Category Archives: Somerset

Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Leading Seaman, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, Somerset, story, war

Able Seaman Amos Cornish

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Able Seaman Amos Cornish

Amos William Cornish was born on 16th August 1887 in Dunster, Somerset. One of five children, his parents were George and Elizabeth Cornish. George, who was a brickmaker, died in 1893, and at this point the family relationships seemed to have broken down.

By the time of the 1901 census, Elizabeth had remarried, and was living with her new husband and Amos’ youngest sibling, sister Lily. Two of Amos’ brothers, Walter and George, were living with his maternal grandparents, while Amos himself was one of three hundred inmates at the Horton Kirby Home for Homeless Boys in the Dartford area of Kent.

Amos’ schooling would have finished by the time he was 14 years old, and he quickly sought work that allow him to support himself as a young man with no home to go to. A career in the Royal Navy seemed to provide that regular pay and, on 4th June 1902, he enlisted.

As he was under age, Amos was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and sent to the shore-based training ship HMS Impregnable in Devonport, Devon. His service records show that he stood just 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall, had brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. He was noted as having a scar in the centre of his forehead, and a tattoo of clasped hands over a heart on his right forearm.

Boy Cornish transferred to another training vessel – HMS Lion – after a month or so, and it was here, in February 1904, that he was promoted to Boy 1st Class.

Over the next eighteen months, Boy Cornish served at two more training bases – HMS Boscawen and HMS Vivid. He was given his first sea-going posting in April 1905, aboard the cruiser HMS Blake. It was on his next assignment, however, that he came into his own.

In May 1905, Amos boarded HMS Carnarvon, an armoured cruiser that had been launched a couple of years before. He was to spend the next two years as part of her crew, gaining the rank of Ordinary Seaman when he came of age in August 1905, and Able Seaman a year later.

When his time on board Carnarvon came to an end, Amos returned to shore, to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, which was to be his base on and off for the next eight years. During that time, he served on six more ships, and rose to the rank of Leading Seaman in December 1911. This new rank, however, seemed not to suit Amos, and he reverted back to his previous rank eight months later.

Able Seaman Cornish’s longest posting was on board the cruiser HMS Antrim. He joined her crew in September 1913 and, over the next three-and-a-half years he travelled far and wide. Initially patrolling the North Sea – particularly around the Scottish Isles – Amos was on board for a journey to Arkhangelsk in Russia. The ship then transferred to the Western Atlantic, patrolling around America and the West Indies.

Able Seaman Cornish returned to British shores in April 1917, to be based at HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport, for the nest nine months. During this time, he became ill and was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Truro with double pneumonia. Tragically, this was something he was not to recover from: Amos passed away on 4th February 1918, at the age of 30 years old.

While somewhat stretched, Amos’ family bond still remained. Elizabeth was living in Minehead by this point, with husband Alfred and their two children. It was to the Somerset town, therefore, that Amos William Cornish’s body was brought. He was laid to rest in the town’s sweeping cemetery.

George’s death in 1893, and Elizabeth’s remarriage a few years later split the family, and Amos’ siblings all followed separate paths.

The oldest of his siblings, Walter, also followed a military path. He joined the Royal Garrison Artillery as a Gunner and, by the time of the census, was based in Gibraltar. On completing his service, he returned to Somerset, marrying Florence Peddle in 1925. The 1939 Register found the couple living with his cousin, Amelia, while he worked as a gardener. Walter died in Weston-super-Mare in 1962, at the age of 74.

Amos’ next sibling, brother Harold, seems to have had a less fortunate time of things. Absent from the 1901 census, he appears in prison records four years later. He was incarcerated for six months’ hard labour in Brecon Prison, having been found guilty of “Gross Indecency with another male person”. Harold was 14 years and three months old at the time. A newspaper report from around this time suggests that the other party was a George Williams, but there is no further information about him. Harold seems to have come out the other side of his experience, however: the 1911 census recorded him as living and working with draper and grocer James Ridler and his family in Dunster, Somerset.

Amos’ third sibling, sister Lily, found work as a servant to bakers Joseph and Minnie Bagley in Minehead. She married painter and decorator William Whitting in 1916 and the couple went on to have a daughter, Kathleen, eight years later. The family settled in Weston-super-Mare, Lily passing away in 1968, at the age of 75.

The youngest of the Cornish siblings was George. He remained living with his maternal grandparents in Dunster, and found work as a printer. In the spring of 1921, he married Clara Govier and, by the time of the 1939 Register, they couple were living in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, where George was working as a printer and compositor. He died in 1957, at the age of 62 years old.

Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, Somerset, story, war

Ordinary Seaman Harold Cane

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Ordinary Seaman Harold Cane

Harold Cane was born in Minehead, Somerset, on 10th August 1898. One of nine children, his parents were Henry and Mary Cane. Henry was a stone mason from Minehead, but he was working in Ireland when he met his future wife. The couple married in 1891, only moving back to Somerset the mid-1890s, by which time they had two children, Harold’s oldest siblings.

The 1911 census recorded Henry and Mary living with their children at 3 Church Steps in Minehead, a short row of houses leading to St Michael’s Church. Henry was a mason and his oldest son, also called Henry, has working with him.

Harold, meanwhile, dreamed of a bigger and better life. When he finished his schooling, he joined the Royal Navy, looking for a life of adventure on the high seas. He signed up on 22nd September 1914, just a month after the declaration of war, and was sent to the shore-based training ship, HMS Impregnable, based in Devonport, Devon.

As he was just 16 years of age, Harold was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class. However, his commitment to the role was evident and led to a promotion – to Boy 1st Class – after just three months. In September 1915, Harold as assigned to the dreadnaught battleship HMS Iron Duke, where he served as an Ordinary Seaman. He spent just under a year on board, during which time the Iron Duke was caught up in the Battle of Jutland. She was involved in the sinking of the German destroyer SMS S35, after which she and the rest of the fleet moved on.

Ordinary Seaman Cane remained on board HMS Iron Duke until the summer 1916. He had fallen ill by this point, having contracted tuberculosis. The condition was enough for Harold to be invalided out of the navy, and he was stood down on 9th August 1916.

At this point, Harold’s trail goes cold. It seems that he returned home to Somerset, as this is where he passed away. He died on 14th November 1917, at the age of just 19 years old.

Harold Cane was laid to rest in the peaceful landscape of Minehead Cemetery.

Ordinary Seaman Harold Cane
(from findagrave.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Private, Sapper, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Sapper Walter Stone

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Sapper Walter Stone

Walter Stone was born at the start of 1880 in Lympsham, Somerset. The middle of three children, his parents were coal merchant George Stone and his wife, Ellen.

When he finished his schooling, Walter found work as a painter and plumber. In January 1902 he married Alice Charman. Eighteen years older than Walter, she was the widow of a milkman from Bristol, and had raised her son, Edgar, since her husband had passed away a few months before. The couple settled in the village of Brent Knoll, and went on to have three children of their own: Albert, Florence and Alice.

When war came to Europe, Walter was called upon to play his part. He enlisted after June 1916, and joined the Royal Engineers as a Sapper. He was attached to the Inland Waterways and Docks division, but, as no documentation remains to confirm his service, it is not possible to confirm whether he saw any action overseas

Sapper Stone’s time in the army was not to be a long one. The next record for him is that of his admission to a military hospital in Herne Bay, Kent. He was suffering from pneumonia, and this would take his life on 18th January 1917. He was 36 years of age.

Walter Stone’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the tranquil graveyard of St Michael’s Church in Brent Knoll.

Further tragedy was to strike Walter’s widow, Alice. Edgar, her son from her first marriage, enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry when war broke out. Attached to the 7th (Service) Battalion, he found himself on the Front Line by the end of July 1915.

Private Stone is reported to have been accidentally killed on 1st May 1917. No other detail is given, but he was just 24 years of age when he passed. He was buried at the Thiepval Memorial at the Somme.

Alice had lost her husband and her oldest child within a matter of months.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Machine Gun Corps, Monmouthshire, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war, Welch Regiment

Private Henry Yard

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Private Henry Yard

Henry George Yard was born on 25th October 1884 in the Somerset village of Burnham-on-Sea. The second of seven children, his parents were John and Elizabeth Yard. John was a railway porter, but Henry chose a different route, becoming a mason’s labourer.

Henry’s work took him to South Wales, where he took up a position as a pit mason. The 1911 census recorded him as boarding in a six-roomed house in Abertillery, Monmouthshire. From the document there can be no mistaking that this was a mining community. The head of the household for 70 New Gladstone Street was 28-year-old Albert Francis, colliery banksman. He lived there with his wife, Martha, who was fifteen years older than him, and her three children: William, Herbert and Horace.

Martha had been married previously, to coal miner Walter Mutter. Both had been born in Somerset, and had come to South Wales like so many other families, because of the work. Walter died at the beginning of 1909, leaving his widow to raise three children on her own. It seems likely that this is where Albert stepped up: it was not unknown for mine workers to support each other in times of dire need. He married his former colleague’s widow in the autumn, securing a future for her and her family.

According to the census record, the Francis family had one other boarder and all but Martha and Horace worked in the local colliery in one way or another.

There seemed to have been money in Henry’s career move, as it set him up to marry Gertrude Coombes on 6th August 1912. She was a gardener’s daughter from Berrow in Somerset, and eight years younger than her husband. The couple married at St Mary’s Church, Berrow, and appeared to settle back in South Wales. They went on to have two children: Gertrude, who was born the following year, and Daisy, who came along in 1916.

When war came to Europe, Henry was called upon to play his part. He enlisted in October 1915, and was initially assigned to the 3rd Battalion of the Welch Regiment. His service records show that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, and weighed 133lbs (60.3kg). He was noted to be of good physical development, although dental treatment was required.

Private Yard transferred to the Machine Gun Corps at some point, and by the autumn of 1916 was sent to Greece. He remained there for nearly two years, but became dogged by malaria in later months there. Initially coming down with the condition in August 1917, he spent the remainder of the war in and out of hospital as attacks of the condition came and went.

Initially returning to home soil and placed on reserve status, Henry was eventually discharged on medical grounds at the end of 1918. He returned to the family home. He was not to be there for long, however: debilitated by malaria, Henry passed away in Bedwellty on 23rd March 1919, at the age of 34 years old.

With strong family connections in Somerset, Gertrude took her husband back there to be laid to rest. Henry George Yard was buried in the tranquil graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Berrow.

Private Henry Yard
(from ancestry.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, photography, Royal Garrison Artillery, Somerset, story, war

Gunner Lot Evans

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Gunner Lot Evans

Lot Evans was born in Street, Somerset, on 30th October 1895. The second of two children, his parents were George and Elizabeth Evans. Lot’s mother had four children from a previous marriage and, by the time of the 1901 census, the family had set up home in the coastal village of Brean. George was employed as a farm labourer there, as were Lot’s older half-brothers.

When Lot completed his schooling, he also found work as a farm labourer. The next census return, in 1911, recorded the family of four still living in Brean. George had eased up on the manual work – he was 67 by this point – and was employed as a domestic gardener. Lot’s older brother Ben was a bricklayer’s labourer, so there were three wages – albeit probably meagre ones – coming in to support the household.

When war came to European shores, both Lot and Ben stepped up to play their part. Lot enlisted on 10th November 1915, but was not actually mobilised until January 1918. He joined the Royal Garrison Artillery as a Gunner, and was assigned to the 4th Siege Battery.

On 28th March 1918, Lot married his sweetheart, Hester Puddy. Theirs was to be a brief honeymoon, as he was sent to France just three days later.

Gunner Evans remained overseas until the end of the year, returning home on 5th February 1919 in advance of being demobbed.

He was very ill with influenza. He went to bed and we had the Doctor. It developed into pneumonia and he died last night [13th February 1919].

Letter from Private Ben Evans to the Royal Garrison Artillery

Gunner Evans was just 23 years old when he died. The letter sent by his brother – who was also at home and waiting to be demobbed from the Wiltshire Regiment – explained that Hester was living with their family and his question to the regiment concerned how to claim his brother’s pension.

Lot Evans was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Bridget’s Church in Brean. Now surrounded by caravan parks and holidaymakers, at the time, this would have been a place of sanctuary bordering the Somerset coastline.

Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private Victor Sperring

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Private Victor Sperring

Victor William Sperring was born in the spring of 1897, in Lympsham, Somerset. One of nine children, his parents were James and Catherine Sperring. James was a farmer, 22 years older than his wife and, when he died in 1904, she was left to bring up the family alone. She remarried, to dairy farmer Frederick Butler, continuing the farming life.

Frederick died in 1914, and with her older children now in their 20s, Catherine’s sons took up the reins to keep the farm going. War was on the horizon now, and tragedy was never going to be far from the Sperring household.

Of the five brothers, at least two – Victor and his older brother, Hubert – stepped up to serve their King and Country. Hubert joined the Gloucestershire Regiment, rising to the rank of Lance Corporal in the 1st/6th Battalion. He was caught up at the Battle of the Somme, and was recorded as missing, presumed killed, on 21st July 1916. He was just 23 years of age, and is one of the tens of thousands of names commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in Northern France.

Victor also joined the Gloucestershire Regiment, but his story is less clear. Certainly by 1918 he was attached to one of the regiment’s depots, possibly on home soil. He was admitted to the 2nd Southern General Hospital in the autumn of 1918, and this is where he passed away on 16th November. He was just 21 years of age.

Victor William Sperring was brought back to Lympsham for burial. He was laid to rest in the family plot in St Christopher’s Churchyard.

It seems likely that illness is what took Victor’s life. Just a month later, his sister, Annie, also passed away: she was interred next to her brother.

Catherine’s grief must have been indescribable, having lost a husband and three children in a matter of years. She continued on, however, and, by the time of the 1939 England and Wales Register, she was living with her son Roland, supporting him with his farm. She died in October 1941, at the age of 77: she was buried with her family in St Christopher’s.

accident, Berkshire, Cadet, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, photography, Royal Military College Sandhurst, Somerset, story, war

Cadet Richard Whitting

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Cadet Richard Whitting

Richard Harcourt Whitting was born on 21st March 1900 in the Somerset village of Uphill. The younger of two children, his parents were local landowner and Justice of the Peace Charles Whitting and his second wife, Jessie. The 1911 census records father, mother and two children residing at Uphill Grange, where they were supported by six live-in staff: a cook, parlour maid, two house maids, a kitchen maid and a nurse.

As the son of a gentleman, education was an expected prospect for young Richard. Indeed, after finishing his schooling locally, he was sent to the Royal Military College in Sandhurst.

He entered the school in 1913 and left in April 1918. He was then Head of the Modern Side, and also a good runner who achieved a fine record when he won the Junior Athletic Cup and, still more, as mentioned in a notice of him in the Meteor of October 16th, 1918… “he had very delightful manners, and a sympathetic appreciation of the difficulties of other people, which is less rare in women than in men. These qualities, combined with a great fund of common sense, made him a particularly helpful and agreeable companion in all kinds of occupations, from spraying a potato field to managing a House.

He was intended for the University and the Bar, but the War caused him to leave School early and to go to the [Royal Military College], Sandhurst. There he showed himself a most promising Cadet, and continued his athletic successes by winning the Mile and being in the winning team in the Relay Race.

Memorials of the Rugbeans Who Fell in The Great War, Volume VIII

It was while he was at the college, that Richard met his untimely end.

On Saturday [21st September 1918] a cadet of the Royal Military College, named Richard H Whitting, was killed while cycling along the Bagshot main road near St Alban’s Church. Deceased, who was accompanied by two other cadets’ names respectively Money and Shute, was holding on to the rear of a motor vehicle, when his bike swerved, and he was thrown on his head. At the inquest a verdict of “Accidental death” was returned.

Reading Mercury: Saturday 28th September 1918

Cadet Whitting was just 18 years of age when he died. His body was brought back to Somerset for burial: he was laid to rest in the family plot at St Nicholas’ Church in Uphill.

Cadet Richard Whitting
(from fold3.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Somerset, story, Surrey, war

Ordinary Seaman Walter Nipper

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Ordinary Seaman Walter Nipper

Walter Henry Nipper was born on 21st September 1900 in Bleadon, Somerset. The oldest of four children, his parents were Gilfred and Rose Nipper. Gilfred was an agricultural labourer turned butcher and poultry dealer, and, by the time of the 1911 census, he had set up a retail business in the middle of the village.

Walter turned to farm work when he finished his schooling, but with war raging across Europe, he seems to have been one of the young men desperate not to miss out on the action. On 16th September 1918, just five days before he turned 18, Walter enlisted in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. His service records confirm that he stood just 5ft 1.5ins (1.56m) tall, had black hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion. The document also noted that he had a scar on the back of his right hand.

Ordinary Seaman Nipper was sent to HMS Victory VI, the shore-based training vessel in Crystal Palace, Surrey, for his induction. It is likely that, when he left Somerset for the capital, that was the last time his parents saw him. Billeted in cramp barracks, with young men from across the country, Walter fell ill: he passed away on 10th October, just 24 days after joining up. He was barely 18 years of age.

Walter Henry Nipper’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the tranquil graveyard of St Peter and St Paul’s Church in his home village.

Bedfordshire Regiment, Commonwealth War Graves, Essex, Great War, history, illness, India, Labour Corps, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Jeremiah West

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Private Jeremiah West

Jeremiah West was born in the spring of 1892, the oldest of eight children to John and Laura West. John was an agricultural labourer from Somerset, and it was in the village of Bleadon that the family were born and raised.

When he finished his schooling, Jeremiah followed in his father’s footsteps. By the time of the 1911 census, he was working as a servant on the nearby Shiplette Farm, where he was employed by Kate Poole.

War came to Europe in 1914, and Jeremiah stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry in 1915, and was assigned to the 4th Battalion. Private West set sail for India that August, and seems to have remained overseas for some time.

Records are not clear, but it would appear that Jeremiah returned to Britain at some point, and became attached to the 3rd Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment. This was a garrison troop, based in Harwich, Essex, and Jeremiah found himself part of the battalion’s Labour Corps.

Private West survived the war, but came down with pneumonia in the autumn of 1919. He passed away on 24th November 1919: he was 27 years of age.

Jeremiah West was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Peter and St Paul’s Church in his home village of Bleadon.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Norfolk, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private William Griffin

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Private William Griffin

William Richard Griffin was born in the summer of 1899, the fourth of six children to James and Joice Griffin. James was from Somerset and worked as a superintendent for a life assurance company. He met his wife while working in Wales, and this is where their oldest three children had been born. By the time of William’s birth, however, James had moved the family back to Somerset, setting up home in the Weston area of Bath.

There is little information about William’s life. When war was declared, he joined the Devonshire Regiment, and was assigned to the 51st (Graduated) Battalion. His troop remained on home soil – remaining in Norfolk for the duration – so it is unlikely that Private Griffin saw any active service overseas.

William survived the conflict and returned home. He passed away, possibly due to an infection, based on what little is documented, on 22nd July 1920. He had not long turned 21 years of age.

William Richard Griffin was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Martin’s Church in Worle, near Weston-super-Mare.