Jesse Doughty was born in the Wiltshire village of Bapton in the autumn of 1896. One of ten children, his parents were shepherd George Doughty, and his wife, Fanny.

George died in 1902, and Jesse’s mother was left to raise the children. His older brother William took the role of head of the family, however, and, by the time of the 1911 census, the Doughtys were living in a six-roomed cottage, with six wages coming in. Jesse, the second youngest of the siblings, had finished school by this point, and was working as a shepherd boy.

When war broke out, Jesse stepped up to serve his country, although full details of his time in the army have been lost to time. It seems that he initially joined the Machine Gun Corps, but transferred to the Labour Corps of the Wiltshire Regiment.

By the autumn of 1918, Private Doughty was based in Fovant, Hampshire. While there, he fell ill, and was admitted to a military hospital with pneumonia. The condition would prove fatal, and he passed away on 16th December, at the age of 22 years old.

The body of Jesse Doughty was taken back to Wiltshire for burial, and he was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Nicholas’ Church, Fisherton de la Mare, a short walk from where his family were still living in Bapton.

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