Ernest Tanswell

Story:
Ernest Tanswell was born in 1881 in Rockbourne, Nr. Fordingbridge, Hampshire and baptised there on 27th February, 1881. He was the son of John Tanswell, a Farm Labourer, and Emily Tanswell (nee Brockway). The family set up home in East Knoyle, Wiltshire, shortly after Ernest was born but by 1901 he had moved to Bedwelty, Monmouthshire, where he was boarding out and working as a colliery labourer. He returned to East Knoyle fairly soon after and married Sarah Jane Small on 27th July, 1902. By the 1911 Census they had two children - one boy and one girl - with a third girl arriving in 1913. At the time of the Census, he was working as a Labourer and living at Upton, East Knoyle, Wiltshire. He enlisted in Gillingham, Dorset, as a Private in the Somerset Light Infantry (Service No. 265044). He later transferred to the 1st/6th Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. (New Service No. 30509). He served in France & Flanders and was awarded the Victory and British War medals. He died of wounds on 13th October 1917 and was buried at Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Nord Pas de Calais, France (grave id. VIII.I.52). He is remembered on the East Knoyle War Memorial.