William Carrow D. Pomeroy was born at the start of 1892 in Worthing, West Sussex. One of six children, his mother was Sarah Pomeroy. She had been born in the Clifton area of Bristol, Gloucestershire, but by the time William was born, she had moved to Worthing.
According to the 1901 census, Sarah was a widow, and was running a lodging house at 3 Warwick Road. The next census return found the family living at the same address, where Sarah’s lodging house was now noted as being apartments.
William had completed his schooling by this point, and had found work as a cycle mechanic. His dedication and skill eventually took him to London, where, by the outbreak of war, he was employed as a mechanic with the London Fire Brigade in Southwark, Surrey.
The First World War brought new opportunities, and, on 14th January 1916, William enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps. Details of his military service are sketchy, but it is clear that he was an Air Mechanic 1st Class, and was based at in Reading, Berkshire.
Air Mechanic Pomeroy was transferred over to the Royal Air Force on its creation on 1st April 1918. Within weeks, however, he had been admitted to Reading War Hospital, suffering from pneumonia. The condition was to get the better of him, and he passed away on 18th July, at the age of 26 years old.
The funeral of First-Class Air Mechanic E [sic] Pomeroy, who died at Reading last week, from complications following an attack of influenza, took place at Broadwater Cemetery on Monday afternoon, with full Military honours.
The deceased, who was twenty-five years of age, was the son of the late Mr Pomeroy, well-known locally as a former Inspector of Weights and Measures.
[Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 24th July 1918]
William’s headstone gives his name as CDW Pomeroy. All other records, including the registration of his birth, give his name as William Carrow D Pomeroy. There is no record of what the D stood for.
Eric William Fullilove was born in the Kent town of Deal on 25th April 1897. The middle of three children, his parents were Harry and Sarah Fullilove. Harry was a Sergeant in the Royal Marine Light Infantry, and by the turn of the century, the family had rooms at 16 Victoria Street, not far from the seafront.
Harry retired from military service, and the family moved to West Sussex. The 1911 census found the family living in a house on West Street in Worthing. Harry was now working as a bath attendant for the borough council, while Eric was being paid for being an errand boy when he wasn’t at school. The family had four visitors, Henry and Stanley Parsloe from Devon, and Florence and Margaret Gill from London.
Eric sought adventure in his life, and, on the day after his fourteenth birthday, he enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry as a Bugler. His service papers show that he was just 5ft (1.52m) tall, with brown hair, brown eyes and a fair complexion.
Bugler Fullilove was assigned to the newly commissioned HMS Princess Royal, and would remain attached to her for the next four years. n the spring of 1915, he moved ashore, and was based in barracks in Portsmouth, Hampshire. While there, he came of age, and formally inducted into the Royal Marines. Now a Private, his papers show that he had grown 8.5ins (22cm).
Over the next five years, Eric served on two different vessels, returning to his Hampshire base in between assignments. His annual reviews noted a very good character, and a satisfactory/superior ability. Private Fullilove survived the conflict, but his health seems to have been impacted, and he was invalided out of the service on 1st April 1920.
Eric William Fullilove returned home, and his trail goes cold. He passed away on 23rd August 1920, through causes unconfirmed: he was 23 years of age. He was laid to rest in Broadwater Cemetery, to the north of Worthing, West Sussex.
Frederick George Searle was born in the Sussex village of Warminghurst in the spring of 1894. One of thirteen children, his parents were William and Annie Searle.
William was a carter, and moved the family to where the work was. The 1901 census found the Searles living in Wiggonholt, between Pulborough and Storrington. By 1911, however, they had moved south, and were living in a cottage on the golf links in Broadwater, to the north of Worthing.
By this point, William was employed as a carter at the golf course, while three of the Searle children were also working at the club. Frederick – now 16 years of age, was a caddie, while his older brothers did mainly grounds work.
As one of thirteen siblings, Frederick was keen to make his own mark on the world and, on 24th September 1912, he enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regiment. His papers show that he was 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall, and weighed 121lbs (54.9kg). He had light brown hair, grey eyes, and a number of scars – two on his back, one on the left side of his head and one at the base of his right forefinger.
When war broke out, Private Searle’s unit – the 2nd Battalion – was sent to France. He survived the Battle of Mons and subsequent retreat, but was badly wounded in the left arm on 13th November 1914, and medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. Frederick was moved to a depot while he recuperated, but because of his injury, he was formally discharged from the army on 30th April 1915.
Frederick returned to Sussex, and family life. In time, he took up his role on the golf club once more, but this seemed not to be enough for him. On 31st May 1917, he re-enlisted, joining the Mechanical Transport unit of the Army Service Corps as a Private. He was posted to Isleworth, Surrey, but his injury seemed to still be nagging at him. Despite his best efforts, and with the support of his superiors, at the end of August he took the decision to stand down, and was discharged from duty once more.
At this point, Frederick’s trail goes cold. What can be confirmed is that he passed away on 28th June 1919: he was 25 years of age.
The body of Frederick George Searle, former Private in two regiments, was laid to rest in the family plot in Broadwater Cemetery, not far from where his family still lived.
Charles George Compton was born in the Broadwater area of Worthing, West Sussex in 1882. One of five children, his parents were Charles and Eliza Compton. Charles Sr was a shoe maker, but when he finished his schooling, his son found work as a bricklayer.
There is little detailed information about Charles’ early life, but in 1901 he married a woman called Lilian. They went on to have three children, and, by the time of the 1911 census, they had set up home at 47 Newland Road, Worthing.
Charles sought to make a better life for his family, and, on 31st January 1913, he boarded the SS Osterley, bound for Australia. He set up home at 1 Orange Lane, in Norwood, a suburb of Adelaide, and, at some point soon afterwards, Lilian and the children joined him.
War was declared in the summer of 1914, and the Empire was called on to play its part. On 28th March 1917, Charles enlisted, becoming a Private in the Australian Infantry. His service papers show that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, and weighed 154lbs (69.9kg). He was noted as having brown hair, hazel eyes and a medium complexion. He had two tattoos: one on his left forearm and another on his left hand.
After a few months’ training, Private Compton’s unit boarded the HMAT A30 from Adelaide, to make the journey back to Britain. His unit – the 10th Training Battalion – disembarked in Plymouth on 25th August 1917, and made its way to Larkhill Camp on the edge of Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire.
Over the next few months, Private Compton undertook further training, and would be transferred to the 43rd Battalion of the Australian Infantry. On 30th May 1918 he was admitted to Hurdcott Hospital, near Fovant, Wiltshire, suffering from influenza. The condition would eventually prove fatal: Charles passed away on 2nd July, at the age of 36 years old.
There was another Military funeral locally on Saturday.
The deceased soldier in this case was Private Charles George Compton, and the place of interment was the Cemetery at Broadwater. Private Compton, a member of an old Worthing family… was a member of the Australian Force…
The deceased worked for the Corporation before leaving Worthing for Australia, where his wife and two children are now living.
[Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 10th July 1918]
Charles George Compton was laid to rest in Broadwater Cemetery, not far from where his family were still living.
Private Charles Compton (from findagrave.com)
Lilian was now thousands of miles from home and family. Grieving the loss of her husband, the communication from the Army on his passing would provide her with some comfort:
Thanking you for all your kindness in sending my husband things on to me. You don’t know how greatefull I feel when I received letters saying how kind the nurses all were to him through his illness. All I wishes I could have been their, but it was not to be. I now close thanking you all.
[Letter to battalion: 14th January 1919]
Lilian would move to Lincoln Street, Adelaide: her new home she would name Worthing after her home town.
Reginald William Reeves was born in the summer of 1892. The older of two children – his sister Doris passed when she was just six years of age – his parents were Thomas and Ellen Reeves. Thomas was an ironmonger, and the family lived above the shop at 167 Montague Street, Worthing, West Sussex.
Reginald also took up metalwork, becoming his father’s apprentice. The 1911 census notes that the family had moved a short distance, and were now living at 153 Montague Street. A later advert in the Worthing Gazette highlighted special value gas mantles that were double strength and all British made, being sold by TW Reeves & Son, Ironmongers at 135 Montague Street, the family having moved even closer to the town centre.
When war broke out, Reginald would step up to serve his country. Full details of his time in the conflict have been lost, but it is clear that he served as a Private in the Royal Sussex Regiment, and was assigned to the 6th Battalion. The unit was based in Britain and Ireland during the war, and it seems that Private Reeves would not have spent any time in the thick of battle.
By the autumn of 1918, Reginald was back in Worthing, although his trail is pretty hard to follow. He died at a house on Shakespeare Road on 5th November through causes unknown; he was 26 years old.
The body of Reginald William Reeves was laid to rest in Broadwater Cemetery, to the north of Worthing, his parents thanking well-wishers for their sympathy in that week’s edition of the local newspaper.
Mrs C Hillier and Family wish to thank all kind friends for their kind sympathy and for their floral tributes.
[Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 4th December 1918]
In a quiet corner of Broadwater Cemetery, Worthing, West Sussex, is the unassuming grave of Charles George Hillier. A Driver in the Royal Field Artillery, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission notes that he was 33 years old when he passed on 27th November 1918. He was the husband of Margaret Hillier, of 14 Warwick Place, Brighton Road, Worthing.
Charles’ life appears fated to unfold as a series of frustrating impasses, with details about him tantalisingly just out of reach. His service records have not survived, and there is no trace of his marriage to Margaret. He cannot be definitively identified in any census records and, without information about his parents or place of birth, tracing his life through existing documents remains impossible.
There is a 1920 record for a Margaret Hillier, widow, of Worthing, marrying engineer James Locke on 3rd July 1920. This is likely to be Charles’ widow, but again, she disappears from the records after that.
The quiet corner of the burial ground seems destined to keep its secrets, a permanent memorial to Charles George Hillier.
Arthur Noad was born in Wiltshire in January 1888, the younger of two children to butcher Joseph Noad and his wife, Cecilia.
On Friday one of the largest attended funerals for years past took place at [Rode]. It was that of Mr Joseph Noad, youngest son of Mr John Noad, butcher, of Lower Street.
[Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser: Saturday 21th April 1888]
The now widowed Cecilia was left in a precarious position, with two young children to raise. But a solution was at hand:
MESSRS. HARDING & SONS are instructed by the Executors of the Will of the late Mr Joseph Noad, to SELL by AUCTION.. the whole of the Valuable LIVE & DEAD STOCK, Comprising:
HORSES: Powerful Grey Gelding, 8-years-old; Grey Mare, 7-yrs.-old, in foal; promising Black Filly, rising-yrs.-old…
PIGS: 10 capital Stores
IMPLEMENTS & MACHINES, &c: Spring wagon, nearly new; 2 spring traps, nearly new; spring cart… 3 sets trap and 1 set thrill harness, saddle and bridle, covered sheep rack… hurdles… chaff machine… turnip cutter, meal bins, hog tubs, iron and wood pig troughs, cake breaker, oat bruiser, horse rake, 6 large meat hampers and other effects…
Quantity of Maize, Potatoes, Barley Straw; stack of prime Pasture Hay, with liberty of removal.
[Trowbridge Chronicle: Saturday 21st April 1888]
Cecilia sold up and moved on and, by the time of the 1891 census, she and the boys were on Lower Street, Southwick, near Trowbridge, next door to her late husband’s sister and family, and her former mother-in-law.
She was unable to support herself indefinitely on the proceeds of the auction, however, and, in the summer of 1899, she married again, to commercial piano tuner Samuel Haskell. The next census return, taken in 1901, found the family still living next to Arthur’s aunt and grandmother: just thirteen years of age, his occupation was listed as a monitor at school (although this was subsequently crossed out).
Arthur would set out to carve his own path in life. By the time of his early 20s, he had left home, and taken on work as a grocer’s assistant in Hungerford, Berkshire. His accommodation was the gasworks on Charnham Street, as he was boarding with the manager and his family.
When war broke out, Arthur was quick to step up, joining the Coldstream Guards on 22nd December 1914. Sadly, there is little information about his time in the army, but it is clear that he was lucky to survive the conflict.
Arthur’s older brother, Henry, had joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, and rose to the rank of Able Seaman. When the war began, there were too many sailors for ships, and so he was re-assigned to the Nelson Battalion of the Royal Naval Division. Henry found himself on the Western Front, and was caught up at Arras and Ypres. He was killed on 31st December 1917, during the action of the Welsh Ridge, and was buried at Flesquières Hill British Cemetery, near Cambrai.
Guardsman Noad married Amelia May in the spring of April 1916: the daughter of a woodsman from Longparish, Hampshire, sadly there is little additional information about her. The couple did go on to have a child together, daughter Kathleen, who was born on 4th April 1918.
There is little further information about Arthur’s life. He survived the conflict and, when peace returned to Europe, he relocated to Worthing, West Sussex. There is little confirmation as to why this move happened: the 1939 Register records Amelia and Kathleen living on Meadow Crescent to the east of the town, but it isn’t clear who went there first.
The last documents for Arthur Noad relate to his passing. He died on 18th December 1920 at the age of 33 years old. He was laid to rest in Broadwater Cemetery, to the north of Worthing.
Amelia had lost her husband, but Cecilia had now lost both of her sons, and had outlived two husbands, Samuel having passed away nine years earlier. The 1921 census found her still living on Lower Street, Southwick. She lived until the age of 87, and passed away in Lothingland, Suffolk.
Arthur Walter Parsons was born in Broadwater, West Sussex, in the autumn of 1881. The fourth of nine children, his parents were Richard and Clara Parsons. Richard was a carter, and by the time of the 1891 census, the family had moved into Worthing, and were living at 64 Montague Street, a stone’s throw from the sea.
Richard died in 1899, and the following spring, Arthur married Emily Eagleton. She was the daughter of a domestic servant, and seems to have been born in Poplar Workhouse, Middlesex. The 1891 census found her as a boarding student at St Agatha’s Home Institute in Great Barlow, Cambridgeshire, but by the time here and Arthur exchanged vows, she too was living in Worthing. Their marriage certificate shows that Emily was three years older than her husband, and that he was working as a carter, and living at 23 Clifton Road when they married.
The next census record, taken in 1901, recorded the Parsons living at 25 St Dunstan’s Road in Tarring. Arthur was a carter, and the couple shared their home with Alice, Emily’s daughter and Arthur’s stepdaughter.
By the time of the next census, Arthur and Emily had moved closer to the town centre, and were living at 96 Station Road. Arthur was still employed as a carter – possibly connected to the railway at the end of his road – and was supporting his wife and their three children – Alice (now called Edith), Arthur and Hilda.
When war broke out, Arthur stepped up to play his part. His service papers have been lost to time, but it is clear that he enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery as a Driver, presumably because of his experience with horses. By 27th June 1915, he found himself in France. It is unclear exactly how or where Driver Parsons served, but his unit had moved to Mesopotamia by the start of 1916.
Arthur survived the war, and returned home to his family, which now included another son, Cecil, who had been born in 1915. It would seem that Driver Parsons’ health had become impacted, however, and he would be discharged from the army in 1919. That autumn, on 16th September, he would breath his last, passing away at the age of 38.
The body of Arthur Walter Parsons was laid to rest in Broadwater Cemetery, a short walk from where his grieving family still lived, in Station Road.
Emily was pregnant when her husband died: son Ronald Walter Parsons was born in December 1919. She would find love again, and married railway porter Arthur Browning in December 1929. The 1930 Register found them living at 81 Tarring Road, Worthing with her daughter Rose and son, Cecil.
The Second World War would bring Emily further tragedy. Ronald, who had never known his father, was serving in the Royal Navy, and attached to the destroyer HMS Grenville. She struck a mine off the Essex coast on 19th January, and he was killed. He was just 20 years of age.
The following year, Emily’s husband Alfred also died, passing away at home at the age of 66. Emily lived another eight years, and died in the spring of 1949, aged 69 years old.
The early life of Charles Henry Waller is a challenge to piece together, and it is easier to work backwards.
A Lance Corporal in the Royal Sussex Regiment, Charles died from influenza in the 2nd Eastern General Hospital, Brighton, Sussex, on 14th November 1918. His entry in the British Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects show that he had enlisted before the spring of that year, and gave his beneficiary as Elsie.
Lance Corporal Waller’s Dependents’ Pension card expanded on this, giving her details as Mrs Elsie Smith, of 91 High Street, Worthing. The card, however, states that the pension was refused, as she had attained the age of 16.
Intriguingly, while it has not been possible to trace Charles in the 1911 census, Elsie does appear. She is recorded as living with her husband, carter Arthur Smith, and son, three-year-old James. The three are also recorded in the 1921 census, with another child, Arthur. The family, who were living at 35 Lyndhurst Road, Worthing, by this point, had a boarder, George Frederic Waller – possibly a relation of Charles.
As to Charles himself, his life looks to remain a mystery. There are records for people with the same name in the area, but without an age it isn’t possible to definitively identify him. When he passed away, he was laid to rest in Broadwater Cemetery, Worthing, not far from Elsie and her family.
Alexander Augustus Maurice Leslie was born in France in 1852. One of five children, his parents were Government Secretary of State Francis Leslie and his French wife, Josephine.
Alexander’s mother died when he was 8 years old, by which point the family had moved back to Britain. Francis had set up home in Ealing, Middlesex, and they were living at 15 Castlebar Road, a Victorian villa.
When he completed his schooling, Alexander sought out a military life. The 1881 census recorded him as a Lieutenant in the Suffolk Regiment, living in St Helier, Jersey. He had married the year before, to Louisa Cumming, a surgeon’s daughter from Devon. They had a son, Maurice, by this point, and a daughter, Ida, was born the following year.
Lieutenant Leslie’s service records are sparse, but a later newspaper report fills in some of the gaps: “Leslie’s military experience, which extended… over a period of about 25 years, included participation in the Egyptian campaign in 1884, and service on the West Coast of Africa, in Jamaica, and in India.” [Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 30th April 1919]
During her husband’s time overseas, Louisa raised the children back home in Devon. She passed away in 1901, but which point, Alexander had retired with the rank of Captain. That year’s census found him living with Maurice and Ida at 14 Spencer Hill in Wimbledon, Surrey, a large detached villa. Maurice, now 20 years of age, was working as an accountant’s clerk, and the family had a live-in servant called Rose.
The next census record, from 1911, recorded Alexander living in rooms at 46 Leinster Gardens, Paddington. A substantial Georgian property, his landlady was Eveline Giradet, whose other residents included a barrister and a banker. Alexander’s occupation was now noted as Retired Major in the British Army.
From this point, Alexander’s trail grows cold. It is likely that he was called upon to play a part in the global conflict that broke out in 1914, though exactly when and how he did so is unclear. Records suggest he was admitted to Queen Alexandra’s Military Hospital on Millbank, Middlesex on 28th September 1916, suffering from syphilis. He only remained there for a couple of days, and his increasing age and health may have led to his retirement from duty.
For the past four years Major Alexander Maurice Leslie, who was for a period of a quarter of a century connected with the Royal Sussex Regiment, had been a resident of Worthing, and a brief intimation was given in the last issue… that he had died suddenly.
The circumstances were duly investigated by… the Deputy Coroner for West Sussex, on Wednesday afternoon, the inquiry taking place at the Central Fire Station, in High-street.
Evidence of identification was given by Colonel Francis Seymour Leslie… late of the Royal Engineers, who stated that the deceased, who was his brother, had lived at Worthing for the past four years, more or less all the time, though he had no permanent address…
Mrs Ethel William, a widow, at whose house… Major Leslie had lodged, stated that he had complained of indigestion and ate light food. On Monday evening he had his supper at half-past seven o’clock, going upstairs about half an hour later. About nine o’clock witness went to his room and found him lying in bed in great agony, and he exclaimed: “Oh, my poor heart!” Witness gave him some hot water to drink and sent for a doctor.
Dr Bernard Lees stated that he was sent for, but he found Major Leslie was dead when he got to the house. He had since made a post-mortem examination, which showed that the stomach and intestines were much distended, and there were signs of chronic gastric catarrh. The heart was fatty, but the valves were healthy. Death was due to syncope, the result of acute indigestion and the fatty condition of the heart.
A verdict of “Death from natural causes” was recorded.
[Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 30th April 1919]
[It should be noted that Alexander had been attached to the Suffolk Regiment throughout his military career. The error in the newspaper report is likely because of the Sussex town he had moved to in the mid-1910s.]
Alexander Augustus Maurice Leslie was 67 years of age when he passed away on 21st April 1919. His body was laid to rest in Broadwater Cemetery, to the north of the town he had called his home for more than four years.
Death and Service 