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.
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.
Albert Lowman was born in Crewkerne, Somerset, in the autumn of 1876. He was the younger of two children to Charles and Sarah Lowman. The 1881 census recorded the family – Charles, Sarah and their boys Charles Jr and Albert – living in Back Lane. Charles Sr was noted as being a labourer, although in the column highlighting any medical conditions (‘deaf-and-dumb’, ‘blind’, ‘imbecile or idiot’, ‘lunatic’), is one word: “afflicted”.
Charles Sr passed away in 1886, when Albert was just 9 years old. The next census, in 1891, found Sarah working as a charwoman, while her youngest, who had left school by this point, was employed as a labourer. Mother and son also had a lodger, Alice, who was a dressmaker. Charles Jr, by this point, had left home, and was living in Penarth, Glamorganshire, where he was apprenticed to his paternal uncle, who was a tailor.
On 28th November 1896, Albert married Sarah Ann Dodge, a weaver’s daughter who was also from Crewkerne. Albert recorded his job as a drayman, although this seems to have been piecemeal employment.
The next census found more permanent work, as he was cited as being a shirt factory packer, while Sarah was employed by the factory as a machinist. Making up the household was young Charles Lowman, the couple’s first son, who was just a month old although sadly, he survived only a couple of months more before dying.
Further tragedy is highlighted by the 1911 census, as it highlights that the couple had had a further child, who had also died when just a babe-in-arms. The Lowmans were now living on Hermitage Street near the centre of the town. Albert was still a shirt packer, and, even though their cottage was small, they had two boarders and a visitor staying. The lodgers brought the couple a little rent, which meant that Sarah no longer had to work.
War was closing in on Europe and, while his full military records are lost to time, it is clear that Albert had stepped up to play his part. He had enlisted by January 1918, and was attached to the Devonshire Regiment, through which he served with the 380 Company of the Labour Corps.
Private Lowman was barracked on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, and in July he was admitted to the military hospital in Salisbury itself, suffering from appendicitis. He was operated on, but died following complications. He passed away on 10th July 1918, at the age of 41 years old.
Albert Lowman was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the cemetery of his home town, Crewkerne.
Private Lowman’s pension ledger record shows the beneficiaries of his army service. The document identified Sarah as his widow, but also Phillis Annie Matilda Denning, the couple’s adopted daughter, who had been born in August 1904.
Sarah was not to outlive her late husband for long, however.
The death occurred with tragic suddenness on Sunday afternoon, January 7th, at her residence in Hermitage-street, of Mrs Sarah Ann Lowman… The deceased, who was of middle age, was about as usual attending to her ordinary household duties in the morning. Just before dinner hour, however, she complained of not feeling well and went upstairs to lie down. Her niece took her up a cup of how water, and she then apparently went to sleep. She awoke about 3:40pm, and then had to get out of bed owing to sickness. Upon going back into bed again she expired almost immediately. Dr Wolfenstein was called, but he could only pronounce life extinct.
Langport & Somerton Herald: Saturday 20th January 1923
Sarah was 47 years of age when she passed away. It is likely that she was laid to rest near her husband, although records to confirm this have been lost.
Albert’s brother, Charles, survived his sibling by less than six months. He had left tailoring behind him in South Wales, and instead embarked on a military career. He joined the Royal Field Artillery in 1895 and, over the course of his twelve years’ service, served in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.
Charles married Florence Dodge in 1908, and the couple went on to have two children – Cecil and Freda. When war broke out in 1914, he stepped up once more. Having already risen through the ranks from Gunner to Bombardier and Corporal, he re-entered service as a Sergeant in the Royal Garrison Artillery.
Based in Le Harve, Northern France, Sergeant Lowman was admitted to a hospital in Harfleur, having contracted bronchial pneumonia. Sadly, he passed away while admitted, on 8th November 1918, just three days before the end of the conflict. He was 43 years of age.
Charles Lowman was laid to rest in the Sainte Marie Cemetery, near the centre of Le Harve.
William Stringer was born in Warlingham, Surrey, on 4th December 1885, and was one of nine children to Stephen and Jane Stringer. Stephen was a carter, but is seems that William wanted an escape.
On 18th April 1901, he enlisted in the Royal Navy and, because of his age, he was granted the rank of Boy 2nd Class. He was initially sent to HMS Impregnable, the school ship, and remained there for just over a year, during which his hard work paid off and he was promoted to Boy 1st Class.
His basic training complete, and after a short stint at HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard at Devonport, he was assigned to HMS Collingwood. Over the next couple of years, William served on a couple more vessels and, in 1903, when he came of age, he was formally inducted into the navy, and given the rank of Ordinary Seaman.
William’s service records show that he was 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall, had auburn hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. For distinguishing marks, he was noted as having two dots on his left forearm and scars on his legs.
Now that he was tied to a twelve year contract, Ordinary Seaman Stringer’s seems to have viewed his life in a different light. His ‘very good’ conduct quickly changed to ‘fair’ and, at the end of 1904, he spent two separate stints in the cells, presumably because of his attitude or behaviour.
This shock to the system seems to have been what William needed, however, as in 1905, he took to the new role, and his ratings improved once more. Over the next couple of years, he served on HMS Montagu and HMS Diamond, returning to Devonport in between voyages. In January 1907 he was promoted again, this time to Able Seaman, but, as with the previous promotion, things began to go downhill again.
In March, he spent two weeks in Diamond’s brig, a punishment that was repeated in September. The following month Able Seaman Stringer’s service records not his character as ‘indifferent’ and, the following month he was discharged from the Royal Navy, having refused to work for 42 days.
It was while he was serving on board HMS Diamond that William met Lena Cropp, who was presumably working in one of the ports on the South Coast. She was the daughter of labourer Jesse Cropp and his wife, Philadelphia. When Jesse died in 1897, Philadelphia married bricklayer James Smith, who had boarded with the family for a number of years.
William and Lena had a son, Joseph, on Christmas Day 1907. Now removed from the Navy, William moved his young family back to Surrey, where he found work as a cowman, and Lena took in laundry to bring in an extra income. The couple went on to marry in 1911, and went on to have two further children – Elsie, who was born in 1912, but who died when just a toddler; and Gladys, who was born in the summer of 1918.
When war closed in on Europe, something of a sense of duty must have pulled on William. He enlisted in the summer of 1915, joining the East Surrey Regiment. He seems to have quickly transferred across to the Labour Corps, and arrived in France on 15th July.
It is unclear for how long Private Stringer served in France, but at some point he returned to Britain. In October 1918, he was admitted to the War Hospital in Bath, suffering from stomach problems. His health was to prove his undoing, and he passed away from a biliary calculi peritonitis on 8th October 1918, at the age of 34 years of age.
Finances may have been tight for Lena, as William was buried in the city where he died, rather than being brought back to Surrey, where she was living. Because of this, it is unlikely that he ever met his daughter, who had been born just two months before.
William Stringer was laid to rest in the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Bath.
William’s Pension Ledger notes Lena as his widow, but only mentions one child – Joseph – as a dependent. The document also records him as an illegitimate stepchild, as he had been born a couple of years before the couple married.
The record notes that it, while Joseph’s legitimacy meant he was not eligible for a share of his William’s pension, it had been decided that the basic rate should be provided while he remained in Lena’s care.
Arthur Cock was born in around 1885 in Wadebridge, Cornwall. One of eleven children, he was the son of mortar mason William Cock, and his wife, Louisa.
When he left school Arthur helper his father out in the business, but when war came to Europe’s shores, he stepped up to play his part. Sadly, his service records are lost to time, and it is a challenge to piece together his time during the conflict from a confusion of other documents.
It is clear that Arthur enlisted in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, as this is what is engraved on his headstone. However, his Medal Roll suggests that he also served in the Gloucestershire Regiment and the Labour Corps. He seems not to have fought overseas, and was awarded the Victory and British Medals for doing his duty.
Private Cock’s entry in the Army Register of Soldier’s Effects confirms that he must have enlisted before February 1919, and that he passed away at Whitchurch Hospital.
An entry in the local newspaper, reporting on his death, reads as follows:
In loving memory of Pte. Arthur Cock, son of William, and the late Louisa Cock, of Wadebridge, who died August 5th, at Whitchurch War Hospital, Cardiff.
Cornish Guardian: Friday 8th August 1919
Interestingly, the facility Arthur had been admitted to was a psychiatric hospital, but with no other confirmation as to his passing, it is only possible to assume the cause of his death. He was 34 years old when he passed away.
Arthur Cock’s body was brought back to Cornwall for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful, wooded graveyard of St Breoke’s Church, next to the family grave in which Louisa had been buried three years previously.
The family grave, by this time, was tragically quite full. William was able to mourn his son, wife and six of Arthur’s siblings – Mary, William, John, Fred, Charles and Ernest – who had all passed in childhood and were laid to rest there.
Arthur’s younger brother – another William – also fought in the First World War. His service records reveal a lot about his life.
Private Cock enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 7th September 1914. At the time he was working as a railway porter in Morphettville, now a suburb of Adelaide, Australia. His records confirm that he was 5ft 8.5ins (1.74m) tall, and weighed 158lbs (72kg). He had brown hair, brown eyes an a fresh complexion.
William left Australia for the battlefield on 20th October 1914, and soon found himself in the Eastern Mediterranean. Sadly, this was to be the end of the line for him: he was killed on the battlefields of Gallipoli on 23rd March 1915, aged just 28 year of age.
William Cock was laid to rest in the Shrapnel Valley Cemetery in Gallipoli. He is commemorated on the headstone of the family grave back in St Breock.
William Julian was born in the spring of 1879, in the Cornish village of St Breock. He was one of five children to agricultural labourer John Julian and his wife Mary. Mary appears to have died when William was young as, by the time of the 1891 census, John was married to an Emily Julian, whose 10-year-old daughter, Fanny Jane Pinch, was also living in the family home.
At this point, it becomes difficult to accurately track young William’s life. The surname Julian is not uncommon in Cornwall at this point, and, while the 1901 census confirms he had moved out of the family home, gives a couple of potential alternatives. The most likely is a William Julian, boarding in St Germans, Cornwall, who working as a waggoner, although it is impossible to categorically connect the census return to this William Julian.
The next census, however, gives more confirmation of William’s location. He was working as a tin miner, and lodging with Richard and Jane Sweet in Withiel, Cornwall.
It is not long after this that he married Maud Brenton. The couple set up home in the hamlet of Burlawn, to the south of Wadebridge, and went on to have four children: William, born in 1912, John, born in 1914, and twins Jeremiah and Samuel, who were born in 1915.
By this point war was raging across Europe, and, while, as a miner William would have been in a protected profession, his time came to step up and serve King and Country. In the spring of 1917, he did just that, joining the Labour Corps as a Private. Little detail of his military service survives, but is is likely that he did his duty on home soil.
Private Julian’s time in the army was not to be a long one, however, and he developed haemoptysis, possibly as a result of a lung condition. This was to lead to his passing; he died on 29th August 1917, at the age of 38 years old.
William Julian was brought back to Cornwall for burial. He was laid to rest in the tranquil graveyard of St Breoke’s Church, the parish in which he was born and lived
Ernest Green was born on 31st March 1881 – four days before that year’s census – in the Kent village of Aylesford. The middle of eleven children, his parent were William and Sarah Green. William was a labourer in the local clay works, and this is employment that Ernest and his brothers also entered into.
On 10th December 1904, Ernest married Emily Chapman. She was the daughter of another labourer, and the couple went on to have seven children, the oldest of whom was born in May 1905.
The family set up home in Aylesford, not far from Ernest’s parents, and life would have been set, had it not been for the intervention of the First World War.
Ernest enlisted early on, joining The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) in December 1914. His service records confirm that he was 33 years old when he enlisted, and stood 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall. Sadly, Private Green’s service records are a little sketchy, and it is unclear whether he ever saw action overseas, although it is likely that he did at some point.
Private Green transferred to the Machine Gun Corps in February 1916, and then moved again – to the Labour Corps – in the summer of 1918. He joined the 426th Agricultural Coy, and was based in Canterbury.
Working outside through the summer and autumn, it seems that Ernest’s health may have begun to suffer and he was admitted to the Canterbury Military Hospital in December 1918, having contracted influenza. Sadly, the lung condition was to prove his undoing: Private Green passed away at the facility on 20th December 1918. He was 37 years of age.
Ernest Green was brought back to Aylesford for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter & St Paul’s Church, although the exact location of his grave is not longer known. Instead, he is commemorated on a joint headstone in the First World War section of the graveyard.
Michael Barton was born in the spring of 1863 in the Kent village of Hadlow. The youngest of three children, his parents were farm labourer William Barton and his wife Annie. Michael became a farm labourer when he left school and, when William died in 1890, he remained at home to support his mother.
Annie passed away in 1905, and this proved a turning point for Michael. By the time of the next census in 1911, he was recorded in the Tonbridge Union Workhouse, one of its 600 inmates.
Michael’s trail is harder to pick up at this point. Despite his age, it seems that he sought a way out of his situation when war broke out and had certainly enlisted in the army by the last year of the conflict. Initially joining the Royal Defence Corps, Private Barton was soon transferred to the Labour Corps, and was assigned to 572nd Agricultural Coy.
The next document relating to Michael is that of his passing. He died on 17th December 1918 at the Preston Hall Military Hospital in Aylesford, Kent, although the cause of his death is not readily available. He was 55 years of age.
Michael Barton was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter & St Paul’s Church in Aylesford, not far from the hospital in which he had passed.
The Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects records that Michael’s belongings passed to a Miss Kate Burley when he died. Not one of his immediate relatives, it is likely that she was a friend or other relation.
The life of Arthur May is a difficult one to uncover. Born in Aylesford, Kent, in the summer of 1879, he was baptised on 10th August, and only his mother’s name – Eliza May – recorded.
There is a record of an Arthur May from Aylesford in the 1881 census, but that gives his mother’s name as Ann (and the father’s as labourer William May). Twenty years later, the same Arthur may is listed as boarding with his sister and brother-in-law’s family in Halling, Kent, where he was working as a labourer in the local cement works. Again, however, it is impossible to confirm that this Arthur May is the one being sought.
Further records identify Arthur’s wife as a woman called Annie, although no marriage records remain to confirm a union.
Details of Private May’s war service is pretty limited, but he seems to have enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment in February 1917. He subsequently transferred to the 167th Coy Labour Corps and was sent to France, but returned to Britain a month later, having fallen ill. His condition turned out to be tuberculosis and he was medically discharged from the army in August 1917.
Private May’s medical report adds some tantalising detail to his military service. He is recorded as being 39 years and one month old, 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, with a pale complexion, blue eye and light brown hair. He had a tattoo on his left forearm and was working as a labourer, while living in Ditton, near Maidstone, in Kent.
The report also suggests that Arthur had initially enlisted in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in November 1915. It notes that he was frequently disabled with shortness of breath and a cough during his fourteen months with the navy.
Arthur returned home after his discharge. While his trail goes cold, it is likely that his lung condition continued to dog his civilian life. On 6th July 1919, he passed away and, although no cause is freely recorded, as there is a lack of comment in contemporary local newspapers, illness would be a possible cause. He was 40 years of age.
Arthur May was laid to rest in the graveyard of his local church, St Peter’s & St Paul’s in Aylesford, Kent.
In the First World War section of St Peter and St Paul’s Churchyard in Aylesford, Kent, is a headstone dedicated to T4/174339 Private W Johnstone of the Royal Army Service Corps. Little other immediate information is apparent, and there are no military records available based on his service number.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website confirms that Private Johnstone transferred across to the 697th Agricultural Coy of the Labour Corps. He was given another service number – 440640 – and this allows access to a few more strands of his life.
Private Johnstone’s first name was William, and he had a dependent, Mrs CM Gunn, who lived at Moss Fall in Linwood, Paisley. The records, however, add a little more confusion to the story – Mrs Gunn is recorded as U/Wife and a guardian is also noted: Mrs Catherine McDree.
The waters are muddied further by the Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects. While this confirms that William had enlisted by the spring of 1918, it also highlights that his effects and war gratuity were not actually claimed.
With no date of birth for William, it is impossible to narrow down any further details of his early life: there are too many combinations of William and Catherine in the Paisley area to be able to identify them with any confidence.
The only thing that can be confirmed is that Private William Johnstone died from a combination of influenza and pneumonia on 5th November 1918, at the Preston Hall Military Hospital in Aylesford, Kent. He was buried in the nearby churchyard.
Death and Service 