Albert Tom Merritt was born in the spring of 1890, the youngest of six children to John and Mary. John was a bricklayer from the village of Bratton in Wiltshire, and this is where the family were born and raised.
When he completed his schooling, Albert took up employment as a carpenter. His mother passed away in 1905, and on 15th September 1915, he married Elsie House. A labourer’s daughter from Aller Hilton, Dorset, the couple exchanged vows in her parish church, and went on to have three children: Frederick and Edward.
Albert was called up in October 1916, and was assigned to the 13th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment. His service papers show that he was 5ft 6ins (1.67m) tall and weighed 119lbs (54kg). He was noted as having poor hearing, but declared fit for service in the regiment’s Labour Corps.
Assigned to the 447th Agricultural Company, Private Merritt remained on home soil during the conflict. He survived the war, but contracted influenza in the autumn of 1918. Sent home to recuperate, he passed away on 1st December, at the age of 28 years old.
The body of Albert Tom Merritt was laid to rest in the graveyard of St James’ Church, in his home village of Bratton.
Tragically, Elsie was pregnant when her husband died. She gave birth to a third son, Leonard, in May 1919.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s records give Albert’s surname as Merrett. However, all other documents confirm the spelling as Merritt.
Geoffrey Hugh Willoughby St Quintin was born in Cromarty, Ross-shire, on 17th November 1899. The second of two children (although his older sister Doris had died two years before he was born), his parents were Geoffrey and Muriel St Quintin.
Geoffrey Sr was an estate manager and the 1901 census showed the family having eight live-in servants. Geoffrey Jr was then sent off to a private prep school in Wokingham, Berkshire.
The next census return, taken in 1911, found Geoffrey Sr was visiting his brother at Scampston Hall in North Yorkshire. Muriel, meanwhile, was staying with her cousin Eliza Willoughby, the wife of Baron Middleton. Between the two residences, there was a retinue of some 23 servants.
Geoffrey Sr died in 1913, and his son went on to attend Eton College. When war broke out he stepped up to serve his country, joining the Royal Fusiliers.
Ross-shire friends, especially in the Cromarty and Fortrose districts, will regret the death from heart failure, following pneumonia and influenza, of Geoffrey Hugh Willoughby St Quintin, son of the late Mr Geoffrey St Quintin, and of Mrs Geoffrey St Quintin, Flowerburn, Fortrose. He died in London just prior to an intended visit to Scampston, Yorks., to the home of his uncle, Mr WH St Quintin. Born at Cromarty House nineteen years ago, growing up into a young manhood of great strength and stature, he was well known and very popular in Ross-shire, where he passed the greater part of his young life. On leaving Eton College he was appointed to a cadetship in the Household Brigade, Officers’ Cadet Battalion, with the intention of joining the Guards, and was qualifying for his commission at Bushey, Herts., where he contracted his illness. He was a right gallant young gentleman, and everywhere a favourite…
A sad circumstance was the death on the day of the funeral of his devoted old nurse, Miss Johan Fraser, who was with him during his illness and contracted the influenza which carried her away.
[North Star and Farmer’s Chronicle: Saturday 21st December 1918]
Geoffrey Hugh Willoughby St Quintin was just 19 years of age when he passed away. His body was taken to Eton for burial, and he was laid to rest in the village’s St John’s Churchyard.
Leonard Stephen Lovelock was born early in 1887 in the Wiltshire village of Edington. The son of Ellen Lovelock, there is no confirmation of who his father was. Ellen married Stephen Drewett in 1889, and from this point on Leonard took that surname. Stephen was a sawyer, and he and Ellen set up home in Kington Langley, near Chippenham.
Leonard, however, was destined for a different upbringing. The 1891 census return found him living with Jesse and Ann Coldrake, who were recorded as his grandparents: also in the household were Betsy Drewett (Jesse’s mother-in-law) and Emily Drewett (his daughter-in-law). The relationships are a little confusing, but Leonard remained with Jesse and Ann for the1901 and 1911 census records.
When he completed his schooling, Leonard followed Jesse into farm labouring. The later census return recorded the family living in a three-roomed cottage on Tinhead, the road leading north from Edington village centre.
Farm work was only the first step for Leonard and, by the time war broke out, he was employed as an attendant at the Wiltshire County Asylum in Devizes. He enlisted on 12th January 1916, his medical records showing that he was a little under 5ft 6ins (1.67m) tall, and weighed 170lbs (77.1kg).
Private Drewett was initially assigned to the 12th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment and, on 14th June 1916, his unit crossed the channel for France. While there, he was transferred to the Labour Corps, and was attached to the 152nd Labour Company. In the summer of 1917, Leonard joined the 5th Army School of Cookery, but after just six weeks he was admitted to a camp hospital suffering from epileptic seizures.
Moved from the camp hospital to the 2nd Australian General Hospital in Wimereux, by the end of the year, Private Drewett had been medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. He was sent to the General Military Hospital in Colchester, Essex, but his condition would ultimately prove fatal. Leonard died on 12th March 1918: he was 32 years of age.
The body of Leonard Stephen Lovelock Drewett was taken back to Wiltshire for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of Ss Mary and Katherine and All Saints in his home village of Edington.
Private Leonard Drewett (from Edington Church memorial)
Alfred Frederick Lane was born on the 8th August 1899 in the Wiltshire village of Edington. The third of three children, his parents were Alfred and Ada Lane. Intriguingly, Alfred’s older brother, Percy, who was both the year before, is not recorded as living with his family, the 1901 and 1911 census returns show him as living with his maternal grandparents in Newbury, Berkshire.
Alfred Sr was an innkeeper, and the family lived in the White Horse Inn, one of four pubs in the village. His tenure as landlord did not seem to last for long, however, and, by the time of the 1911 census, he was recorded as being a dairy farmer. With two children to support, he and Ada had taken in a lodger, railway servant Ambrose Perrett.
When war came to Europe, Alfred Jr would eventually be called upon to serve his country. He did not, however, go willingly.
Alfred Frederick Lane (18, single), of White’s Farm Edington, had been refused exemption by the local tribunal, also by the War Agricultural Committee.
The father appeared, and said he was told to get a substitute, but this boy helped on his grandmother’s farm and she did not want a substitute, as she could hardly get about.
Captain Morley: Then I should think she does want one.
Mr Lane said his mother-in-law’s land was five miles away, near Heywood Church, and his son cycled there every morning after he had helped milk the cows at home. He had nine cows in milk and could not milk them all himself, as sometimes he did not get about very early, being “a bit bronchial.”
Captain Morley: How long have you been “touched in the wind?”
Mr Lane: A long time. Dr Willcox, of Warminster, only gave me six months to live – that was four years ago (laughter).
The Tribunal refused exemption and the Chairman said “You must tell your mother-in-law she must get a substitute.”
[Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser: Saturday 2nd March 1918]
Alfred Sr’s attempt to get his son off the hook seemed a desperate measure, and he was not afraid to lie to do so. His mother-in-law, Ada’s mother, had lived in Berkshire and had died seven years earlier. Alfred Sr’s own mother, Hannah, had indeed helped on a farm, but she had passed away in 1900. He may have been suffering from bronchitis, but that was not going to save his son from joining the army.
Private Lane joined the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, and was sent to Ireland for training.
On Sunday last week Mr [Alfred] Lane, of The Farm, Edington, received the sad news that his only son had been fatally shot in a military camp near Dublin. It is only about three months that he joined up, being attached to the Cycling Corps of the Wiltshire Yeomanry.
[Devizes and Wilts Advertiser: Thursday 18th July 1918]
Alfred’s time in the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry had been cut tragically short. In Dublin, a trial was held for the man accused of his killing.
At a general court-martial held in Ship Street Barracks, Dublin, Private Walter H Lester, Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, was charged with the manslaughter of Alfred Frederick Lane at Kilbride Camp, Co. Wicklow, on the 6th July. There was a second charge under the Army Act of having negligently fired a military rifle which fatally wounded Lane.
Mr Smylie, defending, submitted that a charge of manslaughter was not one for trial before a court-martial, and that there was no additional offence disclosed in the second charge.
The Judge-Advocate said that in his opinion the particulars set out in the second charge were the same as those in the first charge. It would only be necessary for the Court to find on one charge, and if they found accused guilty on the second charge he would advise the Court to refer the question of the validity of that charge to the convening officer.
This was agreed to, and evidence was then taken.
Lance-Corporal McCullagh stated that he was in a bell tent on the morning of July 6 with seven others, including the accused and the deceased. The deceased and Private Seansbury were wrestling on the floor. Witness heard an explosion, and they all rushed out, except deceased, who was lying on the floor. His face was covered with blood.
Private Haire said the accused was standing near the two men, who were wrestling. He had a rifle in his hand. He put his hand into his trouser pocket, and took a “round,” which he placed in the rifle, and pointed at the two boys, who were wrestling, and then pulled the trigger. When they heard the explosion they ran out.
Private Bannerin said he could not explain where the accused got the “round,” which was in the rifle.
The accused stated that he put what he took to be a “dud” cartridge in the rifle, which he raised to his shoulder to try. He did not believe it would go off.
His counsel also pleaded that the affair was purely accidental.
Accused was found not guilty on both of the counts.
[Belfast Telegraph: Friday 16th August 1918]
Alfred Frederick Lane was just 18 years of age when he died. His body was brought back to Wiltshire for burial, and he was laid to rest in the graveyard of Ss. Mary and Katherine and All Saints’ Church, not far from where his family still lived.
Private Alfred Lane (from ancestry.co.uk)
The loss of their son, particularly after their personal plea for him to be excused service, dealt Alfred and Ada a savage blow. Alfred Sr died a year after his son, at the age of just 56 years old.
Ada continued with the running of the farm, with her daughter Elsie and son-in-law William, to help. Ada passed away in 1924: she was 52 years of age.
Patrick Thomas O’Neill was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on 2nd March 1888. Little information is available about his early life, but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission confirms he was the son of Jane O’Neill, and the family lived at 151 Taranaki Street.
When he completed his schooling, Patrick found work as a driver for Munt, Cotterell & Co. A large transport and cartage company, when the First World War broke out, they became involved in transporting supplies to the military camp at Trentham. Because of this connection, many of the company’s workers – Patrick included – enlisted.
Patrick’s service papers show that he joined up 22nd August 1916. His medical confirms that he was 5ft 4.5ins (1.64m) tall and had fair hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.
After his training at Trentham, Private O’Neill’s unit – the New Zealand Machine Gun Corps – left Wellington for Europe. After a week’s break in Simon’s Town, South Africa, their ship – the Walmer Castle – arrived in Devonport, Devon, on 27th March 1917. During the second part of the voyage, Patrick was admitted to the ship’s hospital, for an infestation of pubic lice.
The voyage from New Zealand to Britain had taken nearly three months, so when the regiment finally arrived at their camp in Sling, Wiltshire, it must have been something of a relief. For Private O’Neill, however, it marked the beginning of a regular pattern of misdemeanours.
In April 1917, Patrick moved to a base in Tidworth. A matter of weeks later, he went AWOL, and forfeited three days’ pay as a result. Private O’Neill was then sent to Grantham, Lincolnshire, where the ANZAC united had their machine gun training base. Over the next two months, he went AWOL on four separate occasions, resulting in him losing a total of 10 days’ pay and, for the final absence, 96 hours’ detention.
Private O’Neill disappearances seem to have been those of a lad about town: a couple of days after his final return, he was admitted to the venereal section of the camp hospital in Grantham. His condition – and probably his behaviour – was such that he was transferred back to Wiltshire, and admitted to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital near Codford.
Private O’Neill was not done, however. On 6th December 1917, and having been discharged back to his unit just a day before, he went AWOL again, this time in spectacular fashion. He was arrested by military police in Edinburgh on 14th January 1918. Taken in handcuffs back to Codford, he forfeited 71 days’ pay – plus a 2s fine for his arrest – and punished with 90 days in the cells.
Patrick’s imprisonment began on the 1st March 1918, but it was a sentence he would not complete. On 16th May, he was taken from his cell and admitted to the camp hospital, once again to the venereal section. Less than a week later, he was dead, having suffered an embolism. Private O’Neill was 30 years of age when he passed, on 21st May 1918.
The body of Patrick Thomas O’Neill was laid to rest in the extension to St Mary’s Church, Codford, not far from the base in which he had been incarcerated and hospitalised.
Charles John Harvey was born in Nelson, New Zealand, on 30th May 1892. Little information is available about his early life, but documents give his parents as George and Eleanora Harvey.
Charles was working as a general labourer when war broke out, and was called upon to play his part on 19th October 1916. Attached to his country’s Canterbury Regiment, his medical report showed that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, and weighed 11st 2lbs (70.8kg). An Anglican, he was recorded as having dark brown hair, blue eyes and a dark complexion. He was noted as having no vaccination marks.
This fact that Private Harvey hadn’t been vaccinated would come back to haunt him. Sent to an army camp in Trentham, near Wellington, within a matter of weeks he was hospitalised with measles. He remained admitted until 13th December 1916, when he was discharged back to his unit.
It was not until 2nd April 1917, that Private Harvey would set sail for Britain. The journey from Wellington to Devonport would take ten weeks, and Charles was marched in to camp at Sling, Wiltshire, on 10th June that year.
Assigned to the 2nd Company of the 2nd Battalion, Private Harvey finally arrived in France on 27th August 1917. He served on the Western Front for a couple of months, before falling ill again. This time it was influenza that had incapacitated him, and he was admitted to a hospital in Le Tréport for a month while he received treatment.
Charles’ recovery was to be a slow one and, in the end, he was medically evacuated to Britain for ongoing medical support. By February 1918, he had spent time in four different hospitals and, intriguingly, had forfeited three days’ pay for going AWOL while a patient in a medical facility in Hornchurch, Essex. By the start of April 1918, Private Harvey was discharged to the ANZAC camp in Codford, Wiltshire.
His health issues were not over, however, and, on 21st April, Charles was taken in to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital in near the Codford camp. He was suffering from acute nephritis, and this would ultimately prove fatal. Private Harvey died on 7th May 1918: he was 25 years of age.
The body of Charles John Harvey was laid to rest in the graveyard extension of St Mary’s Church, Codford.
Thomas Patrick Perwick was born in Balfour, a town on New Zealand’s South Island, on 19th August 1889. There is little information available about his early life, but his parents were Australian Alfred Perwick and his Irish-born wife, Catherine.
When Thomas completed his schooling, he took up agricultural work, and was working as a farmer when he received the call up to join the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
Private Perwick’s service records show that he enlisted on the 18th October 1916. Standing 5ft 10ins (1.78m) tall, he weighed 11st (69.9kg). His medical report shows that he had light brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion. The papers also note Thomas’ religion as Roman Catholic.
Sent to Trentham for training, Private Perwick would be assigned to the New Zealand Otago Regiment. His unit left Wellington on 15th February 1917, making the ten-week voyage to Britain. Thomas disembarked in Devonport, Devon, on 2nd May, and was marched in to camp in Sling, Wiltshire, the same day.
Private Perwick was attached to the 2nd Battalion, and was sent to France on 9th June. Straight into the fray, his unit fought at Messines, but was wounded in the head and arm during fighting at Passchendaele. Medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, he was admitted to hospital in Brockenhurst, Hampshire, before being moved back to the Wiltshire ANZAC camps at Sling and Tidworth.
Thomas was discharged to duty on 7th January 1918, but was not out of the woods. He fell ill with mumps, and was sent to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital in Codford, Wiltshire, for treatment. While admitted, he contracted tuberculosis, and, over the next four months, his health deteriorated. Private Perwick’s body finally succumbed on 4th May 1918: he was 28 years of age.
Thousands of miles from his home, Thomas Patrick Perwick was laid to rest in the graveyard extension of St Mary’s Church, Codford, not far from the hospital in which he had breathed his last.
Francis Kemp Morris was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 29th September 1884. The older of two children, his parents were William and Fanny Morris. London-born Fanny, had been married twice before, and Francis – who was better known as Frank – had two half-siblings from each of those marriages.
There is little information about Frank’s early life. On 22nd March 1910, he married Lavinia Edwards. The couple went on to have three children – Albert, Ivy and Mavis – and Lavinia had had a son, William, two years before their wedding.
Fanny died in February 1915, at the age of 63. Tragically, Lavinia would also pass away in December 1916: she was just 26 years of age. Frank now had found children to raise. He was employed as an engineer, but was called upon to serve his King the following summer.
Assigned to the New Zealand Otago Regiment, Private Morris’ service papers note that he was 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall, and weighed 148kbs (67.1kg). He was recorded as having dark hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion. He had a scar in the middle of his back, and tattoos on both of his forearms and his left knee. Deemed fit for service, Frank was sent to Trentham, near Wellington for training.
On 21st November 1917, Frank’s unit left New Zealand for the ten week voyage to Britain. Arriving in Liverpool, Lancashire, on 8th January 1918, he was marched in to Sling Camp, Wiltshire, the same day, in preparation for his unit’s move to France.
Private Morris, however, would not spend any time fighting the enemy. On 12th April 1918, he was admitted to a military hospital in Tidworth, Wiltshire, suffering with hypertrophy of the tonsils. The following day he was moved to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital near Codford with gonorrhoea. Over the coming days he contracted bronchitis, and this would be the condition that ultimately claimed his life. Frank died on 20th April 1918, at the age of 33 years old.
Thousands of miles from home, Francis – Frank – Kemp Morris was laid to rest in the graveyard extension to St Mary’s Church, Codford, not far from the hospital in which he had spent the last few weeks of his life.
Frank’s next of kin was noted as a friend, E Biddle, while his war pension was given to Henry Holbrook of St Mary’s Industrial School, Auckland, the guardian of the now orphaned children.
The early life of John Charleston is a challenge to unpick. Later documents confirm his parents as being John and Clare Charleston from Cardiff, Glamorganshire, although there are no baptism or census records to provide additional detail.
Much of the information about John’s life comes from his New Zealand Expeditionary Force service papers. These confirm that he was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, on 1st April 1887. The document suggests that he had spent nine years in the Royal Navy, and that, at the point he enlisted, on 19th September 1916, he was working for the shipping company Shaw, Savill & Albion.
By this point, John was living in Wellington, New Zealand, and had been there for at least a decade. He had married Mary Agnes Sykes in the city on 6th February 1906, and they had four children: Clarence, Phyllis, Arthur and Kenneth.
John joined the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, and was passed as medically fit: his medical noted he was 5ft 2.5ins (1.59m) tall, with brown hair, grey eyes, and a fresh complexion.
Rifleman Charleston spent the next three months training at barracks in Trentham. This time was not without incident, however, and he spent two separate period in hospital – for a growth on his tongue in October 1916, and appendicitis a month later. By the middle of January, however, his unit boarded HMNZT 75 bound for Britain.
The journey back to the UK took ten weeks, and it would not be until 28th March 1917 that Rifleman Charleston marched into Sling Camp in Wiltshire. He would remain there for two months as preparations were made to go to France. During this time, John went AWOL for three days. On his return he was confined to barracks for a week, and docked that three days’ pay.
Rifleman Charleston’s unit arrived in France on 26th May 1917. John, however, would not see much, if any, fighting. Within a couple of days he was admitted to hospital with syphilis, a condition which would keep recurring over the coming months. John was sent back to Britain, spending four separate periods of time receiving treatment over the next eight months.
John’s last admission was in the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital in Codford, Wiltshire, on 23rd January 1918. This time, his condition would prove to be too severe. Rifleman Charleston passed away from syphilitic meningitis on 15th March 1918: he was a fortnight short of his 41st birthday.
The body of John Charleston was laid to rest in the graveyard extension of St Mary’s Church, Codford, not far from where he had breathed his last.
Harry Mildenhall was born in the autumn of 1873 in Eton, Buckinghamshire. The third of six children, his parents were Henry and Harriet Mildenhall. Henry was a groom, and the family lived on first on Mill Lane, before moving to Alma Road in nearby Boveney, by the time of the 1891 census.
The next census return, taken in the spring of 1901, recorded Harry as having left home. Initially apprenticed to house painter Glen Rowland, the document found him as boarding with his employer at 1 Thames View, Clewer, on the outskirts of Windsor, Berkshire.
It was not long before Harry would set out on his own. On 14th April 1906, he was living on Speedwell Street, Oxford. It was on that day that he married Annie Berridge in the parish church. Seven years her new husband’s junior, Annie was a labourer’s daughter, with a history of her own:
Annie Berridge (19), domestic servant, Peterborough, was charged with obtaining 4s. by false pretences from Martha Withers on Feb. 4th. The evidence showed that Berridge had been residing with Mrs Knighton of Wellington-street, who was known to Mrs Withers. On Monday week she visited the latter’s house at Oundle-road and stated that Mrs Knighton wanted to borrow 6s. In consequence Mrs Withers gave her 4s., but afterwards discovered that Mrs Knighton had never sent for the money. Accused pleaded guilty, electing to be dealt with summarily. The Bench gave defendant a chance to retrieve her character by dealing with her ad a first offender and binding her over to come up for judgment when called upon.
[Peterborough Standard: Saturday 16th February 1901]
But Annie was not done with the law just yet:
Annie Berridge (19), single soman, of no fixed abode, was charged with stealing from 11, City-road, a pair of shoes, value 4s. 6d., the property of Elizabeth Ryall, on the 24th. She was further charged with stealing from 7, Perseverance Cottages, Star-lane, money to the amount of 1s., the property of Ethel Norman, on the 18th. In the first care Elizabeth Ryall stated that accused asked for lodgings. She stayed one day and went out the following morning. As accused did not return witness looked round and missed a pair of shoes (produced), an old pair being left in their place. Detective-Sergeant Smith stated that he saw accused in Broadway on the 25th wearing the shoes missed by the previous witness. Accused, who cried bitterly, elected to be dealt with summarily, and pleaded guilty. The Chief Constable stated that a fortnight ago the accused was before the Bench and was then bound over to be of good behaviour. The Bench retired, and on their return into Court the Chairman stated that it appeared leniency was no good. That had been tried a fortnight previously, and a sentence of two months’ imprisonment would now be passed. The second charge was not proceeded with.
[Peterborough Standard: Saturday 2nd March 1901]
The 1902 census, taken just a month later, recorded Annie’s fate: she was imprisoned in Northampton Prison. Meeting Harry may have been what helped Annie back on the rails. After their wedding the couple took rooms at 6 Mill Street, Kidlington, Oxfordshire, and went on to have three children: Edward, Albert and Annie.
War came to Europe in the summer of 1915, and, despite his age, Harry would step up to play his part. He enlisted in the Army Service Corps on 16th September 1915, his papers confirming that he was of Church of England by faith, and was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall.
Private Mildenhall was sent to France within a fortnight of enlisting, although his exact role is unclear. He certainly remained overseas until April 1917, when he returned home for three months. He returned to the fray in July 1917, transferring to the Labour Corps.
Harry next returned to Britain in May 1918. By this point, however, he had fallen ill, and was admitted to Station Road Hospital in Gillingham, Dorset, suffering from bronchitis. Any treatment proved to be too little, too late: Private Mildenhall died from heart failure at 8:15pm on 16th May 1918, at the age of 44 years old.
The body of Harry Mildenhall was laid to rest in Gillingham Cemetery, not far from the hospital where he had breathed his last.
Of Annie there is no further record. The 1921 census records the three children boarding with separate families: Edward and Albert were living with the Bowd family at 35 Gracious Street, Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire. Annie, meanwhile, was living with Joseph and Harriett Wing, just around the corner from her brothers at 5 Whitmore Street. The census records note that the children’s father was dead, but their mother alive.
Death and Service 