Frederick Chamberlain was born in the summer of 1896, the youngest of six children to John and Susan Chamberlain. John was a gardener from Dulverton in Somerset, but it was in Abbots Leigh, near Bristol, that the family were born and raised.

When he finished his schooling, Frederick found work in service and, by the time war broke out, he was employed as a footman. War presented a new adventure, however, and he was quick to step up and serve his country. He enlisted on 1st September 1914, just a few weeks after hostilities were announced, and was assigned to the 1/4th (City of Bristol) Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment.

Private Chamberlain’s service records are pretty sparse, but his unit was sent to France in May 1915, and he was to spend the next thirteen months on the Western Front. He seemed to have performed his duty well, however, and during that time was promoted to Corporal. Frederick returned to Britain in the summer of 1916, for what seemed to be health reasons. He was discharged from the army on medical grounds in November, suffering from phthisis, or tuberculosis.

At this point, the trail goes cold. He returned to Somerset, but his health deteriorated. Frederick passed away at home on 18th July 1919: he was just 22 years of age.

Frederick Chamberlain was laid to rest in the family plot in Holy Trinity Churchyard, Abbots Leigh. His funeral was presided over by Reverend Walter Brinkley, who had performed his baptism two decades earlier.

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