de Courcy William Raymond was born in the summer of 1883 in the Somerset village of West Camel. He was one of six children to carpenter George Raymond and his wife, Anne. de Courcy – whose name may have had family connections – followed his father into carpentry and, by the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved to nearby South Barrow, where George had been born.

When war came to Europe, de Courcy was keen to play his part. Sadly, full details of his military service no longer survive, but what can be determined is that he had enlisted by March 1915, joining the North Somerset Yeomanry.

Private Raymond was assigned to the 2nd/1st Battalion, which was a second-line troop, and remained on home soil, moving from Somerset to Wiltshire to Kent by the autumn of 1915. He was evidently good at his job as he was soon promoted to the rank of Corporal for his efforts.

It was while he was based in Kent that de Courcy fell ill. He contracted pneumonia, and was admitted to a military hospital in Canterbury. Sadly, the condition was to prove too much, and he passed away from the condition on 9th October 1915. He was 32 years of age.

The body of de Courcy William Raymond was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the family plot in the graveyard of St Peter’s Church in South Barrow.

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