William Stettler. Who is he really?

 Recently some WW2 records I wanted to look at came online, they had been digitised by the National Archives.  This individual is called William Stettler - or is he?  Quite a handsome boy though.

When I first noticed his WW2 records were at the NAA it listed his NOK as Isabella Fisher.  I assumed this was the daughter who was born in 1889 of Isabella Agnes Fisher.  Because of this I had listed a new person called William Stettler.  As a result I thought the family tree looked something like this:

William's DOB was listed as 1919, which would have made is mother aged 31, his grandmother aged 58.  It appeared that Isabella's (grand mother) other daughter, Elsie May, also had a son in 1919, both with the surname Stettler, and no marriages.  Elsie was 23 at the time and her son's name was Clarence Gerrard Stettler.

However, as I delved into the National Archive file, I discovered two crucial pieces of information from 1961:

1.    NOK Isabella Firsher is listed as GRANDMOTHER  - So where is William's mother?  and who is she?

2. A letter from Kathleen Stettler asking for service awards for her late husband Pte William Stettler.

This opened up new mysteries and complexities, urging me to dig deeper into the family connections and unravel the story behind Private William Stettler and his relatives during World War II.

As always, it is important to go back to the vital records where I found no birth certificate for a William Stettler or any other name Stettler in 1919 other than Clarence Garard Stettler.

Clarence's birth records list his name as Clarence G, Mother Elsie M. Born 1919, Parramatta.

Clarence has a marrige published in the Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate (A Parramatta paper) in 1947 when he married Kathleen Bennett of Mudgee. This also mentions "The bridegroom was interned in Germany for more than 3 years."

William Stettler's POW records list him as missing in 1941 and a POW until 1945. These records also give us some more hints about William's family.

• He has an aunt in Parramatta named Mrs. M. McNamara. This confirms William was the child of one of Isabella Agnes's daughters.
• In 1943 his NOK advised the nomination of a daughter (presumably hers), this could have been Mary McNamara (Nee Stettler)

There appear to be no marriage records for a William Stettler in Australia, and similarly no death records have been found.

Elsie May Stettler had a difficult life, at age 8 she was sent to fostered care, by age 16 she was a domestic servant and had attempted suicide, and by age 17 she is listed as a missing ward of the state (or "State Girl" as it appears in the NSW Gazette)

In 1919 a warrant was issued by the Parramatta Bench for the arrest of one Clarence Gerrard charged with child desertion. The complainant was Elsie May Stettler, age 23. From this piece of information we can deduct that Elsie had a child out of wedlock to Clarence Gerrard. Presumably this was Clarence Gerrard Stettler.

In 1930 Elsie was living with 3 of her brothers in Parramatta.

In 1949 Clarence and Kathleen are living in Auburn and Clarence is a Porter.

Searches of TROVE, NAA and NSW Archives yields no information for a Clarence Gerrard, and no further records for Clarence Gerrard Stettler.

Elsie May Stettler died in 1965, still living in Parramatta.  Clarence Gerrard Stettler died before her in 1953 and his death notice mentions his aunt, Mary McNamarra.  Clarence's occupation on his deceased estate file lists his occupation as Tram Conductor.  Kathleen (Bennett) Stettler died in 1995 at Mudgee.

The NSW archives have the original of Clarence Gerrard Stettler's deceased estate file, and that may give some further information, so it will be worth a trip to Kingswood to check it out.

After piecing together all the details, it looks like William Stettler and Clarence Gerrard Stettler might be one and the same. It's a bit puzzling why Clarence used the name William during his time in the army.

Dealing with conflicting information like this can be difficult, but using a Research Tracker like the one on my free downloads page really can help.

Even though the evidence strongly suggests that William and Clarence are the same person, I'd label it as an "Almost Certain Conclusion" since there's no direct proof absolutely tying them together.

Research still to be done includes finding Kathleen Bennett's birth and parents, and finding anything about Clarence Gerrard, the man who got Elsie May Stettler pregnant.

Some lessons I learned from this problem were:

1. Research is never over - be ready for more information to emerge. This is especially true now that more and more records are being digitised.
2. Use a research log for tricky issues as it will help you sort out information
3. People used different names easily in the past.
4. Some things can never be "proven" absolutely, this is why we have the genealogy proof standards.