Cornelius Elliott

Labourer; b. 24 Feb 1876 at 7 Blarney Street, Cork (civil birth register, Cork No.2, entry 238); father of John Francis Elliott (b. 1908, 30 Quaker Road, Cork). m. Julia Mary Condon 25 Jun 1907 at SS Peter & Paul, Cork (civil marriage register, Cork No.4 Urban 1907, entry 138), when he was a labourer of 5 Phoenix St; his birth record names his father John Elliott (labourer, later given as weaver) and his mother Honora Elliott formerly SHEEHAN - confirming Honora Sheehan as his mother. FULL ARMY CAREER DOCUMENTED 5 Jul 2026 (service papers pulled by Aynsley from Forces War Records, uk.forceswarrecords.com - WO 97-series attestation/discharge files, WWI casualty forms, medal roll index card, Ministry of Pensions SB36) - THREE ENGAGEMENTS, ~22 years in uniform. (1) ROYAL ARTILLERY, Driver, No. 4338: attested Cork 4-8 Jun 1894 aged 18y3m (5ft 4.5in, 130 lbs, fresh complexion, blue eyes, brown hair, scars over right eye & right shoulder; RC; NEXT OF KIN father JOHN ELLIOTT and mother Hanorah of 36 WARREN'S PLACE, CORK - new family address, marginal date reads 1907 or 1909 - part-legible); joined Woolwich 9 Jun 1894; 83rd Bty 1895; 7 days imprisonment by the civil power Dec 1895 (margin note: drunk); ammunition column, 74th Bty RFA; SOUTH AFRICA 30 Sep 1899-3 Sep 1902: Queen's South Africa Medal with clasps Paardeberg, Driefontein, Johannesburg & Cape Colony, and King's Medal, clasps S.A. 1901 & 1902 (the family's Boer War tradition now DOCUMENTED; the Boer-uniform photograph held by Pat Elliott is therefore PROBABLY Cornelius, in artillery kit); contusion left leg on duty 1898; discharged after exactly 12 years, 6 Jun 1906 - and married Julia the following June. (2) WWI: volunteered 11 Sep 1914, aged 38, Driver No. 91628, RHA "S" Battery, later Special Ammunition Column, 45th Mountain Bty and 74 Coy RGA; the summary sheet gives BEF 18 Dec 1914-16 Aug 1915 (embarkation papers show Devonport to Alexandria Feb 1915 - forms partly conflict), then MESOPOTAMIA 20 Jan 1916-3 Feb 1919, with two invalidings to India (Dec 1916, Aug 1917), hospital at Alexandria Feb-Mar 1917 (diagnosis first "duodenal ulcer", revised on the form) and Baghdad Jul 1918 (N.Y.D.); 25 days Field Punishment No. 1, Mustapha, Jun 1917 (absent from draft parade); home from Basrah per H.T. "Shuja", arriving 3 Mar 1919. (3) Re-enlisted a fortnight after discharge, 26 May 1919: ROYAL ENGINEERS, Pioneer, No. 608356 (civil trade then STONECUTTER, labourer; wife Mrs Julia Elliott, 30 Evergreen Buildings, next of kin): BEF France 16 Jun 1919-29 Apr 1920 on the clean-up, appointed paid L/Cpl Mar 1920, demobilised 7 May 1920 - this last stint was, until today, the only service known (the "pension record"). He mis-stated his birth date to the army twice (1.1.1875 in 1914; 14 May 1879 in 1919) - and his RE military history sheet adds a third slip, giving his marriage as "Julia Condon, spinster, Cork, 20.6.09" (documented: 25 Jun 1907; NB the same line is an independent, self-declared attestation of Julia's MAIDEN NAME). Its children's column lists John (written "-10", vs his documented Nov 1908), James "4.4.12" (the pension sheet read 4 Nov 1912 - April vs November, civil birth entry to decide) and Cornelius 21.8.13 (consistent). The pension sheet names the three sons - John (b.1908, our line), James (b. 4 Nov 1912) and Cornelius (b. 21 Aug 1913) - at 30 Evergreen Buildings, Cork. MEDAL ROLL INDEX CARD (same evening): Driver 91628 RHA - 1914-15 Star, British War & Victory Medals; "Theatre of War first served in: (1) France, 18-12-14" - confirming the France entry (the Feb 1915 Devonport-Alexandria movement line stays flagged, possibly a misfiled page). PENSION (Ministry of Pensions form SB36 + award sheets): 30 PER CENT DISABLEMENT - "debility" (due to service) and "defective teeth" (aggravated) - awarded from 25 Oct 1920: 12s. a week plus 8s.10d. for wife and three children, renewed through at least Sep 1923, file active to Mar 1926 (so the 1919 France re-enlistment was done by a man already carrying the debility the board later recognised). THE "CHINA" TRADITION SOLVED - A FALSE MATCH: the record behind it is "Elliott, Cornelius S", Gunner's Mate No. 130, Royal Navy, HMS AMETHYST, Second China War medal roll (Opium War 1856-60; FWR/Fold3 index) - born POOLE, Dorset, June 1825, later Euryalus 1862. He cannot be ours: no Cornelius Elliott existed in this family before 1876 (the name arrived with Honora's father Cornelius SHEEHAN), and our Elliotts were then at Golden. Rare name + medal + war = classic record-match bait; graded REJECTED (PDF filed in Research files under "NOT OURS"). John the weaver's own claimed China/Boer service remains unsupported and is now doubly suspect. (Second namesake by-catch also parked: No. 101393 "Cornelius Ellitts", a 16-year-old spinner of 9 Baker St, Wolverhampton, discharged Athlone Jan 1916 for mis-stating his age.) NB Jeanne Elliott's tree (July 2026) gives him d. 1918 - REJECTED: his own pension record has him with the BEF in France to 29 Apr 1920 and at Home to 9 May 1920. Her tree credited him with China & Boer War service - the Boer War is now documented (above); China appears nowhere in his papers. HIS NAME EXPLAINED 5 Jul 2026: his parents' full 1865 civil marriage record names his maternal grandfather CORNELIUS SHEEHAN, labourer - Cornelius was named for him. Aynsley's maternal great-grandfather. Added June 2026; war service & sons added July 2026. [DIRECT ANCESTOR OF THE COMPILER: flag added 24 Jul 2026 by walking the tree from Aynsley, so that this marker is reliable and can be searched.]