Arthur William Gentle was born in 1867 in Whitelackington, Somerset. The son of Maria Gillard, his father is not noted, although he was accepted as one of the family when Maria married Richard Gentle in 1873. The couple went on to have eleven children of their own, giving Arthur a large family of siblings.
Richard was an agricultural labourer, and this was a trade into which Arthur followed. On 23rd October 1897, Arthur married Mary Marsh, a labourer’s daughter from South Petherton. The couple tied the knot in her local church, the illiterate Arthur marking his intent with a cross.
The couple set up home just off Silver Street in South Petherton, and went on to have ten children of their own. The 1911 census recorded Arthur still employed as an agricultural labourer, his oldest son following suit, and Mary – who was also known as Polly – raising the family.
War came to Europe, and, despite his age, Arthur felt a need to play a part. While full service records are no longer available, what remains confirms that he had enlisted by the summer of 1916, and had joined the 300th Protection Company of the Royal Defence Corps.
Sadly, Private Gentle’s military career was to end in the same way as so many of his army colleagues. He contracted pneumonia during the winter of 1916, and passed away at home on 21st February 1917. He was 49 years of age.
Arthur William Gentle was laid to rest in the cemetery of his adopted home town, South Petherton.
Arthur’s brother Frank Gentle also fought in the Great War. Assigned to the 1st Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry, he was caught up in the fighting in the Somme, and was killed on 14th July 1916. He was just 26 years of age.
Private Frank Gentle is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in Northern France.
George William Allen was born in the spring of 1887, in the hamlet of Over Stratton, near South Petherton, Somerset. One of eight children, his parents were farm labourer William Allen and his wife, Martha. When he left school, George also found agricultural work and, by the time of the 1911 census, was the only one of his siblings still living with his parents.
On 12th October 1912, George married Ellen Mary Osborne, a labourer’s daughter from Norton-sub-Hamdon, and it was in her parish church – St Mary’s – that the young couple tied the knot. The couple went on to have a daughter – Dorothy – who was born the following year.
War came to Europe in 1914, and George stepped up to play his part. conscripted towards the end of 1916, he joined the 4th (Reserve) Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry. Full details of his service are no longer available, but Private Allen appears to have contracted bronchial pneumonia not long after he was called up.
Sadly, the lung condition was to prove unassailable, and Private Allen passed away on 24th February 1917. He was just 30 years of age.
George William Allen was brought back home for burial. He was laid to rest in South Petherton Cemetery, not far from the hamlet of Yeabridge, where his widow and daughter were now living.
Frederick Pidgeon was born on 18th December 1892 in the Somerset village of Lopen. One of four children – and the only son – his parents were Robert and Ellen Pidgeon. Robert was a baker and, by the time of the 1911 census, only Linda – the youngest of Frederick’s siblings – was not helping in the business.
When war broke out, Frederick – who was better known as Fred – wanted to play his part. He enlisted on 7th December 1916, joining the 5th Battalion of the Grenadier Guards. As his was purely a territorial troop, Private Pidgeon was sent to the regimental barracks in Caterham, Surrey, for training.
At a time of tremendous upheaval, with men from all over the country suddenly thrust together in tightly packed barracks, it is no surprise that disease sometimes took hold. Tragically, Fred was not to be immune to this, and, on the 15th January 1917, he was admitted to the camp hospital, having contracted pneumonia.
The lung condition took a swift hold, and, tragically, Private Pidgeon was to succumb just a few days later. He breathed his last on 20th January 1917, at the age of just 24 years old. He had been in the army for just 44 days.
Fred Pidgeon was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the family plot in the peaceful graveyard of All Saints’ Church, in his home village of Lopen.
Private Frederick Pidgeon
Ellen passed away in August 1919, aged just 54 years old, and was laid to rest alongside her son. Robert died some thirty years later, on 26th June 1949; he too was buried in the family plot, mother, father and son reunited once more.
William John Lydston Poulett was born on 11th September 1883, in Belsize Park, London. The oldest child to William Poulett, 6th Earl Poulett, and his third wife, Rosa, William Jr was known by the title Viscount Hinton.
When William’s father died in January 1899, a battle ensued for the title of the 7th Earl Poulett. The 6th Earl had married his first wife, Elizabeth, in 1849, separating from her within a couple of months, when he learnt that she was pregnant. The alleged father was Captain William Turnour Granville, and when the 6th Earl died, Elizabeth’s son, another William Poulett, claimed the right to take the title. In July 1903, the judge decreed that William and Rosa’s son held the valid claim, and William John Lydston Poulett succeeded him, becoming the 7th Earl. At this point, he was living in Ayston, Rutland, expanding his education and boarding with a Clerk in Holy Orders.
In 1908, William married Sylvia Storey. She was the daughter of actor and dancer Fred Storey, and was herself an actress and Gaiety girl. Given Earl Poulett’s status, it seems this might not have been the most appropriate of matches, as a contemporary newspaper reported:
Another marriage alliance of the stage with the aristocracy, and one of the most remarkable of them all, was brought about yesterday by a quiet ceremony at St James’ Church, Piccadilly, uniting Earl Poulett and Miss Sylvia Lilian Storey, the well-known comedienne.
Besides contracting parties, there were only one or two persons present, including the family solicitor and Lady Violet Wingfield, sister of the bridegroom [who was also a Gaiety girl]. There were no bridesmaids.
Before the ceremony, some consternation was caused by an untoward event. The wedding ring was dropped, and there were some perturbing moments while a scrambling hunt was made for it on the floor. Finally it was discovered and pounced upon by the verger.
The time and place of the ceremony had been kept quite a secret, and the bride and bridegroom were on their way from London before the news of their marriage became known. The sudden announcement which was then made greatly enhanced the romance of the affair.
The Earl is just twenty-five years of age, and the new Countess is eighteen…
Shields Daily News: Thursday 3rd September 1908
The secret nuptials couple went on to have two children – George and Bridget – and, by the time of the 1911 census, the family were living in some luxury at Hinton House in Hinton St George, Somerset.
William had also had a distinguished military career by this point. In 1903 he received a commission as Second Lieutenant in the 4th Battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, before being transferred to the 4th Highland Light Infantry.
On 26th February 1913, he was recommissioned, as a Second Lieutenant in the Warwickshire Royal Horse Artillery and, when war broke out, he was sent to France. By November 1915, he had been promoted to Captain, but after three years on the Western Front, his health was beginning to suffer.
Captain Poulett was transferred back to Britain, and assigned to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. By 1918, he was serving as part of the Anti-Aircraft Corps in Middlesbrough, when he contracted pneumonia. This was to take his life, and he breathed his last on 11th July 1918, at the age of just 34 years old.
William John Lydston Poulett, 7th Earl Poulett, was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St George’s Church in Hinton St George.
Captain William Poulett (from ancestry.co.uk)
William’s death meant that his nine-year-old son, George, inherited his title and his £187,200 estate (worth £8.2m today). The 8th Earl served during the Second World War, working as an engineer at Woolwich Arsenal and becoming an Associate of the Institute of Railway Signal Engineers and the Institute of British Engineers.
George married three times: he divorced his first wife, Oriel, in 1941; outlived his second wife, Olga, who died in 1961; and was survived by his third wife, Margaret, when he passed away in 1973. When he died, with no children, all of his titles became extinct.
Alan James Howland was born in the spring of 1897 in Plymouth, Devon. One of nine children, his parents were pianist and musician Harman Howland and his Irish wife, Ellen.
The Howland family moved around as, presumably, Harman followed where his work was needed. The 1901 census records them living in Devonport: ten years later they had moved to Barnstaple. Alan, by this time, had left school and was working as an errand boy.
War came to Europe in 1914, and, at some point, Alan stepped up to play his part. Full details of his military service are no longer available, but from what remains it is clear that he enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery at some point before the summer of 1917.
Alan enlisted using his mother’s maiden name of Hardie, and was assigned to the 274th Siege Battery. His troop saw action at the Somme and Arras, and a later newspaper report confirmed that Gunner Hardie saw action overseas:
[He] had been previously wounded but was gassed and entered Leicester Hospital on November 2nd 1917.
Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 30th January 1918
Gunner Hardie had been admitted to the 5th Northern General Hospital following his injury. He seemed to be improving, but developed pneumonia and the lung condition was to take his life. He passed away on 21st January 1918, at the age of just 20 years old.
Alan James Hardie/Howland was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the cemetery of the town where his family now lived, Ilminster, Somerset.
Alan’s older brother, William Harman Howland, also fought in the First World War. He enlisted in the 1st Battalion of the Hertfordshire Regiment, also using his mother’s maiden name. Again, details of his service are sparse, and Private Hardie seems to have transferred to the Royal Army Service Corps at some point during his military career.
William passed away on 18th August 1918, while in Germany. The cause of his death is not clear, but he was 28 years old. He was laid to rest in the Ohlsdorfer Cemetery in Hamburg.
William Hearn Moore – who became known as William Ernest Moore – was born in Churchstanton, Devon, in the summer of 1883. His mother, Mary, was only eighteen at the time but, when she married Henry Westcott in August 1891, he treated William as his own.
Henry found work as a coachman in Ilminster, Somerset, and, when he left school, William took on work as a gardener. In October 1903, he married carter’s daughter Charlotte Tucker: the couple set up home in the centre of the town, and went on to have three children – Gladys, Ethel and Henry.
William was working as a foreman for the Chard Lace Company when war broke out. While his full service records are lost to time, it is clear that he enlisted in the Royal Engineers, and was given the rank of Driver.
Driver Moore was in Aldershot, Hampshire, by the autumn of 1915, when he fell ill. He contracted cerebrospinal meningitis, a condition which took his life on 18th October 1915. He was just 32 years old.
William Ernest Moore was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the cemetery in Ilminster, where Charlotte and the family were still living.
With three children to raise, Charlotte married again, to a William Dean, on 21st October 1916. They did not have children of their own and lived in Chard. Charlotte passed away in the winter of 1941, at the age of 57 years old.
William Locke was born in the spring of 1885, the sixth of ten children. His parents were George and Sarah Locke, both of whom were from Chard, Somerset, and it was here that William and his siblings were raised.
George worked in the local lace factory, and the 1891 census provides a snapshot of where the Lockes lived. The document notes that the family’s neighbours were a sawyer, launderess and a chimney sweep.
William did not follow in his father’s – or siblings’ – trade when he left school. Instead, he first found work as an ironmonger’s porter, then as a plumber.
On 5th April 1915, William married Mabel Male, a gardener’s daughter from Barrington, Somerset. War had come to Europe, and it seems that William was aware that he would shortly receive notice for him to play his part. The couple were by now living in Parkstone, Dorset, and William had changed career again: his service records confirm that he was a line telegraphist at the time he enlisted.
William enlisted in the Royal Engineers in Bournemouth on 29th July 1915: his records note that he was 5ft 3ins (1.6m) tall, 122lbs (55.3kg) in weight and had blue eyes, brown hair and a fresh complexion.
Sapper Locke spent a year at the regiment’s Stratford Depot, learning the skills he would need for the front line. He had leave before he was then dispatched to the Front Line and arrived in France on 29th May 1916.
In September, Mabel gave birth to a son the couple called Roy. She had, by this time, returned to Somerset, moving to Chard, to be near William’s family.
Sapper Locke remained in France until the autumn of 1918. He came home in November, but was unwell. A doctor attended, and noted influenza that has developed into pneumonia. Sadly, the conditions were to take William’s life. He passed away at home on 7th November 1918, his death, according to the doctor, directly attributable to his army service. He was aged just 34 years old.
Mabel returned to her family home in Barrington, and William Locke was laid to rest in the graveyard of the village’s St Mary’s Church. His burial was on 11th November, the day the armistice was signed.
Frederick John Francis was born on 15th February 1893, to Henry and Mary Francis. One of nine children, the family lived in the Somerset village of Curry Rivel.
Henry was a labourer, but Frederick had his sights set on a new life and, at some point in his teens, he emigrated to Canada to work as a farmer. Details of his life in North America are scarce, but it is clear that he was in Manitoba when war broke out back in Europe.
Frederick stepped up to serve his King and Country, enlisting at Camp Sewell on 5th April 1915. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall, and weighed 145lbs (65.8kg). He was assigned to the 53rd Battalion of the Canadian Infantry. His service papers also note that he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant on 30th April 1915, although whether the date is correct, or whether Frederick had previous military experience is unclear.
Sergeant Francis boarded the SS Empress of Britain to make the journey back to Europe, little knowing that he was not going to see his home again. On 9th April 1916, just one day from docking in Hampshire, he passed away from quinsy, or throat abscess. He was just 23 years of age.
The body of Frederick John Francis was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Andrew’s Church in the village of his birth, Curry Rivel.
Frederick’s younger brother, Charles, had also made a life in Canada. He enlisted at Camp Sewell just two months after his brother, joining the same battalion.
Charles, who had the rank of Private, arrived in Europe before Frederick and, and was sent to the front line in February 1916. In June, he was involved in the fighting at Mount Sorrel, on the Ypres Salient, and it was here, on 6th June 1916, that he lost his life. He was just 21 years of age.
Charles Arthur Francis is commemorated on the Menin Gate in Ypres. His parents had to mourn the loss of two sons within two months.
James Oscar Stuckey was born in the summer of 1886, in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire. The second of eight children, his parents were James and Minnie Stuckey. James Sr was a carter from Langport in Somerset, and his work took him across the country. James Jr’s older sister was born in Sandown, on the Isle of Wight, and, when his next sibling was born, the family had moved back to Somerset and were living in the village of Curry Rivel.
By the time of the 1901 census James Sr was working as a warehouseman. James Jr had also left school and found employment as an agricultural labourer.
On 24th March 1913, James married Margaret Beatrice Tilley – who was better known as Beattie. The couple set up home in Curry Rivel, and went on to have two children, Cecil and James.
By this time war was coming to Europe and, in January 1915, James stepped up to play his part for King and Country. He enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery, and was given the rank of Gunner. Over the next couple of years, he served in France and Italy, rising through the ranks to Bombardier and Corporal.
During this time, however, James’ health was being impacted. His troop was gassed while in France, and he was hospitalised a couple of times with bronchitis and tuberculosis, and it was TB that saw him evacuated to Britain for treatment in September 1918.
His condition was such that Corporal Stuckey was medically discharged from the army on 23rd November 1918, as he was no longer fit for duty. He returned to civilian life, and settled back into Curry Rivel.
He was well-known in the district, and being of a jovial disposition, was liked by everyone with whom he came into contact. He was a member of the Curry Rivel Male Friendly Society.
Langport & Somerton Herald: Saturday 11th December 1920
James’ lung conditions were to get the better of him. After a protracted illness, he finally succumbed, breathing his last on 3rd December 1920. He was just 34 years of age.
James Oscar Stuckey was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Andrew’s Church, in Curry Rivel.
Arthur Cock was born in around 1885 in Wadebridge, Cornwall. One of eleven children, he was the son of mortar mason William Cock, and his wife, Louisa.
When he left school Arthur helper his father out in the business, but when war came to Europe’s shores, he stepped up to play his part. Sadly, his service records are lost to time, and it is a challenge to piece together his time during the conflict from a confusion of other documents.
It is clear that Arthur enlisted in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, as this is what is engraved on his headstone. However, his Medal Roll suggests that he also served in the Gloucestershire Regiment and the Labour Corps. He seems not to have fought overseas, and was awarded the Victory and British Medals for doing his duty.
Private Cock’s entry in the Army Register of Soldier’s Effects confirms that he must have enlisted before February 1919, and that he passed away at Whitchurch Hospital.
An entry in the local newspaper, reporting on his death, reads as follows:
In loving memory of Pte. Arthur Cock, son of William, and the late Louisa Cock, of Wadebridge, who died August 5th, at Whitchurch War Hospital, Cardiff.
Cornish Guardian: Friday 8th August 1919
Interestingly, the facility Arthur had been admitted to was a psychiatric hospital, but with no other confirmation as to his passing, it is only possible to assume the cause of his death. He was 34 years old when he passed away.
Arthur Cock’s body was brought back to Cornwall for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful, wooded graveyard of St Breoke’s Church, next to the family grave in which Louisa had been buried three years previously.
The family grave, by this time, was tragically quite full. William was able to mourn his son, wife and six of Arthur’s siblings – Mary, William, John, Fred, Charles and Ernest – who had all passed in childhood and were laid to rest there.
Arthur’s younger brother – another William – also fought in the First World War. His service records reveal a lot about his life.
Private Cock enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 7th September 1914. At the time he was working as a railway porter in Morphettville, now a suburb of Adelaide, Australia. His records confirm that he was 5ft 8.5ins (1.74m) tall, and weighed 158lbs (72kg). He had brown hair, brown eyes an a fresh complexion.
William left Australia for the battlefield on 20th October 1914, and soon found himself in the Eastern Mediterranean. Sadly, this was to be the end of the line for him: he was killed on the battlefields of Gallipoli on 23rd March 1915, aged just 28 year of age.
William Cock was laid to rest in the Shrapnel Valley Cemetery in Gallipoli. He is commemorated on the headstone of the family grave back in St Breock.
Death and Service 