Francis Arthur Dickinson was born on 5th February 1874 in Lufton, near Yeovil, Somerset. The elder of two children, his parents were banker Arthur Dickinson, and his wife, Alice.

Francis was drawn to a military life. The 1891 census lists him as an army student at a boarding school in Cornwall, and by the end of the decade, he had enlisted in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry.

Over the next fifteen years, Francis served around the world, fighting in India, South and East Africa and in the Middle East. By the end of his term of service, he had risen to the rank of Major. During this time, he had been awarded a number of decorations, and had been mentioned in dispatches twice for his gallantry.

On 23rd July 1914, Francis married Clare Phipps, the daughter of a man of private means from Dilton Marsh, near Westbury, Wiltshire. The couple married in Clare’s home village, but set up residence in the Dickinson family home in Kingweston, Somerset.

When war was declared in 1914, the newlyweds were on their honeymoon. Francis returned to the army and was offered the rank of Colonel, but turned it down, in order to return to the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry. He soon found himself in the thick of things again, and was caught up in the fighting at Mons, Marne, Aisne and Messines.

In April the following year, Major Dickinson was wounded. Evacuated to a camp hospital in Boulogne, he was not to survive his injuries this time round. He passed away at the hospital on 11th April 1915, at the age of 41 years old.

Due to the masses of servicemen being killed, a decision had been taken by the government of the time to not repatriate the dead to Britain, but to bury them in cemeteries close to where they fell. However, whether because of his family’s connections, or because he passed on the Channel coast, Major Dickinson’s body was, in fact, brought back to Somerset.

Francis Arthur Dickinson was laid to rest with full military honours in the graveyard of All Saints’ Church. He was buried alongside other family members, and in the shadow of the family manor.

---

---