Walter Hayes was born in Somerset in 1883. The oldest of seven children, his parents were William and Mary Hayes. William was an agricultural labourer, and the family lived and worked at Houndhill, to the south east of Stogumber.
Walter also fell into farm work and, in the spring of 1914, he married Emily Mary Tarr. The wedding took place in Tiverton, Devon, but the couple did not stay there for long as, just weeks after their wedding day, Emily gave birth to a daughter, Edith, over the Somerset border in Dulverton.
Storm clouds were brewing over European shores, and Walter was called upon to play his part. His service records are also sparse, but they confirm that he initially joined the Somerset Light Infantry, before moving across to the Devonshire Regiment.
Walter had either been in the army earlier in his life, or he worked his way up during the war, and at some point he reached the rank of Serjeant. He saw fighting overseas and, according to later documentation, was caught up in a gas attack. This was to have an impact on his health and he was discharged from army service sooner than he might otherwise have done. Officially stood down in March 1919, he returned home to his wife and family.
Emily and Walter had a second child, William, later that year, and the family were finally able to settle into a routine. Walter’s health, however, was severely impacted and, on 12th January 1921, he passed away from bronchitis. The lung condition was found to be directly attributable to his war service, and that gas attack, Walter was 38 years of age.
Walter Hayes was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of All Saints’ Church in Dulverton.
Emily was pregnant when her husband died: she gave birth to their third child, a son she named Walter, just a few months later. She did not re-marry, and, according to the 1939 Register, she was boarding in a house in Dulverton and carrying out unpaid domestic duties.
Emily lived on until the autumn of 1973, passing away in Taunton at the age of 85.
(courtesy of Trevor Hayes)
The early life of Walter Hayes was a challenge to piece together, as his was not an uncommon name in the area at the time. My thanks go to his great nephew, Trevor Hayes, for his help in pulling together the story and for the image of his great uncle.
Death and Service 