Charles William BIRD

Abt 1889 - 1919  (30 years)

• Name	Charles William BIRD  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
  Birth	Abt 1889	Waltham Abbey, Essex, England   [2, 3, 4, 10]
  Gender	Male
  1891 Census	1891	Waltham Cross, Essex, England   [3]
  1901 Census	1901	Waltham Cross, Essex, England   [2]
  1911 Census	2 Apr 1911	Castlelost, Westmeath, Ireland   [4]
  	Sapper, Royal Engineers, Ordnance Survey
  _MILT	Between 1914 and 1920  [5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
  RE1914	1 Jan 1914	Nairobi, East Africa   [11]
  	18119, Spr, Secondment, East Africa
  _MILT	20 Aug 1914	Kenya   [1]
  	18119, LCpl, (MSM) Royal Engineers, African Survey Coy
  Commonwealth War Grave	12 May 1919	Forest Road Cemetery, Nairobi, Kenya
  	18119, Lance Corporal Charles William Bird MSM, Royal Engineers
  	BIRD, CHARLES WILLIAM Rank:Lance Corporal Service No:18119 Date of Death:12/05/1919 Age:31 Regiment/Service:Royal Engineers Africa Survey Coy. Awards:M S M Grave ReferenceBlock 6, Grave 16. CemeteryNAIROBI (FOREST ROAD) CEMETERY Additional Information: Son of William and Minnie Bird, of 19, Town Mead Rd., Waltham Abbey, Essex. Photographs from Cyprian Selebalo a friend of Ordnance Survey
  Medals	MSM
  OS People	RE, War Memorial WW1  [10]
  WM Only	Lance Corporal, Royal Engineers, att. African Survey Company (18119)
  Name	C W Bird  [11]
  Reference Number	35737
  Death	12 May 1919	Kenya
  	Nairobi, Kenya
  Person ID	I35737	Ordnance Survey People
  Last Modified	19 Mar 2026

  
  

  Father	William BIRD,   b. Abt 1861, Waltham Abbey, Essex, England
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Amelia Minnie MUMFORD,   b. Abt 1866, Waltham Abbey, Essex, England d. 16 May 1947, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England (Age 81 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Marriage	1886	Edmonton, Middlesex, England   [12]
  Family ID	F87	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Charles William Bird MSM Lance Corporal, Royal Engineers Died: 12 May 1919 Charles William Bird was the son of William Bird a gun polisher at the Royal Ordnance Factory and Amelia Minne Mumford. Charles was born in 1889 in Waltham Abbey, Essex He had eleven siblings, Ellen, Florence Minnie, Harry James, Daisy Kate, Sylvia, Ada, George, and Julia, the names of the other siblings are unknown. On 2 April 1911 Charles was a Sapper, Royal Engineers employed on the Ordnance Survey in Ireland and on 1 January 1914 a Sapper on the Ordnance Survey based in Nairobi, Kenya. Charles first entered active service on 20 August 1914 his war service was as a Royal Engineers attached to the East African Pioneer Corps where he held the rank of acting Warrant Officer Class 2. On 2 September 1918, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal "in recognition of valuable services rendered with the Forces in East Africa during the present war." [Edinburgh Gazette]. Lance Corporal Charles William Bird MSM, Royal Engineers died on the 12 May 1919. He is remembered on the Ordnance Survey War Memorials. His Commonwealth War Grave is in the Forest Road Cemetery, Nairobi, Kenya.

  
  

• Sources

  [S3] Ancestry.com, British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2008;). Record for Charles W Bird [S6] Ancestry.com, 1901 England Census, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2005;), Class: RG13; Piece: 1276; Folio: 34; Page: 20. Record for William Bird [S15] Ancestry.com, 1891 England Census, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2005;), Class: RG12; Piece: 1090; Folio: 60; Page: 52; GSU roll: 6096200. Record for William Bird [S29] Ancestry.com, Web: Ireland, Census, 1911, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2013;), Class: RG14. Record for Charles William Berd [S95] Ancestry.com, UK, WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2014;), The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls; Class: WO 329; Piece Number: 427. Record for Charles W Bird http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=IWOServiceMedalAwardRolls&h=1463693&indiv=try [S95] Ancestry.com, UK, WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2014;), The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls; Class: WO 329; Piece Number: 2343. Record for Chas William Bird http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=IWOServiceMedalAwardRolls&h=4722421&indiv=try [S95] Ancestry.com, UK, WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2014;), The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls; Class: WO 329; Piece Number: 2367. Record for C W Bird http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=IWOServiceMedalAwardRolls&h=673711&indiv=try [S95] Ancestry.com, UK, WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2014;), The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls; Class: WO 329; Piece Number: 2589. Record for C W Bird http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=IWOServiceMedalAwardRolls&h=673712&indiv=try [S95] Ancestry.com, UK, WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2014;), The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls; Class: WO 329; Piece Number: 2939. Record for C W Bird http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=IWOServiceMedalAwardRolls&h=3908752&indiv=try Details: 1911 Census. [S282] Ordnance Survey, Station List 1914, (Name: Ordnance Survey; Location: Southampton; Date: 1914;), Station list of Royal Engineers employed on the Ordnance Survey - 1 January 1914. Transcription by Clive Boocock - 2021 [S152] FreeBMD, England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2006;). Record for William Bird