A kingdon – campaign medals & military service

Notes: Also served as a Territorial Soldier T/74311 & #950914 London Brigade & #958174?; This is Robert Leonard Kingdon born 19.09.1898 in Lambeth, baptised 15.10.1898 in Lambeth St Mary Church, son of George Kingdon, (a Painter & later a Greengrocer & Fruiterer) b.1872 in Lambeth & Mary Ann Long b.1872 from Lambeth who married in Lambeth on 15.11.1891; In 1901 Census the family lived in #77, Vauxhall Street, Lambeth; The London School Records indicate Robert L Kingdon aged 3 years, attending Vauxhall Street School from 25.08.1902 until 27.08.1906 when he went on to the Boys School; In 1911 Census this family lives at #10, Dollar Street, Vauxhall, Kennington, Lambeth, London & Robert is a Schoolboy; Robert Leonard Kingdon Enlisted on 02.01.1915 for a term of 4 years as #1887 in the 5^th London Brigade, Royal Field Artillery; His address was then #125, Vauxhall Street, Kennington; Robert Leonard Kingdon obviously served overseas, was in France from 21.06.1916 until 14.11.1917 & may have been captured at some point; Driver Robert Leonard Kingdon was eventually Discharged from a Prisoner of War Camp on 11.03.1919 under King’s Regulations Para 392 (xvi) for Wounds he had received during his service, he is also on the Silver War Badge List & his discharge address was #125, Vauxhall Street, Kennington, London; I believe that he was awarded a pension having been wounded by gun shot on 05.11.1917 & also gas poisoned, captured & discharged from a Prisoner of War Camp as Surplus to Military Requirements having suffered impairment since joining the Service, (was this a German POW Camp or a UK POW Camp?); He had served a total of 4 years & 69 days; I believe that Robert Leonard Kingdon Marries Ruth Thring, (baptised 21.01.1903) from Lambeth in 1926 in Wandsworth & that he Died in Busbridge, Surrey on 28.12.1969 Aged 71; Awarded Silver War Badge #B330136; Medals Card on file; (He is the Brother of Kingdon, Alfred John: Royal Field Artillery No: 1788 Rank: Gunner 1914-1920 WO 372/11);

Notes: The Kingdon Family Book records the 1704 Death & Burial in Exeter of Roger Kingdon, a Mariner; He has 2 Sisters Lany Cherity & Jane Collings & the Executors of his Will were Richard & Mary Kingdon, however, this is one of the Devon “Lost Wills” & I understand that it was made in 1704 but this date is not Probate; I have no other information;

Notes: There are Canadian Militia Records identifying a Roger Kingdon as the Surgeon serving with the 6^th Battalion, Peterborough Militia who was commissioned on 10.07.1847; I have no other information;

Notes: Served in France from 20.04.1918; Applied for medals on 25.11.1923, addresses given as #3, The Terrace, HM Dockyard, Devonport & Chesterfield House, Matlock, Derbyshire; This is Roger Kingdon born on 03.08.1891 in Blackheath, the son of Zachary Harris Kingdon, a Civil Service Electrical Engineer, b.1856 in Exeter & Florence Kate Brindley from Sheffield, Yorkshire who married on 24.07.1890 in Greenwich, Kent; In 1901 Roger Kingdon lived with his parents at #6, Belmont Hill in Lee, Lewisham, London; In the 1911 Census Roger Kingdon is aged 19, a Journalist Pupil at college & living with his parents at #5, Grimstone Villas, Plymouth; Roger Kingdon went to the City of London School & was a Journalist & Foreign Correspondent; I understand that he also served with the 28^th County of London Battalion (Artist’s Rifles), County of London Regiment (Territorial Force); His promotion from a Cadet with the Artists Rifles, Officer Training Corps to a Probationary 2^nd Lieutenant with the Devon Fortress Engineers, Royal Engineers was Gazetted on 09.08.1916, but this was later substituted with the rank of Private Roger Kingdon in a later London Gazette dated 09.11.1916; His promotion to Lieutenant is dated 10.02.1918; On 18.01.1922 the War Office Gazetted his promotion to Captain, Territorial Forces, Devon (Fortress) Engineers, Corps of Royal Engineers; I believe that he served with the Royal Engineers on the Western Front & in the Army of Occupation; I believe that Roger Kingdon worked for the British Council in many places in the World, including Cairo, Egypt, USA & Uruguay; Roger Kingdon may well have died on 21.05.1984 Aged 92 in Plymouth; Medals Card on file;

Notes: There are more records contained in the Australian Military Files; This is Roger Audley Kingdon born 1889 in Nelson, New Zealand, the son of Roger William Wellesley Kingdon, a Solicitor, & Annie Evelyn Curtis, living in Fielding, Oroua, New Zealand; (His original family are from the Thorverton & Exeter, Devon, Kingdon line); His Father Died Aged 42 in 1903; Roger Audley Kingdon left New Zealand for Australia at an early age; This soldier enlisted & joined the Australian Army on 20.08.1915 at the age of 27 years, in Blackboy Hill, Western Australia, his trade was a Miner; I believe that Roger Audley Kingdon served in Australia & embarked on ‘HMAT Ulysses’ on 02.11.1915 from Freemantle with the 6^th Reinforcements, 28^th Infantry Battalion, 7^th Infantry Brigade, probably serving at Tel-el-Kebir in Egypt until being sent to France on 14.10.1916 where he became sick for 3 months or more from 16.02.1917; I believe that this soldier was wounded in action on 04.10.1917 but was returned for duty 7 days later. (On the 27.01.1916 the newspaper ‘The Colonist’ had reported that his brother Sergeant Basil Kingdon had been visiting Nelson on final leave before being shipped to France & that he was the last of the 3 Kingdon Brothers to go to the Front; Both of his brothers were serving in Egypt in January 1916, one of which was Roger Audley Kingdon); It appears that he then absented himself from 26.01.1918 whilst on leave in England & was given 28 days detention; He was then Court Martialled in the Field in France & charged with Desertion, pleading Not Guilty on 24.06.1918 but he was eventually found to be Guilty of the lesser charge of Absence Without Leave & was awarded 90 days in jail for absenteeism whilst on leave in England; Roger Audley Kingdon was returned to Australia on the Troopship ‘Anchises’ on 10.04.1919 & finally discharged from the Army on 03.06.1919; I believe that Roger Audley Kingdon had Married Alice Maude Peffers in 1915 in Australia between his Military Enlistment & his being shipped overseas; In 1925 this family were Farming in Australia; In 1931 Roger Audley Kingdon was the Postmaster, living in Holyoake, Forrest, Western Australia; In 1949 he had Retired & was living in Canning, Western Australia; I understand that Roger Audley Kingdon Died on 11.10.1957 in Mandurah, Western Australia Aged 68; I should note here that one of his twin sons John Kingdon, born 1916, served in WW2 & Died as a Japanese Prisoner of War & was probably buried in Changi Military Cemetery in Singapore; Awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War & Victory Medals; (He was the Brother of Kingdon, John Stewart: #23/473, Rifleman, ‘B’ Company, 1^st New Zealand Rifle Brigade, New Zealand Expeditionary Force, WW1); (He was the Brother of Kingdon, B: New Zealand Rifle Brigade No: 24/1915 Rank: Sergeant 1914-1920 WO 372/24); Could be researched further;

Notes: This is Ronald Noel Kingdon born in 1920 in Swansea, Wales, the son of Percival John Kingdon, b.13.04.1897 in Swansea & Jeannie Elizabeth Irvine, who Married in Carlisle, England in 1919; Awarded the 1939-45 Star & the 1939-45 War Medals; (He was the son of Kingdom, Percival John: #Z/1801, Ordinary Seaman, Able Seaman, Royal Naval Reserve, Wales Division, WW1; ADM 337/86 & ADM 339/1);

Notes: The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight for Britain during World War 1. Upon the outbreak of war, New Zealand immediately offered to provide two brigades - one of infantry and one of mounted troops - a total of 8,500 men. This is Roy Raynor Kingdon a New Zealand citizen, born in 1892, he is the son of John Holman Kingdon who was a Lawyer & Secretary to the Treasury of the Seddon Government, & Elizabeth Jane Raynor; (Generally this Kingdon Family emigrated to New Zealand from Holsworthy/Exeter in England around the 1850’s); Private Roy Raynor Kingdon of the Wellington Infantry Battalion was in the 4^th Body or Reinforcement Draft that sailed from Wellington, New Zealand to Suez, Egypt on 17.04.1915; He was about 24 years of age and lived for many years with his mother at Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand; For some three years he was engaged in farming pursuits in Western Australia and returned to New Zealand about 1914; Roy Raynor Kingdon’s Death, Killed in Action, was reported on 07.07.1915; A brother was serving with the Australian force; (He was the Brother of Kingdon, Henry Rodney Robert: #429, 10^th Light Horse Regiment, 3^rd Light Horse Brigade, Australian Imperial & Expeditionary Force); I have no other records;

Notes: There is also a record for this Naval Rating, Samuel Kingdon, born 19.04.1839 Plymouth, Application to Whitehall on 17.01.1865, no age on entry 7 no dates served given – original page #268? ADM 139/627 records Samuel Kingdon, born 19.04.1839 in Plymouth, a date of volunteering of 26.07.1862 & an official naval number of #22684A; This number indicates issue between 1859 & 1867 & the suffix ‘A’ would indicate that he was probably serving prior to 1859; This is probably Samuel Samson Kingdon born 1839 in Plymouth; He was the son of Richard Kingdon, a Sawyer b.1792 in Maker, Devon, & Dorothy (Dorothea) Congdon(?) from Calstock, Cornwall who Married ca.1827, probably in Plymouth; In the 1841 Census Samuel Kingdon lived with his parents in Catherine Street, Plymouth St. Andrew, Devon; In the 1851 Census Samuel Kingdon was an 11 year old scholar at home with his parents at #24, Gasking Street, Plymouth Charles the Martyr; I presume that Samuel Kingdon was serving in the Royal Navy in 1861 as I did not find him in that Census? I believe that Samuel Kingdon Married Susanna (Grace) Gloyn, b.1839 in Stoke Damerel, in Stoke Damerel in 1862; In the 1871 Census there is a Samuel & Susanna Kingdon, a Storekeeper, living at #13, Jubilee Street, Charles, Plymouth, Devon; I believe that his wife Susanna Grace Kingdon Died in Plymouth in 1873 Aged 33; From this date I totally lost all members of this family including their daughter, Susanna Amelia Kingdon b.1865 in Plymouth; (He was the Brother of Kingdon, Edmund Joseph: Caulker, Royal Navy, Continuous Service #7723B & #40313; ADM 139/878 & ADM 188/5); Needs further research;

Notes: This is Samuel Kingdon born in 1809 in Thorverton, Devon, the second son of “Iron Sam” Samuel Kingdon b.1779 Mayor of Exeter & Sarah Eyre; Young Samuel Kingdon led a somewhat roaming life, he was an officer of the Yeomanry Cavalry who escorted Princess Victoria (later Queen Victoria) from Teignmouth to Exeter before there were trains; Following this he later joined the Prussian Army & held a Commission in the Hussar Regiment of the Guards, travelling with the King of Prussia when he visited England to attend the baptism of the Prince of Wales in 1830 as a Sponsor; After time he grew tired of Military life & emigrated to Victoria, Australia & acted as Sheriff & Gold Commissioner. He had previously trained as a Lawyer & in 1857 he settled at Nelson to practice law. He was a member of the Nelson Provincial Council & also held a Captain’s commission in the New Zealand Militia. At some time he suffered an accident that crippled him & forced him to withdraw from active life. In February 1850 Samuel Kingdon Married Julia Anna Budd from Landkey, North Devon (the only daughter of the Deputy Lieutenant of Devon), and they started a family of 9 children, the 1^st born in Paris & the 2^nd born aboard ship ‘Diana’ off St. Pauls. 2 more daughters were born in Victoria, Australia & all other children born in New Zealand; Samuel Kingdon Died in New Zealand aged 75 in 1885; (I believe that Samuel’s Father “Iron Sam” Kingdon was Captain of a Company of Artillery among the Exeter volunteers in 1803 when Napoleon Bonaparte was threatening to invade England);

Notes: Samuel Kingdon served in the Crimean War in the Land Transport Company, but I have insufficient information available to identify this soldier; He was awarded the Crimean 1854 – 1855 War Medal & was entitle to receive a Clasp for having also served at Sebastopol, Camp before Sebastopol 17.10.1853; However, there is a record which indicates that because of his Discharge the Medal was never effectively issued;

See also: Kingdom, Samuel: Private, #3494, 90^th Regiment of Light Infantry, Crimean War; WO 100/32; - Died at Sebastopol in the Crimea;

Notes: There are records from the Crimean War for the 90^th Regiment of Light Infantry, (‘The Cameronians’ or The Scottish Rifles or The 90^th Perthshire Light Infantry Regiment for this soldier Private Samuel Kingdom, #3494 who Died on the 10.12.1854 probably during the during the Siege of Sebastopol either from Enemy Fire or from Disease; His Crimean Medal & Clasps became ineffective due to his death; Insufficient information to identify further;

Notes: In 1803 there are records for the Devon Exeter Militia which indicate that a Samuel Kingdon, an Ironmonger, aged 24 & single was ‘willing to serve as a volunteer’ in the Militia; I believe that this is Samuel Kingdon (“Iron Sam”) who was eventually Captain of a Company of Artillery among the Exeter volunteers in 1803 when Bonaparte was threatening to invade England; This is Samuel Kingdon born on 28.04.1779 in Exeter & baptised in the Bow/Mint/George’s Meeting House on 25.01.1807, the son of Samuel Kingdon & Jane Kent; This is “Iron Sam” & full details of his life are recorded in the Kingdon Book – ‘A Second Look’ dated 1974 & subsequently do not need to be repeated here;

Notes: This soldier served with the 81^st Battery Royal Artillery, his original papers were No. NB/1666 dated 22.06.1937? (I have no further information available to identify this man);

Notes: There are more records for this soldier in the Australian Military Files; There is a Death Record in the Queensland, Australia Death Index at #004795 on page 548 for Samuel Henry Drew, which I believe is the same person; There are very many conflicting records for this soldier, both as Samuel Henry Drew, S. H. Livingstone & Samuel Henry Kingdon, having served with the Australian Imperial Force in WW1 during 1914 & 1915;