John Adlam was born in the spring of 1883 in Warminster, Wiltshire. The youngest of seven children, his parents were William and Emily Adlam. William was a maltster’s labourer, and the family lived in a small cottage at 66 Pound Street, to the south west of the town centre.

When John finished school, he found work as a garden labourer. By this point the Adlam family had moved, and home was 29 Chapel Street. William himself wasn’t recorded there, however. Work had taken him away and he was living at Holcombe Malthouse, on the outskirts of Kilmersden, Somerset.

On Christmas Day 1906, John married Ethel Brown, a plasterer’s daughter from Westbury, Wiltshire. The couple would go on to have three children, and 1911 census shows them living at 24 Chapel Street, Warminster with John’s recently widowed mother.

When war broke out, John stepped up, or was called upon, to play his part. His service records no longer exist, although it is clear that he served as a Private in the Dorsetshire Regiment as a Private. He was based at on of the regimental depots, and served through to the end of the war.

The only other record for John are those relating to his passing. He died on 29th November 1918 and, as his death was registered in Warminster, it seems likely that he died at or close to home. He was 35 years of age.

The body of John Adlam was laid to rest in the graveyard of Christ Church in his home town of Warminster.

---

Interestingly, while an initial grant was paid to Ethel, John’s entry on the Pension Ledger stated that they had been “instructed to cease [temporary] payment as widow not eligible for pension in respect of her late husband.” There is no indication as to whether this was later overturned.

---