On 1 June Henry was reported wounded and missing, although the official report didn’t come through until 10 July, when it was stated that he had been a prisoner of war since 16 May 1915. He had actually been hit at Ypres on 23 April by an explosive shell that had passed through his body leaving shrapnel in its wake, and had avoided capture for 10 days.

Henry was initially treated at the Bruederskrankenhaus, Dortmund and was then transferred to the camp at Friedrichsfeld near Wesel is where he was a POW, and he was then interned in Switzerland for two years and nine months; while there his wound was treated by civilian doctors.

Henry was repatriated to the London General Hospital, Chelsea just before Christmas and was transferred to King George Hospital in Stamford Street with bronchitis, which had been caused by drift gas, and had troubled Henry since his imprisonment. It was at this time that Henry married Nora Tulloch, a 22-year-old Scottish girl, at St. Mary’s Parish Church in Barnes with Henry’s older brother Tom as a witness.

By April 1919 Henry was discharged from hospital and categorised as B3, only suitable for sedentary work, and was working for the Quartermaster’s Inspection Department in London as a Sergeant.

Both Henry and Nora embarked for Canada on 8 January 1920, and Henry was finally discharged on 22 January with a medical report that read “wound healed, movement of hip restricted”.

By March of that year they were living in Dorchester St.W, Montreal, and from that time there is no trace of their movements.

Tumblr account about Friedrichsfeld Prisoner of War camp:

http://friedrischfeldpowcamp.tumblr.com/

Post script
It seems that while in Switzerland, Henry became involved in a drama group which included the Irish writer, James Joyce. Tom Stoppard used the bare bones of Henry’s story to create the play “Travesties”. After the play first appeared on stage, Henry’s second wife, Noel Carr, wrote to Stoppard to fill him in on some of the details of Henry’s life: After the war, Henry returned to Canada with Nora and Henry worked his way up at a department store in Montreal. In 1928 Henry met Noel Bach and, after his divorce, married her in 1933. Henry and Noel moved back to England after their marriage and lived in Sheffield until the Second World War when they moved to a village in Warwickshire. Henry died of a heart attack whilst on a trip to London in 1962.

Also see introduction to Tom Stoppard’s “Travesties”:
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=JYtKAQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://www.mccarter.org/travesties/pages/henry.html

Civil Parish: Houghton le Spring

Birth date: 1874

Death date: 1962

Armed force/civilian: Army

Residence: Sunderland Street, Houghton le Spring
Colliery Row, Chilton Moor (1901 census)

Military service:

5th Regiment of the Royal Highlanders of Canada (pre-war)
13th Battalion of Royal Highland Regiment of Canada

Gender: Male

Contributed by Jean Longstaff