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Commonwealth War Graves, Cornwall, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Plumber, Plumber's Mate, Royal Navy, Scotland, story, Surrey, war

Plumber Edwin Hocking

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Plumber Edwin Hocking

Edwin Charles Hocking was born in Newton Abbot, Devon, on 28th January 1873. The youngest of four children, his parents were Richard and Harriet Hocking. Richard was an engine driver, and he was to die less than a year after his youngest boy’s birth:

Mr Deputy-Coroner Square and a jury of twenty-two to-day brought to a conclusion the inquest on the death of the engine driver Richard Hocking. The evidence of numerous witnesses went to show that the accident, which occurred on the morning of the 2nd inst., between Menheniot and St Germans stations occurred in consequence of the guards of two trains being called Dick. The morning was very dark, and at Menheniot there was standing at the station an up and a down goods, and a second down goods was on its way from St Germans, but this was unknown to the up goods. The porter Pratt at Menheniot gave the order to the guard (Wills) of the down train to start, saying “All right, Dick.” The driver of the up train (Scantlebury) was also called Dick, and when he heard the words he said “Is it right for me?” and Pratt, not seeing Scantlebury, and thinking Wills asked the question, repeated “It’s all right, Dick.” Scantlebury through it was meant for him, and gave the order to the deceased, “Right away.” Pratt, who had gone to let out the down train, hearing the starting whistle of the up train, rushed back to the platform waving his hand “danger” light. This attracted the attention of Scantlebury, the head guard, and he missed his van in consequence. Pratt said, “Wherever are you going?” Scantlebury replied, “Right away isn’t it?” Pratt said “God bless the man, who gave you ‘right’? The up goods is ten minutes off St Germans.” Scantlebury cried out “Oh! my God! Oh! my God!” Together they shouted and waved the danger light, but were unable to attract the drivers of either of the two engines attached to the train. The trains came into collision at full speed about two miles away. The deceased and the other driver were at great fault in leaving Menheniot, notwithstanding the order of the guard, for the signal was against them, and they did not observe the rules of the Company. They should not have gone on without hearing the second whistle of the guard, and after starting they should have satisfied themselves that they had the head guard in the train by seeing his lamp. Richard Scantlebury, the head guard, after being cautioned that he need not say anything to criminate himself, gave evidence that when Pratt said “All right Dick” he certainly thought it referred to him, especially as his train had nothing to do at Menheniot.

The jury deliberated for half-an-hour, and then returned a verdict of “Accidental death,” exonerating Pratt and Scantlebury from all blame. The appended a recommendation to the South Devon and Cornwall Railways to provide for a strict observance of their bye-laws for the use of some definite word for the up and down trains, and Christian names never to be used in such cases; that there be communication between the driver and guard on luggage trains as well as passenger trains, and that there be to men at least at each station on duty.

[Western Times: Wednesday 17th December 1873]

Harriet was just 28 years old when her husband died. With four children to raise, she married again – to John Staple – and went on to have four children with him too.

John also passed away in the spring of 1885, and the 1891 census found Harriet and six of her children living at 43 Richmond Terrace, to the west of the centre of Truro, Cornwall. Harriet was working as a washer woman, while Edwin, who was 18 by this point, was employed as a plumber’s assistant.

It is clear that Edwin wanted a better life for himself and in the spring of 1896, he took the skills that he learnt and signed up to the Royal Navy. His service papers show that he was 5ft 5ins (1.64m) tall with dark brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also noted as having a tattoo on his left forearm.

Edwin took the rank of Plumber’s Mate, and spent the first two years split between two shore establishments – HMS Vivid and HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyards in Devonport, Devon, and Chatham, Kent. He had enlisted for a twelve-year term and, over that time, he would serve on five ships, returning to Chatham in between assignments.

Plumber’s Mate Hocking consistently received very good reviews at his annual appraisals and, when his initial contract came to an end in May 1908, he immediately re-enlisted. He had a family to support by this point, having married Fanny Sears in Camberwell, Surrey, on 16th March 1902. A bricklayer’s daughter, she moved to Gillingham, Kent, to be close to Chatham Dockyard. The couple went on to have five children: Henry, Raymond, Doris, Elsie and Percival.

Back at sea, Edwin’s career continued with some consistency. His annual appraisals noted not on a character that was very good, but an excellent ability. Nevertheless, it would only be in the spring of 1916 that he would gain a promotion to full Plumber. Notwithstanding his general character, Edwin seems to have been a flawed character: in 1909 he applied for a discharge to the Royal Naval Reserve, but this was not approved as he had been found to be “carrying on a business as [a] bookmaker.” Instead, he was to be sent “to sea forthwith and warned that unless his betting practices [were] not stopped his discharge will have to be considered.”

By the summer of 1916, Plumber Hocking was eight years into his second term of service, and had served on five further ships. HMS Pembroke remained his shore base, and it was here that he attained his increased rank.

In October 1916, Edwin was given what would be his final assignment, on board the armoured cruiser HMS Royal Arthur. Based at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys, she was employed as a depot ship for submarines. Plumber Hocking spent ten months on board, before illness hit. Coming down with gastroenteritis following food poisoning, he was transferred back to Kent, and admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham. The condition was to prove his undoing, and he passed away on 23rd August 1917: he was 44 years of age.

The body of Edwin Charles Hocking was laid to rest in the naval section of Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, a short distance from his grieving family’s home in King Edward Road.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Garrison Artillery, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Alfred King

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Private Alfred King

Alfred William King was born in the autumn of 1872, the oldest of eight children to Alfred and Caroline King. Alfred Sr was a labourer from Bath, Somerset, and this is where the family were raised.

Times were tough for the King family. The 1891 census recorded most of them living at 89 Avon Street in the city. Alfred Jr, meanwhile, seems to have been an inmate at the Bath Union Workhouse in Lyncombe.

On 24th May 1896, Alfred Jr married Mary Pemberton. She was the daughter of a coachman, in the next street to her in-laws. Both Alfred and his father were, by this point employed as carters, and the new groom was back living in Avon Street. The young couple went on to have two children, Alfred and Dorothy, and made their home in a small terraced house in Avondale Road, Bath.

The 1911 census recorded Alfred as being an army pensioner and night porter. While previous service records no longer exist, his enlistment papers for the First World War suggest he had spent time in both the Somerset Light Infantry and the Royal Garrison Artillery. Certainly, Alfred’s eagerness to serve his country – he joined up on 18th September 1914, at the age of 42 – suggests he had had military service in the past.

Private King’s medical report confirms that he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall and weighed 145lbs (65.8kg). He was noted as having grey hair, light brown hair and webbed toes on both feet.

Alfred’s time in the army was to be brief. A later medical report noted that the had a “dilated stomach of old standing. [He was] absolutely unable to retain food unless stomach is washed out twice a week.” He was medically dismissed from the army on 3rd November 1914, after just 45 days.

Alfred’s incapacity for military service may have been what prompted his son, Alfred, to enlist. After time in the Somerset Light Infantry, and a rise to the rank of Lance Corporal, he was to die of wounds in February 1916. His father would live on for just five more years. He passed away on 1st April 1921 at the age of 48 years.

Alfred William King was buried alongside his son in Bath’s majestic Locksbrook Cemetery.

Read about Lance Corporal Alfred Frederick King here.

accident, Cadet, Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Glamorganshire, Gloucestershire, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lance Corporal, photography, Private, Royal Artillery, Sergeant, Somerset, South Africa, South Wales Borderers, story, Wales, war, Wiltshire, Wiltshire Regiment, Yorkshire

Serjeant Fred Maynard

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Serjeant Fred Maynard

Details of Fred Maynard’s early life are a challenge to piece together. His First World War service records give his age as 44 years old when he enlisted in September 1914, and confirm his place of birth as Melksham, Wiltshire.

A newspaper report of his funeral gives the name of three brothers – Charles, Frank and Arthur – while only one census return, from 1881, provides a potential match for the family. This suggests Fred’s parents were iron fitter Alfred Maynard and his wife, Deborah, and gives the family’s address as Waterworks Road in Trowbridge.

Fred joined the army in the autumn of 1888. Initially assigned to the Gloucestershire Regiment, he had transferred to the Wiltshire Regiment by the following spring. Private Maynard showed a commitment to duty: in December 1890 he was promoted to Lance Corporal, rising to Corporal in the summer of 1893.

Fred was stood down to reserve status after his seven years’ active duty, but was recalled to the army in December 1899, when war broke out in South Africa. Promoted to Serjeant, he was sent to fight in the Boer War, and was mentioned in dispatches on 2nd April 1901 for special and meritorious service in South Africa. He was stood back down to reserve status in October 1901.

On 21st November 1895, Fred had married Louisa Card. The couple set up home in Trowbridge, but soon moved to London. They went on to have six children: Ernest, Nora and Leslie, who were all born in the London; and Arthur, Martha and Stuart, who were born in Cardiff, the family having moved to Wales by 1910.

The army was not finished with Fred, however, and, within weeks of war breaking out in the summer of 1914, he was called back into service. Given the rank of Serjeant again, he was attached to the South Wales Borderers. Fred was 44 years of age by this point, his service records confirming that he stood 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall, weighed 164lbs (74.4kg) and had brown hair and hazel eyes.

Attached to one of the regiment’s depots, it seems unlikely that Fred saw service overseas this time around. He was discharged from the army on 1st September 1916 and this seems to have been on medical grounds. Later documents suggest that Serjeant Maynard had been diagnosed with carcinoma of the pylorus, or stomach cancer.

Fred returned to Cardiff, but his time back home was to be short. He was admitted to the Lansdown Road Military Hospital, and passed away on 23rd November 1916. He was 46 years of age.

It seems that Fred’s brother’s had some sway in his funeral. Instead of being laid to rest in Cardiff, where Louisa and the children were living, he was, instead, buried in the Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath, Somerset. His sibling Charles, who was a sergeant in Bath City Police, lived in the city, as did another brother, Frank.

Fred’s headstone also commemorates his and Louisa’s son, Leslie. He had joined the army in the 1920s and, in the summer of 1943, was in Yorkshire, undergoing officer training.

The death of an officer cadet through the accidental discharge of a rifle whose bolt had jammed was described at an inquest…

Captain WH Price said he was in charge of an exercise on the moors which involved the used of small arms and the firing of live ammunition. A squad of cadets lay on the ground in front of a trench firing over a range. All finished firing except Cadet Frank Holroyd, who said his bolt had hammed while firing a second round. [Price] told him to release the bolt by knocking the cocking piece up and back.

This attempt failed, and he told Holroyd to get back into the trench, turn the rifle magazine upwards, place the butt on the side of the trench, and kick the bolt down with his foot. While Holroyd was doing this he noticed Maynard standing in the trench about 4ft away from Holroyd and on his right-hand side.

Captain Price said he saw the rifle was pointing down the range when Holroyd kicked the butt. The cartridge suddenly exploded and Maynard dropped into the trench, shot in the head, and was dead when they reached him.

[Bradford Observer: Saturday 19th June 1943]

Officer Cadet Leslie Maynard was 36 years of age when he was killed. His body was taken back to Somerset for burial: he was laid to rest in the same grave as Fred, father and son reunited after 27 years.

Louisa remained somewhat elusive as time wore on. Fred’s military records confirm that she had moved from Cardiff to the Isle of Wight by 1922. By the time of her son’s death, she was living in Sidcup, Kent.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, India, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Harold Hill

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Private Harold Hill

In a quiet corner of St John’s Churchyard, Staplegrove, is a commemorative headstone to three soldiers of the Somerset Light Infantry. The bottom two, share the same surname, and are, in fact, father and son: Francis and Harold Hill.

Harold James Hill was born 23rd November 1896 in Milverton, Somerset. He was the only child to former army man turned storekeeper, Francis Hill and his wife, Florence.

When he finished his schooling, Harold found work as an office boy. By the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved six miles east of Milverton, to the village of Staplegrove. Francis was employed as a house painter, Florence had taken in work as a glove maker, and the Hills also had a boarder, Reginald Cave, who was a nursery foreman.

Storm clouds were brewing by this point and, when war broke out, Harold was keen to play his part, possibly because he wanted to emulate his father’s army life. He enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry and was assigned to the 2nd/5th Battalion. Private Hill’s medical records show that he was 5ft 10ins (1.78m) tall, and weighed 140lbs (63.5kg). By coincidence, these are almost exactly the same measurements as those of his father, when he joined the army 28 years before.)

After three months’ training, Harold’s battalion was sent overseas, and he arrived in India on 12th December 1914. Within a matter of months, his health began to suffer and, between May 1915 and February 1916, Private Hill was admitted to hospital on six separate occasions, all but one for intestinal problems.

In the end, Harold was taken back to Britain for treatment: he arrived on home soil at the end of March 1916, and within three months had been medically discharged from the army.

At this point, Harold’s trail goes cold, although he did return to Somerset. His illness continued, however, and he passed away from his stomach condition on 23rd October 1916. He was just 19 years of age.

Harold James Hill was laid to rest in the graveyard of St John’s Church, Staplegrove. His grave is lost to time, but it can be assumed that he was buried close to his father, who had died just nine months before. Father and son are commemorated on a special memorial, close to the entrance of the church.

One can only imagine the heartache for Florence Hill, having lost her husband and her only child within a year. Details of her late husband’s life can be found here.

Few details remain of her life, although she is recorded on the 1939 England and Wales Register boarding with an Eda Cummings in Greenway Avenue, Taunton. She was noted as a widow, and employed to do household duties.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private Charlie Tucker

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Private Charlie Tucker

Charlie Tucker was born early in 1877 in the village of Mark, Somerset. The fifth of six children, his parents were Thomas and Caroline. Charlie’s mother died when he was only a toddler, probably during, or shortly after, the birth of his younger sister, Elizabeth. This left farm labourer Thomas to raise his family alone.

The 1881 census found the Tuckers living in Wedmore, five miles to the east of Mark, where Thomas was supported by his parents, George and Elizabeth. Both died in 1890, but by this point, Thomas had married again, to a widow, Ann Harding. She had a daughter, Mary Ann, who was welcomed into the family, but then Thomas and Ann had their own child, a son called Walter.

The next census, returned in 1891, recorded the family – Thomas, Ann, Charles, Mary Ann and Walter – living in Wedmore. Charles had finished his schooling by this point, and was employed as a general labourer and the family also had a boarder, Ralph Godney, who was just 9 years of age.

The family setup continued, and the 1901 census document found Thomas and Ann living with Charlie and Walter, all of whom were doing farm work. They still seemed to be open to supporting others, however, and had another boarder, a schoolgirl called Elizabeth Grant.

In the spring of 1904, Charlie married Lily Brown. Born in Wedmore, she was the daughter, and only child, of a labourer who was employed as a servant to an Axbridge famer at the time the couple wed. Charlie and Lily set up home in Blackford, near Wedmore, and went on to have four children: Thomas, Walter, William and Kathleen.

When war broke out in 1914, Charlie stepped up to play his part. Full details of his military career are lost to time, but it is clear from what remains that he had enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment by the autumn of 1916. Private Tucker joined the 13th (Works) Battalion, and remained stationed on home soil for the duration of his service.

Little further information about Charlie’s life is evident. Over the next couple of years his health began to fail, and in the spring of 1917 he had been admitted to Bath War Hospital with carcinoma of the stomach. This was to take his life: he passed away on 11th March 1917. He was 40 years of age.

Charlie Tucker’s body was brought back to Blackford for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church.

Lily, now widowed, was left with four young children to raise on her own. Whether for a new life and new opportunities, or to escape the painful memories that Somerset brought, she made the decision to emigrate. In April 1924, she and the children arrived in Canada, and settled in Ontario.

Further information for Lily is not readily available, but her two oldest children, Thomas and Walter, made lives for themselves, and died in 1975 and 1979, respectively.

Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Leading Seaman, Ordinary Seaman, Petty Officer, photography, Royal Navy, Somerset, story, war

Petty Officer 1st Class Samuel Bailey

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Petty Officer 1st Class Samuel Bailey

Samuel Inkerman Bailey was born in the summer of 1861 in Bath, Somerset. The youngest of five children, his parents were James and Mary Bailey. James was an ostler, or groom, but he died in August 1862, when his son was barely a year old.

Mary was left a widow, with a young family to raise and, as so many women in her position did in Victorian Britain, she remarried. She wed tailor Robert Lankesheer, a widower with four children of his own. The couple went on to have three further children – three half-siblings to Samuel.

While the 1871 census suggests that Robert welcomed Mary’s youngest into the family home, it seems that things were not so comfortable for Samuel. On 22nd May 1878, he enlisted in the Royal Navy, destined for a life at sea. He was only 16 years old at this point – although, interestingly, his service records give his date of birth as 27th March 1862. They also note that he was 5ft 2.5ins (1.59m) tall, with light brown hair, blue-grey eyes and a fair and fresh complexion.

As he was too young to formally enlist, Samuel was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class and sent to HMS Impregnable for training. Just over a year later, he was promoted to Boy 1st Class and, on 10th January 1880 he was given his first posting, on board the sloop HMS Dryad.

It was while Samuel was on board the Dryad that he came of age, and was officially inducted into the Royal Navy. He signed up for ten years service, and was given the rank of Ordinary Seaman 2nd Class. Samuel was certainly a dedicated young man: within three months he was again promoted, this time to Ordinary Seaman. He remained on Dryad until February 1884, by which time he had been promoted again, to Able Seaman.

Samuel ended up serving until 31st March 1900. During his time with the Royal Navy, he continued to distinguish himself, his character being noted as Very Good on each of his service reviews. He served on thirteen vessels, and was promoted through the ranks, to Leading Seaman (in August 1885), Petty Office 2nd Class (in January 1894) and Petty Officer 1st Class (in September 1897).

When he was stood down to the naval reserve, Samuel returned to Somerset. He found a job as a superintendent at the public baths in Bathwick and, on 15th April 1901, he married former housemaid and agricultural labourer’s daughter, Alice Clarke. As Samuel’s house came with his job, the couple set up home there, and went on to have five children: Samuel Jr, Emma, James, Alice and Joseph.

When war broke out, Samuel has been stood down from reserve status for more than two years. This did not stop him from stepping up to play his part again, however, and as Petty Officer 1st Class, he took up a training role at HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth. He served for just over fourteen months, before he became ill, passing away from intestinal disease – which an inquest identified as ptomaine poisoning – at the city’s Royal Naval Hospital. He was 54 years of age.

Reporting on his death, the local newspaper recognised his fifteen years’ service at the public baths, as well as picking up on the fact that his unusual middle name was given to him in recognition of the death of his great uncle in the battle of that name during the Crimean War.

The same report outlined his dedicated naval career, although not always being correct with all of the details. It did note, however “two years or more on the Royal Yacht ‘Victoria & Albert,’ when used by Queen Victoria, a testament to the reliance placed in his trustworthiness.” [Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 16th October 1915] The then Able Seaman Bailey’s service records do note that he served aboard the Victoria & Albert, from 18th March to 11th May 1885, although whether the Queen sailed on her during this time is not known.

Samuel Inkerman Bailey was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the Smallcombe Vale Cemetery in Bathwick, the community he had served for so long.

Petty Officer 1st Class Samuel Bailey
(from ancestry.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, King's (Liverpool Regiment), photography, Rifleman, story, war

Rifleman William Locke

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Rifleman William Locke

William Thomas Locke was born at the start of 1900 in the Kent village of Eccles. His parents were Thomas and Annie Locke, although it seems that he was orphaned early on. The 1901 census recorded him as living with his grandparents John and Mary Locke. Their daughter Annie is also recorded as living at the property, although there is nothing to confirm whether she was William’s mother or an aunt.

By the time of the 1911 census John Locke had died. Mary was living in the same house, with two of her sons – Frederick and Alfred – and her grandchildren, William and his cousin Gladys. Both of William’s uncles were labourers in the local cement works, and it seems likely that this would be work that he would have followed them into once he had completed school.

William’s trail goes cold at this point, although he would have been too young to join up at the outbreak of the First World War. Records confirm that he had enlisted by March 1918, and it seems likely that he would have done so as soon as he came of age.

Rifleman Locke joined the 5th Battalion of the King’s (Liverpool Regiment), but this is the only detail of his military service that can be confirmed. The next record for him confirms that he passed away on 5th October 1918, having been admitted to hospital in Oswestry, Shropshire, suffering from intestinal problems. He was just 18 years old when he passed.

William Thomas Locke’s body was brought back to Kent for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter & St Paul’s Church in Aylesford, the parish church for his home village of Eccles.

The specific location of William’s grave is not known, although it is likely that he was laid to rest near his grandfather. Instead, he is commemorated on a joint headstone in the First World War section of the graveyard. William’s grandmother passed away the following year, and records confirm that his next of kin was noted as his aunt, Mary Ann Longley.