Jeremiah West was born in the spring of 1892, the oldest of eight children to John and Laura West. John was an agricultural labourer from Somerset, and it was in the village of Bleadon that the family were born and raised.
When he finished his schooling, Jeremiah followed in his father’s footsteps. By the time of the 1911 census, he was working as a servant on the nearby Shiplette Farm, where he was employed by Kate Poole.
War came to Europe in 1914, and Jeremiah stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry in 1915, and was assigned to the 4th Battalion. Private West set sail for India that August, and seems to have remained overseas for some time.
Records are not clear, but it would appear that Jeremiah returned to Britain at some point, and became attached to the 3rd Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment. This was a garrison troop, based in Harwich, Essex, and Jeremiah found himself part of the battalion’s Labour Corps.
Private West survived the war, but came down with pneumonia in the autumn of 1919. He passed away on 24th November 1919: he was 27 years of age.
Jeremiah West was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Peter and St Paul’s Church in his home village of Bleadon.
William Richard Griffin was born in the summer of 1899, the fourth of six children to James and Joice Griffin. James was from Somerset and worked as a superintendent for a life assurance company. He met his wife while working in Wales, and this is where their oldest three children had been born. By the time of William’s birth, however, James had moved the family back to Somerset, setting up home in the Weston area of Bath.
There is little information about William’s life. When war was declared, he joined the Devonshire Regiment, and was assigned to the 51st (Graduated) Battalion. His troop remained on home soil – remaining in Norfolk for the duration – so it is unlikely that Private Griffin saw any active service overseas.
William survived the conflict and returned home. He passed away, possibly due to an infection, based on what little is documented, on 22nd July 1920. He had not long turned 21 years of age.
William Richard Griffin was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Martin’s Church in Worle, near Weston-super-Mare.
Thomas Wood was born in Bristol, Gloucestershire, in the summer of 1862. The third of ten children, he was the oldest son to Thomas and Emma Wood. Thomas Sr was a cabinet maker, but his son was not to follow in his father’s footsteps, seeking a life of adventure instead.
Thomas enlisted in the army and, while documents relating to his early life are not readily available, the 1891 census recorded him as being billeted at the Cambridge Barracks in Portsmouth, Hampshire. A member of the Royal Artillery, he seems to have been enlisted for a while, as he had risen to the rank of Corporal.
In 1894, Thomas married Leah Barrett, who was born in Oxfordshire. The army life underscored where the family would settle. They had four children and, according to their ages, the Woods were in Liverpool by 1895, Gosport, Hampshire, in 1896 and Cork in Ireland by 1899. The 1901 census found the family living in Wicklow, with Thomas having now achieved the rank of Company Sergeant Major.
Ten years later, and Thomas had stepped away from the army life. Now 48 years of age, he and Leah had been married for 17 years. The couple had settled in the Worle, on the outskirts of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, where Thomas had set himself up as a butcher, with Leah assisting him.
War came to Europe in 1914, and it seems that Thomas felt drawn to play his part once more. He joined the Royal Defence Corps as a Serjeant when it was formed in the spring of 1916, and was assigned to the regiment’s 263rd Company.
Little information is available about Serjeant Wood’s army service, but by the autumn he had been admitted to the Shell Shock Hospital (now the Maudsley Hospital) in Denmark Hill, London. His entry to the hospital, however, was actually due to kidney disease, and this was what would claim his life. Thomas died from a combination of nephritis and uraemia on 21st November 1916. He was 54 years of age.
Thomas Wood was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Martin’s Church in Worle.
Maurice Lock was born in Nailsea, Somerset, the seventh child to William and Rebecca Lock. Dates of birth vary according to documents available: census records suggest he was born around 1884, although his military records put his year of birth as 1877.
Maurice had a total of eleven siblings, with names including Merrick, Britannia and Cinderella. His father was a licensed hawker and this was something of a family trade.
The 1891 census recorded the family living at The Heath in Nailsea, although, unusually, it was noted that “this family now residing in a house occupy a travelling van in summer.” By the time of the next census return, the family business was continuing, with eight members, Maurice included, recorded as being peddlers, hawkers and horse dealers.
On 23rd January 1909, Maurice married Emily Hughes. There is little information available about her, but the couple continued Maurice’s parents’ travelling lifestyle, and went on to have four children: Albert, Mary, Gladys and Agnes.
Maurice was called upon to do his duty when war came to Britain. He enlisted on 4th September 1916 and was initially assigned to the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry. Private Lock’s service record shows that he was 39 years and 10 months old when he joined up, and that he stood 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall. He was working as a basket maker and farm labourer when he received the call to enlist.
Private Lock spent a couple of months on home soil, before his troop – the 12th (Labour) Battalion – were sent to France. He remained overseas for some sixteen months, before three separate bouts of trench fever within a month saw his return to Britain’s shores.
Maurice was transferred to the Labour Corps at this point and, once he had recovered, it was to be presumed that his previous farm work would be called upon once more. However, his age and the conditions on the Western Front conspired against him, and he developed rheumatism, which led to his discharge from the army. His medical records at this point noted that “he walks very lame with the aid of a stick. His left leg is especially [bad]. He has pains in his back, legs and shoulders. These pains are aggravated by pressure and weather changes.”
Maurice returned home, but his time back in Somerset was to be brief. His health deteriorated, and he passed away at home on 29th June 1918: he was in his late 30s or early 40s when he died.
Maurice Lock was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of Christ Church in his home town of Nailsea.
Arthur Reginald Vellacott Thorne was born at the start of 1899 in Bridgwater, Somerset. One of six children, his parents were Sidney and Bessie Thorne. Sidney was a butcher and, by the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved to Chichester, West Sussex, where he had found employment in a sausage factory.
The Thornes’ time on the south coast was not to last long: they had moved to Timberscombe, back in Somerset, by the time Sidney and Bessie’s youngest child, daughter Ivy, was born in March 1908. Tragically their happiness was not to last for long: Sidney passed away in October that year, aged just 35 years old.
With six children under the age of 12 to raise, times would have proved tough for Bessie. Her oldest child – Arthur’s older brother, Sidney – went to live with his paternal uncle’s family in Taunton, and began learning the butchering trade. Bessie took on the role of caretaker at Timberscombe School where her five younger children were being taught.
Being a butcher was not Sidney’s chosen career path. When he turned 17, in March 1914, he enlisted in the Coldstream Guards, lying about his age to do so. Six months later he was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal and attached to the 3rd Battalion. With war having been declared in Europe, he soon found himself on the Front Line, fighting in the First Battle of Ypres.
Over the next couple of years, Lance Corporal Thorne remained on the Western Front. He was killed in fighting on 15th September 1916: he was just 19 years of age. Sidney’s body was never identified: he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in Picardie.
Arthur’s trail had gone cold at this point, but when he turned 18 years old, his brother having passed just months before, he too was called up. Assigned as a Private in the 35th Training Reserve Battalion, he was sent to Bovington Army Camp in Dorset for his induction. While there, in the cramped conditions of the military barracks, he fell ill. He was admitted to the Salisbury and District Isolation Hospital, which treated infectious diseases, and this was to be where he passed away. Private Thorne was just 18 years of age, and Bessie had lost her two oldest boys.
While Sidney’s remains were never recovered, Arthur Reginald Vellacott Thorne was brought back to Somerset to be laid to rest. He was buried in the peaceful graveyard of St Petrock’s Church in Timberscombe, not far from his father.
Bessie was to our live four of her children. Her youngest two sons, Edwin and Cecil, were to die too young. Cecil passed away in Timberscombe in May 1922, when he was just 16. Edwin died in November 1929, at the age of 26 years old.
Bessie lived on until 1958, passing away in Minehead when she was 84 years of age.
Charles William Blackmore was born in Brompton Regis (or Kingsbrompton), Somerset, on 19th August 1896. He was the twelfth of thirteen children to journeyman carpenter Joshua Blackmore and his wife, Margaret. Charles attended the nearby Upton Primary School until Christmas 1909 at which point he started working with his father.
When war erupted across Europe, however, he stepped up to play his part. He enlisted as a Private in the Somerset Light Infantry on 14th January 1916. Little remains of his service documents, but his medical report confirms that he was 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, with light brown hair and grey eyes. Interestingly, the document also gives his date of birth as 14th February 1897, six months later than his school intake record.
The documents that remain for Private Blackmore’s time in the army, do not specify exactly where he served, but his battalion – the 1st – were heavily involved in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, and at Arras the following year.
It was during that summer that Charles fell ill, contracting tuberculosis. He was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and admitted to the Toxteth Park Auxiliary Military Hospital in Liverpool. The former workhouse was to be where Charles breathed his last: he died on 27th October 1917, at the age of 21 years old.
The body of Charles William Blackmore was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful and picturesque graveyard of the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in his home village, Brompton Regis.
Frank Gunney was born in Brushford, Somerset, in the spring of 1890. The youngest of four children, with two sisters and a brother, his parents were William and Mary. William was a groom-turned-gardener, but when Frank left school, he found other employment: by the time of the 1911 census, he was recorded as being a tailor.
Frank’s older brother, James, followed his father’s trade, becoming a groom when he finished his schooling. His work took him to South Wales, where he met and married Emma Lewis. The couple went on to have two children: Hilda and Kenneth. When war came to Europe, James enlisted, joining the Royal Army Service Corps as a Private.
Frank followed his brother into the army, enlisting in the Somerset Light Infantry on 11th December 1915. This must have proved a tragic time for his mother, Mary, as, just ten days later, William died “after a long and painful illness.” [Western Times: Friday 24th December 1915]
Frank’s service records give little away about the man he had become, but do note that he was 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall. He was re-assigned to the 1st/21st Battalion of the London Regiment, and was sent to France in June 1916.
Private Gunney’s service papers suggest that he was injured on 9th September 1916, having received a gun shot wound to the head. He appears to have been treated on site, and there seems to be no notable break in his time on the front line.
James was killed in action on 7th April 1917: he was 33 years of age, and was laid to rest in the Warlincourt Halte British Cemetery in Saulty. Mary had lost a husband and a son within eighteen months, and James had left a widow and two children.
In March 1917, Private Frank Gunney had transferred to the Labour Corps, and aside from a six-month period on home soil, would remain in France until September 1919. He then returned to Britain, and was demobbed a month later.
Frank returned to Somerset, but his trail then goes cold. Two documents give an idea as to what happened next, however. The first is a newspaper report about his burial:
The funeral took place in All Saints’ Churchyard, Dulverton… of Mr F Gunney, only don of Mrs Gunney… who died on Tuesday last. Deceased served three years in France, and has been in failing health practically ever since demobilisation, although the end came rather suddenly.
Western Times: Tuesday 22nd March 1921
His army Pension Ledger Card, confirms that he had been discharged from the army because of a ‘septic wound to his left thumb’, which was due to his military service. It appears that this had festered over the ensuing years: Frank Gunney passed away on 15th March 1921, aged 30 years of age.
Walter Hayes was born in Somerset in 1883. The oldest of seven children, his parents were William and Mary Hayes. William was an agricultural labourer, and the family lived and worked at Houndhill, to the south east of Stogumber.
Walter also fell into farm work and, in the spring of 1914, he married Emily Mary Tarr. The wedding took place in Tiverton, Devon, but the couple did not stay there for long as, just weeks after their wedding day, Emily gave birth to a daughter, Edith, over the Somerset border in Dulverton.
Storm clouds were brewing over European shores, and Walter was called upon to play his part. His service records are also sparse, but they confirm that he initially joined the Somerset Light Infantry, before moving across to the Devonshire Regiment.
Walter had either been in the army earlier in his life, or he worked his way up during the war, and at some point he reached the rank of Serjeant. He saw fighting overseas and, according to later documentation, was caught up in a gas attack. This was to have an impact on his health and he was discharged from army service sooner than he might otherwise have done. Officially stood down in March 1919, he returned home to his wife and family.
Emily and Walter had a second child, William, later that year, and the family were finally able to settle into a routine. Walter’s health, however, was severely impacted and, on 12th January 1921, he passed away from bronchitis. The lung condition was found to be directly attributable to his war service, and that gas attack, Walter was 38 years of age.
Walter Hayes was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of All Saints’ Church in Dulverton.
Emily was pregnant when her husband died: she gave birth to their third child, a son she named Walter, just a few months later. She did not re-marry, and, according to the 1939 Register, she was boarding in a house in Dulverton and carrying out unpaid domestic duties.
Emily lived on until the autumn of 1973, passing away in Taunton at the age of 85.
Serjeant Walter Hayes (courtesy of Trevor Hayes)
The early life of Walter Hayes was a challenge to piece together, as his was not an uncommon name in the area at the time. My thanks go to his great nephew, Trevor Hayes, for his help in pulling together the story and for the image of his great uncle.
Walter John Greedy was born in the spring of 1889, the eighth of nine children to Theophilus and Mary Greedy. Theophilus was an agricultural labourer from Wiveliscombe in Somerset, and it was here that the Greedy family were born and raised.
When he finished his schooling, Walter found work as a carter for a brewery. In 1906 his oldest sister, Charlotte, was widowed, and he moved in with her and her children to help provide some additional support. He soon found alternative employment, however, and within a couple of years was employed by Great Western Railways as a plate-layer.
On 26th December 1913, Walter married Irene Hobbs. She was a blacksmith’s daughter from nearby Fitzhead, who was working as a domestic servant when the couple wed. They went on to have three children: Frederick, Winifred and Dorothy.
When war was declared, Walter stepped up to play his part. Full details of his military service no longer remain, but he had certainly enlisted by the summer of 1918. Walter joined the Royal Engineers, and, based on his previous employment, was assigned to the 278th Railway Company.
Sapper Greedy served in Northern France, and was based in and around Boulogne. He survived the war, and was back on home soil by December 1918. This may have been because of illness: Walter was admitted to Exeter War Hospital in Devon, having contracted influenza and pneumonia. Sadly, the combination of conditions was to prove a fatal one: he passed away on 22nd December 1918, at the age of 29 years old.
Walter John Greedy was brought back to Somerset for burial: he was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard extension of St Nicholas’ Church in Brushford, where Irene and their children were now living.
Bertie James Parsons was born in the summer of 1889, and was the fourth of six children to James and Elizabeth Parsons. James was a quarryman and slate-maker from Somerset, and he and Elizabeth raised their family in the parish of Ashbrittle.
While his older siblings found farm work in this peaceful part of the county, Bertie found employment as a baker’s assistant. This meant a move away from Somerset, and, by the time of the 1911 census, he was apprenticed to a bakery in the Crediton area of Devon.
The following year proved a tragic one for the Parsons family. Bertie’s younger brother, Richard, had found work as a hall boy for an estate in Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire. This was to prove a springboard for him, and he landed work for one of the new class of liners ploughing the waters of the Atlantic. Employed as a 2nd Class Steward, he was employed on the RMS Titanic and, like most of the ship’s 900 crew, he perished on that fateful night of 15th April 1912.
Among the large number of souls who perished with the Titanic recently we regret to report that among that number was a young man named Richard Parsons, aged 18, a native of Ashbrittle, and whose relatives still live in the neighbourhood, his father, James Parsons, being an invalid.
The deceased, who a couple of years ago embarked on a seafaring life, was on board the Olympic when it collided with the Hawke, and he left his home about a month ago, and journeyed to Belfast to assist in getting the Titanic ready for her maiden voyage.
He was particularly pleased at being appointed to a post on the largest ship in the world.
Deceased, who was a bright lad and much respected in the village, occupied the position of lift steward on his previous boat, and on the Titanic was a steward in a second-class dining saloon.
He was unable to swim.
Somerset County Gazette: Saturday 27th April 1912
Steward 2nd Class Richard Parsons
Back in Devon, Bertie was still working as a baker. When war came to Europe, however, he stepped up to play his part. While full service details are not available, it is clear that he enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps as a Private. He was attached to the 2nd/1st Wessex Field Ambulance, who were sent to France in January 1916.
Private Parsons saw action – or helped treat the results of it – at some of the key battles on the Western Front: the Somme, Ypres, Cambrai, Givenchy and Festubert. In the autumn of 1917, Bertie returned home to marry Florence Riddaway, a milliner from Bow, Devon, who he had courted while working in nearby Crediton. The couple went on to have a son, Douglas, who was born on 26th May 1918.
It is unclear how long Bertie remained in the army after the Armistice was signed. By the summer of 1920, he was back on British shores, and had fallen ill. He was admitted to hospital in Bath with acute staphlococcic infection and a cerebral embolism. He died in hospital on 13th August 1920, at the age of 31 years old.
The body of Bertie James Parsons was taken back to Ashbrittle for burial. He was laid to rest in the village’s St John the Baptist Churchyard.
Tragedy was to remain close by for the Parson family. Florence was a couple of months pregnant when Bertie died. Bertie Jr was born on 26th March 1921, but both mother and son died during childbirth. They were laid to rest near her family in Devon.
Douglas, just two years old, was now an orphan. There is little information about his life in the aftermath of his parents’ passing, but by the time of the 1939 Register, he was working as a motor mechanic in Wellington, Somerset. He lived on until 1993, passing away in Taunton Deane, at the age of 74.
Death and Service 