Category Archives: Wiltshire

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Lanarkshire, photography, Private, Royal Scots Fusiliers, Scotland, Somerset, story, unknown, war, Wiltshire

Private Robert Templeton

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Private Robert Templeton

Robert Muckart Templeton was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1894. He was the fourth of five children to shipyard labourer William Templeton and his wife, Agnes.

There is little information on Robert’s early life: the family’s 1911 census records are lost, so it is not possible to identify what work he took on when he left school. It is, however, reasonable to assume that he joined his father in the shipyards.

When war broke out, Robert was one of the first to enlist. He joined the Royal Scots Fusiliers, and, as a Private, was assigned to the 8th (Service) Battalion. His troop was sent to Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, for training, and he was camped at Codford St Mary.

Towards the end of October, the 8th Battalion was moving to Bristol, and it was at this point that the fates intervened for Private Templeton. Suffering from an acute bout of appendicitis, he was admitted to the Abbas and Templecombe hospital. The condition was to prove his undoing and, on 1st November 1914, he passed away. He was just 20 years of age.

A shipyard labourer’s wages were not going to be enough to transport a body halfway across the country, so the Templetons were left with little choice but to have their son buried close to where he died. Robert Muckart Templeton was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St Mary’s Church, in Templecombe, Somerset.

Editor’s note: My gratitude goes to Christine Scott, who was able to furnish me with details of Robert’s death.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Dorset, Great War, history, photography, Private, Royal Defence Corps, Somerset, story, unknown, war, Wiltshire

Private John Sherrin

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Private John Sherrin

John Sherrin was born in Langport, Somerset, in the summer of 1874. The youngest of three children, his parents were Arthur and Elizabeth Sherrin. Arthur was a cowman and farmer, and John was to follow him into agricultural labouring when he left school.

Arthur took the family where the work was: by the time of the 1891 census, they were living in Broadchalke, a village to the west of Salisbury, Wiltshire. Ten years later, the census notes Arthur and Elizabeth living in Dorset, while John was in Swindon, Wiltshire, working on a farm as a butter churner.

John’s father died in 1906, and Elizabeth went to live with her daughter’s family in Devon. The same year, John returned to Somerset, where he married Bessie Kingsbury. She was a labourer’s daughter from Henstridge, who was working as a domestic servant. The couple went on to have four children – Marleen, Arthur, Albert and Grace.

John’s dairy work kept the family moving, and, according to the 1911 census, the Sherrins were living in a five-room cottage in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset.

When war came to Europe, John had turned 39 years old. He did not initially enlist – presumably because of his farm work – and it seems that he was only conscripted in the closing months of the conflict. He was called up to the Royal Defence Corps during the summer of 1918, and was assigned to 254 Company.

Private Sherrin was sent to an army camp in Tidworth, Wiltshire, and it was here that he served through the Armistice. He was waiting to be demobbed in December 1918, when he was admitted to the camp’s hospital. Details of his condition are unclear, but it was in the hospital that he passed away on 17th December 1918. He was 44 years of age.

While her late husband was serving, Bessie had returned to her family in Henstridge, and it was there that John’s body was brought. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Nicholas’ Church in the village.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Dorset, Dorset Yeomanry, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Garrison Artillery, Shoeing Smith, Somerset, story, war, West Midlands, Wiltshire

Gunner William Merritt

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Gunner William Merritt

William Merritt was born in the summer of 1895 in Chippenham, Wiltshire. He was the youngest of three children to John and Elizabeth Merritt. John was a blacksmith, and he moved the family to Milborne Port, Somerset, when William was just a boy.

William found work as a shoesmith when he left school, but was one of the first to enlist when war broke out in 1914. He had his medical examination on 17th November, which confirmed that he was 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall, had good vision and was of good physical development.

Initially assigned to the Dorset Yeomanry, Private Merritt’s trade soon found him taking on the role of Shoeing Smith for the battalion. He was obviously good at what he did, because by May 1915, he had been promoted to the rank of Corporal Shoeing Smith.

William had not enlisted in the army to make and mend shoes, however, and, in March 1916, he transferred to the Royal Garrison Artillery, back with the rank of Gunner. Rather than being sent to the Western Front, however, he found himself billeted at a camp in the West Midlands.

Little further information about Gunner Merritt’s service is available for the next couple of years. The next record for him comes on 5th November 1918, confirming his admission to the Birmingham War Hospital, as he was suffering from influenza and pneumonia. Sadly, his admittance to hospital was to prove too late: he passed away from heart failure the following day. Gunner Merritt was just 23 years of age.

William Merritt’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the cemetery of the town in which he had plied his trade before the war, Milborne Port.

William’s sparse personal effects were also returned to his parents. The records note that these included: “pair [of] boots, 6 postcards, razor, comb, toothbrush, shaving soap and brush, letter, pair of socks, bell.”

Another bureaucratic error is highlighted in a letter sent from the hospital in which William passed to his regiment’s records office notes that “I have to inform you that the body was forwarded to his Wife for burial…” William was unmarried, and his body was actually returned to his mother, Elizabeth.

Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, London, photography, Second Lieutenant, story, Surrey, war, Wiltshire

Second Lieutenant Charles Hales

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Second Lieutenant Charles Hales

Charles Edward Hoare Hales was born in Bournemouth, Dorset, in the summer of 1886. The fourth of five children, his parents were Arthur Hales – a Major General in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers – and his wife, Maria.

Arthur’s career stood the family in good stead: the 1891 census records the Hales living in a house in Crystal Palace Park, South London, with five servants supporting their – and their two visitors’ – every need. Arthur also believed in education for this two sons: Charles was dispatched to Hartwood House School in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire.

Arthur died in 1904 and at this point the Hales family disappears – there is no record for Maria or her five children in any of the 1911 census returns.

When war came to Europe, Charles and his older brother Arthur, stepped up to play their part. Both joined the Wiltshire Regiment, both being attached to the 1st Battalion. Sadly, neither of the brothers’ service records remain, so it is difficult to piece together their military careers.

Arthur achieved the rank of Captain, gained a Military Cross for his dedication and service. He was caught up in the Battle of Albert – one of the phases of the fighting at The Somme – in 1916. He was initially reported killed in action, then, to the elation of Maria, this was changed to missing. Tragically, he was subsequently confirmed as dead, having passed away on 6th July 1916, aged 34 years of age. He is commemorated on the Thiepval memorial in Northern France.

A further tragedy was to strike the Hales family the following year, when Charles, who had risen to the rank of Second Lieutenant, also passed away.

The internment took place in Bathwick Cemetery on Monday, of Mr Chas. Edward Hoare Hales, 2nd-Lieutenant Wiltshire Regiment, who died on Thursday, after a long illness contracted on active service. He was the last surviving son of the late Major-General A Hales, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, Commandant of the Straits Settlements, and of Mrs Hales… The young officer, whose body was brought from Buxton, was buried in the same grave where rest the remains of his father, who died in April 1904.

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 1st December 1917

Details of Charles’ illness, from which he passed on 22nd November 1917, are unclear. He was 31 years old when he died. He left his estate – which amounted to £6524 18s 1d (the equivalent of £579,000 in today’s money) to his youngest sister, Sophia.

Maria Hales passed away in 1924, at the age of 74. She was buried in the family ploy, reunited with husband and younger son once more.

Second Lieutenant Charles Hales
(from findagrave.com)
Captain Arthur Hales
(from findagrave.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Second Lieutenant, Somerset, story, Wiltshire, Worcestershire Regiment

Second Lieutenant Eric Guillebaud

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Second Lieutenant Eric Guillebaud

The death occurred on Thursday of Mr Eric Cyril Guillebaud. Deceased was the youngest son of the late Rev. ED Guillebaud, Rector of Yatesbury, near Calne. On the outbreak of war he joined the Army, and was given a commission in the 11th (Service) Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment. His physical strength not being equal to his patriotic zeal, he broke down under the strain of military duty. He came to rest at Combe Royal, Bathwick Hill, where his brother, Mr H Guillebaud, resides, but on medical advice entered a nursing home. Mr Guillebaud was 22 years of age. He was officially invalided from the Army six weeks ago. Deceased was a nephew of the late Mr Charles Marshall, of The Sycamores, Bathford, and the interment will take place in the churchyard there on Tuesday next.

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 5th June 1915

Little further information is available on the life of Eric Guillebaud. The 1901 census confirms that he was living at The Rectory in Yatesbury, with an extended family: his parents, Reverend Erneste and Mabel Guillebaud; his maternal grandfather, William Marshall; his maternal uncle, Charles; and his cousin, William. The family also employed four servants: a nurse, cook and two housemaids.

There is no information relating to Eric’s military service, although it is clear from his headstone that he reached the rank of Second Lieutenant. His troop – the 11th Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment – was based on Salisbury Plain and, from subsequent reports, uniforms and equipment were not provided until the spring of 1915: everything up to then was improvised.

The 11th Battalion did not leave for France until September 1915, three months after Eric’s passing: he would not, therefore, have seen any action overseas.

The only other document relating to Second Lieutenant Guillebaud is his probate record. This confirms that he died on 3rd June 1915 at 15 Somerset Place, Bath. His effects – totalling £5041 18s 10d – were left to his brother, Harold, who was listed as a gentleman.

Eric Cyril Guillebaud was 32 years old when he died. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Swithun’s Church, Bathford.

Buckinghamshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Percy Gerrish

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Private Percy Gerrish

Percy Gerrish was born on 22nd August 1890 in Bath, Somerset. The youngest of three children – all boys – his parents were Alfred and Charlotte Gerrish. Alfred was painter and decorator by trade but, by the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved to Batheaston, and he was employed as a school attendance officer.

Alfred and Charlotte had raised their children well: the same census recorded their oldest son, also called Alfred, was employed as a clerk; their middle son, Reginald, was a printer; Percy, then 20 years old, was working as a draughtsman for an engineering company,

War came to Britain’s shores in 1914, and while he did not join up at once, when the Military Service Act of 1916 came in, Percy found himself conscripted. He enlisted on 24th November 1916 and, while he noted a preference for the Royal Field Artillery or Royal Garrison Artillery, his previous employment made him ideal for work as a clerk in the Army Service Corps.

Private Gerrish’s time in the army was spent on home soil. Full details are not available, but he certainly served in camps around Codford, Wiltshire. This may have been how he met a young woman called Ada Cox, who lived in Bemerton, on the outskirts of Salisbury. On 21st July 1917, the couple married in the new Mrs Gerrish’s local church.

Percy’s army career went well, although during 1918 illness was to dog him. He spent a week in a hospital in Fovant, near Salisbury in June, suffering from influenza, before being readmitted for a month just a week later, having contracted pharyngitis – an inflammation of the pharynx.

By the late summer of 1918, Private Gerrish had been moved to Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire. His ongoing health conditions were still an issue, however, and on 23rd October he was admitted to the Tickford Abbey Auxiliary Hospital. He had contracted laryngitis by this point, but, as the weeks in hospital progressed, he was soon also bogged down by tuberculosis.

Sadly, this was to prove Percy’s undoing. He passed away on 27th December 1918, aged just 28 years old.

Percy Gerrish’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St John the Baptist Church, in a plot next to his father, Alfred, who had died seven months before.

Commonwealth War Graves, Cornwall, Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry, Great War, history, injury, Major, photography, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire

Major Francis Dickinson

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Major Francis Dickinson

Francis Arthur Dickinson was born on 5th February 1874 in Lufton, near Yeovil, Somerset. The elder of two children, his parents were banker Arthur Dickinson, and his wife, Alice.

Francis was drawn to a military life. The 1891 census lists him as an army student at a boarding school in Cornwall, and by the end of the decade, he had enlisted in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry.

Over the next fifteen years, Francis served around the world, fighting in India, South and East Africa and in the Middle East. By the end of his term of service, he had risen to the rank of Major. During this time, he had been awarded a number of decorations, and had been mentioned in dispatches twice for his gallantry.

On 23rd July 1914, Francis married Clare Phipps, the daughter of a man of private means from Dilton Marsh, near Westbury, Wiltshire. The couple married in Clare’s home village, but set up residence in the Dickinson family home in Kingweston, Somerset.

When war was declared in 1914, the newlyweds were on their honeymoon. Francis returned to the army and was offered the rank of Colonel, but turned it down, in order to return to the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry. He soon found himself in the thick of things again, and was caught up in the fighting at Mons, Marne, Aisne and Messines.

In April the following year, Major Dickinson was wounded. Evacuated to a camp hospital in Boulogne, he was not to survive his injuries this time round. He passed away at the hospital on 11th April 1915, at the age of 41 years old.

Due to the masses of servicemen being killed, a decision had been taken by the government of the time to not repatriate the dead to Britain, but to bury them in cemeteries close to where they fell. However, whether because of his family’s connections, or because he passed on the Channel coast, Major Dickinson’s body was, in fact, brought back to Somerset.

Francis Arthur Dickinson was laid to rest with full military honours in the graveyard of All Saints’ Church. He was buried alongside other family members, and in the shadow of the family manor.

Major Francis Dickinson
(from findagrave.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Ernest Bailey

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Private Ernest Bailey

Ernest Stanley Bailey was born in the autumn of 1900 in the quiet Somerset village of Barton St David. The oldest of three children, his parents were stonemason William Bailey and his wife, Fanny.

Ernest was only 14 years old when war broke out, but his time to serve his King and Country came in the summer of 1918. He enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment and was assigned to the 53rd (Young Soldier) Battalion.

Private Bailey was sent to the Rollestone Camp, near Shrewton in Wiltshire for training. With the war in its closing months, army barracks were still places rife with disease, and Ernest was not to be immune from this. He contracted influenza, which then became pneumonia, and was admitted to the camp hospital. Sadly, the conditions were to prove too much for his young body to bear, and he passed away on 6th November 1918. He was just 18 years of age.

Ernest Stanley Bailey was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St David’s Church in his home village, Barton St David.

Commonwealth War Graves, Denbighshire, Great War, history, photography, Private, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, story, unknown, Wales, war, Wiltshire

Private George Williams

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Private George Williams

George Williams was born in 1887 in Ruthin, Denbighshire. One of thirteen children – of whom sadly only seven survived – his parents were John and Martha Williams. John was a carpenter and joiner and, when the children had grown a little, he and Martha took on the Registered Tramp Lodging House in Church Street, Llangollen.

The 1911 census recorded George living with his parents and working as a carter. His younger brother John was employed as a labourer, while the rest of his siblings were at school. The boarding house was full as Martha’s brother was staying there, along with four lodgers.

George married Catherine Edwards on 27th May 1911. She was an engineer’s daughter, also from Llangollen, and the couple tied the knot in St Collen’s Church, which was on the same street as the Williams’ boarding house. The newlyweds moved to Ruabon, six miles (10km) to the east of Llangollen, and had a daughter, Martha, who was born in 1912.

When war was declared, George was quick to enlist. He joined the 8th (Service) Battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and was sent to Salisbury Plain for his training. While here, however, Private Williams passed away. The cause of his passing is not readily available, but it seems likely that he succumbed to illness, possibly brought on by the sudden influx of men from across the country suddenly billeted together in the confines of an army camp. He died on 7th December 1914, aged just 27 years of age.

George Williams’ body was brought back to Wales for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St John’s Church in Llangollen.

Tragically, just six days after George’s death, Catherine gave birth to their second child. George Jr would never know his father.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, illness, Kent, North Somerset Yeomanry, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire

Corporal de Courcy Raymond

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Corporal de Courcy Raymond

de Courcy William Raymond was born in the summer of 1883 in the Somerset village of West Camel. He was one of six children to carpenter George Raymond and his wife, Anne. de Courcy – whose name may have had family connections – followed his father into carpentry and, by the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved to nearby South Barrow, where George had been born.

When war came to Europe, de Courcy was keen to play his part. Sadly, full details of his military service no longer survive, but what can be determined is that he had enlisted by March 1915, joining the North Somerset Yeomanry.

Private Raymond was assigned to the 2nd/1st Battalion, which was a second-line troop, and remained on home soil, moving from Somerset to Wiltshire to Kent by the autumn of 1915. He was evidently good at his job as he was soon promoted to the rank of Corporal for his efforts.

It was while he was based in Kent that de Courcy fell ill. He contracted pneumonia, and was admitted to a military hospital in Canterbury. Sadly, the condition was to prove too much, and he passed away from the condition on 9th October 1915. He was 32 years of age.

The body of de Courcy William Raymond was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the family plot in the graveyard of St Peter’s Church in South Barrow.