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The SANDS Family

ISABELLA JANE SANDS was born circa 1867 in Hastings, Sussex (source : 1881 census). She was christened on 11th August 1867 at All Saints Church, Hastings, Sussex (source : IGI, Batch No.: C148073 Dates: 1864 - 1881 Source Call No.: 1067173 Type: Film Printout Call No.: NONE and BVRI 2d edition). On the 1871 census, a 4-year-old scholar, she was listed with her family at 5 East Hill (Passage?), Hastings, Sussex. On the 1881 census, age 13, a scholar, she is living with her parents at 9 East Hill Passage, Hastings, Sussex.

She married WILLIAM DOUCH in September quarter 1895 in Hastings, Sussex (source : Free BMD – district Hastings volume 2b page 25). He was born on 29th August 1868 in Hastings, Sussex (source : IGI, Ancestral File AFN: 1NHG-4K). His parents were WILLIAM DOUCH and MARY ANN VIDLER (source : IGI, Ancestral File AFN: 1NHG-4K). On the 1881 census, William (12, scholar) was living with his parents William Douch (33, born Hastings, engine fireman) and Mary V Douch (34, born Hastings, engine fireman's wife), his brothers and sisters and two lodgers at 36 Whitefriars Road, Hastings (St Mary in the Castle), Sussex.

On the 1901 census, Isabella (33), William (33, labourer), son William (4) and Isabella's mother Ann SANDS (widow, 70) are all listed at 34 Tackleway, Hastings, Sussex.

William was killed during war bombings on 10th March 1944 in Hastings, Sussex (source : IGI, Ancestral File AFN: 1NHG-4K). Isabella was killed in April 1944 during war bombings (source : IGI).

The Children of ISABELLA JANE SANDS and WILLIAM DOUCH:

1. WILLIAM ALFRED DOUCH (see photo below) was born on 11th July 1896 in Hastings, Sussex (source : IGI). On the 1901 census, William (4) and his family are listed at 34 Tackleway, Hastings, Sussex. He was killed on active service in World War I ("Theatre of War: France & Flanders" - source : Commonwealth War Graves Commission) on 26th October 1917, aged 21 (source : written on back of photo ). He was Private 203925 of the Bedfordshire Regiment, 1st Battalion, Formerly 225725, Northants Regiment, and he enlisted in Hastings, Sussex (source : Kathy Perkins). He is buried at TYNE COT MEMORIAL cemetery in Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (near the town of Ypres) (Grave or Reference Panel Number: Panel 48 to 50 and 162A) (source : Commonwealth War Graves Commission).
   
   "The Tyne Cot Memorial is one of four memorials to the missing in Belgian Flanders which cover the area known as the Ypres Salient... The Salient was formed during the First Battle of Ypres in October and November 1914, when a small British Expeditionary Force succeeded in securing the town before the onset of winter, pushing the German forces back to the Passchendaele Ridge. The Second Battle of Ypres began in April 1915 when the Germans released poison gas into the Allied lines north of Ypres. This was the first time gas had been used by either side and the violence of the attack forced an Allied withdrawal and a shortening of the line of defence. There was little more significant activity on this front until 1917, when in the Third Battle of Ypres an offensive was mounted by Commonwealth forces to divert German attention from a weakened French front further south. The initial attempt in June to dislodge the Germans from the Messines Ridge was a complete success, but the main assault north-eastward, which began at the end of July, quickly became a dogged struggle against determined opposition and the rapidly deteriorating weather. The campaign finally came to a close in November with the capture of Passchendaele. The German offensive of March 1918 met with some initial success, but was eventually checked and repulsed in a combined effort by the Allies in September. The battles of the Ypres Salient claimed many lives on both sides... "
   
   " The site of the Menin Gate was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields... The TYNE COT MEMORIAL now bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. ... The memorial forms the north-eastern boundary of TYNE COT CEMETERY, which was established around a captured German blockhouse or pill-box used as an advanced dressing station. The original battlefield cemetery of 343 graves was greatly enlarged after the Armistice when remains were brought in from the battlefields of Passchendaele and Langemarck, and from a few small burial grounds. It is now the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world in terms of burials... There are three other pill-boxes in the cemetery. There are now 11,952 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in Tyne Cot Cemetery. 8,365 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to more than 80 casualties known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials commemorate 20 casualties whose graves were destroyed by shell fire. " (source : Commonwealth War Graves Commission).
   
   
2. ROBERT JOSEPH F DOUCH was born in December quarter 1899 in Hastings, Sussex (source : Free BMD, district Hastings, volume 2b, page 21). He died on 27th March 1901 in Hastings, Sussex (source : IGI, Film Number: 458464 ). His death was registered in March quarter 1901 in Hastings, Sussex and his age was given as 1 (source : Free BMD, district Hastings, volume 2b, page 24).
   
   
3. GRACE ALICE A DOUCH was born in June quarter 1902 in Hastings, Sussex (source : Free BMD, district Hastings, volume 2b, page 22). She died on 10th April 1903 in Hastings, Sussex (source : IGI, Film Number: 458475 ). Her death was registered in June quarter 1903 in Hastings, Sussex and her age was given as 1 (source : Free BMD, district Hastings, volume 2b, page 12).
   
   

Census returns for ISABELLA JANE SANDS and WILLIAM DOUCH:

1881 census for Isabella (FHL film 1341242 RG11 piece 1022 folio 48 page 46)
Dwelling : 9 East Hill Passage, Hastings All Saints

William SANDS head M 70 born Dallington, Sussex, moulder in iron foundry
Ann SANDS wife 58 born Hastings
Isabella SANDS dau 13 scholar born Hastings


1881 census for William
Dwelling : 36 Whitefriars Rd, Hastings St Mary In The Castle, Sussex

William DOUCH Head M Male 33 Hastings, Sussex, England Engine Fireman
Mary V. DOUCH Wife M Female 34 Hastings, Sussex, England Engine Firemans Wife
William DOUCH Son U Male 12 Hastings, Sussex, England Scholar
Alfred DOUCH Son U Male 8 Hastings, Sussex, England Scholar
Eugene DOUCH Daur U Female 6 Hastings, Sussex, England Scholar
Walter DOUCH Son U Male 5 Hastings, Sussex, England Scholar
Phillip DOUCH Son U Male 3 Hastings, Sussex, England Scholar
Arthur DOUCH Son U Male 2 Hastings, Sussex, England Scholar
Ernest DOUCH Son U Male 2 m Hastings, Sussex, England
William FIELD Lodger U Male 22 Hastings, Sussex, England Plasterers Labourer
Charles TORRANCE Lodger U Male 44 Hastings, Sussex, England Luggage Porter

1901 census – RG13 864 Folio 17

address : 34 Tackleway, Hastings (All Saints)
WILLIAM DOUCH head married 33 labourer born Hastings
ISABELLA JANE DOUCH wife 33 born Hastings
WILLIAM A DOUCH son 4 born Hastings
ANN SANDS mother-in-law widow 70 born Hastings



Postcard - written on back : Pte W A Douch killed in action Oct 26th 1917

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