Tag Archives: family

Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Berkshire Regiment, Somerset, story, war

Private Arthur Foote

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Private Arthur Foote

Arthur Thomas Foote was born on 18th June 1880 in the Dorset town of Sherborne. One of three children to Jane Foote, his mother married widower James Rose in 1887, giving Arthur a half-sibling. James passed away in 1889, and Jane married another widower – Albin Pitman – and Arthur had a further six siblings and half-siblings.

By this point, the family had moved to Somerset, settling in Compton Pauncefoot. The 1901 census recorded Arthur as having left the family home and he was boarding in nearby Holton. He had, by this time, found work as a carter.

Arthur had met Agnes Wetherall, a tailor’s daughter from the village of Baltonsborough. The couple married in Wells in April 1902, and set up home in nearby Glastonbury. They went on to have two children – Robert, who had been born in 1898, and Lillian, who was born in 1902 – and Arthur continued working as a carter for a miller.

When war broke out, Arthur enlisted. While full details of his service are not available, he joined the Royal Berkshire Regiment as a Private, and was assigned to their Labour Corps.

Robert had also enlisted early on in the war. He joined the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards, and was killed in fighting in Northern France in September 1916. He was awarded the Mons Star, and is commemorated on the memorial at Thiepval.

Arthur survived the war, and returned home in early 1919. He quickly came down with pneumonia, and passed away within a week of his return, on 11th February 1919. He was 38 years old.

Arthur Thomas Foote was laid to rest in a now overgrown plot at the top of Glastonbury Cemetery, walking distance from the family home.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, Suffolk, war

Private Oliver Parsons

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Private Oliver Parsons

Oliver Metford Parsons was born in North Newton, Somerset, on 3rd January 1897. His parents were Thomas and Lily Parsons, and he was one of four children.

Thomas was a carter and labourer on a farm, and this is the trade his son took up when he left school. The 1911 census recorded Oliver as living with the market gardener Edmund Durridge and his family – who lived in the same village – and working as a labourer for them.

Lily had passed away in 1907, so this move may have had something to do with a change in family circumstances – the 1911 census recorded Thomas living in the village with Hannah Parsons, having been married for just a year.

When war came to Europe, Oliver was keen to play his part for King and Country. While full service records are not available, documents confirm that he enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry in the spring of 1917. Private Parsons was assigned to the 7th (Service) Battalion and soon found himself on the Front Line.

While it is not possible to pinpoint exactly where Oliver fought, his battalion fought at the Third Battle of Ypres and, in April 1918 moved to Amiens.

It was in June 1918 that Private Parsons was caught up in a gas attack. He was injured and medically evacuated to England for treatment, where he was admitted to the Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk. Sadly, his injuries proved too severe, and he passed away at the hospital on 10th June 1918. He was just 21 years of age.

Oliver Metford Parsons’ body was brought back to his Somerset home. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter’s Church in North Newton.

Private Oliver Parsons
(from ancestry.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, London, London Regiment, photography, Private, Somerset, story, Sussex, war

Private John Lake

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Private John Lake

John Walker Lake was born in Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the spring of 1892, the only child of estate manager and auctioneer Percy Lake and his wife Elizabeth.

John’s mother passed away in 1900, when he was only eight years old, and details of his early life are hard to come by. However, by the time of the 1911 census, he had left school and enrolled in a mining college in Guston, near Dover, Kent.

When war broke out, John was quick to enlist. He joined the London Regiment on 18th September 1914, and was assigned to the 2nd/23rd Battalion. His service records show that he stood 5ft 8ins (1.72m) tall, had light hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

Private Lake was not to remain in the army for long. Within weeks of joining, he contracted tuberculosis and, on 22nd February 1915, after just 158 days, he was discharged from service as being no longer medically fit for duty.

At this point, John’s trail goes cold. He initially returned to live with his father in Eastbourne. By the autumn of 1918, however, he was in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, probably for health reasons.

The tuberculosis got the better of John Walker Lake, however; he passed away on 20th October 1918, at the age of 26 years old. He was laid to rest in the Milton Road Cemetery in Weston-super-Mare.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Lieutenant, London, photography, Royal Field Artillery, Somerset, story, unknown, war

Lieutenant Cecil Pearse

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Lieutenant Cecil Pearse

Cecil George Lunell Pearse was born in the spring of 1883, one of seven children to George and Elizabeth Pearse. George was a schoolmaster from Devon, who moved the family to Weston-super-Mare in Somerset in the the 1870s to take up a post at the National School in the centre of the town.

Cecil and at least two of his siblings also went on to become teachers. By the time of the 1911 census, he was living in Plumstead, South East London, with his brother and sister-in-law, and teaching locally.

War was about to descend on Europe, and it is at this point that Cecil’s trail begins to go cold. He enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery, serving as part of the 8th London Howitzer Brigade. During his time, he rose to the rank of Lieutenant, and it seems that he remained part of the Territorial Force, but there is little more information available about his time in the army.

Nor is there much detail around Lieutenant Pearse’s death. He passed away on 20th October 1918, at the age of 35 years old, through causes unrecorded.

Cecil George Lunell Pearse was laid to rest in the Milton Road Cemetery in Weston-super-Mare, the town of his birth.

Commonwealth War Graves, Durham Light Infantry, Essex, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, Somerset, story, Wales, war

Private Roderick Smith

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Private Roderick Smith

Roderick Morgan Smith was born on 14th April 1896 in Upton Park, Essex. One of twin sons to Francis and Frances Smith, he had three siblings altogether. Francis is absent from the two census returns on which Roderick features, but the documents confirm that Frances – who was a certified teacher – was married, so he may have been elsewhere at the time.

By the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved from East London to Monmouthshire, where Roderick’s mother was teaching at the school in the village of Wonastow. Ten years later, they had moved across the River Severn to Withycombe in Somerset, not far from where Frances had been born. Other records show that they subsequently moved to Bath, then to Weston-super-Mare.

When war broke out, Roderick was keen to join up. He enlisted as a Private in the Durham Light Infantry, and was assigned to the 7th Battalion. He was sent to France in the spring of 1915, and would have been involved with his regiment at Ypres and the Somme.

It was at the Somme that Private Smith was gassed and wounded. Full details are not recorded, but they were enough for him to be medically evacuated to England. He was admitted to the military hospital in Taunton, but passed away on 7th May 1916. He was just 20 years of age.

Roderick Morgan Smith was brought to Weston-super-Mare and laid to rest in the town’s Milton Road Cemetery.

Roderick’s twin, Frank Morgan Smith, also played his part in the First World War. He enlisted in the Bedfordshire Regiment as a Private, and was assigned to the 7th Battalion. He also found himself embroiled at the Somme, and he too was wounded.

Sadly, Frank’s wounds were too severe for him to be repatriated to England; he died in a French hospital on 3rd December 1916, also aged 20 years old. He was laid to rest at the Wimeraux Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, illness, injury, Kings Royal Rifle Corps, Norfolk, Northamptonshire Regiment, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Corporal Norman Allard

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Corporal Norman Allard

Norman Stanley Allard was born on 3rd December 1892 in the village of Corsley, Wiltshire, halfway between Frome and Warminster. The younger of two children, his parents were Benjamin and Mercy Allard. Benjamin was a farmer who passed away when his son was only 14 years old. Mercy, who was born in Frome, moved the family back to her home town and Norman found work as a clerk at a printing firm in the area.

War came to Europe and, in December 1915, Norman was called up. There is little specific information about his military service, although his records show that he was 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall and had varicocele – enlarged veins in his scrotum – listed as Distinctive Marks.

Initially assigned to the King’s Royal Rifles, Private Allard spent the first year of his service on home soil. He was eventually dispatched to France in March 1917, serving there for a year. On 22nd March 1918, he was wounded in a gas attack, and medically evacuated back to England.

He was called back into service, and assigned to the 9th Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment. He remained on home soil, working as part of the Labour Corps in Cley-next-the-Sea in Norfolk. Sadly, however, it seems that his injuries were to prove too much, and the now Corporal Allard was discharged from military service after just three months.

At this point, Norman’s trail goes cold. He returned home, and passed away there on 13th March 1919. He was just 26 years of age.

Norman Stanley Allard was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church. This became a family grave, and his mother and sister were also buried there when they passed in 1924 and 1940.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Field Artillery, Royal Fusiliers, Somerset, story, war

Private Joseph Henry

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Private Joseph Henry

A lot of Joseph Charles Henry’s life is lost to time, and the majority of the information available about him comes from the newspaper report of his funeral.

The funeral with military honours of Private Joseph Charles Henry, Military Medallist, took place at Holy Trinity Church on Saturday afternoon. The case was a very sad one.

Deceased was a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery, and it was there that he won the Military Medal, in June of last year, but had been transferred to the Royal Fusiliers, and posted to the 30th London Regiment.

He was formerly employed as a miner in Lancashire, and married Lucy, daughter of Edward Reddick, of Coleford [Somerset]. In the clear out of the miners for the urgent needs at home he received his discharge on the 20th October, having ten days previously been handed the medal awarded him at the close of last year for bringing in wounded under heavy fire in June. He was very ill when he returned home on Sunday… and became rapidly worse, passing away on Wednesday. He was about 23 years of age.

His wife and two children were also lying seriously ill, and but for the kindness of friends and of the Salvation Army captain, it might have been even more distressing…

There is sad sequel to the death, Mrs Cullen, sister of Mrs Henry, having been bereaved in like manner by the death of her husband within the week.

Somerset Standard: Friday 1st November 1918

There are no documents to specifically connect Joseph to Lancashire, nor to give insight into his family. He died at home, from a combination of acute pneumonia, delirium and heart failure.

Joseph Charles Henry was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church in Frome, Somerset.

Private Joseph Henry (from britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)

For Joseph’s widow, Lucy, this was further heartbreak to suffer. The two children mentioned in the article were, in fact, Joseph’s stepchildren; Lucy’s first husband, Charles Futcher, had died at Ypres in January 1916.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private William Talbot

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Private William Talbot

William Talbot’s early life is destined to remain a mystery. He was born in Street, Somerset, in around 1869, although there is no concrete information about his family. When he left school, he found work in the local shoe factory – as did the majority of Street residents – and he appears to have married at some point in the late 1890s.

By the time of the 1911 census – the first that can be directly connected to him – William had moved to Frome. He was widowed by this point, and was living in a small cottage with his two sons – Edward, who was sixteen, was labouring in the local flour mill; Albert, who was a year younger, was working as a hairdresser.

William seems to have married again, this time to a widow called Alice; she had four children, and the two of them went on to have another child together.

When war broke out, William joined the National Reserves. He subsequently transferred to the Somerset Light Infantry, and was assigned to the 4th (Reserve) Battalion as a Private. He served on guard duty on the Kent coast, although specific details are not available.

Reporting on Private Talbot’s passing, the Somerset Standard stated that he “did not enjoy good health, and had been several times in hospital” [Friday 29th September 1916]. He had been admitted to the military hospital in Herne Bay, but passed away from ‘disease‘ on 21st September 1916. He was 47 years of age.

William Talbot’s body was brought back to Frome for burial. He lies at rest in the graveyard of the town’s Holy Trinity Church.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, injury, Lance Corporal, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, photography, Private, Somerset, story, unknown, war

Corporal George Budgett

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Corporal George Budgett

George Edgar Budgett was born in Frome, Somerset in the autumn of 1894, and was one of ten children to Joseph and Annie Budgett. Joseph was a labourer on the roads, but Annie and their eight daughters all went into the town’s silk weaving industry. When they left school, George and his older brother Frederick both found labouring work – Frederick at a bell foundry, George in the silkworks.

Conflict was coming to Europe and, within weeks of the war being declared, George enlisted. He was assigned to the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry as a Private and his service records show that he stood 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall, weighed 114lbs (51.7kg), had dark brown hair and brown eyes.

Private Budgett initially served on home soil, but by May 1915 he was sent to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force, receiving a promotion to Corporal in the process. He had been on the front line for a little over a month when he was wounded at Ypres. He received a shrapnel wound to his left hand and had to have his little finger amputated in the camp hospital. He was then medically evacuated back to England for further treatment and recovery.

George was admitted to the City of London War Hospital in Epsom, and needed a further operation, this time the amputation of the third finger. His health recovered, but the injury to his hand resulted in him being medically discharged from the army on 25th August 1916.

Sadly, at this point Corporal Budgett’s trail goes cold. He passed away at home, through causes unrecorded, on 1st May 1919. He was just 24 years of age.

George Edgar Budgett was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church in his home town of Frome, Somerset.

George’s brother Frederick – Joseph and Annie’s only other son – also fought in the First World War. He was assigned to the 14th Battalion of the Gloucester Regiment, and was missing in action, presumed dead on 4th April 1918 – possibly during the Battle of the Avre. He was commemorated at the Pozières Memorial in northern France.

Commonwealth War Graves, Egypt, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Somerset, story, war

Private Albert Withey

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Private Albert Withey

Albert Withey was born in Frome, Somerset in November 1882. One of ten children, his parents were John Withey, a coal dealer, and his wife Elizabeth. John passed away in 1891, Elizabeth eight years later, which led to Albert becoming an orphan while still in his teens.

Information on Albert’s early life is scarce and, indeed, his trail goes cold until 26th September 1915, when he enlisted in the Army Service Corps, as part of the war effort.

Private Withey’s service records give more insight into his life: he was 5ft 7ins (1.70m) tall, and had varicose veins on both legs. The document also confirms that he had married local woman Annie Louisa Stent on 2nd January 1912. Both attended Holy Trinity Church, and it is likely that this is where they met. Annie was the daughter of a local house painter, while Albert had become a baker; it is probable that it was this work that led him to be assigned to the ASC.

Within weeks of joining up, Private Withey was in Egypt, and it was here that he worked as part of the Supply Corps for the next four years. Albert remained in North Africa long after the Armistice was signed and, in fact, did not return to England until the August after the war had ended. He was officially demobbed on 30th September 1919.

At this point, Albert’s trail once again goes cold, and the next document relating to him is a short notice in the Somerset Standard, two years later, when, “at Pensions Hospital, Bath, Albert Withey, aged 38 years, [died] after a long and painful illness, patiently borne.” [Somerset Standard: Friday 27th May 1921]

Albert Withey was laid to rest in the graveyard of the church in which he was baptised and married, Holy Trinity Church, Frome.

Albert’s widow, Annie, was the sister of Bertie Stent, who had also died after coming home from war. Read his story here.