Gilbert Metters was born in Linkinhorne, Cornwall in March 1885, one of four children to William and Emma Metters. William was a farmer and haulier who moved his family to Chudleigh in Devon not long after Gilbert was born.
When Gilbert left school, he found work as a domestic gardener. By the time of the 1911 census, he was living with his parents, younger sister and Emma’s sister in Old Way, not far from the village centre. On 17th April 1914, William passed away, leaving Emma widowed.
When war broke out, Gilbert was one of the first from the town to sign up. He enlisted in the 8th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment, and was soon off to Hampshire for training. Tragically, within weeks of arriving, Private Metters contracted tuberculosis, and passed away in the camp hospital. He was 29 years of age, breathing his last on 4th November 1914.
Gilbert Metters’ body was brought back to Chudleigh for burial, and was laid to rest alongside his father in the family grave.
The local newspaper reported on Gilbert’s funeral. It suggested that when enlisting “although not one of the strongest, he managed to pass the medical test.” It went on to say that:
He always assisted in every good cause in the town, and was very highly respected. He endeared himself with the officers and men of C Company.
Leonard Frederick John Gigg was born in Silverton, Devon, on 9th May 1882. He was one of six children to Matthew and Sarah Gigg, both of whom were born Ottery St Mary, but who moved the young family to Chudleigh in the late 1880s.
Matthew was a domestic gardener, and his son initially joined him in this trade. However, as the third of five sons, Leonard obviously wanted to carve out a life for himself and so, on 21st August 1897, he enlisted in the Royal Navy.
Leonard’s naval records shows that he was 5ft 3ins (1.60m) tall, had light brown hair, blue-grey eyes and a fresh complexion. He also gave his year of birth as 1880 so he would be accepted in the navy.
Even with this altered date of birth, Leonard was still under age, and so was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class. He was obviously dedicated to his career, however, and, on his “eighteenth” birthday in 1898, he was officially enrolled as an Ordinary Seaman.
Over the course of his twelve years’ service, Leonard served on ten vessels; after each voyage, however, he returned to HMS Vivid – the Royal Naval Dockyard at Devonport, Portsmouth. During his time at sea, he also progressed through the ranks, becoming an Able Seaman as early as 1900.
When Leonard’s initial contract came to an end, he volunteered for a further term. Up until the outbreak of war, Able Seaman Gigg served on another six ships, but after falling ill while on board HMS Caesar in the summer of 1914, he returned again to Portsmouth.
Leonard had contracted cancer of the mouth, and, as a result of the condition, he was formally invalided out of the Royal Navy in May 1915. He returned home but, in spite of a couple of operations, he succumbed to the cancer, passing away on 9th October 1915. He was just 33 years of age (his gravestone gives a different age).
Leonard Frederick John Gigg was laid to rest in the cemetery in Chudleigh.
Able Seaman Leonard Gigg (from findagrave.com)
The local newspaper reported on Leonard’s funeral:
The death has taken place at his father’s residence of Mr Leonard FJ Gigg, third son of Mr M Gigg, after a painful illness. The deceased had served in the Royal Navy for 18 years and was only invalided out in May last, owing to cancer of the tongue. Although undergoing three operations, he was no better, and expired form the effects of that dreadful malady at the early age of 33 years. In the service he was extremely well liked and highly respected both by officers and men, and always had a pleasant word for everyone.
The deceased’s four brothers, Mr Charles Gigg (now in Canada), Chief Petty Officer H Gigg (HMAS Australia), Able Seaman Walter Gigg (HMS Carnarvon), and Private Albert Gigg (4th Devons, now in India) were prevented from attending.
There are parts of AFG Gill’s that are destined to remain a mystery. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission give his parents’ names and address – Edwin and Annie Gill of 15 Old Exeter Street, Chudleigh, Devon. Combined with his service number – M2/200211 – this would suggest that the FG in his name is Frederick George, but the initial A remains stubbornly absent.
Frederick George Gill was born in 1898, in the village of Chudlegh, and was one of seven children. His father – Edwin – was a carrier and haulier in the area, and the family lived in the middle of the village.
When war came to Europe, Frederick was keen to do his bit – he enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps as a Private and was assigned to the Mechanical Transport division.
There is very little information on Private Gill’s military service. He was awarded the Victory and British Medals for his service, but there is nothing to confirm when he enlisted or if he served abroad.
Private Gill survived the war, but was discharged on medical grounds on 18th November 1919 – he had contracted pulmonary tuberculosis during his time in the army, and was not longer fit to serve.
At this point, Frederick’s trail goes cold. While nothing can be confirmed, it would seem that the lung condition got the better of him – on 3rd February 1921 he passed away at home. He was just 22 years of age.
Frederick George Gill was laid to rest in the cemetery of his home village.
Fergusson Barclay was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, towards the end of 1877 and was the oldest of six children. His father, Henry, was a retired army captain, and so it is of little surprise that Fergusson and his siblings had something of a privileged upbringing.
The 1881 census recorded Henry and his wife, Agnes, bringing up the family in Tenby, South Wales. With three children under four, the Barclays employed two live-in nursemaids to support them.
Ten years later, the family had moved to Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, living in a large house to the north of the town centre. With five children now living at home, Henry and Agnes found additional help was needed: they were now employing a governess, manservant, cook and a housemaid. The family were not alone in this support: the 1891 census shows that all of the Barclays’ neighbours had at least one domestic servant.
The new century turned, and a new census followed. Captain Barclay and his family were still living in their three-storey Victorian villa in Weston-super-Mare. By this point, however, only three of the children were still living at home. Fergusson, now 23, was working as an architect, his brother Herbert was a legal professional, and his sister, Hermione, also still lived there. The house was not empty, however, as the Barclays’ retinue of staff remained. By this point, they were employing a gardener, groom, coachman, parlour maid, cook, kitchen maid and house maid. Agnes, who was around 20 years younger than her husband, also had a live-in companion, spinster Helen Empson.
Little had changed for the family when the next census was recorded in 1911. Henry was by now 84 years old, and he and Agnes had been married 34 years. Fergusson and Herbert were still living at home, fully immersed in their jobs. Helen was still providing companionship for Agnes, and the family still employed four members of staff: butler Daniel O’Brien and his wife, Jesse, who was the cook; parlour maid Rosie Davies and house maid Edith Booden.
In March 1912, Henry passed away, and it was inevitable that things would change for the Barclay household. Fergusson had been a volunteer for the Royal Engineers since the late 1890s and had steadily worked his way up through the ranks. With the outbreak of war, he found himself called into a more formal role.
Full details of his military career are not evident, but it is clear that, by the spring of 1918, Fergusson had gained the rank of Captain. He joined the Royal Air Force and was assigned to 75th Squadron.
On the afternoon of 7th December 1918, Captain Barclay took off from Elmswell Aerodrome in Suffolk, when the engine of his Avro 504K aircraft cut out. He attempted to turn the plane to land, but it nosedived into the ground and Fergusson was seriously wounded. He was taken to hospital, and died of his injuries later that day. He was 40 years old.
Captain Fergusson Barclay’s body was taken back to Somerset – he lies at rest in the Milton Road Cemetery in Weston-super-Mare, walking distance from his family home.
Herbert William Hare Marshall was born in Ambala, India, on 19th August 1890. His father – Herbert Seymour Marshall – was a Colonel in the army, and was serving in India with his wife, Charlotte, when their children – Charlotte (known as Jessie) and Herbert Jr – were born.
The family were back in England by 1898, and had set up home in the Somerset seaside town of Weston-super-Mare. When Herbert Sr passed away that year, Charlotte was set up on a widow’s pension, and this allowed her to send her son to St Peter’s, a private boarding school in the town.
When her son’s schooling was complete, Charlotte took the family off to Canada. They settled in British Colombia, in Revelstoke, a mountain town halfway between Calgary and Vancouver. Here, Herbert found work as a bank clerk, but war came to Europe, and he felt a need to do his bit for King and Country.
Herbert enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in November 1914; his service papers record him as being 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall, 148lbs (67kg) in weight. He had black eyes, brown hair and a dark complexion – something that he may well have inherited through his mother’s genes.
Shipped to England, by August 1915, Private Marshall had been discharged from the CEF as part of a transfer to the New Army – also known as Kitchener’s Army, the volunteer British Army raised as a direct result of the outbreak of war.
Detailed information about Herbert’s military service is lacking, although it seems that he joined the 17th Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment, one of the regiments heavily involved during the Battle of the Somme.
By October 1916, however, the now Lieutenant Marshall had made another move, this time joining the Royal Flying Corps. On the afternoon of 26th August 1917, he was an observer on a flight at Marham, in Norfolk. The pilot, a Lieutenant Challington, was banking the aircraft, when it dived and crashed, killing both men. Lieutenant Marshall had turned 27 years old the week before.
Herbert William Hare Marshall’s body was brought back to his adopted home of Weston-super-Mare. He lies at rest alongside his father in the town’s Milton Road Cemetery.
John James Foxworthy was born in the South Devon village of East Allington in 1867. He was the middle of five children to carpenter Roger Foxworthy and his wife Ann.
When he left school, John found work on a local farm, but he had bigger plans and, in July 1887, he enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry. His service records show that he stood 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall, had dark brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion.
John had a varied military career that lasted for more than two decades. During this time, he served on nine ships, and was based at HMS Vivid – the Royal Naval Dockyard in Plymouth – for significant periods of time. He began as a Private, but rose through the ranks to Corporal (in 1894) and Sergeant (in 1900). He was wounded in April 1899, when he was shot in the leg, but recovered from this and continued his career.
In 1895, John married Maria Woodley, the daughter of a railway labourer from Totnes. The couple went on to have four children, Minnie, Gladys, Alice and William.
In 1908, Sergeant Foxworthy left the Royal Marine Light Infantry after 21 years’ service. By now the family home was in Prospect Terrace, Newton Abbot, just a short walk from the town centre. The 1911 census records him as being a Royal Marine pensioner and caretaker of the Miniature Rifle Club.
When war broke out, John was called back into duty and, by September 1914, he found himself in a Royal Marine Depot in Belgium. His service overseas was fairly short, and he had returned to England by the spring. He was working as a recruiting sergeant in Northampton on 30th March 1915, when he suddenly collapsed and died. He was 47 years of age.
John James Foxworthy’s body was brought back to Devon; he lies at rest in the family grave in Newton Abbot Cemetery.
Horace Douglas Thompson was born in Camberwell, East London on 23rd April 1898. He was the oldest of four children – and the only boy – to Horace and Elizabeth Thompson. Horace Sr was a grocer’s packer, originally from the village of Gissing in Norfolk.
Details of Horace Jr’s early life are a little sketchy, but it seems that by some point after the 1911 census, both of his parents had died, and he was fostered by his aunt and uncle – Charlotte and Robert Thompson – who lives in Leytonstone. By this point, he was working as a doctor’s errand boy.
When war broke out, Horace was keen to play his part. He enlisted in the 6th Battalion of the London Regiment – also known as the City of London Rifles – towards the end of 1916. It is unclear whether Rifleman Thompson saw any action overseas, but in April 1917 he was admitted to the Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital in Newton Abbot, Devon, suffering from acute gastritis, or appendicitis.
Sadly, Rifleman Horace Douglas Thompson was to succumb to the condition – he passed away at the hospital on 16th April 1917. He was laid to rest in Newton Abbot Cemetery; he was days short of his 19th birthday.
John Bunclark was born in the village of Lustleigh, near Bovey Tracey in Devon in 1888. His father is lost to time, but his mother was farm labourer’s daughter, Elizabeth Bunclark. Elizabeth worked as a kitchen maid for a local solicitor, so John’s grandparents – John and Mary – raised him as their own.
In 1894, Elizabeth went on to marry William Wright – they went on to have four children of their own, while John remained with his grandparents. Tragically, in 1907, Elizabeth died in childbirth; the boy also died.
In 1906, John was longing for bigger and better things, and a military career appeared a good option. He joined the Devonshire Regiment as a Private and, while full details of his service are no available, it seems that John made a good impression.
In 1912, John married Emma Jane Horrell. She was the daughter of an agricultural labourer from Tavistock, who was working as a domestic servant when they met. The couple went on to have four children, between 1912 and 1918.
When war broke out, Private Bunclark was posted to France; his battalion – the 2nd – served in many of the key battles of the conflict, including Neuve Chapelle, The Somme, Ypres and Arras. At some point during the war, however, John transferred to the 641st Employment Company of the Labour Corps; this meant work on the Home Front, and a promotion to Serjeant came with it.
It was while John was on leave back in Newton Abbot that he fell ill. His specific ailment is lost to time, but he was admitted to the Temporary Hospital at the Institution in the town. He passed away on 7th November 1918, at the age of 30 years old.
John Clark was laid to rest in Newton Abbot Cemetery.
James Allan Flood was born in Exeter, Devon, in 1879, and was the oldest of six children to James and Emily. James Sr was a bricklayer, and, according to the 1881 census, the family lived at 2 Stepcote Hill, sharing the house with two other families.
When he left school, James Jr also fell into labouring work. By this time he had met Amy Hobbs, a hotel worker’s daughter who had been born in London. Her father had moved from Devon to the city in the 1870s, but had brought his family back to his home county by 1885.
James and Amy married in the village of Wolborough in December 1899. They set up home in nearby Newton Abbot and went on to have five children.
The storm clouds of war were beginning to hover over Europe and, when the conflict broke out, James was keen to play his part. He enlisted within days of war being declared, joining the Devonshire Regiment as a Private. His service records show that he stood 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, and weighed 112lbs (51kg). He had a tattoo of a crown and heart on his right forearm.
Private Flood found himself in France by Christmas 1914 and stayed there for more than a year. During this time, he was promoted to Lance Corporal, although, as a result of missing a role call, he reverted back to Private again a couple of months later.
After a brief two months spent back on home soil, James returned to France again, spending a further ten months on the Western Front. In March 1917, he was transferred across to the Labour Corps, and came back to home soil again.
This transfer appears to have been connected to James’ health; he continued to work as part of 621st Agricultural Company for the next eighteen months, before being discharged from the army on medical grounds in September 1918. Sadly, the cause of his discharge is lost to time.
At this point, James Allen Flood’s trail goes cold. The next time he appears in documentation is nearly a year later: he passed away on 17th August 1919, aged 40. He was laid to rest at the Newton Abbot Cemetery.
William Morrish Lamacraft was born in Guernsey in 1888, the only son of John and Annie Lamacraft. Annie passed away when William was just 4 years old, and John brought his son back to England, returning to Devon, where he himself had been born. John found employment as a porter at St Thomas’ Union Workhouse in Exeter and lived in here, while William was taken in by his paternal grandmother, Mary, who was also in Exeter.
In 1909, John also passed away. William, by this time, had left school and found work as a bootman at the Queen’s Hotel in Newport, Gwent. War was on its way to Europe by this point and, when it broke out, William enlisted as a Private in the Labour Corps.
At some point William transferred across to the Devonshire Regiment, but there is little tangible evidence to document when and where he served. What is clear is that Private Lamacraft survived the war, and had returned to Newton Abbot when he was demobbed.
Sadly, William Morrish Lamacraft was not to live a long life after the Armistice was declared. He passed away on 6th June 1919, aged just 31 years old; the cause of death lost to time. He was laid to rest in Newton Abbot Cemetery.
Death and Service 