Category Archives: illness

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kings Royal Rifle Corps, Lieutenant, Middlesex, photography, Somerset, story, war

Lieutenant Vincent Mellor

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Lieutenant Vincent Mellor

Vincent Charles Serocold Mellor was born in Chelsea, Middlesex, in the spring of 1897. The younger of two children, his parents were Chief Solicitor to the Treasury – and later Sir – John Paget Mellor and his Australian-born wife, Mabel. The 1901 census recorded the family living on Chelsea Embankment, with four servants: a cook, a nurse and two housemaids.

For someone with a relatively high standing in Edwardian England, there is surprisingly little documentation relating to Vincent – who was known as Vin. His name does not appear in the 1911 census, although nor does his family.

At some point, Vincent was given a commission in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, but his service records are lost to time, which makes it impossible to find any specific information about his military career. Lieutenant Mellor’s headstone confirms that he served in Palestine, and that he fell ill while in the Middle East.

Vincent returned to Britain for treatment, and was admitted to the Red Cross Hospital for Officers in Portland Place, London. Whatever his condition, he was to succumb to it: he passed away on 21st March 1919, aged just 20 years of age.

Vincent Charles Serocold Mellor was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Paul’s Church in Churchstanton, close to the family’s country home, and the same church in which he had been baptised two decades before.

Lieutenant Vincent Mellor
(from findagrave.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Prince of Wales Leinster Regiment, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private Edward Paul

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Private Edward Paul

Edward James Paul was born in Curry Mallet, Somerset, early in 1888, one of nine children to William and Eliza Paul. William was a stone mason, but Edward and his brothers went into agricultural labouring when they finished their schooling. Eliza and Edward’s sisters found employment making and finishing clothes.

Little further information about Edward’s early life is available but when war broke out, he stepped up and volunteered. Full details about his military service are no longer evident, but he enlisted early in 1915, joining the Prince of Wales’ Leinster Regiment.

Assigned to the 6th Battalion, Private Paul’s Medal Roll Card confirms that he was sent overseas on 9th July 1915, destined for the Dardanelles, and Gallipoli.

How long Private Paul served in the Balkans for is unclear, but he was back on British shores by early in 1916, and had been admitted to a hospital in Birmingham, having fallen ill. Again, details are sketchy, but he was to succumb to the condition on 15th February, at the age of 27 or 28.

Edward James Paul’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St James’ Church, in his home village, Curry Mallet.

Canada, Canadian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Driver, Great War, history, illness, India, Kent, photography, Royal Field Artillery, Sergeant, Somerset, story, war

Serjeant Robert Priddle

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Serjeant Robert Priddle

Zebulon Priddle was born in the autumn of 1876 in Curry Mallet, Somerset. One of ten children, who included Meliam, Cornelius, Absalom, Ebenezer, Lancelot and Jabez, his parents were Robert and Mary Priddle.

Robert was a farm labourer, and his son followed suit at first, but a career away from home beckoned and, on 16th January 1894, he enlisted in the Royal Artillery. Aged just 18 years and 2 months, Zebulon had volunteered in the Somerset Light Infantry, a militia group at that point. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall and weighed 122lbs (55.3kg).

Driver Priddle was based on home soil for eighteen months before his wish for a life of adventure was realised. On 16th September 1894, his battalion set sail for India, and he was to remain there for more than six years. Zebulon returned to Britain in February 1902, where he was placed on reserve status. He completed his twelve years’ service in January 1906, and stepped down from the army.

Britain’s shores could not contain Zebulon, however, and at some point he emigrated to Canada. Little information of his life in North America is available, other than that the move seemed to have provided him with an opportunity to change his name, as in documents from this point on he is known as Robert Priddle.

The next record for Robert is that of his re-enlistment when war broke out. He was living in Winnipeg by this point, and, as he gives his mother, Mary, as his next-of-kin, it seems that he did not marry or have children.

Robert joined up again on 16th December 1914, and was attached to the 9th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry. Promoted to the rank of Sergeant, he arrived back in England in March the following year. His time there was to be brief, however, and within a matter of weeks, Robert arrived on the Western Front.

Over the next six months, Sergeant Priddle’s health suffered significantly, and he had several periods in hospital. Initially suffering from bronchitis, in July 1915 he was medically evacuated to Britain with cardiac angina. He remained in England and, when rheumatism set in in October, he was transferred to reserve status.

Sadly, this was not to be the last time Sergeant Priddle’s health suffered: he was admitted to hospital in Shorncliffe, Kent, with a ruptured aortic aneurysm. He succumbed quickly, passing away on 25th January 1916, at the age of 39 years old.

The body of Robert Priddle was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest under his assumed name, in the peaceful graveyard of St James’ Church in his home village of Curry Mallet.

Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, London, Northamptonshire, photography, Royal Army Medical Corps, Royal Army Service Corps, Somerset, story, Surrey, war

Captain John Cooper

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Captain John Cooper

John Bruce Cooper was born on 21st July 1869 in Croydon, Surrey. He was the oldest of eight children, all but one boys, to John and Maria Cooper. John Sr was a boot and shoe manufacturer whose business, by the time of the 1881 census, was employing around 600 people.

By 1901, the business was doing well. The family had moved to Northamptonshire, and were living at Delapré Abbey, on the outskirts of Northampton. They were now supported by fourteen servants living on site, while grooms, coachmen and gardeners were housed on the estate.

John Sr died in August 1906, while Maria passed away less than six months later. Their children, now aged between 25 and 37, went on to live their separate lives. Five of John Jr’s brothers remained in bootmaking, in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Surrey, while one of them, Philip, took holy orders. John, however, sought a different route.

In April 1907, John married Violet Mary Gordon in Kensington, London. She was the daughter of a general in the Indian Army, and had been born in Simla. The couple settled in a house in Basingstoke, Hampshire, and went on to have two children: Thomas and Richard. The 1911 census records the family residing in Daneshill Cottage, with two live-in domestics. By this point John was noted as being a dealer in motor cars.

When war broke out, John felt duty bound to serve his country. Little information about his military career remains documented, but a contemporary newspaper report of his funeral provides some indication of his service.

Captain Bruce Cooper… was formerly an officer of Territorial [Royal Army Medical Corps], being transport officer of the 2nd South-Western Mounted Brigade, and was stationed at Frome [Somerset]. Obtaining a commission in the [Army Service Corps], he was promoted captain, and was so proficient and zealous that he became Officer Commanding Vehicles at Bulford Camp, where he was held in the greatest esteem.

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 27th November 1915

Captain Cooper fell ill in October 1915, and was suffering from phlebitis, or inflammation the veins. This was to prove fatal, and he passed away at the family home in Bath, Somerset, on 21st November 1915. He was 46 years of age.

John Bruce Cooper was laid to rest in a family plot in the cemetery of Bath Abbey. His older son, Thomas was laid to rest with him, when he passed away in 1949. Violet was reunited with her husband and son when she was buried with them in 1972.

Captain John Cooper (from ancestry.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Durham Light Infantry, Essex, Great War, history, illness, Labour Corps, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private William Taylor

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Private William Taylor

Much of the life of William Charles Taylor is destined to remain lost to time. His Commonwealth War Grave Commission and military records give his father as Henry Taylor, while another document suggests his mother’s initial was E, but no birth, baptism or census records match the three names given.

The document that can be directly attributed to William is his military service records. They confirm that he enlisted in Bath, Somerset, on 18th February 1916, joining the Somerset Light Infantry. The document notes that he was 21 years and 7 months old when he enlisted, and stood 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall.

Initially assigned to the 10th Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry, within a couple of months, Private Taylor was transferred across to the Durham Light Infantry in July 1917. He remained on home soil for the duration of his time in service, and was moved across to the Labour Corps in March 1918.

By May that year, William had become unwell. He was based in Essex at this point, and was admitted to the Warley Military Hospital in Brentwood, suffering from tuberculosis. He spent six weeks in hospital, before finally being discharged from the army as he was no fit for military service.

At this point, William’s trail goes cold once more. He seems to have returned home to Bath, finally succumbing to tuberculosis on 15th September 1918. He was just 24 years of age.

William Charles Taylor was laid to rest in Bath’s Twerton Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Labour Corps, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private Thomas Parsons

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Private Thomas Parsons

Thomas Alfred Parsons was born in the summer of 1885 in Twerton, Somerset. One of six children, his parents were railway engine driver William Parsons and his wife, Mary. When Thomas finished his schooling, he found work at a labourer at a mineral water supplier, something he continued doing through to the outbreak of war.

On 27th May 1912, Thomas married Lily Howell, a labourer’s daughter, the couple tying the knot in Twerton parish church. They were living in Charlton Buildings, next to the river and now student accommodation for Bath’s universities. Lily had had a son, in November 1905: young Ronald was either Thomas’, or he was accepted as his own.

When war came to Europe, Thomas stepped up to play his part. He enlisted on 11th December 1915, although he was not formally mobilised until six months later. Private Parsons initially joined the Devonshire Regiment, but by early 1917, he became attached to the 169th Labour Corps.

Sent to France in February that year, Private Parsons only remained overseas for a matter of six months. By early September Thomas had fallen ill, contracting a combination of bronchitis and phthisis (or tuberculosis). Medically evacuated back to Britain, he was admitted to a hospital in Plymouth, Devon, but grew weaker until, on 2nd October 1917, he passed away. He was 32 years of age.

The body of Thomas Alfred Parsons was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Twerton Cemetery, not far from his widow’s home.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Lance Corporal, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Lance Corporal Reginald Dench

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Lance Corporal Reginald Dench

Reginald Percy Dench was born in the spring of 1884 in Twerton, Somerset. He was one of seven children to Henry and Jane – known as Lily – Dench. Henry was a shoe maker turned cloth dyer, but Reginald found work as a stone mason when he finished his schooling.

War came to Europe in 1914, and Reginald stepped up to play his part. His full service details are no longer available, but from what remains it is clear that he had enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry by the summer of 1916. He was attached to the 5th Battalion, which spent of the conflict in India and Egypt, but there is nothing to confirm that Private Dench served overseas.

Reginald earned a promotion during his military career, and, by the end of 1916 was a Lance Corporal. By this point, however, he had fallen ill, contracting pleurisy. He was, by this point, back in Somerset, and it is likely that he was admitted to the Bath War Hospital. The condition was to get the better of him, and he passed away on 22nd January 1917. He was 32 years of age.

Reginald Percy Dench was laid to rest in Twerton Cemetery, a short walk from the family home in Mill Lane, and close to his two brothers, Edmund and Edward, who had died some twenty years before, while still children.

Tragedy was to strike again for the Dench family when, just six weeks after Reginald’s passing, Henry also died. He was laid in the same cemetery, not far from his sons. When Lily passed away in 1924, she was also buried in Twerton Cemetery, reunited with her family once more.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Arthur Lane

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Private Arthur Lane

Arthur Henry Lane was born in the summer of 1895, the third of eight children to Henry and Ada Lane. The family were initially born and raised in Templecombe, Somerset, before moving to Bath in the early 1900s.

Henry was employed as an engine driver for Great Western Railways and, after initially finding work as a jobbing gardener, Arthur moved in with relatives in Highbridge in 1911. He found work as an engine cleaner for the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway Company, and was there for nearly three years.

When war broke out, Arthur was one of the first to enlist. He joined the 3rd Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry at the barracks in Taunton. Private Lane was then sent to Devon for further training, but he quickly fell ill.

Admitted to Devonport Hospital with appendicitis, he suffered complications following the operation, dying just five days later. He was only 19 years of age, and had been in the army for less than a month.

Arthur Henry Lane’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Bath’s Twerton Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, Training Reserve Battalion, war, Wiltshire

Private Herbert Webber

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Private Herbert Webber

Herbert Alfred Webber was born on 22nd October 1898 in Yatton, Somerset. The younger of two children, his parents were Ernest and Ada. Ernest was a platelayer for the Great Western Railway and, by the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved to Keynsham, near Bristol. With Herbert and his sister still at school, they had taken in two boarders – railway porters Walter Prince and Victor Coombs – to help bring in a little money.

When Herbert left school, he found work at a local chemist, but as soon as he turned 18, he signed up to serve his King an Country. Assigned to the 94th Training Battalion, Private Webber was sent to the Chiseldon Camp in Wiltshire to begin his career.

Tragically, Herbert’s was not to be a long service. Within a month of arriving at camp near Swindon, he fell ill, and was admitted to an Isolation Hospital in the town. While the condition he had contracted is unclear, it was one to which he would succumb. He passed away on 29th March 1917, aged just 18 years old.

Herbert Alfred Webber was brought back to Somerset for burial. With the family having moved to Bath with Ernest’s work, he was laid to rest in the city’s Twerton Cemetery.

Private Herbert Webber
(from britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Essex, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Officer's Steward, photography, Royal Navy, story, war

Officer’s Steward Sidney Gordon

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Officer’s Steward Sidney Gordon

Hidden away above the busy A371 to the north of Axbridge, Somerset is an unassuming graveyard. Overgrown and haunting, with headstones lining the boundary of the copse, this is the cemetery for the former St Michael’s Sanatorium, now the St Michael’s Cheshire Home. In the middle of the plot, next to the central memorial, is a headstone dedicated to Sidney Gordon, notably buried somewhere else in the grounds.

Sidney Vincent Gordon was born in Upton Park, Essex, on 7th May 1897. There is little information about his early life, other than his mother’s name, May.

The 1911 census recorded Sidney as being an inmate at the Scattered Home for the West Ham Union, the workhouse that covered the area. At 13 years of age, he was one of the older of the thirteen students boarding in the home, which was overseen by Emma Caroline Simpson, the House Mother.

When Sidney completed his schooling, he managed to find employment as an undertaker’s boy. But he sought out bigger things and, on 8th June 1914, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. His service records note that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.

Being under-age when he enlisted, Sidney was given the rank of Boy. He was first sent to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, for training, and remained there for a couple of months. In August 1914, Boy Gordon was moved down the coast to HMS Actaeon, a torpedo school based in Sheerness, Kent.

After five months, he moved to HMS Wildfire, another part of the Sheerness base, and it was while there he turned 18, and could formally join the Royal Navy. He was given the rank of Officer’s Steward 3rd Class and remained at Wildfire until the end of 1915. After a short stint back in Chatham, Sidney was given a new posting on board the supply ship HMS Tyne, where he remained until the following May.

Officer’s Steward Gordon returned to HMS Pembroke once more, and was assigned to his final sea-going ship, the newly launched monitor, HMS Erebus. She was to be his home until June 1917, when, having become unwell, he was posted back to HMS Pembroke.

Sidney had contracted pulmonary tuberculosis, which led to him being invalided out of the Navy on 1st August 1917. At this point his trail goes cold once more, but it is likely that, by the start of 1919, his condition had led to his admission to St Michael’s.

When he died there, on 5th March 1919, Sidney was just 21 years old. Given his background, it seems probable that his mother, if she was still alive, would not have been able to afford for his remains to be brought back to Essex. Sidney Vincent Gordon was laid to rest in the sanatorium’s cemetery, in the foothills of the Mendips, finally at peace.