In my spare time when I am not reuniting people I love to try and solve a riddle - and I'm not talking about Sudoko. This year it seemed obvious to me that the most poignant riddles waiting to be solved are those which involve WW1 medals.
Last autumn I bought a pair of medals from Louis Bannon's military memorabilia shop in Cardiff, along with a British War Medal, Silver War Badge and two postcards, all from World War One and all for £100.
The pair consisted of a Mercantile Marine Medal and British War Medal with their ribbons still attached, safely stored in plastic pouches.
All the medals awarded following WW1 have the basic details of the recipient stamped on their rim (unlike those from WW2).
The details are clear to see and these medals were no exception, with the name Joseph.S.Mayor.
The Mercantile Marine Medal and British War Medal awarded to Joseph S Mayor
As I hurried home I wondered whether Joseph S Mayor survived the war. Did he have any children or grandchildren? Would they be at all interested in learning more about their military ancestor, if I could trace them?
The Mercantile Marine Medal was awarded to those who served with the Merchant Navy providing vital for Britain; importing food and raw materials, as well as transporting soldiers overseas and keeping them supplied.
Recipients had to have served at sea for at least six months with the Merchant Navy and have made a voyage through a war or danger zone during the 1914-1918 war. The British War Medal was automatically awarded to all recipients of the Mercantile Marine Medal.
Following WW1, 133,135 Mercantile Marine War Medals were awarded. The green and red colours of the ribbon represent the starboard and port running lights of a ship, with the centre white colour being representative of the masthead steaming light.
The National Archives (TNA) at Kew in west London is the UK government's official archive, holding those "service and operational records of the armed forces" which are open for public viewing. Their website offers many helpful research guides and so this is where I started my search for more information.
TNA has an easy to navigate catalogue called 'Discovery' into which I typed four words: "mercantile marine medal mayor". I found to my surprise just 11 results; one of which was for a Joseph Samuel Mayor.
J S Mayor's medal card, courtesy of The National Archives' Registry of Shipping and Seamen: Index of First World War Mercantile Marine Medals and the British War Medal
The details were that Joseph Samuel Mayor was born in Cardiff in 1882. His medals were issued in 1921 to his home address at 27 Charlotte Place in Barry, south Wales.
Searching through the census records I quickly found him on the 1891 census living with his parents Joseph and Elizabeth. His father was born in 1860 in Lands End and it turned out his grandfather Samuel was born in 1836 in Harwich, so obviously the family had been closely linked to the sea for several generations.
Joseph Samuel Mayor married Mary James in 1903 and they went on to have eight children; seven daughters and one son, also called Joseph. Their eldest daughter Mabel married John Sullivan in Cardiff in 1925. I was able to locate an address for one of Mabel's grandchildren and eagerly sent out a letter enquiring whether they might be interested in learning more about their family history.
While waiting for a reply I searched for more information and was glad to see that the merchant seamen service records are available to view online for a small fee.
Joseph Samuel Mayor’s Merchant seamen service records, reproduced by findmypast.co.uk and courtesy of The National Archives
I didn't know that I would be able to see the man, the man whose medals I held in my hand. To know that he was born on 7 December, that he was a 3rd Engineer, that he had blue eyes and fair hair, and stood 5 foot 7 1/2 inches tall.
The helpful staff at the TNA confirmed that the discharge number of 894159 could be cross-referenced to identify that he worked onboard the "Promus" and the "Courtown". They also alerted me to the Crew List Index Project or CLIP which contains valuable information about the records of British merchant seafarers of the late 19th century and which has gathered the largest database of entries from crew lists.
Within a few days of sending out my letter Joseph Samuel Mayor's great-grandson, Paul Burniston, replied to say that "Yes, he was very interested in his family history" but "what was this all about?"
Little did he know when he bravely accepted my invitation to me in the BBC Radio Wales studio on 7 August to take part in Eleri Sion's programme that he would be receiving a photograph of his great grandfather Joseph Samuel Mayor as well as his WW1 medals.
Eleri Siôn, Paul Burniston and Cat Whiteaway in the BBC Radio Wales studio
