Godfrey George Beames was born in the spring of 1891, in Henbury, Gloucestershire. One of eleven children, his mother was Minnie Beames. Her husband was Thomas Beames, and he served in the navy, which meant that Minnie was left to her own devices a lot of the time. The 1891 and 1901 censuses record Minnie and the children living with her farm labourer brother-in-law, George Watkins.
The 1911 census gives the same information for Minnie and the children – living with George in Redwick, Gloucestershire. Minnie is, however, noted as a widow, although this seems to be out of convenience, as the now naval pensioner Thomas was living with his wife of eight years, Louisa, in Arundel, West Sussex. Minnie went on to marry George the following year, and it seems possible that only the first of her eleven children was Thomas’.
Godfrey, now 21 years old, was working as a farm labourer. In the autumn of 1913, he married a woman called Lily Ball, although little information about her remains today. War was coming to Europe, and things were to change for the young couple.
Godfrey stepped up to play his part. While his full service records no longer exist, what remains paints a picture of his time in the army. He had enlisted by the spring of 1917, joining the Royal Engineers. At some point, however, he moved to the Worcestershire Regiment, and was assigned to the 10th (Service) Battalion.
While it’s not possible to determine exactly where Private Beames fought, he was definitely caught up in the fighting on the Western Front and, by October 1917, was entrenched at Passchendaele. It was here that he was wounded, and he was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment.
Private Beames was admitted to the General Hospital in Nottingham, but his injuries were to prove too severe. He died on 15th November 1917, at the age of just 26 years old.
Godfrey George Beames’ body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of Ss Mary and Peter’s Church in Winford, where Lily was now living.
(from ancestry.co.uk)
Thank you to Rob Clarke for helping to unpick a convoluted family background for Godfrey.
Death and Service 
Hello Richard
Minnie Maria’s husband Thomas William BEAMES (m. 1884) was in the Navy – by 1891 she was living with “brother-in-law” George WATKINS – whom she eventually married in 1912. Thomas BEAMES was living in Sussex in 1911 with “wife” Louisa who he allegedly married circa 1904.
Children of Thomas & Minnie BEAMES – allegedly
Probably Thomas was only the father of the first child (Thomas William) – all the others (including Godfrey George) are probably the offspring of George WATKINS
Cheers Rob
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Hi there, Rob,
Thank you for that information – The Victorians and Edwardians did like making family relationships overly convoluted! I’ve updated Godfrey’s entry accordingly.
Best wishes, Richard
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