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Mystery ancestor

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ALPhillips:
Thank you for allowing me to join.  I am researching my family history and have some photos, some I can identify, others I can't.  The attached photo was taken in the same garden as others in my collection and I therefore would guess this gentleman is a relative.  The local family history group have told me that he is a petty officer in the Royal Navy and has the long service and good conduct medal, along with the related stripes.  I am also told that because his cap is white on the top that it must be post WWII.  That is pretty much the sum of what I know.  Family names include Maslen, Stevens, Smart, Phillips and Hazell.  Family hails from All Cannings/Devizes, Wiltshire, Bath and Portishead (though my gut tells me this is not from the Portishead side of the family).

I have trawled FMP and Ancestry and anything else I can find online but can't find anything that could be classed as a best guess.

Any assistance would be greatly received.

PhiloNauticus:
To be blunt, without a name, there is little more that can be said - your local family history group are correct - it is a photo of a Petty Officer; three good conduct badges and a medal;  perhaps post WW-2, although possibly 1930s - but with no name, he could be anyone....

ALPhillips:
Thanks for your reply.  I wasn't expecting anyone to be able to identify him but wondered if there was any additional information that an expert might be able to spot from the uniform that might give me another avenue of research.  I must admit that I thought the photo would have been taken in the 1930s given other photos in the album taken in the same garden feature people who would have been the right age for it to be the 1930s but having been told it was a post WWII uniform I had dismissed that.  Is there a list of those who received the long service & good conduct medal that I may be able to search to see if I can find a match at all.  Royal Navy records do not seem to be as prolific as those for the army.

PhiloNauticus:

There is little to be gained from the photo - his branch badge, showing his trade/job is on his right arm, but cannot be seen clearly in the photo.   He is wearing a single medal, which may be the Long Service & Good Conduct Medal [blue with white edges] - problem with that is that it was introduced in 1848, and is still being issued, so there are thousands of recipients. I am not aware of one source that would help with that, but perhaps one of the genealogical sites may help? - see also the Wiki page on the Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (1848)

As to the date - I think this is almost certainly pre-war, probably mid/late 1930s.   He has three good conduct badges - each one represents four years service, so he has done a minimum of 12 years time - plus he has what could be a LS&GC medal, which is awarded after 15 years service.   If this was taken in the 1950s, he would certainly have wartime service medals  - which he does not.   The photo would fit someone who joined the Royal Navy after  WW1 but before WW2.

Your advice on the cap was not strictly correct.  Before the early 1950s ratings had two hats - white for summer and black for winter, although during WW2 only black caps were worn.  So  the  photo could well date from the 1930s, taken during the summer, which seems to be correct, as he is sitting in a deckchair...

 
 

ALPhillips:
Thank you.  I know the right arm is out of view.  I thought it was a strange pose too.  Not exactly showing off his uniform and medal etc.  I had been searching from 1940 afterwards from the other information given to me, but my instinct was 1930s due to other photos taken in the same garden with other members of the family.  I will start trawling pre war  I know people joined the army for WWII, did they join the Royal Navy in the same way or was that a less conscripted service?  thank you for your help.  I'm hoping that if I can identify him then it unblocks clues to the other family photos.

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