William Lock was born in Devon in 1896, one of three children to Tom and Mary Lock, although sadly only William survived childhood. Tom was a shipwright in on the Devon coast, but brought his young family to Kent, where he found work in the Naval Dockyard in Chatham.
When William left school, he set about finding a trade. By the time of the 1911 census, aged 15, he was listed as “learning house joinery”, presumably a trade for which his father’s work would have stood him in good stead.
War was looming, however, and William enlisted. He joined the Royal Engineers at a time where they were being inundated with volunteers. Sapper Lock was assigned to G Company, a provisional troop that formed part of the Depot Battalion.
Documentation relating to Sapper Lock’s military service are no longer available; he was awarded the Victory and British Medals, which suggests that he saw some kind of service overseas, but there is nothing on file to confirm this.
The next document relating to William is his war pension, which confirms that he died on 20th January 1919 from ulcerated endocarditis, or heart disease. He was just 23 years old.
Tom and Mary had lost the third of their three children.
William Lock was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent.
Thomas James Clark was born in Worcester at the beginning of 1853, the oldest of two children to James Clark and his wife Sarah. James was an engine smith and gas fitter, and moved the family with his work, initially to London, then on to the Kent coast.
Documentation relating to Thomas’ early life is difficult to track down; the 1871 census has him listed as a gas fitter like his father, but it is likely that he enlisted in the army fairly shortly after this date.
In 1875, he married a woman called Emily Ann. There life was to take on a grand new adventure as their first child, a boy named after his father, was born in Bombay, India, later that year.
It seems likely that it was Thomas’ military service that took the young family overseas. This was to be the case for at least a decade, as Emily gave birth to four further children in India. James, their fifth child, was born in Bombay in 1884. Their sixth, and last child, Ellen, was born in Gillingham, Kent, ten years later.
Given that the standard time for military service was twelve years, it is possible that Thomas served all of that time overseas, returning to England in around 1887.
Back home in Kent, Thomas is given the commission of Quartermaster in November 1897. By this point, he has been in the Royal Engineers for just under 21 years. He and his family are living in central Gillingham, within easy walking distance of the Royal Engineers Barracks and School of Engineering.
The 1901 census also lists Thomas as Quartermaster for the regiment, while three of his sons are by this time working in the Naval Dockyard as shipwrights and engine fitters.
Ten years later and the family are still living in the same house. By now, and aged 57, Thomas is recorded as a Retired Captain and Quartermaster for the Royal Engineers. He and Emily have been married 36 years, and their three youngest children (now aged 29, 26 and 17) are still living with them.
War was looming by now, although, age 61 when it broke out, it is unlikely that Retired Quartermaster Clark would have been involved in any front line activity. While no military records survive for Thomas, it seems possible that he may have been recalled for a training or administrative role at the barracks nearby.
Any re-commission would not have lasted for long, however, as Quartermaster Clark passed away at home on 10th September 1916. He was 63 years old.
Thomas James Clark lies at peace in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent.
Thomas’ widow, Emily, passed away just two years after her husband. She was also laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery.
Thomas left his estate in the hands of his youngest son, James, who was still living at his parents’ home when they passed away.
Frederick Albert John Wickens was born in Newbury, Berkshire, in the summer of 1889. The oldest of four children to Alfred and Emily Wickens, his father was a brewer’s labourer.
The military life proved more of a draw to Frederick, however. While his full records no longer exist, by the time of the 1911 census, he was recorded as being a Sapper with the 2nd Field Troop of the Royal Engineers. He was based at Potchefstroom, around 75 miles (120km) south east of Johannesburg in South Africa, and his trade was listed as a tailor.
Sadly, it is at this point that Frederick’s trail goes tepid, if not cold.
From a personal perspective, he married a woman called Rose, who was a year younger then him. Her details are scarce, and there is nothing to confirm when or where they married (other than the 1911 census, when Frederick was listed as ‘single’).
The couple must have had some connection to Gillingham, as this is where they lived; given the proximity of the Royal Engineers Barracks in neighbouring Chatham.
Sapper Wickens’ military service continued into the Great War. He was awarded the medaille militaire by Belgium, and achieved the rank of Serjeant during his career. Unfortunately, there are no details of the actions around either the award or his promotion.
Serjeant Wickens passed away on 27th February 1921; he died in Chatham, although the cause was not recorded. He was 31 years old.
Frederick Albert John Wickens lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent.
Frederick’s younger brother Thomas, also served in the Great War. He enlisted in the Princess Charlotte of Wales’s (Royal Berkshire) Regiment, and was involved in the battles on the Western Front. Sadly he was killed in the fighting on 24th May 1916, at the age of 19 years old.
Christopher William Thomas Faulkner was born in 1881, one of five children to William and Harriet Faulkner. There is little information about Christopher’s early life, but the 1891 census shows him living with his mother and siblings in the St George’s Barracks in St Martin in the Fields in central London. William is not listed, so it can only be assumed that he was away on duty when the census was completed.
Christopher attended the military school; his record confirms that he was born on 17th June 1881, and spent four months at the school when he was ten years old. William is listed as a Sergeant and the family were living at the St George’s Barracks, which were located in the site now occupied by the National Portrait Gallery.
The military life was indelibly in Christopher’s life by this point. Whilst the records are sparse, he had certainly enlisted by the time he was 25. On Boxing Day 1904 he married a woman called Essie Brant, the daughter of a tailor from Croydon.
On the marriage certificate, Christopher was listed as a Lance Corporal in the Royal Marine Light Infantry and was based at the barracks in Chatham, Kent.
The young couple went on to have four children together and, by 1911, Essie was living in Gillingham, not far from the naval base in Chatham. The majority of Christopher’s career was served here, although when war broke out, he also saw conflict overseas.
By 1916, he was promoted to Sergeant and was assigned to HMS Dominion, which patrolled the North Sea. Ill health must have taken hold, however, and by the end of 1917, Sergeant Faulkner was reassigned to Chatham, before being medically discharged at the beginning of the following year.
Sadly, there is no record of the cause of his release from duty, but it appears to have been something to which he would eventually succumb. The next record is of Sergeant Faulkner’s death, on 5th January 1920, at the age of 39 years old.
Christopher William Thomas Faulkner lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent.
Christopher’s grave also acts as a memorial to his son.
Leslie Albert Gerald Faulkner was born on 9th June 1910. On leaving school, he sought military service like his father, and enlisted in the Royal Navy for a period of twelve years’ service.
Unusually, details of his service appear to end after just three years, in January 1929. However, later records confirm that he continued to serve at HMS Pembroke, the on-shore vessel in Chatham, through to the Second World War, achieving the rank of Chief Petty Officer.
Chief Perry Officer Faulkner’s military records did thrown up some further information, though. Surprisingly, his death records give specific details of the cause of his passing, stating that it was a “rupture of the liver due to secondary neoplasm of the liver, due to primary seminoma of testis”. In effect, Leslie had suffered testicular cancer, which then spread to his liver.
Leslie Albert Gerald Faulkner died on 28th November 1945, at the age of just 35 years old. He was buried in the same grave as his father, in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham.
Charles Frederick Caleb Miller was born on 12th December 1887 in Gillingham, Kent. His parents were Charles and Harriet Miller, and he had two younger siblings, Mabel and Harriet.
Tragically, Charles Jr’s mother died when he was only three years old; his father went on to marry again – to his widow’s younger sister, Jane – and the couple had two further children – Jane and Beatrice – who were Charles Jr’s half-sisters.
Charles Sr worked as a ship’s rigger in the Military Dockyard in Chatham, and naval life obviously caught his son’s eye. In 1903, having left school, he enlisted in the Royal Navy, started as a ‘boy artificer’, working in the engine and boiler rooms of ships.
His initial service was for twelve years, and he worked on a number of vessels, as well as being assigned to HMS Pembroke, the shore base in Chatham. He worked his way through the ranks to Engine Room Artificer 2nd Class by 1915.
In June of that year, Charles married Ellen Holden. the daughter of a dairyman from Chelsea. The couple went on to have a daughter, Joan, who was born in 1918. At the time of their wedding, Charles was based on HMS Lance, and his military service was to continue.
His period of service extended until the end of the war, Charles served on a number of other vessels, including HMS Surprise, Blenheim and Prince George and rose to Chief Engine Room Artificer 2nd Class.
It was while he was assigned to HMS Ganges in January 1920 that he became unwell, however. He had contracted bronchial pneumonia, and died of a combination of that and heart failure on 9th February 1920. He was 32 years old.
Charles Frederick Caleb Miller lies at rest in Woodlands Cemetery in his home town of Gillingham, Kent.
Albert Arthur Shrubsall was born in Deptford, South London, in April 1896. He was the youngest of three children – all boys – to ironmonger George Shrubsall and his wife Jessie.
While his brothers continued to live at home after they had left school and got jobs, Albert found live-in work as a pageboy, or servant, for Wilfred Lineham, who was a professor of engineering for a London college. It was while he was working here that his mother, Jessie, passed away. She died in 1913, aged just 43.
Details of Albert’s military service are a bit scant. He enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry, although I have been unable to confirm when he joined up. He was assigned to the Chatham Division, and was based at the Naval Dockyard in Kent, ultimately being promoted to Corporal.
Albert married Gertrude Spoore – affectionately known a ‘Ginty’ – in Deptford in October 1917. Sadly, the marriage was to las less than six months, as, on 9th April 1918, Albert passed away, having contracted pneumonia and septicaemia. He was just 22 years old.
Albert lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in his adopted home town of Gillingham in Kent.
Albert’s two brothers George and Alfred were also involved in the First World War.
George, had gone on to become a tailor’s assistant when he left school. He married Emily Hawkes in 1911, and the couple went on to have a son, also called George, the following year.
When war broke out, he enlisted in the Machine Gun Corps, and served on the Western Front. Sadly, he was caught up in the fighting, and was killed in action on 22nd August 1917. He was buried at the Tyne Cot Memorial in Flanders.
When he left school, Alfred went on to become a butcher’s assistant. War came along, and he enlisted straight away.
Enrolling in the Royal Field Artillery, Gunner Shrubsall was assigned to the 95th Brigade. Sadly, he had recorded less than six months’ service, as he passed away on 8th January 1915, aged just 21 years old. His brigade did not go to France until the following year, so, while no cause of death is recorded, it is likely that he died from a communicable disease like influenza or pneumonia.
Alfred is buried in the family grave in Deptford, South London.
Within a period of just three years, George had lost all three of his sons to the Great War. Given the previous death of his wife, you can only imagine the heartbreak he was going through.
Richard Frederick Langley was born in January 1897 in Chatham, Kent. He was one of seven children to Albert Langley, who was a bricklayer, and his wife, Elizabeth.
Richard enlisted almost as soon as he was able to. His papers, dated 18th October 1914, show that he was 17 years and 10 months old, as was working as an apprentice boilermaker. He was assigned to the Royal Engineers.
Sapper Langley’s war service was spent in England. Initially based in Kent, he was promoted to Acting Lance Corporal in October 1915. Transferring to the Royal Engineers Anti Aircraft Battalion in July 1916, Richard was again promoted to Corporal.
Corporal Langley was injured while serving for the Royal Engineers AA; he was admitted to the General Hospital in Tunbridge Wells, and has a hernia operated on. After two months recovering in hospital, he re-joined his battalion.
Richard was transferred again in January 1918, this time being assigned to the London Electrical Engineers. It was here that he saw out the remainder of the war.
It was while he was serving in Sheerness that Richard contracted influenza. Hospitalised on the island on 28th November 1918, he sadly did not recover. Corporal Langley passed away from pneumonia on 5th December 1918. He was just 21 years of age.
Richard Frederick Langley lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in his home town of Gillingham, Kent.
Richard’s older brother Albert was also involved in war service and was a skilled labourer at Chatham Dockyard. In February 1916, he boarded the SS Maloja, a steamship bound for Bombay with over 400 passengers and crew on board.
At around 10:30am on Sunday 27th February, the ship was sailing through the Straits of Dover when it struck a mine. The vessel sank within 24 minutes. Over 150 people died in the explosion, from drowning or from hypothermia.
Sadly, Albert’s body was not recovered. He was just 21 years old. He is commemorated on the Naval Memorial in Chatham, Kent.
Ernest Hart Painter was born in December 1884 one of eight children to Alfred and Elizabeth from Devon. Alfred moved the family to Cheddar, Somerset to work at a paper mill in but sadly passed away when Ernest was only eleven years old.
The family rallied round Elizabeth, however, and, by the time of the 1901 census, she was living on the outskirts of the town with her six younger children. Elizabeth worked as a domestic cook; Ernest was an agricultural labourer; his two older sisters were shirt machinists; his 13 year old brother Albert was listed as a gentleman’s servant.
Ernest, by this point, seemed to have taken on the role of head of the family; he continued work as a farm labourer, while Elizabeth earned money as a housekeeper. Alfred became a mechanic for a car dealer and, at the 1911 census, the three of them lived with the youngest member of the family, Ernest’s sister Emily, who had followed in her older sisters’ footsteps as a machinist.
As with many of the fallen men and women of the Great War, a lot of Ernest’s military service records have been lost to time. He enlisted in the Army Veterinary Corps in December 1915, his work as a farm labourer presumably having involved animals and livestock.
Private Painter must have been on the front line as, on 30th May 1918, he was shot in the ankle. Shipped back to England for treatment, he was eventually discharged from service on 19th November, a week after the Armistice. The ankle wound continued to give him trouble, however, and over the following couple of years, he had a number of operations on it.
Sadly, the last of these procedures resulted in an infection, and sepsis took hold. Private Painter passed away from blood poisoning on 15th April 1921. He was 36 years old.
Ernest Hart Painter lies at rest in the graveyard of St Andrew’s Church in Cheddar, Somerset.
Walter James Tottle was born in September 1892, one of fourteen children to Charles and Ellen Tottle from Somerset. Charles was a boatman, and they family lived in Salmon Parade along the riverfront in Bridgwater.
When Walter left school, he became an assistant at a market garden; by the 1911 census, he was living with his parents and eight of his siblings, whose jobs included carpentry and laundering. Walter’s younger brother Henry was listed as a ‘rink boy’, helping with skating at the local ice rink.
Walter’s life beyond this is a bit of a mystery. He enjoyed sports and, before the war had been a regular player for Bridgwater Rugby Football Club. He married a woman called Ruth, although I have been unable to track down who she was or when they couple wed.
When war came, Walter enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry and, according to contemporary newspaper reports, Corporal Tottle had served on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. He was discharged from the army on 13th February 1919, following a severe attack of influenza, but it appeared to get the better of him. He passed away on 5th May 1919, aged just 26 years old.
Walter James Tottle lies at rest in St John’s Cemetery in his home town of Bridgwater, Somerset.
Walter’s ‘rink boy’ brother Henry also served in the First World War. He had also enrolled in the Somerset Light Infantry and, as a Corporal in the 1/5th Battalion, he was involved in some of the fierce fighting in the Middle East. He was injured, either in Gaza or Jerusalem, but sadly Henry died of his wounds on 22nd November 1917; he was buried in the War Cemetery in Jerusalem.
Oliver Job Chubb was born on 3rd December 1884 in the village of Smallbridge in Devon. He was one of six children to Job Chubb, who was an agricultural labourer, and his wife Louisa. Oliver did not seem to be one for settling down; after his parents had moved the family to Ilminster in Somerset when he was just a child, by 1901 he was living in Lyme Regis, working as a carter in a market garden.
In 1902, at the age of 17, Oliver enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry. Eighteen months later he transferred to the Royal Navy, serving as a Stoker on a number of ships during what would become twelve years’ service, including the Royal Oak, Skirmisher and Newcastle.
In 1906 he married Rosina Keirle, a brickmaker’s daughter from Somerset. The wedding was in Bridgwater, and the couple went on to have three children, Olive, Albert and Cecil.
There is a sense that Oliver either had perpetually itchy feet, or that he was always running from something. The 1911 census found him aboard HMS Suffolk in the Mediterranean, where he listed himself as single. By the end of his naval service in November 1915, however, Stoker Chubb disembarked in the port of Victoria, British Colombia, and immediately signed up for military service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
Again, however, indecision seems to have set in. He listed his marital status as ‘single’ and confirmed his next of kin as his sister Elsie, but on his military will, he left everything to Rosina.
Private Chubb was assigned to the 29th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry; they served on the Western Front from early in 1915 through to the end of the war. He was involved in the fighting at Ypres, and, in September 1916, was treated in England for an inguinal hernia. After three months’ recover, he returned to the front.
While Private Chubb seems to have had a good overall manner, there were blips in his character. In May 1917, he was sentenced to three days’ field punishment for being absent without leave for 21hrs. In March 1918, he was sentenced to another five days’ field punishment for going AWOL for 48 hours. On 11th April 1918, Private Chubb received 14 days’ field punishment for drunkenness on duty.
In December of that year, Oliver was invalided back to England for medical treatment; he was admitted to the Fort Pitt Military Hospital in Chatham with lymphatic leukaemia. Sadly, Private Chubb passed away shortly after being admitted, dying on 17th December 1918. He was 34 years old.
Oliver Job Chubb lies at rest in St John’s Cemetery in Bridgwater, where his family still lived.
Death and Service 