William Protheroe was born in Rangiora, New Zealand, on 3rd January 1878. One of eleven children, his parents were Welsh-born Alexander Protheroe and his English wife, Mary.
There is little concrete information about William’s early life, but later documentation gives his trade as ‘traveller’, and confirms his marriage to Elizabeth Marshall in 1906, although she had passed away by the summer of 1915.
When the Empire was called upon to support Britain in the First World War, William stepped up to play his part. He enlisted on 14th June 1915, and was initially assigned to the Canterbury Infantry Regiment. His service records confirm that at 36 years of age, he was 5ft 9.5ins (1.77m) tall, and weighed 156lbs (70.8kg). William had brown hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion.
After his initial training, William was sent to Europe. On 18th November 1915, he arrived in Suez, and it was here that he transferred to the New Zealand Army Service Corps as a Driver. By the following spring he was on the move again, and he arrived in France in May 1916.
Driver Protheroe was dispatched to a field hospital, as he had contracted influenza, but was well enough to re-join his unit after a few weeks. December 1916 proved eventful for William. He was admitted to hospital in Wimereux, France, the records for the time confirming that he was suffering from rheumatism. Intriguingly, a corresponding entry advises that ‘Soldier was on duty at time of accident and in no way to blame.’
Medically evacuated to Britain, William was admitted to the No. 1 New Zealand General Hospital in Brockenhurst, Hampshire. He spent the month of January 1917 there, before moving to the ANZAC camp near Codford, Wiltshire.
Driver Protheroe would remain in Codford for the next few months. His health was still causing some concern, however, and he was admitted to the camp hospital on 30th June. William was suffering from nephritis, and this was the condition to which he would ultimately succumb. He passed away on 15th July 1917, at the age of 39 years old.
William Protheroe was laid to rest in the graveyard extension of St Mary’s Church, Codford, Wiltshire, alongside fallen colleagues from his regiment.
The early life of Hubert Naylor is a challenge to piece together. Later documents suggest he was born in Elsley (possibly Ilsley), Berkshire in around 1874.
The first census Hubert appears on dates from 1911. By this time he was living in Bath, Somerset and was employed as a general labourer. The document confirms that he was married to Mary, and had been for some eight years. The couple had four children – Isabella, Hubert Jr, Henry and Catherine – and the family were living at 1 Dover Court, in the Walcot area of the city.
When war broke out, despite his age, Hubert stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps on 27th June 1915. Mary may not have been happy with this turn of events, as she had had two further children – Bertha and Doris – by this point.
Hubert was given the rank of Driver, and was initially posted to the 12th Labour Battalion. Within a year, his unit was in France. He spent the next year overseas, transferring to the Reserve Supply Personnel Depot as a Private in the process.
By the summer of 1917, Hubert’s health was failing. He was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and was admitted to the Bath War Hospital. He passed away from nephritis on 23rd July 1917: he was 42 years of age.
Hubert Naylor was laid to rest in the sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery in Bath, not far from the family home.
Charles Millson was born in Scullcoates, Yorkshire, in the summer of 1897. One of nine children, his parents were called Charles and Eliza. Charles Sr was a general labourer and while still at school, his son found work as a newsboy, hawking papers for a local newsagent.
Sadly, there is little more concrete information about young Charles’ life. When war broke out, he stepped up to enlist, although the exact dates of his service are lost to time. He joined the Royal Field Artillery and, as Driver, was assigned to the 107th Brigade.
By the summer of 1915, Driver Millson was based on Salisbury Plain, near Amesbury, Wiltshire. This is where he was to breathe his last. Charles died on 7th June 1915, through causes unknown: he was just 18 years of age.
It would seem that the Millsons were unable to bring their son back to Yorkshire for burial. Instead Charles was laid to rest in Amesbury Cemetery, not far from where he had passed away.
John McClymont was born in Cowra, New South Wales, Australia, in 1865. Full details of his early life are lost to time, but later documents confirm that his mother was called Sophia.
Most of the information relating to John’s life comes from his army service records. These confirm that he enlisted on 13th September 1915, and that he was assigned to the 8th/20th unit of the 5th Australian Infantry Brigade. He was noted as being a labourer when he joined up, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. The record confirms that he stood 5ft 10ins (1.78m) tall, and weighed 169lbs (76.7kg).
Private McClymont arrived in Egypt in February 1916, and transferred to the 2nd Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force. He was initially based at Tel-el-Kebir camp, close to Cairo. From here on in, he seems to have been beset with poor health, and had numerous hospital admissions for heart ailments and haemorrhoids.
By April 1916, John’s unit had arrived in France, and his commitment to the job was not to go unrewarded. On 13th July 1916, he was appointed to the role of Acting Sergeant, and just three months later, he was reassigned to the 1st Australian Infantry Brigade Headquarters, where he was mustered as a Driver.
He was still battling health issues, however, and, in 18th August 1917, he was admitted to a hospital in Boulogne with heart disease. Within a month, Driver McClymont had been medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and he was taken to Bath War Hospital in Somerset. It was here that he was diagnosed with diabetes, and, having slipped into a diabetic coma, it was here that he passed away, on 9th October 1917. He was 42 years of age.
With all of his family on the other side of the world, John McClymont was laid to rest in the military section of Bath’s Locksbrook Cemetery.
Henry Gibbs was born in Wiveliscombe, Somerset at the start of 1871. The youngest of five children, he was the second son to John and Emma Gibbs. John was a farm labourer, but when he finished his schooling, Henry went in a different direction.
By the time of the 1891 census, Henry was boarding with his sister Lucy and her husband and young son. The extended family were living in Taunton, Somerset, where Henry was employed as a boot and shoemaker. This appears not to have satisfied him, however, and he soon found other work, enlisting in the Royal Field Artillery. While his army records are lost to time, he seems to have spent twelve years in service.
By the early 1900s Henry living back in Somerset, settling in Bishops Lydeard, to the west of Taunton. On 2nd May 1906, he married a young woman called Florence Gange. Fifteen years his junior – she was 20 years old to her husband’s 35, even though the marriage certificate gave his age as 30 – she a labourer’s daughter from the village, who was working at the Lethbridge Arms public house at the time of their marriage. The couple set up home in a small cottage, and went on to have four children: Ernest, Florence, Mabel and Arthur.
Henry’s work seems to have been transient. On his marriage certificate, he was noted as being a groom, but the next census return, taken in 1911, gave his employment as a labourer for a corn miller.
When war came to European shores, despite his growing family, Henry felt the pull to serve once more. He enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps in the summer of 1915, with the rank of Driver. As with his previous time in the army, details are scarce, but Henry seems to have been based in Aldershot, Hampshire, or at least this is where he was based towards the end of the conflict.
Driver Gibbs had become unwell by this point, and he was suffering from oesophageal cancer. He was admitted to the military hospital in Farnham Hill, but was to succumb to the condition. He passed away on 1st September 1918, at the age of 47 years of age.
Henry Gibbs was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St Mary’s Church in his adopted home village, Bishops Lydeard.
Albert Victor Partridge was born in the spring of 1885, in the north Somerset village of Abbots Leigh. The younger of two children, his parents were agricultural labourer James and his laundress wife, Elizabeth.
The family don’t appear on any surviving 1891 census records, but by the next return in 1901, James had been widowed and was living with his two children in Wraxall, near Nailsea. James was working as a carter on a farm, while Albert was employed as a domestic gardener.
Ten years later, and James had also passed away. Albert was now head of the household, and was working as a carter as his father had. Emily was sharing the home, and was employed, in the terminology of the day, as her brother’s housekeeper.
When war broke out, Albert was called upon to play his part. Details of his service are scant, but he joined up as a Driver in the Royal Army Service Corps and was attached to one of the Horsed Transport units. It is unclear whether he served on the home front or overseas, but what records remain suggested that he had enlisted by November 1917.
Driver Partridge was admitted to a hospital in London in May 1918. The only suggestion as to why comes through his Pension Ledger Card, which simply says ‘disease’. The condition was severe enough for him to pass away: Albert died on 24th May 1918, at the age of 32 years old.
Albert Victor Partridge was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful grounds of All Saints’ Church in Wraxall.
Emily disappears from records at this point. She was 38 years old when her brother died, and it is unclear what became of her.
Reginald Cuthbert Langford was born in Frome, Somerset, in the spring of 1899, the youngest of thirteen children to Albert and Charlotte Langford. Albert was a chalk seller turned jobbing gardener, who, by the time of the 1911 census, had moved the family to Bath.
Reginald appears to have helped his father with his work when he finished his schooling, but, during the First World War, he enlisted in the Royal Engineers as a Driver. His service records no longer remain, but a later newspaper report shed some light onto his time in the army: “[He] enlisted when he was just over 16, and went to the Wessex Engineers to Salonica. He returned to England and then went to France with the Glamorgan Engineers.” [Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 16th October 1920]
All did not fare well for Driver Langford: he contracted malaria and dysentery, and a combination of the conditions led to his ultimate discharge from the army. He left the Royal Engineers on 24th June 1919, and returned home to Somerset.
When he had recovered his health, Reginald took up employment as a gardener once more. On September 1920, he was in the employ of a Mr J Milburn, in Bath, when he felt a nail drive through his boot, scratching his foot. The following Tuesday, he visited his doctor – a Mr John Jarvis – complaining that his malaria had returned. According to a later inquest:
[He] did not make any mention of a wound in the foot. On Thursday, at about 10 o’clock, [Jarvis] was asked to go and see Langford, who was in bed. He was covered with a cold sweat, he could speak only with difficulty, and complained that he could not swallow anything, especially the medicine… His limbs were rigid, but he had not all the symptoms of tetanus. [Jarvis] decided to send Langford to the hospital at once, suspecting that he was suffering from tetanus. He did not know till later that there was an injury to [Reginald’s] foot.
Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 16th October 1920
Reginald’s landlady, Amelia Baily, also gave evidence at the inquest:
Langford had lodged with her for about nine months. His inly complaint was of his head when he had malaria… He came home saying his foot was sore and that he had thought it was gathering. He had hot water to soak it, and he did the same the next night, an afterwards sad it was alright… he went to work, but returned at dinner time again complaining of his head and perspiring terribly. He was ill and witness looked after him during the night. He complained of pains in the stomach and aid they were going up to the throat. Next morning [Amelia] sent for the doctor.
Questioned as to the injury to Langford’s foot, [she] said he told her he had a nail enter the toe while he was in the army, and that it was festering again. He wad worn the army boots up to just before he became ill, when he bought new ones.
Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 16th October 1920
Admitted to the Pensions Hospital, Bath, Reginald was to be there only one day. He passed away on 8th October 1920, aged just 21 years old. Medical evidence at the inquest diagnosed tetanus as the cause of his death, but Reginald’s older brother, George, contested this.
George’s challenge was that, having some medical background, he felt that his brother’s death was caused not by tetanus, but by malaria. He was a sufferer himself, and he knew the symptoms. He had examined Reginald’s body, and could not see how the small scratch on his foot could have induced tetanus to the extent of causing his brother’s passing.
The Coroner at the inquest, a Mr F Shum, declined George’s assertion, on the basis that separate medics had determined tetanus as the cause:
“It may not have been from the foot, but the evidence is clear. Dr Jarvis said he formed the opinion before any suggestion was made to him, that the man was suffering from tetanus. He saw the symptoms, and the man was brought here [to the Pensioner’s Hospital]. Two doctors saw him here and came to the same conclusion, and a medical specialist confirmed the diagnosis. Therefore, it is quite clear to me, and my verdict will be that he died from tetanus. It is a very unfortunate thing, and I am sorry for you.
Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 16th October 1920
George’s challenge was as much about the financial aspect as it was his late brother’s wellbeing. Had Reginald’s death been the result of malaria, it could have been attributable to his military service, and therefore any funeral costs – or at least a proportion of them – would have been paid for by the army. As the inquest had identified tetanus as the cause of his passing, however, the family would have to pay for the burial themselves.
Following the inquest, Reginald’s funeral was held: he was laid to rest in the sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath, not far from where his bereaved family still lived.
There are two other intriguing aspects of Reginald’s case.
The first is that of his being awarded a war grave. Amongst other criteria, which can be seen here, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) are responsible for the commemoration of personal who died after they were discharged from a Commonwealth military force, if their death was caused by their wartime service.
Based on the inquest, Reginald’s passing was clearly not – the tetanus having come on after his medical discharge for malaria and dysentery. Technically, therefore, his should not be designated a war grave.
The second confusing thing is that of the date on Reginald’s headstone. The CWGC headstone gives the date of his death as 13th October 1920, as do his grave registration documents. While newspaper reports are not always a reliable source of information, the first media report of the inquest came on Tuesday 12th October.
The Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette article confirms that Dr Jarvis’ visit to Reginald was on Thursday 7th October. He was admitted to hospital straight away, “where he died the following day” [Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 16th October 1920]. This would suggest that Reginald died on Friday 8th October.
While the newspapers do not confirm the date of the inquest, it is likely to have been held soon after Reginald’s passing. The date provided by the CWGC, therefore, looks to be either that of the conclusion of the inquest, or of Reginald’s burial.
The life of Albert Edward Hall is a challenging one to unpick. His headstone, in Bath’s Locksbrook Cemetery, confirms that he was a Driver in the Royal Army Service Corps, and passed away on 15th January 1920.
Driver Hall’s service records confirm that he enlisted in Gloucester on 21th September 1914, at which point he was 45 years of age. He was born in Bristol, stood 5ft 6.5ins (1.69m) tall and weighed 172lbs (78kg). He had blue eyes and brown hair. The only next of kin that Albert recorded were two brothers, Arthur and Alfred, although their addresses were not known.
Driver Hall was sent to France within a couple of weeks of enlisting. He became attached to the 23rd Field Ambulance Unit, and, barring leave, remained on the Western Front for the next four-and-half years. His service appears to have been impeccable, although in August 1918, he docked a week’s pay when he returned back to the unit a day late following a period of leave.
In June 1919, having been back on home soil for a month, Albert was discharged from the army. This seems to have been partially on medical grounds, as his records suggest he was suffering from heart disease.
At this point, Albert’s trail goes cold. He may well have returned to Bristol, but by the start of 1920 it is likely that his health was failing. He was admitted to the Pensioner’s Hospital in Bath, Somerset, and it was here that he breathed his last. He was 50 years of age.
Albert Edward Hall was laid to rest in the sweeping visa on the city’s Locksbrook Cemetery.
The early life of Charles Shipp is a challenge to unpick. Born Charles Morgan in Bath, Somerset, in 1872, his father was also called Charles. He found work as a labourer when he finished school.
Charles sought a life of adventure, however, and on 7th January 1890, he enlisted in the army, joining the South Wales Borderers. Private Morgan’s service records show that he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall and weighed 116lbs (52.6kg). He had brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion, with tattoos of crossed flags, a crown and VR on his left forearm.
Private Morgan spent three years on home soil, and is recorded as being based in North Camp Barracks in Farnborough, Hampshire, in the 1891 census. His battalion was sent to Egypt in December 1892 and spent the next three years overseas, moving to Gibraltar in the spring of 1895. The only details available for his time abroad relate to a couple of hospital admissions – for a fever in Cairo in August 1894, and for gonorrhoea in Gibraltar in the autumn of 1895. He returned to Britain at the end of November that year.
Charles appears to have been based in South Wales when he returned home and, on 20th December 1896, he married Lottie Walters in Llandough Parish Church. Interestingly, while the new bride’s father’s details are recorded – naval pensioner James Walters – Charles’ have been intentionally left blank. This is also the first document on which his surname is recorded as Shipp, so there seems to have been a deliberate distancing from his family at this point.
Charles was still committed to his military career. He served on home soil until January 1897, when he was placed on reserve, having completed seven years’ service. This respite was not to be for long, however, as he was recalled on three years later, and sent to South Africa, to fight in the Second Boer War.
Private Shipp, as he was now known, served in South Africa for more than two years, and was awarded the Johannesburg, Cape Colony, 1901 and 1902 clasps. In August 1902, he returned to Britain, and was formally stood down from army service.
Charles and Lottie moved to Bath, and set up home in a small cottage in Locksbrook Road. They went on to have seven children, all of them girls and, by the time of the 1911 census, Charles was working as a carter for the local gas works. His heart seems always to have been with his military career, however, and, when war broke out in 1915, he saw this as an opportunity to play his part once more.
On 25th October 1915, Charles enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps as a Driver. His was not to be a war fought on home turf, and within a month, he was in the Mediterranean, potentially back in Egypt again. In April 1916, his battalion moved to Salonika, and he spent the next three years in Northern Greece.
Charles contracted malaria in the autumn of 1917, and this resulted in a hospital admission for just over two months. He returned to his unit, but spent another couple of months in a Macedonian hospital the following year when the condition recurred.
Driver Shipp survived the war, and returned to Britain in April 1919. His health was again suffering, and he was formally discharged from the army on medical grounds on 29th April.
At this point, Charles’ trail goes cold. He returned home to Lottie and their daughters, but there is nothing to account for the the last eight months of his life. He passed away on 12th December 1919, at the age of 47 years of age.
Charles Shipp was laid to rest in Bath’s majestic Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from where his family lived.
Zebulon Priddle was born in the autumn of 1876 in Curry Mallet, Somerset. One of ten children, who included Meliam, Cornelius, Absalom, Ebenezer, Lancelot and Jabez, his parents were Robert and Mary Priddle.
Robert was a farm labourer, and his son followed suit at first, but a career away from home beckoned and, on 16th January 1894, he enlisted in the Royal Artillery. Aged just 18 years and 2 months, Zebulon had volunteered in the Somerset Light Infantry, a militia group at that point. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall and weighed 122lbs (55.3kg).
Driver Priddle was based on home soil for eighteen months before his wish for a life of adventure was realised. On 16th September 1894, his battalion set sail for India, and he was to remain there for more than six years. Zebulon returned to Britain in February 1902, where he was placed on reserve status. He completed his twelve years’ service in January 1906, and stepped down from the army.
Britain’s shores could not contain Zebulon, however, and at some point he emigrated to Canada. Little information of his life in North America is available, other than that the move seemed to have provided him with an opportunity to change his name, as in documents from this point on he is known as Robert Priddle.
The next record for Robert is that of his re-enlistment when war broke out. He was living in Winnipeg by this point, and, as he gives his mother, Mary, as his next-of-kin, it seems that he did not marry or have children.
Robert joined up again on 16th December 1914, and was attached to the 9th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry. Promoted to the rank of Sergeant, he arrived back in England in March the following year. His time there was to be brief, however, and within a matter of weeks, Robert arrived on the Western Front.
Over the next six months, Sergeant Priddle’s health suffered significantly, and he had several periods in hospital. Initially suffering from bronchitis, in July 1915 he was medically evacuated to Britain with cardiac angina. He remained in England and, when rheumatism set in in October, he was transferred to reserve status.
Sadly, this was not to be the last time Sergeant Priddle’s health suffered: he was admitted to hospital in Shorncliffe, Kent, with a ruptured aortic aneurysm. He succumbed quickly, passing away on 25th January 1916, at the age of 39 years old.
The body of Robert Priddle was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest under his assumed name, in the peaceful graveyard of St James’ Church in his home village of Curry Mallet.
Death and Service 