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Army Veterinary Corps, Commonwealth War Graves, County Durham, Glamorganshire, Great War, history, Midlothian, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Scotland, Sergeant, Somerset, story, unknown, Wales, war

Serjeant Robert Dodds

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Serjeant Robert Dodds

Robert Frederic Dodds was born in 1874 in Darlington, Country Durham. The third of nine children, his parents were Robert and Elizabeth Dodds. Robert Sr was a carter and furniture remover and, when he finished his schooling, Robert Jr joined his father in his work.

Robert Sr died in 1898, at the age of 61. Whether this was a catalyst for his son to move on is unclear, but by the following year, Robert Jr was working as a labourer in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. On 16th September 1899, he married Elizabeth Counsell, a fisherman’s daughter from the town.

It seems that Robert was keen to build a life for his new wife: the next census, taken in 1901, found the couple living in Cardiff, Glamorgan, where he was employed as a stone mason. The Dodds remained in Wales for the next decade, having three children – Lily, William and Rosie – there. By the spring of 1911, however, they were back in Somerset, living in a three-roomed cottage in Castle Street. Elizabeth had had a fourth child just a month before the census, with a second son, Bertie, adding to the family.

When war came to Britain, Robert stepped up to play his part. He initially joined the Royal Army Veterinary Corps as a Private, and found himself in France on 6th March 1915. Elizabeth, meanwhile, remained at home in Somerset, seeking support from her family. With four children to look after, her workload was to increase again when, just a week after Robert arrived on the Western Front, she gave birth to their fifth child, the patriotically named Frederick Gordon Kitchener Dodds.

Robert remained in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps for the next four years, rising to the rank of Serjeant. Details of his time in the service are unclear, but he survived the war and, on 11th July 1919, he transferred to the Royal Army Service Corps.

Little further information is available about Robert’s life. By the winter of 1919/1920, he was based in Midlothian, Scotland. He was admitted to the 2nd Scottish General Hospital, Edinburgh, although his condition is unclear. Whatever it was, it was to be fatal: he passed away on 6th January 1920, at the age of 45 years old.

Robert Frederic Dodds’ body was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Highbridge Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Machine Gun Corps, Monmouthshire, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war, Welch Regiment

Private Henry Yard

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Private Henry Yard

Henry George Yard was born on 25th October 1884 in the Somerset village of Burnham-on-Sea. The second of seven children, his parents were John and Elizabeth Yard. John was a railway porter, but Henry chose a different route, becoming a mason’s labourer.

Henry’s work took him to South Wales, where he took up a position as a pit mason. The 1911 census recorded him as boarding in a six-roomed house in Abertillery, Monmouthshire. From the document there can be no mistaking that this was a mining community. The head of the household for 70 New Gladstone Street was 28-year-old Albert Francis, colliery banksman. He lived there with his wife, Martha, who was fifteen years older than him, and her three children: William, Herbert and Horace.

Martha had been married previously, to coal miner Walter Mutter. Both had been born in Somerset, and had come to South Wales like so many other families, because of the work. Walter died at the beginning of 1909, leaving his widow to raise three children on her own. It seems likely that this is where Albert stepped up: it was not unknown for mine workers to support each other in times of dire need. He married his former colleague’s widow in the autumn, securing a future for her and her family.

According to the census record, the Francis family had one other boarder and all but Martha and Horace worked in the local colliery in one way or another.

There seemed to have been money in Henry’s career move, as it set him up to marry Gertrude Coombes on 6th August 1912. She was a gardener’s daughter from Berrow in Somerset, and eight years younger than her husband. The couple married at St Mary’s Church, Berrow, and appeared to settle back in South Wales. They went on to have two children: Gertrude, who was born the following year, and Daisy, who came along in 1916.

When war came to Europe, Henry was called upon to play his part. He enlisted in October 1915, and was initially assigned to the 3rd Battalion of the Welch Regiment. His service records show that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, and weighed 133lbs (60.3kg). He was noted to be of good physical development, although dental treatment was required.

Private Yard transferred to the Machine Gun Corps at some point, and by the autumn of 1916 was sent to Greece. He remained there for nearly two years, but became dogged by malaria in later months there. Initially coming down with the condition in August 1917, he spent the remainder of the war in and out of hospital as attacks of the condition came and went.

Initially returning to home soil and placed on reserve status, Henry was eventually discharged on medical grounds at the end of 1918. He returned to the family home. He was not to be there for long, however: debilitated by malaria, Henry passed away in Bedwellty on 23rd March 1919, at the age of 34 years old.

With strong family connections in Somerset, Gertrude took her husband back there to be laid to rest. Henry George Yard was buried in the tranquil graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Berrow.

Private Henry Yard
(from ancestry.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Glamorganshire, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, Wales, war, Welch Regiment

Private George Stevens

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Private George Stevens

George Henry Stevens was born in Winscombe, Somerset, in the spring of 1869. The oldest of four children, his parents were blacksmith Joseph (or John) Stevens and his wife, Eliza.

When he finished his schooling, George found work as a collier. In 1893, he married a woman called Maria, and went on to have three children: Edward, Mary and Charlie. By 1900 the family had moved to South Wales for his work. They settled in Llanwonno, Glamorganshire, and went on to have three more children: John, Cyril and George Jr.

By 1911, George and Maria had been married for eighteen years. George was working as a repairer for the colliery, while Edward had followed his father into the mines.

When war came to Europe’s shores, George stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Welch Regiment, and was assigned to the 1st/5th Battalion. While his full service records no longer exist, his troop served in Gallipoli during 1915, so it is possible that he spent times overseas.

By January 1916, however, Private Stevens was back in Britain, and had become unwell. Again, little specific information remains, but he passed away on 30th January 1916, having fallen into a diabetic coma. He was 47 years of age.

George Henry Stevens was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church in Cleeve, where Maria had moved back to with the family when her husband went to war.

Commonwealth War Graves, Glamorganshire, Gloucestershire, Great War, history, illness, Lincolnshire, Petty Officer, photography, Royal Naval Reserve, Somerset, Stoker, story, Surrey, war

Stoker Petty Officer Henry Cordas

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Stoker Petty Officer Henry Cordas

Much of Henry John Cordas’ early life is destined to remain a mystery. The first record for him is the 1881 census, which gives is his address as St Mary’s Orphanage in Heston, Middlesex, where he was one of 650 children.

The 1891 census recorded Henry as living in Humber Street, Grimsby, Lincolnshire, right next to the town’s docks. He is noted as being a fisherman, and is married to a woman called Mary, who was born in Deptford, Surrey.

The next available census record for Henry adds confusion to his story. The document, dating from 1911, confirms that he and Mary are now living in Hotwell Road, Bristol, Gloucestershire, again within spitting distance of the docks. Henry was employed as a marine fisherman in the merchant service. The document suggests that the couple had been married for ten years, and give Mary’s place of birth as Swansea, Glamorganshire.

While the document matches previous information for Henry, it seems unlikely that the Marys in the 1891 and 1911 censuses are one and the same. Either way, the couple were sharing their house with Mary’s niece, Ellen.

Henry seems to have joined the merchant fleet in a more official capacity in the autumn of 1900. His records show that he was 5ft 11ins (1.8m) tall, with blue eyes and a fair complexion. He served out of Bristol and, in the years leading up to the outbreak of war, he was assigned to a number of ships, travelling the Atlantic to Montreal and Jamaica, amongst other far-flung places.

When hostilities commenced, Henry was assigned to the Royal Naval Reserve. Over the next few years, he served on a number of ships, including the armoured cruisers HMS Suffolk and HMS Doris. He worked as a Stoker, but by the end of the conflict had been promoted to Stoker Petty Officer.

In December 1918, Henry’s service came to an end. He was, by now, based at HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport, but his health was suffering. Medically discharged with a combination of chronic bronchitis and rheumatic pain, he seems to have returned to Bristol.

On 6th December 1920, Henry was admitted to Bath War Hospital in Somerset, as he was coughing up blood. The plan was to transfer him to Greenwich Hospital in Surrey, but he suffered an aneurysm before that move could be made. He passed away on 11th December 1920, at the age of 50 years old.

The body of Henry John Cordas did not travel far for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful expanse of Bath’s Locksbrook Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Driver, Egypt, Glamorganshire, Great War, Greece, Hampshire, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Somerset, South Wales Borderers, story, Wales, war

Driver Charles Shipp

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Driver Charles Shipp

The early life of Charles Shipp is a challenge to unpick. Born Charles Morgan in Bath, Somerset, in 1872, his father was also called Charles. He found work as a labourer when he finished school.

Charles sought a life of adventure, however, and on 7th January 1890, he enlisted in the army, joining the South Wales Borderers. Private Morgan’s service records show that he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall and weighed 116lbs (52.6kg). He had brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion, with tattoos of crossed flags, a crown and VR on his left forearm.

Private Morgan spent three years on home soil, and is recorded as being based in North Camp Barracks in Farnborough, Hampshire, in the 1891 census. His battalion was sent to Egypt in December 1892 and spent the next three years overseas, moving to Gibraltar in the spring of 1895. The only details available for his time abroad relate to a couple of hospital admissions – for a fever in Cairo in August 1894, and for gonorrhoea in Gibraltar in the autumn of 1895. He returned to Britain at the end of November that year.

Charles appears to have been based in South Wales when he returned home and, on 20th December 1896, he married Lottie Walters in Llandough Parish Church. Interestingly, while the new bride’s father’s details are recorded – naval pensioner James Walters – Charles’ have been intentionally left blank. This is also the first document on which his surname is recorded as Shipp, so there seems to have been a deliberate distancing from his family at this point.

Charles was still committed to his military career. He served on home soil until January 1897, when he was placed on reserve, having completed seven years’ service. This respite was not to be for long, however, as he was recalled on three years later, and sent to South Africa, to fight in the Second Boer War.

Private Shipp, as he was now known, served in South Africa for more than two years, and was awarded the Johannesburg, Cape Colony, 1901 and 1902 clasps. In August 1902, he returned to Britain, and was formally stood down from army service.

Charles and Lottie moved to Bath, and set up home in a small cottage in Locksbrook Road. They went on to have seven children, all of them girls and, by the time of the 1911 census, Charles was working as a carter for the local gas works. His heart seems always to have been with his military career, however, and, when war broke out in 1915, he saw this as an opportunity to play his part once more.

On 25th October 1915, Charles enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps as a Driver. His was not to be a war fought on home turf, and within a month, he was in the Mediterranean, potentially back in Egypt again. In April 1916, his battalion moved to Salonika, and he spent the next three years in Northern Greece.

Charles contracted malaria in the autumn of 1917, and this resulted in a hospital admission for just over two months. He returned to his unit, but spent another couple of months in a Macedonian hospital the following year when the condition recurred.

Driver Shipp survived the war, and returned to Britain in April 1919. His health was again suffering, and he was formally discharged from the army on medical grounds on 29th April.

At this point, Charles’ trail goes cold. He returned home to Lottie and their daughters, but there is nothing to account for the the last eight months of his life. He passed away on 12th December 1919, at the age of 47 years of age.

Charles Shipp was laid to rest in Bath’s majestic Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from where his family lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Devonshire Regiment, Glamorganshire, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private James Baker

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Private James Baker

James Baker was born in 1884, and was the youngest of three children to William and Martha Baker. The family were from Kentisbeare in Devon, and tragedy was to strike James early in life, when Martha passed away in 1890, followed by William just five years later.

By the time of the 1901 census, James had moved to the nearby village of Uffculme, where he was employed as a cowman on William Stevens’ farm. At the same time, he was gaining some military experience, volunteering for the Devonshire Regiment. This seemed to offer him a way out, and on 19th October 1903, he formally enlisted in the army.

Private Baker’s service records show that he was 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, and weighed 127lbs (57.6kg). He had blue eyes, brown hair and a fresh complexion. James served for 16 months on home soil, but was sent to India in February 1905. He remained there until November 1906, when he returned to England’s shores once more.

James was transferred to the Army Reserve at this point, and returned to farm labouring. He found work in Somerset and, on 31st December 1910, he married Clara Pike. She was the daughter of a farm labourer, and the following year’s census found the newlyweds living with Clara’s widowed father, George, in Tapper’s Lane, North Petherton. James and Clara had a daughter, Clara, who was born in July 1912.

When war came to Europe, James was mobilised once more, and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion in the Devonshire Regiment. Within weeks of conflict erupting, he was in France, remaining there for six months. Over the next four years, Private Baker had two further tours of duty in France, as well as spending considerable time on the Home Front. He had a number of bouts in hospital, suffering from rheumatism, particularly in the winter months.

In the spring of 1918, Private James was caught up in the actions of Villers-Bretonneux, to the east of Amiens. He was badly wounded in the chest and abdomen, and medically evacuated to Britain. He was admitted to the 3rd Western General Hospital in Cardiff, where he spent time recovering. He was declared unlikely to be fully fit for war service, and, on 5th August 1918, he was formally discharged from military duty.

At this point, James’ trail goes cold. He returned to Somerset, and settled back into family life with his wife, daughter and son, Sidney, who had been born in 1915. James passed away at home, through causes unknown, on 27th September 1919, at the age of 35 years of age.

James Baker was laid to rest in the peaceful North Petherton Cemetery, within walking distance from the family home.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Flight Cadet, Gloucestershire Regiment, Great War, Hertfordshire, history, Monmouthshire, photography, Private, Royal Air Force, Somerset, story, Wales, war

Flight Cadet Claude Rawlings

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Flight Cadet Claude Rawlings

Claude John Howard Rawlings was born on 5th November 1896 in the Monmouthshire village of Aberbeeg. One of three children, his parents were Sidney and Alice Rawlings. Sidney was a brewer from Bath, Somerset, while Alice was born in the Welsh village and this is where the couple raised their family.

By the time of the 1911 census, Claude had been sent to Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, and was a boarding student at the Brynmalyn Private School to the north of the town centre. His heritage would not have been out of place, though, as nine of the 25 live-in students were from Wales. Claude’s parents seemed to have taken the opportunity to visit Sidney’s mother in Bath, a possible prequel to them moving back to Somerset permanently.

Claude completed his schooling at Brynmalyn the following year, and took up a place as an agricultural student in Broadstone, Dorset. When war broke out, however, he was called upon to play his part.

Details of Claude’s military service are sketchy, but he initially enlisted in the Gloucestershire Regiment and was assigned to the 4th (City of Bristol) Battalion. The regiment service in France and Italy from 1915 onwards, but there is no evidence of Private Rawlings serving anywhere other than on home soil.

Claude wanted greater things, and was drawn to a life in the sky. In the spring of 1918, he transferred to the Royal Air Force, and was attached to 125 Squadron. Sent to Fowlmere Airfield near Royston, Hertfordshire, Flight Cadet Rawlings began his training. Over the next couple of months, he learnt to fly a Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 biplane.

Flight Cadet Rawlings was dong a routine practice flight on 12th August 1918, when, during a left hand turn, the aircraft’s side slipped and nose dived. The plane crashed to the ground, and Claude was killed instantly. He was just 21 years of age.

The body of Claude John Howard Rawlings was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Bath Abbey Cemetery.

Flight Cadet Claude Rawlings
(from britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)

Claude’s grave was a family plot, and he was reunited with his parents when Alice and Sidney died in 1933 and 1945 respectively.

The inscription on the family headstone gives Claude’s date of death as October 1918. All other records confirm the crash took place on 12th August, and that he died at the scene.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, injury, Ireland, Lance Corporal, London, Northern Ireland, photography, Private, Royal Marines, Somerset, story, Wales, war

Lance Corporal George Ham

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Lance Corporal George Ham

George Ham was born on 19th December 1867 in Twerton, Somerset. His parents were George and Emily Ham, and he was the oldest of their nine children. George Sr was a mason, and initially his first born followed suit, but he was pulled towards something bigger and better and, on 19th January 1886, he enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry.

George’s service records note that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, with brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion. He was initially sent to the barracks at Walmer in Kent, and it was from here that Private Ham began a 21 year career in the Royal Marines. Over that time, he served on seven separate ships, and, between voyages, he was based in barracks in Plymouth, Devon. Both his character and ability were consistently noted as being very good.

Private Ham’s career took him around the world and, in 1887, he found himself on the gunboat HMS Banterer, on which he served for three years. His tour of duty included a period of time in Galway, Ireland, and it was here that he met Mary Ann Goode. On 5th July 1889, the couple married in city’s St Nicholas’ Church. The church’s records suggest that the couple went on to have four children – Frederick George; Emily, who died just after her first birthday; Albert; and Katherine.

George’s records from this point become a little disjointed. In October 1890, he returned to his Plymouth base, and the following year’s census recorded him as living in the East Stonehouse Barracks, although his marital status was noted as single.

The next census, in 1901, presents a different picture. George and Mary were, by this time, living in family barracks in East Stonehouse, with two children, (Frederick) George and Albert. Katherine, the couple’s youngest child, was born the following year.

In January 1907, after more than two decades’ service, George was stood down from active service in the Royal Marines. He was placed on reserve status, and took up work as a mason once more. At this point, however, the family seemed to have hit more troubled times, underlined by four separate 1911 census documents.

George, who was 44 by this point, was recorded as being an inmate in the Bath Union Workhouse and Infirmary in Lyncombe, Somerset. Mary and Katherine, meanwhile, were in two rooms in a house in Stonehouse, Devon. Frederick, who was now better known as George, had followed his father into military service, and was a Private in the Royal Marine Light Infantry, serving on HMS Colossus. Albert, who was 13 years old, was one of 946 students boarding at the Royal Hospital School for Sons of Seamen in Greenwich, London.

George spent nine years in the reserves, and, in 1914, was called up again for war service, this time as a Lance Corporal. According to a contemporary newspaper:

[He was] engaged on naval patrol work against submarines off the Canadian coast and elsewhere, and was in charge of a gun on an armed merchant ship. Once the boat he was on was torpedoed, and on another occasion he had a long running fight with a submarine in the Irish Channel. The ship, however, reached Portrush (Ireland), and the inhabitants gave Lance-Corporal Ham a testimonial, and he was also rewarded in other ways, the Cardiff owners of the vessel recognising his skill and gallantry.

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 7th December 1918

Tragedy was to strike in the end, however, and George was to meet a sad end to a distinguished career.

While at Cork [George] fell, either from a boat or the dock, and sustained an injury to the side of his head. It did not appear very serious, and it is understood that he made a trip to Cardiff and back to Londonderry, [where] he became so seriously ill as to necessitate his going to a military hospital in Londonderry. Hemorrhage [sic] of the brain set in, and he died on Monday [2nd December 1918] before his brother, Mr Albert Ham, who had been telegraphed for, could reach him.

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 7th December 1918

Lance Corporal George Ham was days short of his 51st birthday when he died. His body was brought back to Somerset for burial, and he was laid to rest in Twerton Cemetery. The newspaper report give no indication as to whether Mary or their children were in attendance and, in fact, does not mention his wife and family at all.

Commonwealth War Graves, Glamorganshire, Great War, history, injury, photography, Sergeant, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Serjeant Joseph Smith

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Serjeant Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith was born at the beginning of 1879 in Bath, Somerset. The fifth of six children – all boys – his parents were William and Sarah Smith. William was a carpenter and, while he did not follow in his father’s trade, Joseph found employment as a house painter when he left school.

Joseph married Alice May Martin in 1896: the couple were young, the groom being a year older than the bride, and they went on to have a daughter, Dorothy, who was born the following year. The newlyweds moved into a small, terraced house in Bath with Alice’s mother and sister, both of whom were widowed, and Alice’s nephew.

The 1911 census found the extended family living in larger home away from the centre of the city. Joseph was still employed as a house painter, Dorothy had left school and was apprenticed to a dressmaker. Alice looks to have been looking after the household, while her mother and sister were both living on their own means.

In his spare time, Joseph was also a member of staff at Bath’s Theatre Royal. He was sporty, with a keen interest in football and partial to a game of cricket. He was also very connected to St Stephen’s Church in the city, and was involved in parish life.

War was coming to Europe, and Joseph stepped up to play his part. Full details of his military service are lost to time, but from his gravestone and linked records, it is clear that he enlisted in the 6th Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry. Further details are outlined in a contemporary newspaper report:

Though married, he was anxious to enlist practically as soon as the war began: and on January 16th, 1915, he offered himself for service, and was at once accepted. He did not leave England till 16th August [1916]. He had been selected for inclusion in 32 drafts on various occasions prior to that date; but had been obliged to remain behind from illness or some other cause. When he actually sailed, it was not as a member of a draft, but as one of five sergeants who had volunteered for special service.

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 28th October 1916

Sergeant Smith made it to the Western Front, and was entrenched at the Somme. The newspaper report picks up on what happened next:

He was wounded in September, being struck by a bullet while leaving the trench preparatory to advancing. The bullet struck him in the thigh, and severed an artery… After doing what he could with his first-aid dressing, Sergt. Smith crawled some three miles from the firing line amid bursting shells. After five hours of this painful progress he was picked up by a stretcher party.

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 28th October 1916

Sergeant Smith was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and was admitted to the 3rd Western General Hospital in Cardiff. Alice and Dorothy were a constant presence as his bedside, but the wound was to prove too severe, and he passed away at the hospital on 25th October 1916. He was 38 years of age.

Joseph Smith was brought back to Bath for burial. He was laid to rest in the Lansdown Cemetery, overlooking the city he called home.

Carmarthenshire, Chaplain, Commonwealth War Graves, County Durham, Great War, history, illness, London, photography, Royal Army Chaplain's Department, Shropshire, Somerset, story, war, Yorkshire

Reverend Charles Jefferys

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Reverend Charles Jefferys

Charles Thomas Claude Jefferys was born on 23rd August 1880 in the small Carmarthenshire town of Laugharne. One of five children, his parents were naturalist Charles Jefferys and his wife Adeline.

Charles’ Jr’s life was to be one of education, and his father’s standing allowed for the best. He studied at Ellesmere College, Shropshire, then attended Durham University and Durham Theological College. By the 1901 census he was passing that education on to others: he was listed as a schoolmaster at Stow Wood College in Hampshire.

By 1908 Charles had returned to Wales, and was living in Monmouth. On 2nd January he married Eva Pride, an estate agent’s daughter from Tetbury, Gloucestershire. The marriage certificate confirms that, by this point, Charles was a clerk in holy orders, on his way to his true calling.

The 1911 census showed what a transient life the church could lead to: Charles and Eva were listed as living in a house in Oswaldkirk, North Yorshire. Their two young children, George and Charles, born in 1909 and 1910 respectively, were living with Eva’s sister, back in Tetbury.

When war came to Europe, Reverend Jefferys must have felt compelled to play his part. He joined the Army Chaplains’ Department, and by May 1916, he found himself in France. His role – providing pastoral care to the troops – would have led him to some of the darkest places of the Front Line. He remained there for the next couple of years, only returning to the family home – now in Chelsea, London – towards the end of the conflict.

Reverend Jefferys had contracted pneumonia, and he had returned from the continent to recuperate. Sadly, the condition was to prove too much, and he succumbed to it on 20th November 1918, at the age of 38.

Charles Thomas Claude Jefferys was taken to Somerset for burial – there were close family connections in the Bath area. He was laid to rest in the family plot, alongside his paternal grandmother in the city’s St James’ Cemetery.

Further tragedy was to strike in June 1925 when Eva also passed away. Details of her death are unclear, but this left George and Charles as orphans in their early teens.