Samuel James Hayes was born in the Somerset village of Milverton in May 1879. He was the eldest son of James and Harriet.
James was an agricultural labourer, but Samuel wanted more than this; he enlisted in the Royal Marine Artillery in February 1897, three months before his 18th birthday.
The 1901 census finds Gunner Hayes in the Eastney Barracks in Portsmouth, while ten years later, he was on board the HMS Swiftsure in the Mediterranean.
In May 1912, he married Annie Thorne, also from Milverton, in his home village. Two years later, just before Christmas 1914, their first – and only – child, Lionel, was born.
I have struggles to find anything specific relating to Gunner Hayes’ wartime service. He certainly continued to serve, and by the time of his death had clocked up more than twenty years’ service in the Royal Marine Artillery.
Samuel passed away on 6th July 1919, at the age of 38. One record I have located suggests that he died in a military hospital in Malta, but whether he passed there or in the UK, he was buried back in Somerset.
Gunner Samuel James Hayes lies at rest in St Michael & All Angel’s churchyard in Milverton.
Charles William Stodgell was born in Somerset in 1878, the eldest son of Samuel and Mary Stodgell. His father was an agricultural labourer, while his mother was a glover. Charles followed into farm work, becoming a carter by time of the 1901 census.
Charles married Mabel Duke in 1898 and the young couple had two daughters – Ida and Florence – in the following few years.
When war came, Charles was called up. He enlisted in June 1916, joining the Devonshire Regiment before being transferred to the Agricultural Company. His record shows that he stood at 5ft 6ins (1.67m) and weighed 10st 2lbs (64kg) and his build, health and experience is probably why he ended up in service where he did.
Private Stodgell was demobbed at the end of the war, and returned home on furlough (a word not just linked to everything 2020 has thrown at us!). Sadly, before he was fully demobbed, he contracted influenza, and died on 2nd February 1919.
Charles William Stodgell lies at rest in his home village of North Curry, in the churchyard of St Peter & St Paul.
Arthur Palmer was born in Bicester in 1889 to groomsman George Palmer and his wife Annie. Arthur was the eldest of five children, five boys and one girl.
By 1911, the family had moved to Dorset, where George continued to work as a groom. His son, Arthur, had also gone into domestic service, and was a footman. Presumably this was under the same employ as his father, although the records do not confirm this.
This is where the trail for Arthur Palmer dries up.
From his gravestone, we know he served in the Machine Gun Corps (MGC). The Register of Soldiers’ Effects confirms he was in the 3rd Company; this was formed in January 1916, so Private Palmer can only have enlisted after that date.
Online research only brings up MGC military service records for an Arthur George Palmer, who lived in Kettering. However, this Private survived the war, so could not be the one buried in Dorset. There is nothing in contemporary newspapers to suggest that there was anything untoward or unusual about his passing.
All I can say for certain is that Private Arthur Palmer died at the Cannock Chase Military Hospital on 13th November 1918.
He lies at rest in Sherborne Cemetery, Dorset. He was 30 years old.
Cecil John Paine was born in Sherborne, Dorset, in May 1899, the son of John and Emily Paine. He was the fifth of seven children, and the second son.
Cecil’s military records are sparse, but the local newspaper provides more information. According to the Western Gazette, Cecil joined up on reaching his 18th year, and had only been in service for three weeks, when he succumbed to pneumonia at Chiseldon Camp in Wiltshire on 6th June 1917.
Private Cecil Paine lies at rest in Sherborne Cemetery.
As an aside, Chiseldon Camp was initially set up to train new soldiers. In 1915, part of it was developed into a hospital for wounded soldiers before, in 1916, it began to treat soldiers coming back from the front who had contracted VD. Interesting times that Private Paine probably knew little about.
Cecil’s eldest brother, Frederick William Paine also served in the Great War. He had enlisted in the navy in 1903, initially for 12 years, but continued on and was finally discharged in 1919.
John Kennell was born in Yeovil in 1872. One of five children, he was the only son of bootmaker Francis Kennell and his wife Elizabeth.
John enlisted in the Dorsetshire Regiment in 1888. Interestingly, his enlistment records give his surname – and that of his parents – as Hosegood. When he was discharged, however, the documents give him as John Hosegood alias Kennell (the census records confirm his family name as Kennell, however).
Private Hosegood was initially based at The Citadel Military Barracks in Plymouth. His service meant he travelled the world – he spent two years in Egypt, four in India and two in South Africa (where he was involved in the relief of Ladysmith). In all, John served 14 years in the army and was discharged in May 1902.
John married Bessie Greenstock six weeks after being demobbed; the Banns show they wed in the Parish Church of Sherborne (or Sherborne Abbey), and list John as a soldier. He was 30, Bessie seven years older.
By the time of the 1911 census, the couple were living with their two young children – Francis and Edith – and Bessie’s widowed mother in the village of Oborne, two miles to the west of Sherborne in Dorset.
When war broke out, John reenlisted within weeks. After a period of re-training, Private Kennell was posted to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force on 23rd October 1914, and served nearly three years on the Western Front.
Private Kennell returned to the UK on 30th December 1916, and remained there until being discharged as no longer fit for war service in July 1917. Sadly, I have been unable to find any details of what led to him being discharged, but the service records do not suggest that he was wounded in any way.
After his discharge, details of John’s life are sparse. His name does not appear in any newspapers of the time, and all I have been able to find it that he passed away on Christmas Eve 1919. He was 47 years old and was buried five days later.
Private John Kennell lies at rest in Sherborne Cemetery, Dorset.
Frederick Batson was born in Sherborne in 1888, the eighth child of Cornelius and Mary Ann Batson.
Far too young, Frederick was an orphan as Cornelius died when he was just a year old; Mary Ann passed away in 1906, when he was 18.
There was positive news on the horizon, however; in January 1909, Fred married Elsie Frances Marshallsea and by the time of the 1911 census, the couple were living in Sherborne and had a year old daughter, Eveline. Fred was working as a carpenter and journeyman and the young couple went on to have three further children.
Rifleman Batson enlisted in the Prince of Wales Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment) in 1916. This battalion fought on the Western Front during the Great War, and was involved in both Ypres, the Somme and Passchendaele.
It is not clear whether Frederick was involved in these battles. Back on home soil, he was admitted to a military hospital in Newport, South Wales, and passed away on 22nd March 1918, following an illness.
Rifleman Frederick Batson lies at rest in Sherborne Cemetery, reunited with his parents.
Augustus Kenneth Seymour Dodge was born in September 1898 to shoe and furniture dealer Augustus William Dodge and his wife Mildred. The elder of two children, Augustus and his family lived on Cheap Street, the main retails thoroughfare of his home town, Sherborne.
Augustus William had been plying his trade for a number of years, having been apprenticed to his father – another Augustus – in Frome and Devizes.
Augustus Kenneth joined the 7th Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment, a territorial reserve, which was trained in North Wales and based on a camp in Wool, near Bovington, Dorset. Sadly, I have been able to find little else of his military life, but it is unlikely that he was involved on the front line.
Private Dodge died on 31st March 1917, aged just 18. Nothing in the newspapers of the time suggest an unusual or violent passing, so it can only be assumed that he died from an illness, possibly influenza or pneumonia.
Augustus Kenneth Seymour Dodge lies at peace in the cemetery of his home town, Sherborne.
I was intrigued that Augustus Kenneth’s gravestone also commemorates his father – Augustus William Dodge – and so I did a bit more research. I found that the 1910s were not a good time for the Dodge family.
Augustus Dodge Sr (Augustus William’s father) died in 1912, at the age of 88. He left his estate – totalling more than £500,000 in today’s money – to his widow, Mary Ann, and two of his sons, including Augustus William.
Mary Ann Dodge passed away in April 1916, as the local newspaper reported:
Mrs Dodge, widow of the late Mr Augustus Dodge [Sr] died unexpectedly at her residence at Butts-hill on Thursday last. Mrs Dodge, who was in her 82nd year, walked down to St John’s Church in the morning and attended a service, and then walked up the hill to her home. She was taken ill at noon and passed away two hours later. On Saturday morning, the family received the news that Mr Hubert Dodge, bootmaker, or Warminster (brother of the late Me Augustus Dodge) had died.
Somerset Standard: Friday 28th April 1916
By this point, and within six years, Augustus William Dodge had lost both of his parents and his uncle Hubert. He had also lost his daughter, Ethel, who had died in 1910.
Another of Augustus William’s uncles, Albion Dodge, died in 1917, as did Private Augustus Kenneth Dodge, his son, and the protagonist of this post.
The effect of these losses – particularly that of his eldest son – cannot be underestimated and may well have contributed to his own passing, a year later.
Augustus William Dodge died on 17th June 1918, aged 51.
The Somerset Standard show how much of a businessman he had been, however, with an announcement of the sale of his estate, which included:
LARGE SHOP AND DWELLING-HOUSE, with extensive Premises in the rear, No 3 Stony-street, Frome, in the occupation of Mr Arthur Dodge, at £40 per annum.
SHOP AND PREMISES, No 4 Stony-street, Frome, in the occupation of the Argentine Meat Co. Ltd’, t £25 per annum.
SHOP AND PREMISES, No 13 Market-place, Frome, in the occupation of the National Party, at £18 per annum.
Substantially-built and Commodious TWO-STOREY WAREHOUSE, with Accommodation for Motor Car or Van, situate in the Blue Boar Yard, Frome. The top story is in the occupation of the Frome Town Band, at £12 per annum. The bottom storey is void.
DWELLING-HOUSE AND PREMISES, No 25 King-street, Frome, in the occupation of Mrs Thomas at £13 8s 8d per annum.
DWELLING-HOUSE AND PREMISES, No 1 Willow Vale, Frome, lately occupied by Mr Clarke, a £15 12s per annum.
TWO Substantially-built RESIDENCES with large Gardens, Nos 1 and 2 Hythe House, Rodden Lake, Frome, together with PADDOCK adjoining, in the occupation of Messrs Webb, Golden and Haddrell, at the net annual rental of £37.
FIVE COTTAGES AND GARDENS, Nos 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Rodden Lake, Frome.
A commodious 3-storey WAREHOUSE, with double-door entrance for vans and side entrance, situate and being No 22 Vicarage-street Frome, in the occupation of Mr E Glass at £8 per annum.
SHOP, with DWELLING-HOUSE AND GARDEN, in Cheap-street, Sherborne, Dorset, in the occupation of Miss Beedell, at £20 per annum.
Dorothy Louise Stacey was born in 1893, the eldest child of Alfred Stacey, a farmer, and his wife Mary.
The family lived at Middle Farm in Charlton Horethorne, a small village midway between Sherborne and Wincanton. Alfred Stacey ran the farm, and by the time of the 1901 census, the family of four had a live-in domestic servant, Beatrice Baker.
Things had moved on by the next census return of 1911. Alfred and Mary had moved the young family 150 miles east, where they were now running Buttons Farm in Wadhurst, East Sussex. I can find no familial link for what would have been a significant move in the early 1900s, but it may be that Alfred was headhunted. The records show that Mary and Dorothy were assisting Alfred in running the farm, along with new domestic servant Mary Hide. The family were joined by Marjorie Anderson, a live-in governess for younger daughter Mollie.
Dorothy Stacey joined the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserves (QAIMNS) during the war. The official female unit for medical services in the British Army, those joining had to come from ‘good families’ and be qualified nurses. It can only be assumed, therefore, that Dorothy undertook additional training after 1911, presumably in order for her to be able to join up.
Staff Nurse Stacey was based at Worgret Camp, on the outskirts of Wareham, Dorset. Full details of her time there are no longer available, but she would have been exposed to a variety of illnesses while attending the soldiers under her care. Sadly, this was to prove to be her undoing. She passed away in the facility where she worked on 5th October 1918, having contracted a combination of bronchitis and nephritis. She was just 25 years of age.
When the family had been living near Sherborne, Dorothy had attended the Convent of St Anthony’s school. It was to the convent’s chapel that she was taken following her passing.
After the funeral service was held there, Dorothy Louise Stacey was laid to rest in Roman Catholic section of Sherborne Cemetery.
Nelson Victor Pitman was born in April 1890, the fourth of eight children to George Pitman and Amy Roles Pitman (née Treasure). George was a butcher’s assistant, and the family lived in their home town of Sherborne in Dorset.
As with a number of the other servicemen I have been researching, Nelson’s military records are sparse, probably lost to time. He is not listed as living with his parents on the 1911 census and, in fact, is nowhere to be found.
On 2nd January 1915, Nelson marries Alice Moores at the parish church (Sherborne Abbey). His profession is listed as soldier, so we know that, but this point in the war, he had enlisted.
While there are no records of Private Pitman’s service, his battalion, the 1st Royal Warwickshire Regiment was involved in a number of the key battles of the war, including the second Ypres, Arras and Passchendaele. The battalion was also involved in the Christmas Truce, so there is a slight chance that Nelson played football with his German counterparts in one of the defining moments of the Great War.
Private Pitman survived the war to end all wars, but was discharged on 22nd February 1919 with a disability. He was suffering from bronchitis, and steadily went downhill.
Private Nelson Pitman passed away eighteen months later, on 21st November 1920. He was 31 years old.
Thomas Charles Holloway was born in Chatham, Kent in 1893. The fourth of five children, his parents were Joseph, a domestic coachman, and Caroline Holloway.
By the time of the 1911 census, Thomas had left school and was working in a corn warehouse.
Thomas presented a bit of a challenge when I was researching his history.
His military records show that he enlisted on 31st December 1914, signing up to the Royal Field Artillery. However, Gunner Holloway’s service records show that he was posted on 9th January 1915, before being discharged as medically unfit just a week later. The records confirm that he served for 16 days.
The medical attestation states that he was discharged because of cardiac dilation and hypertrophy, a systolic murmur and dyspnoea, all heart-related conditions.
Despite only serving for just over a fortnight, he was afforded a Commonwealth War Grave when he died.
Searching the local newspapers of the time, a bigger story was unveiled.
The death of Bombardier Thomas Holloway, aged 24, of the RFA… occurred in a hospital at Cambridge. He was kicked by a horse in the course of his training, nearly two years ago, and had practically been on the sick list ever since. On recovering from the effects of the accident, he was seized with spotted fever at Seal, and ultimately succumbed to paralysis of the brain.
East Kent Gazette: Saturday 21st July 1917
The discrepancies between the original discharge and the newspaper report are intriguing. Either way, this was a young life cut far too short: he was 24 years old.
Gunner Thomas Holloway lies at rest in St Margaret’s Churchyard, in his home town of Rainham in Kent.
Death and Service 