Person

Anthony Redhead Kuhlman was born in Brandon in 1888. He was the third child and second son of Anthony Kuhlman (1853-1941). His father was originally from the Westphalia region of Germany but settled in County Durham and became a colliery manager at South Moor. His mother was Jane Kuhlman nee Redhead (1857-1899) a coal miner’s daughter from Holmside. His parents married in 1881 and had seven children giving Anthony junior three sisters and three brothers, one of whom died in his first year of life.

In 1891 the Kuhlman family lived at 1 Pine Street, South Moor and father Anthony was under-manager at the local coal mine. Mother Jane died in 1899. At the time of the 1901 census some of the family including Anthony junior were living at 2 Ivy Terrace and his father was now colliery manager. On 15 April 1902 Anthony is one of six children listed on his father’s Certificate of Naturalization to an Alien which confirmed his right to be a British citizen. In 1911 Anthony junior was living with the family of Joseph Nelson a butcher at West View, Chopwell where he was in the process of training as a master butcher.

In 1913 Anthony married Ann Kuhlman nee Armstrong in the Gateshead Registration District. They had a daughter in 1914 who they named Sadie. On 12 May 1915 they were living in Willington Terrace, South Moor when he attested in the Army Veterinary Corps Territorial Force at Newcastle. He was 27 years old and a butcher in civilian life. It was noted that he was five foot nine inches tall with a 36 inch chest, had good physical development and was passed fit for service. He became private 87 in the Northumbrian Division Army Veterinary Corps. He was initially based at Gosforth Park, Newcastle where he was charged with creating a noise after lights out on 29 July 1915. On 23 March 1916 he was absent from 6am roll call for which he forfeited six days pay.

It would not have been easy for a man with a German sounding surname in the army during WW1. In 1916 Army Orders established two new battalions (30th and 31st) in the Middlesex Regiment to contain recruits who were British citizens but the children of immigrants from nations with which Britain was at war. They were promised that they would not have to bear arms against the enemy and would serve only in the UK. Anthony was transferred to the 30th Battalion which was known as an “Alien Labour Unit”. Because many of the men had German sounding names and some conversed in German their unit was known less kindly as “The Kaiser’s Own”. Anthony was given the new service number TT/03657 when he transferred.

A War Office letter in Anthony’s record dated 3 January 1917 confirms his re-transfer back to the Northumbrian Division Army Veterinary Corps. Shortly after his return on 13 March 1917 he was charged with disobedience of regimental orders for which he forfeited one day’s pay and was confined to barracks for three days. At some point he was attached to the 49th West Riding Division and based at Bassett Green Veterinary Hospital, Swaythling, Hampshire. He informed his commanding officer that his four year daughter Sadie had died on 31 January 1919. Her death certificate points to some form of gastro-enteric problem as the cause.

On 2 February 1919 Anthony was sent to the Dispersal Unit at Ripon Yorkshire to leave army service. His home address was recorded as Beech Terrace, South Moor and he was given a rail pass to Shield Row station to travel home. It is not known if Anthony worked as a butcher on his return. However when he was named as an executor for his father’s will in 1941 it was noted that he was a colliery deputy overman. The other executor was his brother John Rowland Kuhlman who was a colliery manager just like their father.

Anthony’s father died on 20 March 1941 during the Second World War. It is likely that having a German sounding name was again a problem just as during the First World War. Both Anthony and his brother John changed their surname by deed poll from Kuhlman to Colman as reported in the London Gazette, 30 September 1941. Perhaps they had waited until after the death of their father out of respect. Nothing further is known of Anthony except the possibility that the death of an Anthony R Colman of the right age in the Northumberland South registration district in December 1967 may be pertinent.

Civil Parish: South Moor

Birth date: 1888

Death date: 1967

Armed force/civilian: Army

Residence: 1 Pine Street, South Moor (1891 census)
2 Ivy Terrace, South Moor (1901 census)
West View, Chopwell (1911 census)
Willington Terrace, South Moor (1915 attestation record)
Beech Terrace, South Moor (1919 dispersal certificate)
Hopwood, 2 Tyne Road, Stanley (1941, London Gazette)

Family: Parents: Anthony Kuhlman (1853-1941), Jane Kuhlman nee Redhead (1857-1899)
Siblings: Elizabeth Ann Kuhlman (1883-1958), William James Kuhlman (1885-1950), Sarah Jane Kuhlman (1892), Mary Mabel Kuhlman (1894), John Rowland Kuhlman (1899-1964), Joseph Frederick Kuhlman (1891-1891)
Spouse: Ann Kuhlman nee Armstrong
Children: Sadie Kuhlman (1914-1919)

Military service:

87
Private
Northumbrian Division Army Veterinary Corps
TT/03657
Private
30th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, Army Veterinary Corps
49th West Riding Division, Army Veterinary Corps
Bassett Green Veterinary Hospital, Swaythling, Hampshire

Gender: Male

Contributed by David D, Stanley, Co Durham