Talk:Joseph Harcourt Tombs

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Nationality of Joseph Harcourt Tombs[edit]

The story that Tombs was born in Melbourne first appeared in the 1981 edition of The Register of the Victoria Cross. The same information is repeated in the 1988 and 1997 editions. Monuments to Courage states he was born 23 March 1888 Melbourne Victoria Australia. The entry includes the comment that Tombs was reportedly born in England but this was unsubstantiated after registry checks 1881-1895. However Registry checks in Australia for the same period do not reveal that he was Australian born. Tombs never publicly claimed Australian birth and no evidence has been found that he ever visited Australia. Furthermore Australia does not claim him as a VC recipient and he is not listed by the Australian War Memorial as having an association with Australia. ‘Valiant Men; Canada’s Victoria Cross and George Cross winners’ edited by John Swettenham and published in Toronto in 1973 states Tombs was born in Birmingham England on 23 March 1887. Since Tombs resided in Canada for 47 years until his death in 1966 and since there is no evidence of either his birth or presence in Australia I regard that Canadian claim as the best information that we have at present.

22 July 2004‎ Anthonys~enwiki talk contribs‎ ... Evidence that Joseph Harcourt Tombs was English born[edit]

I wrote the section titled "Nationality of Joseph Harcourt Tombs' on 22 July 2004. Since 2004, consensus is Tombs was born in the UK. I incorrectly stated in 2004 that "Tombs never publicly claimed Australian birth" - see note 6 in the article. Anthony Staunton (talk) 13:59, 25 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

13 MARCH 2009. My name is ANDREW HARCOURT SHAW, my father was DUNCAN HARCOURT SHAW. Joseph Tombs was my great uncle (Grandmother's brother). I have inherited a few of Uncle Jo's momentos (Small VC medal + ribbon, official Army photo,& a siver hip flask which was presented to Uncle Jo in 1916 by music hall star ADA REEVE COTTON. The presentation took place at Uncle Jo's old school in Lincolnshire. It is generally believed within our family that Jo was NOT born in Australia, but in the UK (West Midlands or Lincolnshire). His 3 sisters of similar ages were all born in the UK! But he stated it was Australia - presumably when applying to the military - so that is what appears the World over. (A very common situation I am advised!)

I only met Jo once when I was a small child in the 1950's, when he stayed with us in Windsor, Berkshire. At the time he was over from Canada for a VC Anniversary event in Hyde Park, London.

I would be very interested to hear from anybody with any comments on the above! I can be contacted at: andrewhshaw@btinternet.com