Two years earlier his father William Gore Alban (1860- 1906) served in the Sudan campaign, the British part of the Mahdist War. He was awarded the Sudan campaign medal with clasp and Khedive's star in 1885 for this service. He then travelled to London where in February 1886 he married Kate Newman, the daughter of master mariner Charles Phillips Newman.
Thomas F W S Alban was their first-born and the longest surviving of their five children. The next two, sons, were born in Mandalay, Burma. One died in infancy; the other was killed in Belgium during World Ward 1. The fourth child, a fourth son, was born in Quetta, then in the North West Frontier, now in Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan; he died before his first birthday. The youngest, Kathleen, the only girl, was born in 1901 in Hampshire, England. Thomas Alban's father had retired from the army as a major in 1900 after over 20 years service. When he died at the age of 46 his three surviving children were aged 19 (Thomas), 14 (Harry) and 5 (Kathleen).
William G Alban, born in 1860 in Ahmadabad, India, had also been born into a military family which was serving the British Empire overseas. His father, Thomas Clifton Alban has become deputy Adjutant General for the British Army in India. William had a brother, Clifton Frederick Samuel Alban (1854-1935) who also served as an officer in the British Indian Army while another brother, Arthur David Alban (1862-1927) joined the diplomatic service becoming His Majesty's British Consul in Cairo, Egypt.
So overseas service was in the family. But why was the wife of Lieutenant William G Alban of the 26th Bombay Infantry in St Petersburg in 1887? Any ideas welcome.
So overseas service was in the family. But why was the wife of Lieutenant William G Alban of the 26th Bombay Infantry in St Petersburg in 1887? Any ideas welcome.
