John Henry Coleman (1888 - 1931)
Birth Certificate
 Born:
13th. February 1888 at 7 Lefton Road, Shepherds Bush, Fulham, London
Registered in Fulham, Sub-District St. Pauls, Hammersmith, Middlesex.

Sergeant Major John Henry Coleman
Parents:
Henry Frederick Coleman and Rose Elvina Breeze
Siblings:
Dora Coleman


  Spouse:
1) Unknown.
(Supposition based on the description "Widower" in his marriage certificate to Florence Moore.)

Children:


Marriage Certificate
 Spouse:
2) Florence Moore
John Henry Coleman (26, Widower) and Florence Moore (31, Spinster) were married on 14th. February 1914 in Southwark, London.
Witnesses were Henry Masters and Rose Coleman.

Children:
Private


Death Certificate
 Died:
19th. March 1931 at 105 Oakley Street, Lambeth, London, GB
Registered in Lambeth, Sub-District Lambeth Church, County of London


Sergeant Major John H. Coleman John Henry served in the army in World War I. He started as a private and worked his way up to (Regimental ?) Sergeant Major (source: Dad).

According to his cap-badge, he was in the 23rd County of London Battalion of the London Regiment.

The Internet Web-Site "The Long, Long Trail" says this about the 23rd. Battalion:
1/23rd (County of London) Battalion TF
August 1914 : in Battersea. Part of 6th London Brigade, 2nd London Division.
11 May 1915 : formation became 142nd Brigade, 47th Division.
2/23rd (County of London) Battalion TF
Formed in Clapham Junction in August 1914.
By January 1915, in 2/6th (181st) London Brigade, 2/2nd London (60th) Division.
26 May 1918 : left the Division and moved to France, joining 21st Brigade, 30th Division on 8 July 1918.

He served with Allenby, who till 1917 commanded the cavalry division of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front. At some time he served in the trenches and was gassed. Dad believes, this may be a/the reason, why he later turned to drink.

In 1913 (at Dad's birth) the family was living at 52 Romney Street, Westminster. In 1920 (at Joseph Williams's birth) they lived at 44 Lambeth Walk and later moved to 105 Oakley Street, in Lambeth. The Old Vic was at the end of the road, and Oakley Street was later renamed Baylis Road in honour of Lillian Baylis of the Old Vic. Baylis Road is in the Lower Marsh district of Lambeth. (See also www.lower-marsh.co.uk )

He was a Journeyman Chimney Sweep.
Dad remembers, that in about 1923 or so, his father took him with him to work. John Henry had to clean out a boiler in the City of London. This entailed climbing right inside it, and John Henry became overcome, and they had to pull him out. (Possibly a side-effect of being gassed in the war ??)

There was a shed at the back of the house in Oakley Street. Here, for a small wage and a good meal, 'down and outs' from the street would rip old shoes apart. John Henry and his dad would then 'marry' good uppers and soles, and make a new looking pair of shoes out of them. These were then sold in the shop, or on the markets in Lambeth Walk and China Walk; the 'good' shoes cost 5 shillings a pair, the rest were 1 or 2 shillings a pair.