Tom Mounter was born on 24th March 1890 in the quiet Somerset village of Kingsbury Episcopi. He was one of ten children to Robert and Ellen Mounter. Robert was a farm labourer, while Ellen earned a little more money for the family by stripping withy – or willow – branches for use in a variety of ways, such as basket weaving.
When Tom left school, he followed his father into agricultural work, employed to grow and manage the withy fields. In April 1911, he married Ellen Talbot, a farm labourer’s daughter from the village. The couple went on to have three children, Frederick, Martha and Horatio.
When war came to Europe, Tom stepped up to play his part. On 14th December 1916, he joined the Royal Navy, along with four others from the village.
Tom’s service records show that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. Stoker 2nd Class Mounter was initially sent to HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport, for training, before being assigned to the cruiser HMS Ariadne on 31st March 1917.
The Ariadne had been converted into a minelayer that year, and worked in the English Channel. On 26th July 1917, she was torpedoed by the German submarine UC-65, and sunk, with the loss of all 38 hands, including Stoker Mounter. He was just 27 years of age.
Tom Mounter’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful Kingsbury Episcopi Cemetery, next to George Bonning, who had enlisted on the same day as him, and who had died six months before.
The local newspaper, when reporting on Stoker Mounter’s funeral, noted that he was “the seventeenth Kingsbury Episcopi man who has died for his King and country. It is stated that he had a strong presentiment that he would be killed.” [Langport & Somerton Herald: Saturday 4th August 1917]
Stoker 2nd Class Tom Mounter (from findagrave.com)
George Thomas Bonning – whose forenames seem to have been interchangeable – was born on 9th August 1887 in the Somerset village of Kingsbury Episcopi. His parents were farm workers James and Elizabeth Bonning, and George also entered farm work when he finished school.
In 1909, George marred Olive Harvey, the daughter of another agricultural labourer from the village. The couple set up home together in the village, and went on to have a daughter, Lilian, the following year. It was around the time of their daughter’s birth that George’s mother passed away, happiness and sadness in a short space of time for the young family.
By 1911, George was employed as a carter in a factory, presumably a financial step up from his previous employment on the farm. The money was still not a great deal, however, and Olive was also working, machining gloves at home for the local factory.
War came to Europe, and on 14th December 1916, George enlisted in the Royal Navy, along with four other men from the village, including friend and neighbour Tom Mounter. His service records show that he was 5th 11.5ins (1.82m) tall, with black hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion.
Stoker 2nd Class Bonning was sent to HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport, for training, and it was here that he contracted a chill. Tragically, this developed into pneumonia, and he died in the barracks on 20th January 1917. He was 29 years of age, and had been in service for just 37 days.
George Thomas Bonning’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful Kingsbury Episcopi Cemetery.
Olive never remarried after losing her husband. She remained in the village, raising Lilian and finding occasional employment to help pay the bills. She passed away on 26th March 1968, at the age of 79, and was laid to rest with George, husband and wife reunited after more than fifty years.
Jesse Baber was born on 28th February 1889 and was the youngest of thirteen children to John and Jane Baber. John was a farm labourer from Westcombe in Somerset, and it was in this village that he and Jane raised their family.
Jesse chose not to follow his father and siblings into farm work and instead, on 6th October 1906, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. As he was underage for full service at the time, he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class and sent to HMS Ganges, a training establishment on the outskirts of Ipswich, Suffolk. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall at the time of joining. He was also noted as having dark brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion, with a mole on his right cheek being highlighted as a distinguishing mark.
Boy Baber spent six months at HMS Ganges, and was promoted to Boy 1st Class for his commitment. He was then transferred to HMS London, a dreadnaught battleship for a further six months. During his time on board, Jesse came of age, and was formally enrolled in the Royal Navy with the rank of Ordinary Seaman.
Over the next eight years, Jesse served on eleven different vessels, sailing between his British base of HMS Vivid in Devonport and the East Indies. His service seems to have generally been very good – he was promoted to Able Seaman in February 1909 – although he did spend five days in the brig in July 1912 for reasons unrecorded.
When war broke out, the ships that Able Seaman Baber served on patrolled the waters of the Mediterranean. In the summer of 1916, while on board HMS Dartmouth, he contracted malaria. Jesse was admitted to a hospital in Malta, where he remained for six weeks, and was then sent on leave home to recover.
He arrived at Castle Cary [in Somerset] on the evening of the 23rd August, on a visit to his sister, in a very serious condition, being practically in a state of collapse. Medical attention was immediately obtained, but his condition was hopeless, and he lay in an unconscious condition until Friday September 1st, when he expired, death being due to meningitis, following malaria.
[Shepton Mallet Journal: Friday 15th September 1916]
Jesse Baber was 27 years old when he passed away. He was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Batcombe, not far from where his mother, who was now 74 years old, was living.
William Henry George King was born in the summer of 1898 and was the only child of Henry and Martha King. Henry was a grocer in the Somerset village of Witham Friary, and this is where William was born and raised.
When he left school, William found work as a draper’s assistant in Wells, but when he turned 18, with war raging across Europe, he gave that up to play his part. He enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery in August 1916, and was assigned as a Gunner in the 99th Siege Battery. His service records show that he was 6ft (1.83m) tall and weighed in at 140lbs (63.5kg).
Gunner King received his initial training in Plymouth, but was eventually shipped to France, arriving there in August 1917. He was caught up in a German gas attack at the end of June 1918, and was invalided back to Britain for treatment on 2nd July. He was admitted to the War Hospital in Bradford, but died of a combination of his injuries and the resulting bronchitis on 6th July 1918. He was just 20 years of age.
The body of William Henry George King was brought back to Somerset for burial He was laid to rest in the family plot in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church in his home village of Witham Friary.
Henry George Butcher was born on 29th September 1900, the middle of five children to Henry and Sarah Butcher. Henry Sr was a labourer in a nursery and the family were born and raised in his and Sarah’s home village of Merriott, Somerset.
Henry Jr followed his father into agricultural labouring when he finished school. When war was declared, he was too young to enlist and, seeing his older friends head off to glory, he must have been desperate to play a part before it was all over.
Henry’s chance finally came when, on 2nd September 1918, he joined the Royal Navy. His service records show that he was 5ft 2.5in (1.59m) tall, had brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. As he was under-age when he enlisted, he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and sent off to HMS Powerful, a training ship in Devonport.
Naval and army barracks were crowded places, and brought together boys and men from all over the country in a way that had never happened before. The cramped nature of the billets meant that disease would run rampant once it took hold, and it could prove fatal. In the last week of September 1918, seventeen boys from HMS Powerful died from a combination of influenza and pneumonia and, on Friday 27th, Boy 2nd Class Butcher was to join that list. He was two days from his eighteenth birthday, and had been in the Royal Navy for just 25 days.
Henry George Butcher’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of All Saints’ Church in his home village of Merriott.
John Sherrin was born in Langport, Somerset, in the summer of 1874. The youngest of three children, his parents were Arthur and Elizabeth Sherrin. Arthur was a cowman and farmer, and John was to follow him into agricultural labouring when he left school.
Arthur took the family where the work was: by the time of the 1891 census, they were living in Broadchalke, a village to the west of Salisbury, Wiltshire. Ten years later, the census notes Arthur and Elizabeth living in Dorset, while John was in Swindon, Wiltshire, working on a farm as a butter churner.
John’s father died in 1906, and Elizabeth went to live with her daughter’s family in Devon. The same year, John returned to Somerset, where he married Bessie Kingsbury. She was a labourer’s daughter from Henstridge, who was working as a domestic servant. The couple went on to have four children – Marleen, Arthur, Albert and Grace.
John’s dairy work kept the family moving, and, according to the 1911 census, the Sherrins were living in a five-room cottage in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset.
When war came to Europe, John had turned 39 years old. He did not initially enlist – presumably because of his farm work – and it seems that he was only conscripted in the closing months of the conflict. He was called up to the Royal Defence Corps during the summer of 1918, and was assigned to 254 Company.
Private Sherrin was sent to an army camp in Tidworth, Wiltshire, and it was here that he served through the Armistice. He was waiting to be demobbed in December 1918, when he was admitted to the camp’s hospital. Details of his condition are unclear, but it was in the hospital that he passed away on 17th December 1918. He was 44 years of age.
While her late husband was serving, Bessie had returned to her family in Henstridge, and it was there that John’s body was brought. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Nicholas’ Church in the village.
Herbert John Burgess was born in the spring of 1883 in the Somerset village of Henstridge. He was the only child to Stephen and Sarah Burgess. Stephen was a farm labourer and, by the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved to nearby North Cadbury, where Herbert had also found farm work.
At this point, Herbert’s trail goes cold. None of the Burgesses appear on the 1911 census and, when war broke out, while documents confirm that Herbert enlisted, further details are limited.
Private Burgess joined the Devonshire Regiment, and was assigned to the 12th (Labour) Battalion. The troop was sent to France in June 1916, although it is unclear whether Herbert also went abroad. The next available record for him is that of his passing. He died on 10th February 1918, although, again, the cause and location of his passing is unknown. He was 35 years of age.
Wherever and however Herbert John Burgess died, he was brought back to Somerset for burial. He lies in a quiet corner of the graveyard of St Nicholas’ Church in his home village, Henstridge.
William Stringer was born in Warlingham, Surrey, on 4th December 1885, and was one of nine children to Stephen and Jane Stringer. Stephen was a carter, but is seems that William wanted an escape.
On 18th April 1901, he enlisted in the Royal Navy and, because of his age, he was granted the rank of Boy 2nd Class. He was initially sent to HMS Impregnable, the school ship, and remained there for just over a year, during which his hard work paid off and he was promoted to Boy 1st Class.
His basic training complete, and after a short stint at HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard at Devonport, he was assigned to HMS Collingwood. Over the next couple of years, William served on a couple more vessels and, in 1903, when he came of age, he was formally inducted into the navy, and given the rank of Ordinary Seaman.
William’s service records show that he was 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall, had auburn hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. For distinguishing marks, he was noted as having two dots on his left forearm and scars on his legs.
Now that he was tied to a twelve year contract, Ordinary Seaman Stringer’s seems to have viewed his life in a different light. His ‘very good’ conduct quickly changed to ‘fair’ and, at the end of 1904, he spent two separate stints in the cells, presumably because of his attitude or behaviour.
This shock to the system seems to have been what William needed, however, as in 1905, he took to the new role, and his ratings improved once more. Over the next couple of years, he served on HMS Montagu and HMS Diamond, returning to Devonport in between voyages. In January 1907 he was promoted again, this time to Able Seaman, but, as with the previous promotion, things began to go downhill again.
In March, he spent two weeks in Diamond’s brig, a punishment that was repeated in September. The following month Able Seaman Stringer’s service records not his character as ‘indifferent’ and, the following month he was discharged from the Royal Navy, having refused to work for 42 days.
It was while he was serving on board HMS Diamond that William met Lena Cropp, who was presumably working in one of the ports on the South Coast. She was the daughter of labourer Jesse Cropp and his wife, Philadelphia. When Jesse died in 1897, Philadelphia married bricklayer James Smith, who had boarded with the family for a number of years.
William and Lena had a son, Joseph, on Christmas Day 1907. Now removed from the Navy, William moved his young family back to Surrey, where he found work as a cowman, and Lena took in laundry to bring in an extra income. The couple went on to marry in 1911, and went on to have two further children – Elsie, who was born in 1912, but who died when just a toddler; and Gladys, who was born in the summer of 1918.
When war closed in on Europe, something of a sense of duty must have pulled on William. He enlisted in the summer of 1915, joining the East Surrey Regiment. He seems to have quickly transferred across to the Labour Corps, and arrived in France on 15th July.
It is unclear for how long Private Stringer served in France, but at some point he returned to Britain. In October 1918, he was admitted to the War Hospital in Bath, suffering from stomach problems. His health was to prove his undoing, and he passed away from a biliary calculi peritonitis on 8th October 1918, at the age of 34 years of age.
Finances may have been tight for Lena, as William was buried in the city where he died, rather than being brought back to Surrey, where she was living. Because of this, it is unlikely that he ever met his daughter, who had been born just two months before.
William Stringer was laid to rest in the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Bath.
William’s Pension Ledger notes Lena as his widow, but only mentions one child – Joseph – as a dependent. The document also records him as an illegitimate stepchild, as he had been born a couple of years before the couple married.
The record notes that it, while Joseph’s legitimacy meant he was not eligible for a share of his William’s pension, it had been decided that the basic rate should be provided while he remained in Lena’s care.
William Ernest Fey was born in Harburton, Devon, in the spring of 1889. The oldest of eight children, his parents were John and Margaret Fey. John was a farm labourer and, when he left school, William also took up work on the farm. By the time of the 1911 census he was listed as a horseman.
When was came to Europe, William was one of the first to step up and play his part. He enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment in the autumn of 1914, and was assigned as a Private in the 10th (Service) Battalion.
For part of his training, he was billeted in Bath, Somerset, and it was here, in April 1915, that he contracted meningitis. Private Fey was admitted to the city’s Red Cross Hospital, but the condition was to prove too much. He passed away on 24th April 1915, aged just 26 years of age.
Financial restraints may have limited John and Margaret’s ability to bring their boy back to Devon. Instead, William Ernest Fey was laid to rest in the quiet and picturesque Smallcombe Vale Cemetery on the outskirts of the city where he died.
Kenneth Gordon Harding was born in the autumn of 1896, in the Somerset village of Batheaston. The oldest of nine children, his parents were Lawrence and Fanny Harding. Lawrence was a market gardener when Kenneth was born, but by the time of the 1911 census – and with a growing family to support – he found other employment as a roadman.
When he left school, Kenneth found work as a gardener, but he had his sight set on distant shores. On 25th September 1913 he enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry, determined to see the world. His service records show that he was 5ft 3ins (1.6m) tall, with light hair, blue eyes and a light complexion.
For the duration of his naval career, Private Harding was based out of Plymouth Dockyard, returning there in between each of his voyages. Over the next four years, he served on three different vessels – HMS Heroic, HMS Duke of Edinburgh and HMS Skirmisher. His service records shows that he maintained a satisfactory level of conduct, and that his general character was very good.
By January 1917, Kenneth had fallen ill, and was medically discharged from the army, having contracted tuberculosis. He returned home, but his illness continued to dog him.
On 22nd May 1918, Kenneth’s younger brother, Leonard Harding, who was serving with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, was killed while fighting in France. Private Leonard Harding was just 19 years old. He was laid to rest in the Duhallow ADS Cemetery at Ypres.
With Kenneth’s own health not looking good, his parents must have feared the worst. The worst was to some, sadly, when he breathed his last at home on 29th December 1918. He was just 22 years of age.
Kenneth Gordon Harding was laid to rest in the graveyard of St John the Baptist Church in his home village, Batheaston.
Death and Service 