Catherine (Kate) Newland was Grandad Ernest John Conway’s mother, having married Isaac Conway on 19th September 1886 at St Chad’s Church, Derby (demolished in 1996). Grandad was their first child, born 2 April 1887. 
They went on to to have 10 more children, three of whom died as babies: Rebecca (1889 – 1980), Florence (1890 – 1943), Sarah (1893 – 1932), Lily (1895 – 96), Edward (1901 – 1989), Kate Annie (1903 – 1991), Rose May (1906 – 1919), James (1906 – 1906), Mabel (1908 – 1908) and Violet (1910 – 1987).
Grandma Kate’s parents, John and Mary Anne Elizabeth (née Ashmole) Newland grew up in military families, in India. In fact, Kate was born at sea, on board the S.S. Tyburnia, returning the family to England from Poona to Portsmouth.
“The Ashmoles” have a long history, stretching back 9 generations and beyond to the famous Elias Ashmole, born in May 1617, in Lichfield, Staffordshire. He lived until May 1692 and is buried in St. Mary’s Church, Lambeth, Surrey.
Elias Ashmole was a royalist, lawyer, antiquarian, scholar, and collector who gave his collections to the University of Oxford in 1677.
The Ashmolean Museum (right) was named after its founder Elias Ashmole and opened in 1683. It is widely recognised as being the first modern museum. Elias was Grandma Kate’s 9 times great uncle.
Mary Anne Elizabeth Ashmole (Grandad’s grandmother) was born on 11th September 1847 at Belgaum, Karnataka, India.
Her father, John, had been in the Army since 1839 and had met his wife, Eleanor (née Gannon), herself the daughter of a soldier, whilst serving in Aden, in the Diocese of Bombay. They married on 22nd August 1843, when Eleanor was only 13 years old.
This branch of the family has one who served King George III, two members who served their Queen (Victoria) on active service, and two descendants who fought in WW1, one wounded in action and one who died on the First Day of The Battle of The Somme:
Private 1307 John ASHMOLE, 17th (Leicestershire) Regt. of Foot [Later: Sergeant 2920, 78th (Highlander) Regt. of Foot]
John was born in November 1821 in Marston-on-Dove, Derbsyhire, and was baptised on 2nd December 1821 at the Church of St Mary, Marston-Upon-Dove.
John joined the 17th (Leicestershire) Regiment of Foot on 17th July 1839 (aged 18 yrs 7 months) as a Private soldier. At that time he was 5 ft. 7½ ins [1.71 m.] tall, had a fresh complexion, blue eyes and brown hair.
On 31st October 1842 he transferred to 78th Regiment of Foot also as a Private. He made Corporal in 1871 and Sergeant in 1857, but was court martialled for drunkenness and reduced to Private in 1858. His pay was cut from 3d a day to 2d a day [about £4.40 to £2.95 today – 2023].
On 22nd August 1843 John married Eleanor Gannon in Aden, where her father, John was also serving. [see below]. She was 13 years old at the time. Between 1847 and 1868 they had 9 children, 7 of whom survived into adulthood.
Their eldest child was Mary Ann Elizabeth, born on 11th September 1847 at Belgaum, Karnataka, India. She married John Newland on 9th October 1861 at St John the Evangelist Church, Colaba, Bombay, India. They were Grandad’s paternal grandparents. on the “Newland Family” page
After 19 years and 176 days service John volunteered to be transferred to 56th Regiment of Foot on 1st February 1859. He finally retired from the Army on 29th October 1861, having served a total of 22 yrs 285 days – 21 yrs 7 months in India. He returned to England on 17th January 1862 and received his final discharge on 20th May 1862.
He was awarded 4 Good Conduct Medals and the ‘Indian Mutiny Medal‘ with clasps for the Defence and Relief of Lucknow in 1857.
He also received the India General Service Medal, with ‘Persia‘ clasp for service in the Anglo-Persian War of 1856/57.
a more detailed account of John Ashmole’s Army Career
about the Siege and Relief of Lucknow
As well as Mary Anne Elizabeth (John and Eleanor’s oldest child) they had five more children born in India, Joseph Henry (born 1849), Frederick (died, aged 8 months in July 1854), Charles (b. 1855), John William (b. 1857), and Fanny Helena (b. 1860).
After their return to live at 4 Castle Place, Derby, they had three more children, Peter, in 1861, Jacob in 165, and Selina in 1868. (1871 Census RG 10/3564) At the time of the Census John was employed as a “Iron Turner“.
John worked as a ‘Labourer‘ until his death from ‘Asthenia‘ (abnormal physical weakness or lack of energy) in The Infirmary, Derby (right), on 12th December 1889, aged 68. After John’s death Eleanor went to live with her son, Charles, and his wife, Kate, at 45 Copeland Street, Derby, where she died on 2nd April 1898.
John and Eleanor Ashmole are buried together in Grave 52593, Nottingham Road Cemetery, Derby.
Private John GANNON, 17th Regiment of Foot
Private John GANNON, 17th Regiment of Foot John Gannon was the father-in-law of John Ashmole. He was born in the Westminster area of London on 20th August 1805.
He enlisted in the 17th Regiment of Foot on 4th July 1823, spent some time in Ireland, from March 1827 to December 1826. During this time he married Ann Locklin (see below), at Manchester Cathedral, on 29th December 1824.
N.B. The 17th Foot was an infantry regiment in the British Army dating back to 1688. In 1804 the 17th Foot moved to India and remained there until 1823.
In 1825 the Regiment was granted the badge of a “Royal Tiger” (left) to recall their long service in the sub-continent.
John returned to England and whilst at Chatham, Kent, his daughter Eleanor was born on 29th December 1829. On 24th August 1830 John (and family?) sailed to New South Wales, Australia, posted to Parramatta, NSW, and Sydney, until 1835.
The Regiment moved to Poona, India, by 28th March 1836. While in India John took part in the First Afghan War (1838 to 1842). He then moved into Aden where he died on 18th October 1843, aged 38, having spent 20 years in the Regiment.
John’s widow, Ann, returned to England and lived at Saltney Street, Liverpool, until her death in October 1865, aged 60. She was buried on 2nd November 1865 in Ford Catholic Cemetery, Liverpool.
about “The First Afghan War “
… Notes from John’s ‘Muster Rolls’
Private Thomas LOCKIN(G), 1st Battalion, 84th Regiment of Foot
Private Thomas LOCKIN(G), 1st Battalion, 84th Regiment of FootThomas was John Gannon’s father-in-law, whose daughter Ann married John Gannon in 1824. He (Thomas) married Ann Bailey on 18 May 1800 at Holy Trinity Church, Tattershall, Lincolnshire. He was born in August 1760 in Old Clee, Lincolnshire, and his wife in November 1777 in Tattershall, Lincolnshire
As well as Ann, born at Roughton, Lincolnshire, on 18 Jul 1805, they had two older children, Thomas (born in 1801) and Robert (b. 1802) and two younger, Martha (b. 1808) and David (b. 1815).
“The British Regimental Registers of Service, 1756-1900” (National Archives, Kew) show that Thomas was in “The ’95 Draft” (i.e. 1795). Her served in India where he was “Invalided at Bombay, 15 October 1808“.
The 1st Battalion was sent to join the Duke of York‘s army in the Netherlands in September 1794 as part of the unsuccessful defence of that country against the Republican French during the Flanders Campaign.
Returning to Britain in the spring of 1795, both Battalions of the 84th were posted to the Cape of Good Hope where they were amalgamated. From South Africa, the Regiment was sent to Madras in India in 1798 and on to Bombay in February 1799.
Thomas’ wife, Ann, died in Louth, Lincolnshire, in the September quarter 1840. By the time the Census was taken the following year Thomas was residing in the Horncastle Union Workhouse, Lincolnshire. He died the following May, probably still in the Workhouse.
Lance Cpl. 201059 Samuel LATHAM, 1/5 Battalion, Sherwood Foresters Regiment
Lance Cpl. 201059 Samuel LATHAM, 1/5 Battalion, Sherwood Foresters RegimentSamuel was born at 42 Rivett Street, Derby, in 1897. He was the 4th child of Ambrose Henry and Mary Ann Latham, and had 3 older siblings, Florence Mary (born 1891), Annie Elizabeth (b. 1892) and Ambrose Henry (b. 1894 – see below). He also had 3 younger siblings, Beatrice (b. 1899), Albert Edward (b. 1902) and Ethel (b. 1906).
His mother was born Mary Ann ASHMOLE, so was the granddaughter of both John Ashmole and John Gannon, named above. She had married Ambrose Latham on 7 April 1890 at All Saint’s Church, Derby (Derby Cathedral from 27 October 1927).
Samuel enlisted in the 5th (Service) Battalion, in Derby, on 9 November 1914 and was given the Service Number 3490 (Private). On 9 February 1915 he was transferred to the 1/5th Battalion and renumbered ‘201059‘.
On 18 May 1915 Samuel was promoted to Lance Corporal and his Medal Index Card shows that he was posted to France with his Battalion on 25 June 1915. His Service Papers show that he was reported ‘Missing‘ on 1 July 1916, the date been determined his date of death “For Official Purposes” on 26 July 1919.
On 1 July 1916, the 1/5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, was part of the British Expeditionary Force and involved in the Battle of the Somme. Specifically, the Battalion was attached to the 139th Brigade, 46th Division, and tasked with leading an attack from a new trench. The objective was to draw German troops away from the main offensive and take the “Gommecourt Salient“. Unfortunately, the trench was shallow and waterlogged, impacting the success of the attack.
…. the action on the 1st July from the Battalion War Diary [CLICK Button]
Samuel has no known grave and is commemorated on The Thiepval Memorial. (Face 3 – left)
The Register of Soldiers’ Effects shows that £6 8s 1d (£6.40 – equivalent to about £550 today – 2025) was returned to his family, divided with one-third going to his mother (£1 16s 7d) and the remainder divided equally between his 5 siblings. In November 1919 Mary Ann (mother) received a a further £7 War Gratuity (about £460 today).
Samuel’s father, Ambrose Latham, had died in the December quarter 1907. In the March quarter 1917 Mary Ann re-married John Harrison, in Derby. Under her new name she was awarded a Pension for the loss of her son.
By the time of the 1939 Register she was widowed again and living at 62 Belper Road, Derby, the home of George Cattermole and some of John Harrison’s children from his earlier marriage. Mary Ann died, aged 80, in the June quarter 1952.
Lance Corporal 227985 Ambrose Henry LATHAM, 1/5 Battn, Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby) Regiment
Ambrose was born at 42 Rivett Street, Derby, on 11 November 1894. He was the older brother of L/Cpl. Samuel Latham (above) so his family details are virtually the same.
He enlisted in the 1/5th Battalion, in Derby, on 16 December 1914 and was given the Service Number 227985 (Private). Like his brother Ambrose’s Medal Index Card shows that he was posted to France with his Battalion on 25 June 1915 and was promoted to Lance Corporal 18 July 1916.
On 24 January 1917 Ambrose was transferred to 2/8th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters. and on 26 June 1917 transferred again to the 297 Company, Labour Corps, and renumbered “Private 3561“. He was wounded and returned to Nottingham, before being discharged as no longer fit for War Service on 24 October 1917.
He had received an “Injury to Knee” and granted the Silver War Badge (No. 292704). A pension was awarded w.e.f. 30 November 1917.
Ambrose returned to Derby, to 68 Bridge Street, and on 28 September 1918 he married Alice Dakin at St John’s Church, Derby. They had 9 children, Gordon, Lesley, John, Kenneth, Barbara, Raymond, Jennifer, Valerie and Jeanette.
The 1939 Register shows the family living at 184 Cowsley Road, Derby, and Ambrose employed as a “General Labourer (Heavy Work)“. He died in 1950 at the same address and was buried in Grave A30, 66935, Nottingham Road Cemetery, Derby, on 8 October. His widow, Alice, died in 1983 and was buried with Ambrose on 6 May, aged 82.
