TOPIC:

Hi There,

I'm trying to find some family history on my great grandfather but he has tried very hard to hide his past. His name was Hugh Alexander Liddell born in Liberton, Edinburgh, Scotland 1865, then moved to Australia in about 1911 and changed his name on his departure. No one has been able to discover why. The only things that he brought with him to Aus was a few trophies and medals which most of them he had his name engraved over the top of to hide his past. When he moved to Australia, he started using his mother's maiden surname "Macarthur / McArthur". I haven't been able to find any immigration records, name change records or Australian residents certificates. Nothing.

One medal is an Imperial Yeomanry Long Service and Good Conduct Medal which i have previously been informed was instituted Dec 1904 and terminated in 1908. His engraving on the medal states "93 SJT. H. LIDDELL L+B I.Y."

Could someone please help me shed some light on him? A service record, regiment number, what does "93" mean, anything would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Jen
The "L+B IY" sounds like "Lothian and Berwickshire Imperial Yeomanry". "93" would be a Regimental number. The Lothian and Berwickshire IY did have a Company serving during the ABW. I had a look for a H.LIDDELL or something similar on my Imperial Yeomanry roll for the ABW -but nothing there. What other medals do you have apart from the IYLSGC? Any naming on these other medals might give us more of a clue as to his past service.
Good luck with your quest
IL.

Hi IL,

Thank you for your reply and my apologies for the lateness of mine.

I have done some further digging and have found all sorts of other non military related paperwork that has a matching home address with him listed as "Hugh McArthur". McArthur was his mother's maiden name. I also found a roll that his him listed as "H McArthur and Hugh McArthur" which showed the following:

Mcarthur H - No 1863 - Trooper - 1st Battalion - Nominal roll in WO127 - Imperial Light Horse

Mcarthur H - (blank) - (blank) - 2nd Battalion - QSA and KSA Rolls - Imperial Light Horse

Mcarthur Hugh - No 243 - Trooper - 2nd Battalion - Nominal roll in WO127 - Imperial Light Horse

I can't find anything close to his name with a Regiment #93. Do you have any suggestions on where I should look?

We knew that he was a horseback trooper and have a few small trophies that say ""Sword v Sword 2nd Prize (No name)" and "Lothians & Berwickshire I.Y. Military Tournament Edingburgh 1903 (no name) but I can't find anything on these either.

Your help is much appreciated.

Thank you

Jen
I take it that the Imperial Yeomanry LSCG is the only medal you have that is an official issue? The qualification for that medal (which, I understand, is quite a scarce item) is ten years exemplary service. It is for other ranks only. Despite becoming obsolete in 1908, the Medals Yearbook says it was still being issued as late as 1917.
Many years ago, Spink published a booklet concerning the IYLSGC; I don't have a copy and if another member of the site does have a copy, they might have a quick look for "93 Sjt. H.Liddell L&B IY". An entry might give additional information.
I had a trawl through my IY roll for a H.Macarthur/H.Mcarthur - no luck. As far as the men of that name in the ILH; well that would be a long shot and I suggest you would have to check the individual attestation forms (where available) and see if there is any tie-in. Most probably not.
In research, sometimes we just run into a brick wall. Given the lack of anything so far to tie your GGF into SA service in the Imperial Yeomanry during the ABW, all I could say is that he did exemplary home service in the IY and was something of a terror on the tournamant field.
Again, good luck with your quest.
IL.

If you actually believe he served in the Imperial Light Horse, the best thing to do is check this man in WO126/55-65 at Kew and then compare the detail there with what you know to be factual, if the detail matches, you have found him.
The Home Service Imperial Yeomanry Force was formed after the Anglo Boer War and has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual companies sent down to South Africa.

jen_471 wrote: Hi IL,

Thank you for your reply and my apologies for the lateness of mine.

I have done some further digging and have found all sorts of other non military related paperwork that has a matching home address with him listed as "Hugh McArthur". McArthur was his mother's maiden name. I also found a roll that his him listed as "H McArthur and Hugh McArthur" which showed the following:

Mcarthur H - No 1863 - Trooper - 1st Battalion - Nominal roll in WO127 - Imperial Light Horse

Mcarthur H - (blank) - (blank) - 2nd Battalion - QSA and KSA Rolls - Imperial Light Horse

Mcarthur Hugh - No 243 - Trooper - 2nd Battalion - Nominal roll in WO127 - Imperial Light Horse

I can't find anything close to his name with a Regiment #93. Do you have any suggestions on where I should look?

We knew that he was a horseback trooper and have a few small trophies that say ""Sword v Sword 2nd Prize (No name)" and "Lothians & Berwickshire I.Y. Military Tournament Edingburgh 1903 (no name) but I can't find anything on these either.

Your help is much appreciated.

Thank you

It doesn't look as though jen_471 has been active on this site for the past 7 years. I only came across this topic due to looking for some more information about the Lothian and Berwickshire Imperial Yeomanry Regiment and now believe that I might have stumbled on some relevant information for the author on the missing Great Grandfather who went by the name, Hugh Alexander Liddell.

I hope by posting this information that an email alert through the forum with these details will be sent to which will assist with further research of the family history here in Australia and maybe finding some far flung lost family relatives. On the flip side, there could be a family here in Australia with a large gap in their family tree in which they can not go any further back than a couple generations.

I don't have access to Find my Past and am still learning my way around Ancestry so there might still be some holes in my findings, so if anyone else would like to comment or steer me in the right direction, I won't be too insulted.

I had a lead with regards to his birth name of Hugh Alexander Liddell and with his decision to make his way to Australia, he has started using his mother's maiden name with the spelling of either Macarthur and/or McArthur.

I wouldn't say by skill, maybe by sheer fluke that I first decided to use a combination of names to find burials within Australia by using Find a Grave. I came across the name Hugh Macarthur who passed away on the 21st April 1944 and is interned at Woronora Cemetery and Crematorium (Woronora Memorial Park), Sutherland, southern Sydney, NSW. At this stage I still didn't have his age at death, but if he was born in 1865 (in Liberton, Edinburgh, Scotland) as stated above, then this would make him approximately 79 years old.

The plot is marked as Old Fam Rose Gdn 64, 0003 and also interned is his wife, Elizabeth Macarthur who passed away on 11th September 1962.




Armed with the above name and date of death, I was able to locate and narrow down this information on the New South Wales, Births, Deaths and Marriages website and found that the grave that I had located, that the deceased full name to my surprise was Hugh Liddell Macarthur, which I believe is too much of a coincidence not to be the man that I was looking for. It now appears that he has used his former surname as his middle name whilst living here in Australia.




Cross referencing this information with birth records in Scotland with the use of Ancestry, I think that I just hit the jackpot as there is a match with regards to parents details on NSW BDM's and Ancestry. See below -




Knowing the details of the above couple, I was able to use NSW BDM's and locate a son born by the name of Malcolm Hugh Liddell Macarthur in 1918 and passed away in 1992. Births, Deaths and Marriages has listed the father's name as Liddell. This could be a typo, but can only be confirmed with viewing the birth certificate.




Now onto online resources to see what I can find in period newspapers of Hugh Liddell Macarthur. The first mention of his name that I can happily say is the person in question was in the early 1930's where Hugh has made an unsuccessful claim that went through the courts against a Dentist who he believes was negligent in the conduct of a dental operation. This article also mentions that he is a storekeeper by trade.





Doing a quick address check of the place of residence for Hugh Macarthur from the Death Notice revealed that this address today at 62 Stoney Creek Rd, Bexley, NSW is still a commercial business and is where I'm hoping that Hugh operated his business from and as well as resided.



I hope this information is a start for jen_471 to continue with research in finding the lost Aussie connection and bring with it some closure of the happenings of her Great Grandfather, Hugh Alexander Liddell / Macarthur.

Trev