Who was he in WWI ?

[Tony Walker]

You will see in the attachment an unusual item, an original watercolour painting of HMS Highflyer on a newspaper wrapper.  It really is a gem.

It is a philatelic item in its own right and fits in to my British Navy in WWI collection, but I have been able to find out very little indeed of the sender and/or the recipient, except for the following :

Sender was Arthur John Randle Ford 1852 - 1922 who was born in Somerset and died in Ashford, Kent.  The cancellation on the cover is Kennington, a village just northeast of Ashford in Kent, which ties in with where he died.  He was I believe in the army, as was his father, so one wonders why he was painting ships.

The wrapper is dated 23 / 10 / 14 in the boxes top left, and the cancellation is the same date

The addressee is his second son Norman Renwick Randle Ford, born 1886 - ?  Who at the age of 28 was obviously living in Canada at this time.  Did he subsequently return and fight in the navy perhaps - hence the ship painting?  There are several other ship paintings.

If anyone can add some meat to these very sketchy details I would be most grateful, the item deserves some backgound text.

Best wishes to one and all for 2016

[Alan Baker]

It appears that he was the cousin of Admiral Sir Wilbraham Tennyson Randle Ford, who held the rank of Commander in 1914. I have not found any info on which ship(s) he served on during the war (Frank?) but he later commanded HMS Royal Oak and ended his career as Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth

Norman's occupation however is given as Blacksmith in Canada. He appears on Ancestry on the UK 1901 census (aged 15) but there are records in Canadian censuses of 1911 and 1921. As I don't have worldwide membership, I cannot view these.

He apparently married Sesame Gertrude Young on 29 April 1908 in Canada, but it appears they had no children

I have found a Norman R Ford, aged 20, who left Liverpool aboard the "Canada" bound for Portland on 29 March 1906. His occupation is listed as Laborer (sic).

Perhaps the naval connection is through his cousin

[Graham Mark]

In 1914 Willbraham TR Ford, born 1880,  was LtCdr (N) HMS Swiftsure, appointment dated 25Apr13.
He was promoted to Cdr 31Dec14
July 1916 Navy List has him under HMS President for "Miscellaneous or Special services"
July 1918 Navy List has him still as Commander but there was no ships list in that edition.
Who's Who 1938 summarises his later career up to V-Adm.
He was the son of the late Maj C W Randle Ford of Bath, but born at St Hellier, Jersey.
Graham

[Tony Walker]

Many thanks Alan and Graham.  The info has given me something to support the items in a write up, which I'll do sometime...

Cheers
Tony