Richard Stocking: a paucity of information

Richard STOCKING was born around 1890 in Camberwell. There is a birth registration for a Richard Henry STOCKING in the December quarter of 1890, Camberwell (1d 895) which may be him; an alternative could be Richard William in the same quarter and year, but in St Olave (1d 203). There is also a Richard D registered in 1891. Given the birth registration districts of the other children of Thomas and Alice STOCKING the former entry is the more likely. He appears on the 1891 census as a 6-month old baby, the youngest of Thomas and Alice's children living at home at 44 Bowles Road, Camberwell. By the 1901 census, Richard is shown as ten years old and now has five more siblings. The family is living at 44 Herman Road, Camberwell (which I think is the same house with a name change ...).

There are two possible marriage entries in FreeBMD, but really with little else to go on it is difficult to say whether either is the 'right' Richard: September 1920 (1d 495), St Olave: Richard STOCKING to ? OATES and STOCKING, Richard D, September 1920 (1d 363) to ? GASKIN. The 1911 census may give more information about Richard into his early twenties.

He would have been around 24 years old at the time of the start of WWI. DocumentsOnline has a Medal Roll Index card for a Richard D STOCKING, Driver, Royal Field Artillery, and for a Richard STOCKING, Corporal in the Shropshire Light Infantry. Richard D seems the more likely, and entered the theatre of war on 13 December 1915 (France) and appears on the SWB list, indicating that he was injured at some point. Unfortunately he doesn't appear in the WWI pension and discharge records currently being made available on Ancestry.co.uk from TNA. I have not yet trawled the death indexes to see when he died.