Francis George Marchant was born in the autumn of 1894, the fourth of five children to William and Emma Marchant. William – who went by his middle name, Walter – was a gamekeeper from the village of Uplyme in Devon, and this is where the family were born and raised.

Sadly, there is little specific information about Francis’ life. When war was declared, he stepped up to play his part, joining the Coldstream Guards as a Guardsman. Attached to the Machine Gun Corps, he would have spent time overseas, but details about his time in the military are long since lost.

By the end of the conflict, Guardsman Marchant was based in Hampshire, billeted in Witley Camp. While here, for reasons unknown, he was admitted to the Connaught Military Hospital. It was here, on 4th April 1919, that he passed away: he was 24 years of age.

Francis George Marchant was taken back to Devon for burial. He was laid to rest in Uplyme’s Ss. Peter & Paul’s Church.

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