Tag Archives: family

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Nurse, photography, Somerset, story, Voluntary Aid Detachment, war

Nurse Lilian Chinn

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Nurse Lilian Chinn

Lilian Ella Chinn was born in 1893, one of six children to Walter and Kate Chinn. Walter was the butcher in the Somerset village of Middlezoy, and this is where the family had made their home.

There is little recorded of Lilian, and the information is confusing – another Lilian Chinn was born around the same time a few miles away, so it’s a challenge to identify the correct details.

What is known, is that, with the war raging, Lilian felt that she needed to do what she could – and enlisted in the Voluntary Aid Detachment in 1916. Serving as a nurse, she was based at the military hospital in Devonport, Plymouth.

Sadly, it is evident that nursing staff were not immune to the ailments and illnesses of the soldiers they were treating. Lilian contracted meningitis and peritonitis, passing away on 24th June 1917, aged just 23 years old.

Lilian Ella Chinn lies at rest in the peaceful graveyard of Holy Cross Church in Middlezoy, Somerset.

It is worth noting that Lilian’s brother Hedley also served – and perished – as a result of the Great War. Click here to learn more.

When I was researching Lilian’s life, I ran through the contemporary newspapers to trace her name. Nothing evident came up, although her father Walter’s name did appear.

In 1910, he declared himself bankrupt after being unable to pay for meat for his shop, that he had bought at auction. It appears that he had run up debts of over £300 (approximately £23,500 in today’s money) over a number of years; he put these debts down to a number of factors – “illness of my children, bad debts, having to maintain my mother for 14 years; and loss on sale of Middlezoy House, Middlezoy, three years ago, which realised £200 less than the amount I gave for it, and the amount expended on improvements”.

The 1921 census found Walter and Kate still running the butcher in Middezoy, their home empty but for each other. Walter’s debts were finally cleared in 1928 and the bankruptcy annulled.

The gravestone in Holy Cross Churchyard is a haunting memorial to the tragic lives of the Chinn family.

Walter and Kate had six children, and would outlive every one of them. The stone confirms that each of their children lies in the grave:

  • Clarence Joseph (born 1891, died 1907)
  • Myrtle Amy (born 1892, died 1893)
  • Lilian Ella (born 1893, died 1917)
  • Hilda Kate (born 1895, died 1896)
  • Hedley Walter (born 1900, died 1921)
  • Hilda Godfrey (born 1903, died 1904)

The grave’s epitaph – God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform – sounds cruelly hollow to 21st century ears. The only comfort to take, I guess, is that the whole family was destined to be together again: both Kate (who died in 1927) and Walter (who died in 1933) are also buried in the family grave.

Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Labour Corps, photography, Sergeant, Somerset, story, war

Sergeant William Gardner

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Serjeant William Gardner

William Gardner was born in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, in around 1877. While I have been unable to totally confirm this, his parents seem to have been William and Sarah Carpenter; William Sr was an agricultural labourer, and both he and his wife were from Cirencester.

It has been difficult to track down William’s early life, because of the potential variations of his surname and the number of William Gardner’s in the Gloucestershire area.

The first time I can definitively identify him is on the 1911 census; he was living in Cheltenham and working as gardener. While the census shows that he had been married for 16 years and had one child. However, William’s wife is not recorded on the census; instead a Lily Marie Denley is boarding with him, as is her daughter, Irina May Gardner Denley.

William’s military life also needs a little piecing together. His gravestone confirms that he was a Serjeant in the Gloucestershire Regiment, and it seems that he enlisted towards the end of the 1800s, as he is recorded as having served in South Africa.

Serjeant Gardner re-enlisted (or was called back up) when the Great War broke out; at the age of 39, he was sent to France, collecting the Victory Medal, the British Medal and the 1915 Star for his service. At some point, however, he transferred back to England, joining the 440th Agricultural Coy. Labour Corps.

While there is no evidence of why William transferred, his later records certainly seem to suggest there were some issues going on in his life. When he was demobbed in February 1919, this seems to have been for medical reasons; his pension records show that he was suffering from neurasthenia (or shell shock), and that this was directly attributable to his war service.

William’s suffering evidently continued: a further record shows that he was admitted to an asylum in March 1921 and the 1921 census corroborates this. William was noted as being one of nearly 900 patients at the Somerset and Bath Pauper Lunatic Asylum in Wells and this is where he died, just a month later. While there is no cause of death, he passed away on 14th July 1921, at the age of 45 years old.

William Gardner lies at peace in the Cemetery in Wells, Somerset.

One additional point for William’s story. Another part of his was pension records give Miss Lily Denley as his dependent, and that she was guardian of his child. No eyebrows raised now, but how must their relationship have been viewed in 1911?

Army Veterinary Corps, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private William Collins, AKA Geoffrey Clark

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Private Geoffrey Clark / Private William Collins

One of the things I have found during this research is that occasionally a mystery will come to light. In the case of the gravestone in the Somerset village of Coxley – nestled on the main road between Wells and Glastonbury – it was the very identity of a person buried there that threw me.

The headstone in question simply says “WG Collins served as Private G Clark in the Army Veterinary Corps”, but the research tools I normally use drew blanks.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website confirmed that the second name is Geoffrey Clark, but does not give full names for WG Collins.

Unfortunately, the Findagrave website does not have the burial listed under either name, so that too was a dead end.

The British Newspaper Archives site – a record of media across the UK covering 250 years – similarly has no entry for either name around the time of his death, which suggests it was either not ‘out of the ordinary’ (not headline-grabbing) or his death and funeral were just not submitted to the local paper.

Fold3 – which stores military records – has a record for 9978 Private Geoffrey Clark. The Register of Soldiers’ Effects confirms that a war gratuity was awarded to his sister, Ada Jane Waldron, after his death.

And, as it turns out, it was Ada who proved the key to the mystery of her brother. Working on the basis that Ada’s maiden name was Collins, I used Ancestry.co.uk to try and track her down. The site presented a family tree featuring both an Ada Jane Collins and, more importantly, a William George Collins, and the game was afoot…

William George Collins was born in the Somerset village of Coxley in the summer of 1889. He was the youngest of seven children – Ada was his oldest sister – to James Collins, an agricultural labourer, and his wife Jane.

Following the death of his mother in 1901, and his father a decade later, it’s evident that William wanted to make his way in the world. By the 1911 census, he had moved to Wales, working as an attendant at the Glamorgan County Lunatic Asylum. The asylum, which was in Bridgend, South Wales, was home to nearly 900 patients, and William acted as one of the 120 staff looking after them.

War was on the horizon, however, and the mystery surrounding William returned once more. Military records for William (or Geoffrey) are limited; he enlisted in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps in the summer of 1915 and was shipped to France in September of that year.

There is no record why he enlisted under the name Geoffrey Clark, nor does there seem to be any evidence of either names in his family. As to his passing, there is nothing to give a hint to how he died. All that can be confirmed for certain is that he passed away at the University War Hospital in Southampton on 25th October 1918, at the age of 32.

William’s probate records give his address as Railway Terrace in Blaengarw and show that his effects went to his sister, Ada.

William George Collins – also known as Geoffrey Clark – lies at peace in the graveyard of Christ Church, in his home village of Coxley.

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

Private Charles Curtis

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Private Charles Curtis

Charles Curtis was born in Wells, Somerset, in January 1894, one of fifteen children to Charles and Mary Jane Curtis. Charles Sr worked as a gardener in the Wells area, and, after leaving school, Charles Jr started work as a mill hand for the local paper mill (this would have been either St Cuthbert’s Mill in Wells, or the Wookey Hole Mill in the nearby village).

Charles enlisted in October 1915, joining the Royal Army Medical Corps. He was posted to France a month later and, while specifics of his military service are not readily apparent, Private Curtis was awarded the Victory Medal, the British Medal and the 1915 Star.

Charles was admitted to hospital on 1st November 1917 with an inflamed cervical gland (reported as Trench Fever), for which he underwent an operation. He remained hospitalised at Whalley Range for more than two months, and was passed for active service, having apparently recovered.

Private Curtis was suddenly taken ill again on 1st July, and his family telegrammed. His mother and one of his sisters boarded a train for the hospital – again in Whalley – but they had not gone far when word came that he succumbed to rheumatic fever. He was 24 years old.

Charles Curtis Jr lies at rest in the graveyard of St Matthew’s Church in the village of Wookey, Somerset.

A newspaper report of his funeral confirms that Charles was one of five brothers who had entered military service during the Great War. Amazingly, given that seven of the brothers ended up serving, Charles was the only one to die as a result of the war.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Lance Corporal, photography, Royal Army Medical Corps, Somerset, story, war

Lance Corporal William Collard

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Lance Corporal William Collard

William Collard was born in August 1891, the youngest of two children to William and Agnes Collard from Wedmore in Somerset. William Sr was a carter for a local miller and his son followed him into labouring when he left school.

William’s life seems to have been a tragic one. His mother died in 1910, while his sister Mabel passed a year later.

William married Eva Heal, a woman from the same village, in April 1914. The couple didn’t go on to have any children.

There is limited information relating to William’s military service. What is apparent is that he enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps, presumably at some point after the start of the Great War.

Private Collard’s battalion, the 3rd South Midlands, were based in Essex and were shipped to France in March 1915. There is, however, no evidence that William went with his troop. His training must have gone well, however, and he was promoted to Lance Corporal.

Details of his death are vague; William’s gravestone confirms he passed on 18th April 1915; the cause of his death was not reported. He was 23 years of age.

A brief notice in a local newspaper gives a little more information:

Mr W Collard [Senior], of Wedmore, one of the patients at the Country Sanatorium, received last week the news of the death of his soldier son. The funeral took place on Thursday at Wedmore in the same grave as the mother and only other member of the family, a sister of the deceased.

Shepton Mallet Journal: Friday 30th April 1915

William Collard lies at rest in the churchyard of St Mary’s Church in his home village of Wedmore, Somerset.

William is remembered in on a plaque in Bristol Cathedral; this commemorates the fourteen members of the 3rd South Midland Field Ambulance who fell during the war.

Comment should also be made of William’s father. In the space of four and a half years, he had lost his wife and both his children. He was already in a sanatorium when his son died. He too passed away, in December 1924, at the age of 58.

William’s widow, Eva, never remarried. She went on to live the age of 96, and passed away in Poole, on the Dorset coast.

Canadian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private William Cottrell

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Private William Cottrell

William Cottrell was born in April 1885, the third of twelve children to Henry and Annie Cottrell from Bampton, Devon. When William left school, he became an assistant to the village baker, but new opportunities lay ahead.

In May 1907, William married Maria Wall, the daughter of a stonemason from Wedmore in Somerset. With weeks, the young couple had embarked for a new life, boarding the Empress of Britain in Liverpool, setting sail for Canada.

Emigrating to Manitoba, William became a labourer, and he and Maria had three children – Leslie, Ronald and Kathleen.

War came, and William enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in August 1915. Shipped to England in the spring of the following year, Annie followed suit, returning to Somerset with the three children.

Private Cottrell was assigned to the 44th Battalion Canadian Infantry, setting off for France in August 1916, just weeks before his fourth child – Ruby – was born.

The battalion was involved in some of the fiercest fighting of the war, and it was during the Somme Offensive that William was shot in the left arm. Initially treated in the field, he was soon shipped back to England to recover in a military hospital in Epsom. Discharged after three months, he was returned to his battalion in early 1917.

The fierce fighting continued, and Private Cottrell was wounded again in October 1918. Further treatment back in the UK was needed, and he was admitted to the 1st Eastern General Hospital in Cambridge.

Details of the William’s injuries at the Somme are readily available, but information on his second lot of injuries is scarcer. They must have been pretty severe, however, as he was not discharged. He lost his final battle after four months, succumbing to his wounds on 9th January 1919. He was 33 years old.

William Cottrell lies at rest in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church in his widow’s home village of Wedmore, Somerset.

William’s gravestone is also a memorial to his eldest son, Leslie, who was killed during the Second World War.

Details of his military service are sketchy, but he enlisted in the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment. His battalion – the 1st – was involved in the fighting in Italy, and it was here that he lost his life. He was killed on 8th February 1944 and is buried in the Sangro River War Cemetery, in Abruzzo.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, photography, Royal Horse Artillery, Somerset, Somerset Royal Horse Artillery, story, war

Gunner Arthur Latcham

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Gunner Arthur Latcham

Arthur James Latcham was born in 1889, the oldest of five children – all boys – to Walter and Matilda Latcham. The family lived in Street, Somerset, where Walter worked as a carpenter in the Clark’s shoe factory.

Initially following his father into shoemaking, Arthur was quick to enlist when war broke out. Details of Gunner Latcham’s military service is scarce, but documents confirm that he joined the Somerset Royal Horse Artillery on 8th October 1914. He did not see active service abroad, but had been stationed on the east coast for his training.

While little remains of his service records, contemporary media of the day includes a lot of information about both his passing and his subsequent funeral.

On Sunday, December 5th, having a few hours’ leave, he visited his parents at Street, and while at home complained that he was feeling unwell. On the following Wednesday, December 8th (which, by a coincidence, was his twenty-sixth birthday) Mr and Mrs Latcham received a post-card from him from Taunton [where the Somerset RHA was based] stating that he was very ill. They immediately engaged a motor car, and went to Taunton, where they found him in an extremely weak state, and on the point of collapse, he having had to walk to a hospital nearly a mile away three times a day for his medicine. Having obtained the captain’s permission, they brought him home in the motor car, and at once put him under the care of Dr MacVicker. He was then found to be suffering from pneumonia and congestion of the lungs… In spite of the greatest care, and best of nursing, however, he gradually grew worse, and never rallied.

Central Somerset Gazette: Friday 24th December 1915.

The following week’s newspaper included nearly a whole column on Gunner Latcham’s funeral, including two tributes, one from his captain and another from the local MP.

I am writing to tell you how very sorry all the officers of this battery are at your loss. Your son was the first member of the Somerset RHA to give his life for his country, and although he did not have the satisfaction of being killed in action, the honour is the same. I’m afraid the last few months he was in this battery were not very happy ones for him, owing to his trouble with his finger; but he bore the trouble and pain well. I had him with me for more than a year, so I can fully appreciate what a good fellow he was and how great your loss is.

Captain M Clowes (Central Somerset Gazette: Friday 31st December 1915)

I am very sorry indeed to learn of the sad loss you have suffered through the death of your son. I know that he was a fine fellow, an example of what an Englishman should be, and respected by all who knew him. I am sure you must feel proud to know that he has done all that a man can do, and has died serving his country.

Ernest Jardine MP (Central Somerset Gazette: Friday 31st December 1915)

Arthur James Latcham lies at rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church in his home town of Street.

Arthur was the third son Walter and Matilda had lost. Their second-born, Herbert, passed when a little over a year old. Their third son, William, died a year before Arthur, when he was just 15 years old.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Defence Corps, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Martin Kiddle

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Private Martin Kiddle

Martin Kiddle was born in 1871, the oldest of four children to Joseph and Annie Kiddle. Joseph was a butcher in the Somerset town of Street, and the family lived above the shop on the High Street.

When Joseph died in 1886, Martin took on the role of shopman, before taking over the business entirely.

In 1895, aged 24, Martin married Eleanor Freeman, four years his senior from the nearby town of Ilminster. The young couple had five children and, by the time of the 1901 census, they were running the business as a family, employing an assistant in the shop and a domestic servant.

It is evident that Martin left the butchery business behind him, though. Ten years later, on the 1911 census, he is listed as a Stock Room Manager in a local rug factory.

Martin joined up when war broke out, initially serving in the Somerset Light Infantry, before transferring across to the Royal Defence Corps.

While there is no date for his transfer, it is likely to have been at some point in 1915. Private Kiddle’s wife, Eleanor, passed away in May of that year, so it is reasonable to assume that he requested a transfer to support her before her death, or to support his children afterwards.

Sadly, however, Martin was also to succumb to illness. His pension ledger shows that he passed away on 5th March 1917, dying from carcinoma of the liver. He was 46 years old.

Martin Kiddle lies at rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church in his home town of Street. The gravestone gives dedications to his father, Joseph, and his brother, John, who had died as just over a year old.

Guardianship of Martin and Eleanor’s five, now orphaned, children – Eleanor, Martin, John, Rachel and George – passed to Martin’s mother, Annie.

Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Navy, Somerset, story, war

Boy 2nd Class Albert Matthews

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Boy 2nd Class Albert Matthews

Albert Edward Matthews was born in October 1901 in the Somerset village of Tintinhull. His father James was a glove maker, and he and his wife Mary had three children in all, Percival, born in 1897, Clementina, born in 1898, and Albert, the youngest.

Sadly, Clementina died in 1909, aged just 11 years old. Percival also passed away six years later, aged just 17. James and Mary must have been distraught when Albert announced his decision to do his bit for King and country.

He enlisted almost as soon as he was able to, joining the Royal Navy on 14th September 1918, and you can almost sense his enthusiasm to get involved before missing out on the glory of military service.

Boy Matthews was assigned to HMS Impregnable, the ship based in Devonport, Plymouth, where he was to receive his training. Standing at 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall, with brown hair, brown eyes and a fair complexion, he was recorded as having a very good character and satisfactory ability.

Sadly, however, Albert was not destined to meet his full potential. Shortly after beginning his training, he contracted influenza and pneumonia, succumbing to the disease on 27th October 1918.

He had just turned 17 years old.

Albert Edward Matthews lies at rest in the graveyard of St Margaret’s Church in his home village of Tintinhull.

The story of this family continued to be tragic. By the time of Albert’s death, the Spanish Flu pandemic was sweeping the world and his tiny part of Somerset was in no way immune.

Just four days after Albert Matthews passed away, his mother, Mary, also fell victim to the illness.

In the space of just nine years, poor James Matthews had buried all three of his children and his wife. A newspaper reported on Mary’s funeral, recognising the “very heavy trials” he had undergone.

The same paper, reports that the influenza pandemic is fizzling out.

A large number of parishioners have been attacked with “flu”, but the epidemic is now on the wane. The school has been closed for the last fortnight.

Western Chronicle: Friday 8th November 1918
Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire Regiment

Private Percy Norris

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Private Percy Norris

Percy Norris was born in 1894, the youngest of eleven children to William and Julia Norris. William was the caretaker for the water works in Somerton, Somerset, and this is where the family of eleven lived.

By the time of the 1911 census, Percy’s older brother Henry had joined his father at the water works. Julia had passed away five years before, and Percy and three of his siblings continued to live with William. At this point Percy was working as a gardener.

Private Norris’ full military records are not readily available, but it is evident that he enlisted in the 7th Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment. This was a service troop, formed in 1914, who saw service in France and the Balkans.

It seems that it was during one of the skirmishes that Private Norris was injured. While there is no confirmation of exactly when or where this happened, it is likely to have been at some point in the spring of 1918. Percy was shipped back the England for treatment, and admitted to the Red Cross Hospital in Bridgwater, Somerset.

Sadly, Private Norris did not recover from his injuries. He passed away on 5th April 1918, aged 24 years old.

Percy lies at rest in the cemetery of Somerton, his home town.

Percy’s older brother Henry Norris also died in the Great War. Joining the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves, Able Seaman Norris was also wounded on active duty, dying of his injuries in January 1918, aged 32. He is buried at the St Sever Cemetery in Rouen, France.