In a quiet corner of Portishead Cemetery, Somerset, is the grave of Private EG Davies. His headstone confirms that he was in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, give the date of his death – 23rd March 1919 – and his age when he passed – 40 years old. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website confirms that Private Davies transferred to the Labour Corps, but only a couple of documents remain from his time in the army.
The soldier’s pension records confirm that his full name was Edward George Davies, and that, at the time of his death, he was living with his ‘unofficial wife’, Minnie Louisa Holbrook. The records also give the cause of death: influenza and septic bronchitis.
Minnie Louisa Fido was born in the spring of 1874 in Bedminster, Bristol, one of thirteen children to farmworker David Fido and his wife, Sarah. She married Arthur Holbrook on 28th April 1895, and had Gertrude four months later.
The Somerset School Register from 1906 notes that Gertrude Fido joined the Church of England School in Weston-in-Gordano on 12th February. It gives her mother’s name as Minnie Fido, but doesn’t give a father’s name. It seems that Gertrude left the school in November 1914, as she had found work.
A search of the 1911 census records shows Edward and Minnie (whose surname is now given as Davies), living in George Street, Portishead. Edward is listed as a wagoner on a farm, and that he was born in Gloucestershire. Minnie is noted as a charwoman from Nailsea, Somerset. Making up the household is Gertrude, noted as being Edward’s stepdaughter, and who was working as a domestic servant.
Edward’s history is more of a challenge to piece together. His name is too common to be able to single him out on census records, and, while the 1911 census suggests he and Minnie had been married for eight years, there is no marriage record to shed any further light on his family. (This is not surprising, given that his army pension documents suggest Minnie was his unofficial wife.)
Most of Edward’s life, therefore, is destined to remain lost to time. Minnie did not marry, or co-habit, again, and she passed away on Christmas Day 1949, at the age of 75 years old. Gertrude looks to have married a man called Bessant. The 1939 England and Wales Register recorded her living in the Portishead area, and working as a supervisor in a boot factory. She was living with her maternal uncle, Herbert Fido, but was noted as being the head of the household. She died early in 1967 in Weston-super-Mare.
Tauntonians will learn with deep regret of the death of Private W Haines, of the No. 5 Supernumerary Company, 4th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry, which took place at the Portishead Red Cross Hospital, at the age of 64. The funeral took place at the Portishead Cemetery on Friday of last week, the deceased being buried with full military honours… The late Private Haines… came up with the last Company of the National Reserves, about 14 months ago… and during that time did his duty to the satisfaction of the office commanding and all other officers concerned. Corporal Jarman, who is a well-known Tauntonian of the same Company writes: “Private Haines was a fine old soldier, doing his duty in a manner with would be a credit to any youngster, and his death came as a surprise to all of us. There are still with us half-a-dozen of the old ‘sixties’, and I hope when some of these conscientious objectors see this they will alter their mind, and do their little bit for their King and country like he did.”
Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 29th March 1916
William Haines was born in the spring of 1850 in Hinton St George, Somerset. The younger of two children, his parents were William and Sophia Haines. William Sr died when his son was a teenager, leaving Sophia to raise the family. She found work as a nurse to bring in some income and, by the time of the 1871 census, the family were living together, William Jr working as a stonemason and his older sister earned money through glovemaking.
On 23rd December 1871, William married Jane Shuter, a sawyer’s daughter from Stoke-sub-Hamdon. The couple set up home in South Petherton, and had a son called William Jr the following year. The family remained together through the next three census returns, William Sr continuing as a mason, while his son found work as a plumber. By 1911 they family had moved again, this time to Taunton, where Jane was now working as a dealer in wardrobes.
When war broke out, William Sr stepped up to play his part, as the report suggests. He enlisted at the start of 1915, volunteering his services, despite having reached 64 years of age. Assigned to the 4th Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry, and attached to the 5th Supernumerary Company – a territorial reserve force – Private Haines he remained in Somerset.
William suffered a heart attack on 12th March 1916. He was rushed to the Red Cross Hospital in Portishead, but passed away soon after being admitted. He was 66 years of age (the newspaper report giving the incorrect age).
William Haines did not travel far to be laid to rest. He was buried in Portishead Cemetery, on the southern outskirts of the town.
Private William Haines (from britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
James Henry Savory was born in Gloucester in the spring of 1872. An only child, his parents were Frederick and Sophia Savory. Frederick was innkeeper of the town’s Bell Inn, but things seemed to go wrong for the family as time passed.
Both Frederick and James disappear from the 1891 census return, while Sophia is recorded as being an inmate in the Bristol City Workhouse. She was still there ten years later, although whether she had been there for the full decade is unclear.
James, by this point, had found employment as a travelling labourer. By the autumn of 1891, he had met Edith Morgan, a butcher’s daughter from Bristol. The couple married on 16th May 1892, four days before Edith gave birth to their first child, a daughter they called Eleanor. The couple set up home in Bedminster, James finding work as a foreman at the local marble works. He and Edith went on to have four children in all.
James was drawn to piecemeal work: by the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved to Portishead, Somerset, and he was employed as an ironmonger. His son, James Jr, was apprenticed in the same line of work, and the family had a relative, 71-year-old printer William Badger, boarding with them to bring in a little extra money.
What war came to Europe, James stepped up to play his part. Full records are not available for him, but he certainly enlisted in the army. Based on his age – he was 42 years old when the conflict began – it seems likely that he either volunteered for service, or that he was called up later in the war.
Private Savory was attached to the 19th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment. Whether he service on home soil or overseas is unclear, but he survived through to the end of the war, and had returned home by the start of 1919.
James Henry Savory died on 6th March 1919: he was 46 years of age. He was laid to rest in Portishead Cemetery, not far from where his widow still lived. Edith lived on until October 1957: she was laid to rest with her late husband, reunited after nearly forty years.
Richard Francis Gould was born in the autumn of 1893 in Wraxall, Somerset. One of fifteen children, his parents were Devon-born farm labourer and carter John Gould and his wife Mary, who came from Bristol.
When he left school, Richard found work as a domestic gardener, and this is what he was doing when he met Ada Archer. She was a nurse from Bristol, and the couple married in Knowle on 17th August 1908. They set up home in Bedminster, and went on to have three children: Edith, born late in 1909; Richard Jr, born in 1915; and Ronald, who was born the following year.
When war broke out, Richard was drawn to serve his country. Sadly, most of his service records have been lost to time, so it’s impossible to piece together a complete record of his time in the army. He was initially attached to the 36th Training Reserve Battalion, but was soon transferred. Attached to the 599th Agricultural Company of the Labour Corps, Private Gould was based in Somerset.
It was while serving in the autumn of 1918, that Richard fell ill. Having contracted pneumonia, he was hospitalised, but the condition proved too much, and he passed away on 19th October, at the age of 34 years old.
Ada and the children were living in the Somerset village of Long Ashton by this point, but it was in the graveyard of the local church – All Saints’ – that Richard Francis Gould was laid to rest.
Arthur Chard was born in the spring of 1893, one of eight children to Isaac and Eliza Chard. Isaac was a labourer at the colour works in Winford, Somerset, and this is where the family were born and raised.
When Arthur finished his schooling, he found work as a farm labourer and, by the time of the 1911 census, he was living with his maternal uncle and family in the village, where he was employed as a farm lad.
As war came to Europe, Arthur stepped up to serve his country. He enlisted on 16th November 1915, joining the Somerset Light Infantry. His service records show that he was 5ft 3ins (1.6m) tall and weighed 113lbs (51.3kg).
Private Chard was formally mobilised in January 1916, and was sent to France in September, having completed his training. By May of 1917, he seems to have been back in Britain, and was transferred to the Labour Corps. There appears to have been some health issue behind this, as, on 11th August he was admitted to Henham Hall Auxiliary Hospital in Suffolk, suffering from ‘debility’. Having been moved to another hospital after a couple of weeks, he was finally discharged back to his unit on 20th September 1917.
Arthur joined the 626 Agricultural Company, which was based in Taunton. By July 1918, he had moved to another of the Somerset troops, 593 Agricultural Company. His health was still suffering, however, and he was soon admitted to Taunton Military Hospital. Private Chard passed away from nephritis on 5th December 1918. He was 25 years of age.
Arthur Chard’s body was taken back to Winford for burial. He was laid to rest in the village’s parish church, St Mary & St Peter’s.
Godfrey George Beames was born in the spring of 1891, in Henbury, Gloucestershire. One of eleven children, his parents were Thomas and Minnie Beames. Thomas was in the navy, which meant that Minnie was left to her own devices a lot of the time. While her husband came home often enough for them to build a large family, the 1891 and 1901 censuses record Minnie and the children living with her farm labourer brother-in-law, George Watkins.
The 1911 census gives the same information for Minnie and the children – living with George in Redwick, Gloucestershire. Minnie is, however, noted as a widow, although this seems to be out of convenience, as the now naval pensioner Thomas was living with his wife of eight years, Louisa, in Arundel, West Sussex.
Godfrey, now 21 years old, was working as a farm labourer. In the autumn of 1913, he married a woman called Lily Ball, although little information about her remains today. War was coming to Europe, and things were to change for the young couple.
Godfrey stepped up to play his part. While his full service records no longer exist, what remains paints a picture of his time in the army. He had enlisted by the spring of 1917, joining the Royal Engineers. At some point, however, he moved to the Worcestershire Regiment, and was assigned to the 10th (Service) Battalion.
While it’s not possible to determine exactly where Private Beames fought, he was definitely caught up in the fighting on the Western Front and, by October 1917, was entrenched at Passchendaele. It was here that he was wounded, and he was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment.
Private Beames was admitted to the General Hospital in Nottingham, but his injuries were to prove too severe. He died on 15th November 1917, at the age of just 26 years old.
Godfrey George Beames’ body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of Ss Mary and Peter’s Church in Winford, where Lily was now living.
Gilbert John Patch was born in Winford, Somerset, on 3rd July 1888. The third of seven children, his parents were haulier Robert Patch and his wife Ann.
Gilbert followed his father into carting work, but the opportunity of a bigger and better life presented itself. In the spring of 1913, he emigrated to Canada, to find land and work as a farmer. He settled in the hamlet of Caron, Saskatchewan with a friend from home, Percy Worle.
Gilbert’s time overseas was not to be a length one, however. When Europe went to war, the empire was called upon and, on 1st April 1916, Gilbert enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. His service records show that he was 5ft 8ins (1.72m) tall, with blue eyes, fair hair and a medium complexion.
After his training, Private Patch arrived in France on 28th December 1916, and was assigned to the 28th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry – the same troop as his friend, Percy. During the Capture of Hill 70 in May 1917, Percy was killed and Gilbert himself was badly injured, receiving shrapnel wounds to his head, left arm and right leg.
Private Patch was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. He was admitted to the Clopton House War Hospital in Stratford-upon-Avon, and while his wounds were treated, within a couple of weeks, he was dangerously ill with a kidney infection. The combination proved too much for his body to take, and Gilbert died on 23rd May 1917. He was 28 years of age.
Gilbert John Patch’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of the local parish church, St Mary & St Peter’s, in his home village of Winford.
William Reginald Hunt was born in the Somerset village of Butcombe on 14th September 1900. The youngest of six children, his parents were farmers Walter and Bertha Hunt.
Little information about William – who was known in the family as Reggie – is available. He was still at school at the time of the 1911 census and enlisted in the army in the summer of 1918. His service papers no longer exist, and his life in between these points is lost to time.
Private Hunt joined the Devonshire Regiment, and was attached to the 53rd (Young Soldier) Battalion. He was based at Rolleston Camp in Wiltshire and, while billeted there, in the cramped and overcrowded conditions of the army barracks, he contracted pneumonia.
William was admitted to the camp’s hospital, but the condition was to prove too much. He passed away on 23rd November 1918, aged just eighteen years old.
The body of William Reginald Hunt was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Michael’s Church, in his home village of Butcombe.
Maurice Chapman was born in the summer of 1883 in Newington, Surrey (now in the London borough of Southwark. The younger of two children, his parents were Charles and Jessie Chapman. Charles was a horse collar maker and, by the time Jessie passed away in 1899, Maurice was following in his father’s footsteps.
Maurice sought a bigger career, however, and, on 6th April 1899, he enlisted in the Royal Artillery. His service records show that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, and that he weighed 118lbs (53.5kg). In the section relating to any distinguishing marks, it was noted that his eyebrows met, he had a scar on his forehead and two tattoos, one on each forearm.
Maurice’s military career was not to be a lengthy one. He was recorded as being absent without leave on 18th May, and docked 6 days’ pay. Admitted to a hospital in Woolwich on 26th May, he spent a week there, suffering from scabies. On 27th July, Maurice was formally discharged from the army, when it was discovered that he had lied about his age: on his enlistment papers, he stated he was 18 years 7 months old (he was, in fact, just sixteen.
Returning to the family home, Maurice took up his father’s trade once more. Charles remarried in 1905, to a woman called Rosa. The 1911 census found the two living in two rooms in a house in Kennington Lane, but of his children, there is no sign. Maurice does not appear on any of the 1911 census records. It is also not possible to track down his older sister Charlotte either, there are a number of Charlotte Chapmans in the that year’s records, and it is also unclear whether she had married by this point.
Maurice only reappears on 1st March 1916, when he stepped up to serve his King and his Country. Initially signing up for the Labour Corps, he wasn’t formally mobilised for eighteen months. Maurice gave his profession as a barman, but also noted that he had served for two years in the 2nd Battalion of the Dragoon Guards, before being discharged in 1904, although there is no other record to corroborate this.
Private Chapman’s service records provide some, but not a lot of, information. There is no record of him spending time overseas, but he spent ten months with the Labour Corps, before transferring to the Tank Corps on 30th August 1918. Over the next year-and-a-half, he moved between a couple of the regiment’s depots and their reserve unit, and remained on active service long after the Armistice was signed.
Maurice remained on active service with the Tank Corps until November 1920, when he was medically discharged. He had been unwell for a while by this point, and a combination of diabetes and a perineal fistula meant that he was no longer physically fit enough to serve.
It is likely that Maurice was in the War Hospital in Bath, Somerset, when he was discharged, as this is where he passed away, on 22nd December 1920. He was 37 years of age.
Maurice Chapman did not travel far to his final resting place. He was buried in the grounds of the Locksbrook Cemetery in Bath, Somerset.
Frederick Reginald Channing was born in the autumn of 1869, in Bath, Somerset. He was one of five children to carpenter Allen Channing and his dressmaker wife, Sarah. When Frederick was just a toddler, Allen moved the family south to Chard, and this is where his younger siblings were born.
When Frederick left school, he found work as a lace machine operator and, in fact, all of Allen’s children found work with their hands: Frederick worked alongside one of his brothers, while his two other brothers built on their father’s woodworking skills, one as a coachbuilder, another as a cabinet maker.
By the autumn of 1905, Frederick had moved back to Bath. This is where he met Elizabeth Scammell, a farm labourer’s daughter from Wiltshire. The 1901 census appears to record her as being a servant to a surgeon’s family in Wincanton, and this may have prompted a further move to the larger city where the couple met.
The couple married in Bath towards the end of 1905, and had a son, Frederick Jr, who was born in November the following year. Frederick Sr was doing general labouring work by this point, and the family had moved to Wedmore by the time a second boy, William, was born in 1910. Frederick and Elizabeth had a daughter, Eva, in 1911, and another, Gwendoline, in 1913, tragically, the same year that Eva died.
When war came to Europe, Frederick stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in September 1914, joining the Somerset Light Infantry as a Private. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 6ins (1.67m) tall, and weighed 154lbs (69.9kg). The document also gives his age as 35, although he was actually ten years older than that by this point.
Private Channing spent a year on home soil, during which time Elizabeth gave birth to their fifth child, Percival, who was born in May 1915. Based at a camp in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, he was hospitalised twice in this time, suffering from a contusion of his left shoulder.
By September 1915, Frederick was in France, and he remained on the Western Front, apart from when on leave, for the next three-and-a-half years. At some point during this time, he was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal, and transferred across to the Royal Engineers.
Back at home, Elizabeth was doing her best to raise the family. She didn’t always do the right thing, though, and this resulted in her being taken to court.
Elizabeth Mary Rose Channing, 30… was indicted for having been delivered of a certain female child, did unlawfully by a secret disposition of the deceased child, endeavour to conceal the birth thereof at Wedmore the same day in the month of September 1916.
Mr Wethered prosecuted, and said that the prisoner was a married woman. Her husband was a soldier now on active service. He was last home on leave in April or May, 1917. Previously to that he had not been home for 18 months or two years, so the child could not have been his. Some boys found a parcel in the well, and they discovered the body of the child. The boys communicated with the police, who searched the well and found some pieces of carpet which agreed with a similar carpet in the possession of the prisoner. When arrested she confessed to the crime.
Frederick Channing, husband of the prisoner, said he was home on leave five months ago – May 27th. He went back on June 4th. Previously he had not been home for twenty months. He pleaded for the prisoner in the interests of their four children. He was very sorry for her to think she had thrown herself away like that.
His Lordship, addressing the prisoner, said that while her husband was away doing his duty for her any everybody, she was not faithful to him, and the result was the birth of the child which had been concealed and not revealed till a year afterwards. His Lordship understood that prisoner was already legitimately in a certain condition, and he did not wish her child to be born in prison. She would be sent to prison therefore for three months.
Wells Journal: Friday 26th October 1917
Elizabeth was released in February 1918, and the couple’s last child, Kathleen, was born the following month.
Frederick, meanwhile, returned to the Western Front. He remained in France through to the end of the conflict and beyond, only returning to Britain in February 1919, having fallen ill. Admitted to the North Evington War Hospital in Leicester with influenza, he remained there for two months.
In April 1919, Lance Corporal Channing was transferred to the Bath War Hospital, back in Somerset. This was presumably so that he could be closer to his family, although there is no evidence of whether he was fully reconciled with Elizabeth. His condition did not improve, however, and by this point he was also suffering from myalgia.
Frederick remained in hospital for eighteen months. As time passed, carcinoma of the liver was identified, and this, eventually, was the condition that would take his life. Lance Corporal Canning passed away on 5th September 1920. He was 49 years of age.
Sarah and the children were still living in Wedmore, by this point. Frederick Reginald Channing’s last journey was not to be that far, however. He was moved only a short distance from the hospital, and was laid to rest in the sweeping grounds of the Locksbrook Cemetery in Bath.
Death and Service 