Tag Archives: 1918

Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Leading Seaman, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, Scotland, story, war

Leading Seaman Arthur Read

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Leading Seaman Arthur Read

Arthur William Read was born on 5th February 1886 in Lyndhurst, Hampshire. The fourth of nine children, he was one of five sons to James and Mary Read. James a builder’s labourer-turned-yardman, although his son wasn’t to follow in his father’s footsteps.

Instead, Arthur rook on work as a baker’s boy, but this was not enough for him. He sought a career at sea and, on 10th April 1901, he took a job in the Royal Navy. Given the rank of Boy 2nd Class because of his age, he was sent to HMS St Vincent, the shore-based training establishment in Devonport, Devon. Over the next eighteen months he learnt the tools of his trade, and was promoted to Boy 1st Class after just ten months.

On 5th February 1904, Arthur turned 18, and came of age. Now able to formally enlist in the Royal Navy, he took that opportunity, and was given the rank of Ordinary Seaman. His service papers show that he was 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall, with light brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.

At this point, Ordinary Seaman Read was serving on board the battleship HMS Irresistible. She would be his home for two years and, just a couple of weeks before changing vessels, he was promoted to Able Seaman.

Arthur would serve up to and during the First World War. He was assigned to a total of seven ships after the Irresistible, returning to what would become his home port, HMS Victory in Portsmouth, Hampshire, in between voyages. His character was regularly noted as being very good, while his ability was repeatedly found to be superior. By 1st October 1915, with war raging across Europe, he was promoted again, to the rank of Leading Seaman.

Away from his seafaring, Arthur had found love. In the last quarter of 1909 he married Alice Philpott. Sadly, details about her have been lost to time, but the couple would go on to have two children – Ivy and Gladys.

When war came to Europe, Arthur’s younger brother Harry stepped up to serve. He enlisted in the Middlesex Regiment, and was assigned to the 12th Battalion. Private Read was caught up in fighting on the Western Front, and was killed in action on 25th April 1916. He is buried in Bronfay Farm Military Cemetery, in Bray-sur-Somme, Picardie.

Leading Seaman Read, meanwhile, was continuing his naval career. From November 1916 he was assigned to the light cruiser HMS Birkenhead. Used to patrol the North Sea, she had come away from the Battle of Jutland unscathed.

As the war entered its closing months, Arthur’s health was becoming impacted. Suffering from diabetes, he was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Edinburgh in summer of 1918. The condition was to better him, however, and he passed away on 10th August: he was 31 years of age.

The body of Arthur William Read was taken back to Hampshire for burial. He was laid to rest in Lyndhurst Cemetery.

After her husband’s death, Alice was left to raise two children under 5 years old. Unable to do this without support, on 8th July 1920, she married Jack White. A Chief Petty Officer in the Royal Navy, it is unclear whether his path had ever crosser her late husband’s. The following year’s census found her and her two daughters living in a house on Clarence Road in Lyndhurst: her husband was away at sea.

Leading Seaman Arthur Read
(from ancestry.co.uk)

Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Essex, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, story, war

Able Seaman Isaac Veal

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Able Seaman Isaac Veal

Isaac Veal was born on 18th November 1874, the seventh of eight children to Joseph and Frances Veal. When he was born, his parents were the publicans at the Waterloo Arms in Lyndhurst, Hampshire, and this is the town in which they would raise their family.

Frances died in 1890, and by the following year’s census, Joseph had stepped back from being a landlord, he was living with three of his children on a farm to the north of the town centre. Now employed as a domestic gardener, Isaac was working with him.

Isaac sought bigger and better things, however, and, on 21st December 1891, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. Intriguingly, though, he gave his date of birth as 10th July 1875. Below the age to formally sign up, he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and was sent to HMS St Vincent in Devonport, Devon, for training. He remained on board for the next two years, rising to Boy 1st Class in March 1893.

On 26th August 1893, Isaac was promoted to Ordinary Seaman: this would normally mark a boy’s coming of age, but the date doesn’t match Isaac’s given date of birth, or his actual one. It is likely, therefore, that his true age had become known.

Ordinary Seaman Veal’s service documents confirm that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, with auburn hair, brown eyes and a fair complexion. He signed up for a period of twelve years and, during that time, he would serve on a total of eleven ships. Isaac travelled the world, returning to HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, in between voyages.

On 11th March 1895, Isaac was promoted to the rank of Able Seaman, and his annual reviews generally marked him of very good character. From April 1901 he was assigned to the battleship HMS Revenge, and she would remain his home for more than four years. During his time assigned to her his contract came to an end and he immediately re-enlisted.

On 18th October 1909, Isaac married Ethel Maud Astridge, a caretaker’s daughter from Basingstoke, Hampshire. When they wed, Ethel – who was better known by her middle name – was working as a housemaid for a miller in North Stoneham. The couple would go on to have three children – Beatrice, Mary and Florence – and while her husband was away at sea, Ethel lived in their cottage on Queen’s Road in Lyndhurst.

Back at sea, Able Seaman Veal would continue to travel the world. During the second term of his contract with the navy, he was assigned to a further dozen ships. In August 1912, Isaac was assigned to HMS Dolphin, the shore base in Gosport, Hampshire, which was the home of the Royal Navy Submarine Service. Over the next five years he would split his time between Dolphin and HMS Maidstone. The submarine depot ship, which operated out of Harwich, Essex, would be his home for the majority of the First World War. Able Seaman Veal’s commitment to the navy was being recognised, as was his ability, which was recorded as superior in each of his annual reviews from 1911 onwards.

As the conflict entered its closing months, Isaac’s health was becoming impacted. In the spring of 1918, he was admitted to the sick quarters in Shotley – just across the river from Harwich – suffering from pernicious anaemia and rheumyalgia. The combination of conditions would prove fatal: Isaac passed away on 11th April 1918, at the age of 43 years old.

The body of Isaac Veal was taken back to Hampshire for burial. He was laid to rest in Lyndhurst Cemetery, just a few minutes’ walk from his family home. Conveyed to the cemetery in a motor ambulance van, he funeral was supported by a firing party from the local Bombing School Camp, tributes including “a token of respect from the men of the 8th and 9th Submarine Flotillas.” [Hampshire Advertiser – Saturday 20 April 1918]

After the death of her husband, Maud remained living in Myrtle Cottage, the family’s home for the rest of her life. The 1921 census recorded her as being an apartment House Keeper, while the 1939 Register noted that both she and her daughter Florence, were carrying out unpaid domestic duties.

This latter document identifies three boarders to Myrtle Cottage, including Maud’s younger sister Thirza.

Ethel Maud Veal died on 17th October 1949, at the age of 62. She was buried in the family plot in Lyndhurst Cemetery, reunited with her husband Isaac after more than 30 years.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Kent, photography, Royal Navy, Ship's Steward, story, Suffolk, war

Ship’s Steward Archibald Wright

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Ship’s Steward Archibald Wright

Archibald Thomas Victor Wright was born on 3rd August 1883 in Portsmouth, Hampshire. The second of six children – all boys – his parents were George and Alice Wright. George was a gunner and lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and the seafaring life was an obvious choice for his son to follow as well.

Archibald joined the Royal Navy as a Ship’s Steward Boy on 14th September 1898. Just fifteen years old, he was too young for formally enlist but was sent to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, for his training.

Over the next three years, Archibald learnt the tools of his trade. He moved between establishments, from HMS Boscawen in Portland, Dorset, to HMS Excellent back in in Portsmouth. It was while on board the battleship HMS Glory, however, that he came of age, and was formally enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Ship’s Steward Assistant. His service records note that, on turning eighteen, he was 5ft 2in (1.58m) tall, with brown hair, dark brown eyes and a fresh complexion.

Ship’s Steward Assistant Wright’s contract was for twelve years, and during this time he would travel the world. By the summer of 1908 he had served on nine ships, returning to naval bases in Kent and Hampshire between voyages. On 15th June 1908 he was promoted to Acting Ship’s Steward, and just a few weeks later, he got married.

Ellen Osborne was born in Southampton just a month or so after her new husband. The daughter of a house furnisher’s clerk, by the time of the 1901 census she was employed as a boarding school teacher. After the couple married, she moved to Kent to be close to the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham (also known as HMS Pembroke), where Archibald would more frequently be based. The 1911 census return found her lodging with Lillie Calcutt at 112 Shakespeare Road in Gillingham, Kent.

Archibald’s career, meanwhile, was continuing apace. On 24th September 1909 he was promoted to Ship’s Steward proper, and in August 1913, when his original term of service came to an end, he quickly renewed it. By now, his service records show that he had had a few tattoos added to his arms: a girl on his right arm, a dragon on his upper left, and two cockerels on his lower left arm. Now 30 years of age, he stood 6ft tall (1.83m) tall, and, intriguingly, his eyes were now recorded as being blue.

Ship’s Steward Wright’s career trajectory does not seem to have been without its hiccups, however. Where his annual review up until 1909 have consistently given his character as very good, from hereon in, it dipped to just good. His ability also began to vary, from very good in 1909, to superior for the following couple of years, to just satisfactory in 1913 and 1915.

Archibald spent the last few years of the war split between HMS Pembroke and HMS Ganges – the training base just outside Ipswich, Suffolk. In January 1918, he was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham, following an epileptic fit. This was to prove fatal, and he passed away on 15th January. He was 34 years of age.

Interestingly, Ship’s Steward Wright’s pension ledger gives a damning insight into his health and mental well-being at the time of his passing. It noted the cause of his death as epilepsy aggravated by alcoholism, adding that the disease was neither contracted on nor aggravated by [active service], but due to his own serious negligence or misconduct.

Archibald Thomas Victor Wright was laid to rest in the military section of Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, not far from the dockyard he had called home.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Naval Instructor, photography, Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Navy, story, Surrey, war

Naval Instructor George Carter

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Naval Instructor George Carter

George Leslie Lewis Carter was born at the start of 1891 in New Cross, Kent. The oldest of three children, his parents were laundry managers William and Isabel Carter.

The Carters’ work seemed to take them across South London and the 1891 census found them living in Hammersmith. George’s two siblings had been born by this point, one in Gravesend, Kent, the other in Richmond, Surrey.

By 1911, William and Isabel had moved the family to Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey. That year’s census recorded them as living at 142 London Road, which was noted as being a 12-roomed property. The couple were managing a laundry – possibly living in at the laundry itself. George was recorded as being a university student, while his younger brother Lionel was at school. The family also had a housekeeper, Frances Stoke, living with them.

When George finished his studies, he found employment as an Assistant Paymaster with the Royal Naval Reserve. On 15th February 1916, he married Ada Ritchie. She was a merchant’s daughter from Long Ditton, Surrey, and the couple exchanged vows in her local parish church.

At this point, George’s trail goes cold. He became attached to the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Devon – also known as HMS Pomone – and took on the role of Naval Instructor. It is unclear what type of instructing he was doing, but it seems likely to have been connected with the administration or financial part of the Royal Navy.

The funeral of Naval Instructor George Leslie Lewis Carter, Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, who died on Monday from pneumonia following an attack of influenza, took place on Wednesday morning…

The mourners were Mrs Carter (widow), Mrs Carter, Surbiton (mother), Mr Carter (brother), and Mr Jamieson Ritchie, London (brother-in-law)…

[Dartmouth & South Hams Chronicle: Friday 2nd August 1918]

Naval Instructor Carter was 27 years of age when he died on 29th July 1918. The newspaper article’s distinction between Ada and Isabel would suggest that Ada may have been living in Dartmouth at the time as well.

George Leslie Lewis Carter was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Clement’s Church in Dartmouth, Devon.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Flight Cadet, Great War, history, photography, Royal Air Force, story, war, Wiltshire

Flight Cadet Ernest Tracey

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Flight Cadet Ernest Tracey

Flt-Cadet Ernest Osborn Tracey, RAF, who died on Friday, the result of injuries sustained through a collision in the air when undergoing his final training, was the only son of Rev. HF and Mrs Tracey, of Dartmouth. He was born in Oct. 1899, at St Saviour’s Vicarage, of which church his father was vicar for 23 years, retiring from the living in 1913 in order to take up clerical duties in New Zealand. Mr Tracey was educated at Blundell’s, where he held a house master’s scholarship. When he left in the middle of last year he was the winner of the Coles’ prize for science; was one of the shooting VIII, of which he had his cap and colours; a member of the Upper Sixth, the OTC, and he had also won the first prize for drawing. On leaving Blundell’s he obtained a cadetship at Woolwich, and was transferred to the RAF.

[Western Morning News: Tuesday 4th June 1918]

Ernest Osborn Tracey was born in Dartmouth, Devon, on 25th October 1899, and was baptised in his father’s church six weeks later. The younger of two children to Reverend Henry and Alice Tracey, he gave up his schooling to enlist in the Royal Flying Corps on 12th November 1917.

When the Royal Air Force was formed the following April, Flight Cadet Tracey automatically transferred across. Training to be a reconnaissance pilot, Ernest would have cut a dashing figure, standing 6ft 1in (1.85m) tall. He was based at Yatesbury Airfield in Wiltshire, and was learning to fly a BE2, twin seater biplane.

At 8:30pm on 31st May, his aircraft collided with another, sending Ernest’s machine spinning into a nosedive. He crashed into the ground and was killed instantly.

The body of Ernest Osborn Tracey was taken back to Devon for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Clement’s Church, Dartmouth.

Ernest’s will gave his mother, Alice, as his beneficiary. The newspaper report suggests that Henry had travelled to New Zealand to tend a new flock there, and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records him as being “Chaplain to the Forces” and Vicar of Dartmouth.

It certainly seems that any time spent in New Zealand was limited. By the time of the 1921 census, Reverend Tracey had found a new posting, in the Staffordshire village of Gentleshaw. The same census return found Alice staying with their daughter, Rosamond, and her family, in Totnes, Devon.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Devon, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, injury, Lance Corporal, photography, Private, Scotland, story, Suffolk, war, West Midlands

Corporal Stanley Vinton

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Corporal Stanley Vinton

Stanley William Vinton was born on 30th April 1898 in Dartmouth, Devon. The second of eight children, his parents were William and Kate. William was an outfitter’s assistant, and by the time of the 1911 census, the family of ten were living in a four-roomed cottage on South Ford Road.

When he finished his schooling, Stanley was apprenticed to a shipwright. Away from work, he volunteered with the Dartmouth Cadet Company, and was drawn towards an army career. On 25th May 1914, he enlisted, joining the 7th (Cyclist) Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment. His service records show that he gave his age as 17 years and four months old. He was 5ft 6.5ins (1.69m) tall, and weighed 154lbs (69.9kg). Private Vinton was of good physical development and had good eyesight.

Stanley was formally mobilised on 5th August 1914. He remained on home soil for the next three years, primarily because soldiers were unable to fight on the Western Front until they turned 19 years of age. During this time, he appears to have impressed his superiors: in July 1916 he was promoted to Lance Corporal, and just four months later he rose to full Corporal.

In July 1917, Stanley’s chance to see some action arrived, when he was posted to the 2nd Battalion, and sent overseas. This move came with a caveat, however, and he reverted to the rank of Private. It was a challenging time for the regiment, and Stanley quickly found himself in the thick of it at Passchendaele.

On 30th November 1917, after four months on the Western Front, Private Vinton’s luck came to end. Caught up in the fighting, he was wounded in his left thigh by shrapnel and the fingers of his left hand by a gun shot wound. He was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and admitted to the Edinburgh War Hospital in Bangour.

Thankfully, the injury to Stanley’s hand was minimal, but his leg took longer to heal, and he remained in hospital for more than two months. When he was discharged, Private Vinton was transferred to the regiment’s command depot in Sutton Coldfield. In March 1918, he was promoted to Corporal, but his injured leg was still causing him discomfort. In the end, he was reassigned to a munitions works in Lowestoft, Suffolk, and this is where he would spend the remainder of the year.

Stanley’s constitution was weakened by this point, and that winter, he contracted influenza. The condition was to prove fatal, and he passed away on 2nd December 1918. He was just 20 years of age.

The body of Stanley William Vinton was taken back to Devon for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Clement’s Church, Dartmouth, high above the town’s centre, but within walking distance of his grieving family’s home.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, Kent, photography, Royal Garrison Artillery, story, war

Gunner William Foxworthy

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Gunner William Foxworthy

William George Foxworthy was born in Dartmouth, Devon early in 1880. The middle of five children, his parents were William and Mary Foxworthy. William Sr (whose full name was William George Foxworthy, and who was known by his middle name) was a house painter, but when he finished his schooling, William Jr found work as a boat builder.

The 1901 census found the family living in a small house on Crowther’s Hill, to the Dartmouth town centre. The cottage would have been cramped, but there were five wages coming in from George, William and William’s siblings.

William does not appear on the 1911 census, and it seems that he took the step from building boats to sailing on them. When war broke out, he was quick to step up and play his part, enlisting in Exeter on the 22nd October 1914. While he had previously been a volunteer in the Devonshire Regiment, William was assigned to the Royal Garrison Artillery.

Gunner Foxworthy’s service records show that he was 5ft 4.5ins (1.64m) tall, and weighed 121lbs (54.9kg). He was noted as having brown hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion. Deemed fit for military service, he was packed off to a base in Sheerness, Kent.

William spent the next year on the north Kent coast, before being reassigned. By 1st November 1915 he was on the Front Line, and remained in France until the following June.

In the spring of 1916, Gunner Foxworthy fell ill. He contracted tuberculosis, and this was to dog him for the rest of his life. The contagious nature of the condition meant that he was no longer fit for military service, and he was medically discharged on 11th July 1916.

The death occurred on Tuesday of last week at Roseville Street, of Mr William George Foxworthy, second son of Mr and Mrs Foxworthy, after a long and painful illness. In 1914 deceased joined the [Royal Garrison Artillery] as a gunner, and saw much fighting around Ypres in the winter of 1915-16, during which time he contracted the disease which has now terminated fatally. This is the second son Mr and Mrs Foxworthy have lost in the war, their youngest boy having been killed some two months ago. Great sympathy has been shown the parents in their second bereavement.

[Dartmouth & South Hams Chronicle:  Friday 20th December 1918]

William George Foxworthy was 38 years of age when he died on 10th December 1918. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Clement’s Church in his home town, Dartmouth.

William’s younger brother, Louis Henry Foxworthy, was a Corporal in the 9th (Service) Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment. He served on the Western Front as well and, in September 1918, he was caught up in the fighting in St Riquier, near Abbeville. Corporal Foxworthy was killed in action on 8th October 1918: he was 31 years of age.

Louis’ body was not recovered, and he is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois British Memorial in Harcourt, France.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Deck Hand, Devon, Great War, history, Merchant Navy, Middlesex, photography, story, war

Deck Hand James Lineham

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Deck Hand James Lineham

A verdict of drowned was returned at the inquest at Dartmouth on Saturday evening on James Lineham (18), a seaman, whose body was recovered from the sea. Lineham was bathing in Dartmouth harbour nine days ago. He called for help, and a comrade with him caught him by the hair, but could not retain his hold. The skipper found the body drifting towards the ship on Saturday.

[Western Times: Tuesday 13th August 1918]

Beyond the newspaper report on James Lineham’s death, there is tantalisingly little information about him or his life. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission confirm he was a Deck Hand in the Mercantile Marine Reserve, and that he was assigned to the HM Drifter Niedra.

James’ pension record add a little more light and a little more confusion to the matter. This names Miss Beatrice Lineham as his dependant, and confirms she was in the care of Mrs Buchly of 22 Vera Road Fulham.

The document has another name on it, written in red, that of a Acting Corporal Thomas Lineham of the Army Service Corps, who died from disease on 7th February 1917. The word daughter is also written in red, so it would seem that Beatrice was Thomas’ child, and potentially James’ niece.

Frustratingly, Thomas’ service number is the same as Deck Hand Lineham’s so it is not possible to trace any more information about his army service.

A more general search of census records draws a blank too: there is no combination of James and Thomas Lineham, with or without Beatrice, in the Fulham area in the 1901 or 1911 records.

It would seem, therefore, that the life of Deck Hand James Lineham , who drowned in the River Dart on 2nd August 1918, is destined to remain lost to time. His secrets were buried with him in St Clements’ Churchyard, Dartmouth, Devon.

Able Seaman, Berkshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, Hampshire, history, injury, Leading Seaman, London, photography, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, story, Surrey, war

Leading Seaman Frederick Tillier

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Leading Seaman Frederick Tillier

Frederick Francis Charles Vizzard was born on 12th December 1894 in Ottershaw, Surrey. The younger of two children, his parents were nurseryman Frederick Vizzard and his wife, Frances.

Details of Frederick Jr’s life are a challenge to unpick. Frederick Sr had died in 1909, and is seems that from this point on, he used his mother’s maiden name, Tillier, as his own. He found work as a labourer, and this is what he was doing when war broke out.

By this point Frederick had moved to Reading, Berkshire, and he was living in a small terraced house at 12 Highgrove Street. He enlisted in the Royal Naval Division on 18th October 1915, and was mobilised six months later.

Frederick’s records show that he was 5ft 7.5ins (1.71m) tall, with brown hair and grey eyes. He joined as an Able Seaman, which would suggest some previous experience, although there are no records to confirm this.

Able Seaman Tillier’s time in the navy seems to have been spent on shore. He was initially sent to Portsmouth, Hampshire, where he served on HMS Victory and HMS Excellent. On 19th December 1916, Frederick was reassigned to the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as a Leading Seaman, and sent to HMS President, the unit’s shore base near Tower Bridge in London.

Frederick would remain attached to HMS President for the next couple of years. The next entry on his service papers states that he was admitted to the Cottage Hospital in Dartmouth, Devon, as he was very seriously injured. What those injuries were, and how he received them is unclear, but Leading Seaman Tillier would succumb to them on 26th May 1918. He was 23 years of age.

Frederick Frances Charles Tillier was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Clement’s Church in Dartmouth.

Leading Seaman Tillier
(from ancestery.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Labour Corps, photography, Private, story, unknown, war, Wiltshire, Wiltshire Regiment

Private George Francis

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Private George Francis

George Edward Francis was born at the end of 1871 in the Wiltshire village of Alvediston. The youngest of six children, his parents were Eli and Mary Francis. Eli was an agricultural labourer, and this was the line of work that George would also follow.

Eli died in 1885, and Mary moved in her daughter Elizabeth’s family, and the 1891 census noted that George and his older brother Samuel were also living there. George, now 19 years of age, was employed as a farm labourer.

On 11th July 1906, George married Alice Shirley. A year older than her new husband their wedding certificate notes that she was also born in Alvediston, but that her father wasn’t known. The couple settled in a house in Tollard Royal, a few miles south of their home village.

George stepped up to serve his country when war was declared. Full details of his time in the army are unclear, but he had definitely enlisted by the summer of 1918. He was initially assigned to the Wiltshire Regiment, but was later transferred to the 651st Agricultural Company of the Labour Corps.

The only other record for Private Francis’ time in the army, is a document relating to his passing. This confirms that he died on 28th December 1918 in camp at Norton Bavant, to the east of Warminster, Wiltshire: he was 47 years of age.

It seems likely that Alice was unable to cover the cost of bringing her husband’s body back to Tollard Royal for burial. Instead, George Edward Francis was laid to rest in the graveyard of All Saints’ Church in Norton Bavant.