Family
History

 

 

Adkins families

Looking for our past!


Home > Display family

Surnames | Names index | History index

 Display options

Parents:
 
 
 
 
Elizabeth ADKINS
(1864 - 1918)
 
 

Married: 9 Oct 1918; The Hague, Netherlands [124]
Lance Sergeant Henry 'Harry' ADKINS
(1892 - 1930)
Joanna Helena LETSCH
( - 1929)
 bd.   June 1892
 dd.  1930, age about 37
 mil.  WWI: 10720, 1st Battalion, King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment
See notes [122]
 res.  Netherlands
 src.   [122]
 bd.  The Hague, Netherlands
 dd.  1929
 res.  Netherlands
 src.   [122]

Children (4):

Mart ADKINS (1920 - )
Harry ADKINS (1922 - )
Elizabeth ADKINS (1925 - )
George ADKINS (1927 - )

Family notes for Henry 'Harry' ADKINS and Joanna Helena LETSCH

It appears that Henry ADKINS was illegitimate. [122]

Harry trained as an infantryman with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment but went to war with the Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. He was shipped to France and joined WWI at the beginning. Three days into the war Harry was captured in the 'bloodbath' of Le Cateau and was imprisoned in several German prisoner of war camps for the rest of the war. This led to a very important event where Harry was under house arrest in The Hague being nursed by his future wife. We do not know of Harry's injuries, was he shot at Le Cateau or suffering from the effects of internment - we do not know. On 09 October 1918, Sgt Harry Adkins married Joanna Helena Letsch at The Hague. [122],[124]

Harry and Joanna moved back to Warwick where Mart was born 27 March 1920. Harry's mother, Elizabeth, appears to have passed away in December 1918 so did they ever meet again? By all accounts Johanna was homesick so they made the trip back to Holland to be with her family. [122]

Harry and Johanna had three more children, Harry b.1922, Elizabeth b.1925 and George b.1927. All three children were Dutch citizens. In 1929 Johanna passed away, we cannot find out the cause of death, and Harry followed suit 12 months later. Some say that Harry died of a 'broken heart', a euphemism for many things, did he take his own life? As a result of this Mart and brother Harry were put in an orphanage in Holland and let out as adults in 1939 ... only to be interned by the occupying German forces and sent to many prisoner of war camps around Poland and Italy. Mart held a British identity and was seen as alien. As funny goes, what Harry did in WWI, Mart and brother Harry did in WW2. Crazy! Siblings Elizabeth and George stayed in Holland as citizens and the ADKINS surname is still in use there. [122]

The webmaster feels a certain affinity to Harry and Johanna. All marriages in The Netherlands have to be a civil ceremony (you can go to church afterwards if you wish), and in The Hague they would have gone to the Stadspaleis (Town Hall) in Javastraat for the ceremony. I was married there too! My mother's name was also Adkins. [95]

Notes for Henry 'Harry' ADKINS

From the Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment museum website - Lance Sergeant Henry Adkins, number 10720. Overseas: 23 Aug 1914. ... 1st Battalion Orders of 4 Aug 1914 show his promotion to Lance Sergeant. Discharged on 31 Dec 1919 and received the Silver War Badge.
Harry was captured on the third day of the war and was in POW camps for the duration. [122]

Sources

95.  Personal information, Tim Boddington (STB, Webmaster)
122.  Email, Alan Daniels, 05 February 2020
124.  Marriage certificate

Family record last updated: 16 March 2023

Click coloured box for Person Record

Key, explanation of codes used


In the event of error on this page please let me know which page you are on by sending me an email from this link. Thank you very much!


Adkins families home pagePrevious pageTop

5.2.4/6331