Category Archives: Private

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gwynedd, history, illness, Lancashire, photography, Private, South Wales Borderers, story, Wales, war, Welch Regiment

Private Griffith Hughes

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Private Griffith Hughes

Griffith Hughes was born in Llanberis, in modern day Gwynedd, in 1893. Sadly, there is little information about his early life, and records mention his mother – Margaret – but no father. The 1901 census records Griffith as living with his grandmother, Ann Hughes.

Ten year later, the two are living in a two-up, two-down cottage – 19 Snowdon Street, Llanberis – with Griffith’s aunt, Ann’s daughter Jane, and her husband, Thomas. Griffith is earning money by now, working as a slate dresser at one of the local quarries.

War was coming to Europe by this point, and Griffith was called upon to play his part. He initially enlisted in the Welch Regiment as a Private, although he seems to have transferred across to the South Wales Borderers during his service.

Private Hughes’ time in the army was spent on home soil, although he earned the Victory and British Medals for his service. He remained in the army through to the end of the war and beyond until, on 15th August 1919, he was medically discharged. He had developed tachycardia, and this was having an impact on his life.

When Griffith left the army, he was based in Lancashire, and was living in the village of Bryn, to the south of Wigan. He remained in the area for the next year, his health sadly deteriorating. Admitted to the cottage hospital in nearby Pemberton, he passed away from his heart condition on 18th September 1920. He was just 27 years old.

Griffith Hughes was brought back to Wales for burial. He was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St Peris Church, in his home village of Llanberis.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, London, London Regiment, photography, Private, story, war

Private Thomas Rice

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Private Thomas Rice

Thomas Merrall Rice was born on 4th January 1894, one of thirteen children to William and Martha. William was from Northamptonshire, but it was in Bearsted, near Martha’s home town of Maidstone, where the couple raised their family.

Little detail of Thomas’ early life remains. What is clear is that, by the summer of 1916, he was living in Plumstead, South East London and was working as a valet. He had met Annie Jane Rix by this point, and the couple married on 17th June 1916 at All Saints Church in Plumstead.

Thomas was called up for military duty not long after this and, on 1st November 1916, he enlisted in the 14th Battalion of the London Regiment, also known as the London Scottish. His service records show very specifically (although seemingly incorrectly) that he was 25 years and 300 days old. It was also noted that he stood 5ft 5.5ins (1.64m) tall and was, by this time, employed as an explosives worker at Woolwich Arsenal.

After his initial training, Private Rice was sent to France at the end of May 1917. His service overseas was not to be a long one, as, within a couple of months, his battalion had been the victims of a gas attack. Thomas was admitted to a field hospital but quickly developed pleurisy and tuberculosis, and was medically evacuated back to Britain in August, and discharged from the army as no longer fit for active duty just a couple of months later.

His failing health meant that Thomas was not able to actively work, and it seems that he had moved out of London and back to his family’s home on the outskirts of Maidstone. It is unclear whether Annie went with him, but, as they had a son, Albert, who had been born shortly before he was sent to France, it seems likely that they would have moved as a family unit.

William, Thomas’ father, died in the summer of 1919, and was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Cross Church, Bearsted. Sadly, Thomas was to follow him, passing away on 15th January 1920, a victim of the lung conditions that had dogged him since France. He had just turned 26 years of age.

Thomas Merrall Rice was laid to rest alongside his father in the quiet Holy Cross Churchyard.

Private Thomas Rice
(from findagrave.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, East Yorkshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, story, Sussex, war

Private George Sinclair

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Private George Sinclair

In a quiet corner of the village cemetery in Cuckfield, West Sussex, is a headstone dedicated to Private WG Sinclair. Attached to the East Yorkshire Regiment, he passed away on 12th February 1919.

A search of military records gives a little more detail: this was a George William Sinclair, who had died from pneumonia at the West Hylands Institution, which was Cuckfield’s workhouse. George was 29 years old, but there is little concrete information about his early life.

A newspaper report from the day before Private Sinclair’s death, however, begins to shed a little more light onto his life:

George William Sinclair was charged with being a deserter from the Cuckfield Union Workhouse, on November 6th, and carrying away clothing to the value of £1, the property of the Guardians of the Cuckfield Union. PC Upton said that he arrested the prisoner at the Somerstown Police Station. Prisoner was remanded, but as he was taken ill he was removed to the Workhouse Infirmary.

Mid Sussex Times: Tuesday 11th February 1919

George’s entry in the Army Register of Soldier’s Effects does not give a next of kin, so it is not possible to determine categorically where he was born and raised, or who his parents were.

A little more digging found a George William Sinclair recorded in the UK Calendar of Prisoners in 1916. He had been arrested for “feloniously breaking and entering the dwelling house of Sarah Waddingham, and stealing one bicycle, one pair of shoes, one purse, one tobacco box, one tobacco pipe and one microscope, the property of said Sarah Waddingham, at West Halton [near Hull], on the 7th July 1916.“

It is not possible to say definitively that this George William Sinclair is the same one buried in Cuckfield Cemetery, but, given the regiment he was attached to, and the newspaper report prior to his passing, it is likely to be more than just a coincidence.

George pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to six months’ hard labour. This was not his first offence, and had had spent a total of more than eighteen months behind bars over a period of ten years up to this point. On each occasion, he was convicted of theft.

It is possible, given that the country was at war by this point, that George was given the option to enlist, rather than serve his sentence. Again, this is an assumption, however, but Private Sinclair’s Pension Ledger confirms that he was discharged from the army on 6th November 1918.

George William Sinclair appears on another workhouse register, this time in Westminster, London, where he spent a couple of nights just before Christmas that year.

If these records all relate to the same man, his life seems to have been a troubled one. I can only hope that he found peace in that quiet corner of West Sussex.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Sussex, war

Private William Haylor

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Private William Haylor

William Charles Haylor was born in the summer of 1870, in the West Sussex village of Cuckfield. He was one of eight children to agricultural labour Michael Haylor and his wife, Betsy. Michael passed away in 1886 and, with children to raise, his widow took in washing to earn money.

William found work as a farm labourer and, by the time of the 1901 census was living in a cottage at Beech Farm in the village, with his mother, younger sisters, one brother-in-law and six nieces and nephews.

On 25th October 1905, William married Florence Linstead. She was a carter’s daughter from South London, and it is not exactly clear how they met. It seems likely, though, that Florence had taken work on one of the estates in the Cuckfield area. The couple exchanged vows at St Antony’s Church in Florence’s home town, Nunhead, before settling down back in West Sussex.

When war came to Europe, William was keen to play his part. He enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regiment on 9th November 1914 and was assigned to the No.6 Supernumerary Company of the 2nd/4th Battalion. This was a territorial force, set in place for those older volunteers keen to serve King and Country.

Private Haylor’s time in the army was to be brief, however, as at his medical he was found to be medically unfit for military service. No further details are available, but it meant that William had spent just 82 days in the army.

At this point, William’s trail goes cold. He returned home, and presumably continued in his previous line of work. Again, however, the status quo was not to continue for long. He passed away at home, through causes unknown, on Christmas Day, 25th December 1915. He was 45 years of age.

William Charles Haylor was laid to rest in the cemetery in his home village, Cuckfield. He was accorded a military funeral.

Commonwealth War Graves, East Surrey Regiment, Great War, history, Labour Corps, Middlesex, photography, Private, story, Sussex, unknown, war, Wiltshire

Private Thomas Perrett

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Private Thomas Perrett

Thomas William Perrett was born in October 1878, the seventh of eight children to Lewin and Ann Perrett. Lewin was an agricultural labourer from Wiltshire, and it was in Aldbourn, near Marlborough, that the family were raised.

Initially finding work as a farm labourer, Thomas was soon drawn to the bright lights and big city. By the early 1900s he had moved to London, and it was here that he met, and in 1909 married, Mary Sterry, a labourer’s daughter from Middlesex. The couple went on to have three children, Elsie, Rose and Alice.

Thomas, by this point, had found work on the railways: the 1911 census records him as a railway porter, presumably at Paddington Railway Station, which was within a few minutes’ walk of where the Perrett family were living.

War came to Europe, and Thomas was keen to play his part. Full details of his service are not available, but he enlisted in the East Surrey Regiment, where he was assigned to the 2nd/5th Battalion. This was a second line unit, and Private Perrett remained on home soil for the duration of the war.

This territorial role was reinforced when he transferred across to the 696th Agricultural Company of the Labour Corps. Details of his work are not available, but it seems likely that he was assigned to farm work in the mid-Sussex area.

This too is where Private Perrett remained after the war and where, on 24th February 1919, he was to pass away. Details of his death are vague and the cause is unknown, but he was 40 years of age.

Thomas William Perrett was laid to rest in the cemetery in Cuckfield, West Sussex.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Labour Corps, Lincolnshire, photography, Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Sussex, war

Private Harry Etherton

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Private Harry Etherton

Harry Etherton was born in Ansty, near Cuckfield, West Sussex on 3rd April 1872. The oldest of five children, his parents were Edwin and Louisa Etherton. Edwin was an agricultural labourer, and this was work in which his son followed his father.

On 29th April 1899, Harry married Annie Eliza Pennifold, a labourer’s daughter who was also from Ansty. The couple set up home in Cuckfield, and went on to have five children. Harry was, by this point, working as a road labourer for the local council, and this was a job he was to continue doing until the outbreak of the war.

Harry enlisted in 1915, joining the Royal Sussex Regiment as part of the National Reserve. As Private Etherton, he was then transferred across to the Labour Corps, and was assigned to the 409th Labour Coy. which was based at the Infantry Depot in Lincoln.

It was while Private Etherton was here, in the spring of 1918, that he contracted meningitis, and was admitted to the Northern General Hospital in the city. Sadly, he was to succumb to the disease, passing away on 30th June 1918, at the age of 46 years old.

Harry Etherton’s body was brought back to West Sussex for burial. He was laid to rest in Cuckfield Cemetery, not far from where his widow and children still lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, photography, Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Sussex, unknown, war

Private George Bennett

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Private George Bennett

George Ernest Bennett was born in 1895 in Cuckfield, West Sussex, the oldest of four children to Alfred and Annie Bennett. Much of his early life is a mystery – within eighteen months, his parents had moved to Kent, leaving George with his widowed paternal grandmother.

By the time of the 1911 census, both Alfred and Annie were dead, along with their only daughter. George’s two younger brothers were in a poor school back in Sussex, while George was living with one of his father’s sisters and her family, and working as an errand boy.

By the time war broke out, it seems that George had plans for an army career. He had certainly enlisted by September 1914, and joined the 1st/4th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment. This was a primarily territorial force, and Private Bennett initially received his training on the East Sussex coast.

Full details of George’s military service aren’t available, but what is clear is that he was admitted to the Military Hospital in Newhaven in the spring of 1915, and this is where he died on 19th March. The cause of his passing is not known, but he was just 20 years old.

Brought back to Cuckfield, where his father’s family still lived, George Ernest Bennett was laid to rest in the village’s cemetery, within sight of Holy Trinity Church.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Sussex, war

Private Frank Bates

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Private Frank Bates

Frank Bates was born on 29th June 1893, in Cuckfield, West Sussex and was the fourth of five children. His parents were tailor William Bates and his wife, Sarah.

Tragedy was to be a constant companion to the Bates family. Frank’s older brother, William, died in November 1907 after a protracted illness, at the tender age of just 19 years old. Four years later, his younger sister, Maggie, also passed away after an illness. She was just 21 years of age.

When he left school, Frank went into the service of the Messel family, who owned the Nyman’s estate close to where Frank and his family lived. When war was declared, however, he was keen to play his part, enlisting soon after hostilities were announced in August 1914.

Private Bates joined the 4th (Home Service) Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment and was sent to Newhaven for training. It was while he was here that he fell ill, and, having caught a chill, he returned to Cuckfield to recuperate. Sadly, his condition worsened, and he passed away at his family home on 31st January 1915. He was just 21 years old.

Frank Bates was laid to rest in Cuckfield cemetery, resting not far from his siblings.

Tragedy was to strike one more time for William and Sarah. Frank’s older brother Jack served as a Private in the 2nd/4th Battalion of the London Regiment. In the spring of 1918, he was caught up in that year’s Battles of the Somme, including fighting at St Quentin and Avre.

In May 1918, Private Bates was officially reported as missing, but it was later confirmed that he had died of injuries sustained in the fighting. He passed away on 16th April 1918, at the age of 29 years old.

Jack was laid to rest at the Chauny Communal Cemetery in Picardie, France, and is also commemorated in Cuckfield Cemetery.

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

Private Charles Tucker

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Private Charles Tucker

Charles Wilfred Tucker was born in the summer of 1898 in Penarth, Glamorgan. He was the oldest of four children to Wilfred and Elizabeth Tucker, restaurant owners on Windsor Terrace in the centre of the town.

Little information is available about Charles’ early life. When war broke out, he enlisted in the Welch Regiment, before transferring to the Machine Gun Corps at some point during the conflict. In the autumn of 1919, Private Tucker was put on furlough while waiting to be demobbed, and he returned home.

Sadly, it was while here that Charles contracted pneumonia, and it was from the lung condition that he was to pass away. He breathed his last on 30th October 1919, at the age of just 21 years old.

Charles Wilfred Tucker was laid to rest in the family grave in St Augustine’s Churchyard in his home town of Penarth.

accident, Burma, Commonwealth War Graves, Glamorganshire, Great War, history, Lancashire, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, photography, Private, South Africa, story, Suffolk, war

Private Edward Savage

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Private Edward Savage

In the graveyard of St Augustine of Hippo Church in Penarth, Glamorgan, lies the Commonwealth War Grave for Private Edward Savage. The headstone confirms that he had died on 25th December 1915 and that he was in the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment.

The Commonwealth War Grave Commission website suggests that he was the son of Edward and Rachel Savage and that he was born in Beccles, Suffolk. Sadly, there are no available census documents to shed any further light on that early life.

The same website suggests that he served in Burma, and in the South African campaign, which would have placed him there in the late 1890s and early 1900s.

It is also noted that Edward was the husband of Emily Savage and that they were living in Fleetwood, Lancashire. Edward’s later pension ledger suggests this was an Emily Shannon, who is, in fact, noted as the guardian of his illegitimate child. Further information, however, is not available.

From a military perspective, it is likely that Private Savage was either still service at the point that the First World War broke out, or that he was called into service – or volunteered his services – shortly after its declaration. He was assigned to No. 5 Supply Company of the 3rd/4th Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and, by the autumn of 1915, he found himself based at Penarth Head Fort near Cardiff.

Edward’s death seems to have been a less than auspicious one, as a local newspaper reported at the time.

The district coroner held an inquest at Penarth on Tuesday touching the death of Private Edward Savage, who was found dead at the billets of the A Company of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment on Sunday morning. Surgeon-Major Charles Parsons, the local medical officer, stated that the deceased had apparently fallen down some stone steps, causing a fracture of the base of the skull. The jury returned a verdict of “Accidental Death.”

Western Mail: Wednesday 29th December 1915

Private Edward Savage had died on Christmas Day, 25th December 1915. He was 54 years of age. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Augustine of Hippo Church in Penarth.

Edwards shares his grave with another member of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, Serjeant Frank Carter. Read his story here.