1914-1918 Archives - Page 156 of 162 - Shaftesbury Remembers the Great War

Thomas William Wright

Surname: Wright

Other names: Thomas William

Locations in this story:
Shaftesbury, Dorset
France & Flanders
Aval Wood Military Cemetery, Vieux-Berquin, Nord, France
St. James' Church, Shaftesbury
St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury
Holy Trinity Church, Shaftesbury
St. James, Shaftesbury,
Tan Yard, St. James, Shaftesbury

Story:
William Thomas Wright was born in 1899 in Shaftesbury, Dorset, and baptised at St. James's Church, Shaftesbury, on 30th July, 1899. He was the son of Henry (Harry) Wright, a "Groom to Horse Dealer", and Eliza Wright (nee Foot). The family lived at 7 Tan Yard, St. James, Shaftesbury. By the time of the 1911 Census he was single, a scholar and living at 72 St. James, Shaftesbury, Dorset. He enlisted in Shaftesbury as a Private in the 1st Battalion of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. (Service No. 41253). He served in France & Flanders and was awarded the Victory and British War medals. He died on 30th June 1918 and was buried at Aval Wood Military Cemetery, Vieux-Berquin, Nord, France (grave id. I.BB.14). He is remembered on the Park Walk and St. James’ War Memorials. He also appears on the Roll of Honour inside St. James’ Church and on the Holy Trinity Memorial, now in St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury. His mother was granted a pension of 5s. (25p.) per week.

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Sidney George Parsons

Surname: Parsons

Other names: Sidney George

Locations in this story:
Shaftesbury
France & Flanders
R. E. Farm Cemetery, Ypres, West Flanders, Belgium
Long Cross, Enmore Green, Shaftesbury
St. James' Church, Shaftesbury
Holy Trinity Church, Shaftesbury
St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury
Gillingham, Dorset

Story:
Sidney George Parsons was born in 1890 in Shaftesbury, Dorset, and baptised at St. James Church, Shaftesbury, on 7th December, 1890. He was the son of George Parsons, a railway carman, and Emily Parsons (née Wright). His siblings included Alfred, born in 1873, and Charles, born in 1882, both of whom died in the war. No record has been found of Sidney in the 1911 Census but the family lived at Long Cross, Enmore Green, Shaftesbury, at the time. He enlisted in Gillingham, Dorset, as a Private in the 1st Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment (Service No. 3/6588). He served in France and Flanders where he was killed in action in Belgium. He was killed in action on 3rd December 1914 and was buried at R. E. Farm Cemetery, Ypres, West Flanders, Belgium (grave id. III.C.6). He was awarded the Victory and British War Medals as well as the 1914 Star. He is remembered on the Park Walk and St. James’ War Memorials. His name also appears on the Roll of Honour inside St. James’ Church and on the Holy Trinity Memorial, now in St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury. His mother was granted a pension which covered both Sidney George and Charles Parsons.

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Charles Parsons
Alfred Parsons

Philip James Young

3rd February 2017/in 1914-1918 Devonshire Regiment, Dorsetshire Regiment /by Ann Symons

Surname: Young

Other names: Philip James

Locations in this story:
Shaftesbury, Dorset
France & Flanders
Fontaine-Au-Bois Communal Cemetery, Nord, France
Salisbury Street, Shaftesbury
St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury
Holy Trinity Church, Shaftesbury

Story:
Philip James Young was born in 1889 in Shaftesbury, Dorset. He was the son of Henry Young, an engine smith, and Martha Young (née Critchell). At the time of the 1891 Census the family were living at 26 Salisbury Street, Shaftesbury. By 1911 Philip himself had moved to Windsor and was boarding out whilst working as a grocer's shop assistant. He enlisted back in Shaftesbury as a Private in the Dorsetshire Regiment (Service No. 16112) and later transferred to the 9th (Service) Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment (Service No.33667) where he was promoted to Lance Corporal. He served in France and Flanders and was awarded the Victory and British War medals. He died on 28th October 1918 and was buried at Fontaine-Au-Bois Communal Cemetery, Nord, France (grave id. D.10). The inscription on the Park Walk War Memorial, Shaftesbury, gives his middle initial as "S" but all available information indicates that his middle name was James. His name also appears on the Holy Trinity Memorial, now in St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury. Philip's brother Austin Henry (b.1885) served in the war with the Dorsetshire Regiment. On his discharge he applied to the War Graves Commission to be employed as a gardener's labourer in the graveyards in France. By the 1939 Register he was back in Shaftesbury and noted as 'incapacitated'.

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Austin Henry Young

Joseph Henry Powell

3rd February 2017/in 1914-1918 London Regiment /by Ann Symons

Surname: Powell

Other names: Joseph Henry

Locations in this story:
Shaftesbury, Dorset
Egypt
Gaza War Cemetery
High Street, Shaftesbury
St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury
Holy Trinity Church, Shaftesbury
London
Shaftesbury Grammar School, Shaftesbury, Dorset
Palmerston Road, Bournemouth
Chesterfield Gardens, Harringay, Tottenham, Middlesex

Story:
Joseph Henry Powell was born in 1879 in Shaftesbury and baptised at Holy Trinity Church, Shaftesbury on 9th September, 1879. He was the son of Francis Powell, a draper, and Rosa Powell (née Whitby) living at 28 High Street, Shaftesbury. He attended Shaftesbury Grammar School from April 1888 to August 1896. After leaving school he entered a firm of Chartered Accountants as a clerk and by 1901 boarded out at 30 Palmerston Road, Bournemouth. Both Joseph's parents died in 1909. By the 1911 Census he had moved to live with his brother, Ralph, at 75 Chesterfield Gardens, Harringay, Tottenham, Middlesex, still working as an Accountant's Clerk. Both of his parents had died in 1909 and were both buried in Holy Trinity Churchyard.

Joseph enlisted in Harringay in 1915 and joined the 11th (County of London) Battalion, Finsbury Rifles (Service No 4074). This Unit was renamed the London Regiment (Finsbury Rifles) and he was given a new Service Number 451613. He served in the Egyptian Theatre and was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal. He was killed in action at Gaza whilst with the 1st/11th Battalion of his Unit on 2nd November 1917. He was buried at Gaza War Cemetery (grave id. XIV.A.15). He was awarded the Victory, British War and 15 Star medals and is remembered on the Park Walk War Memorial and on the Holy Trinity Memorial, now in St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury. His name also appears on the Shaftesbury Grammar School memorial in Shaftesbury School. Joseph's brother Hugh Eric Powell served in the war and survived.

Frederick's name was included on a hand written list of Shaftesbury Grammar School old boys serving during the war. An asterix can be seen next to Joseph's name, indicating that he had died. The board is now at Gold Hill Museum.

Printed Sources:
Shaftesbury Grammar School Magazine, March 1918

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Shastonian

David Herbert (Bertram) Robins

3rd February 2017/in 1914-1918 Dorsetshire Regiment /by Ann Symons

Surname: Robins

Other names: David Herbert (Bertram))

Locations in this story:
Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire
Chocolate Hill, Near Suvla Bay, Gallipoli
Helles Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey
Sunny Bank, Shillingstone
Dorchester
Hindon Road, East Tisbury, Wiltshire
Holy Rood Church, Shillingstone

Story:
David Herbert (Bertram) Robins was born in 1894 in Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire. He was the son of Rev. Samuel Robins, a Minister of the Gospel (Unitarian), and Eliza Frances Robins (nee Waters). At the time of the 1911 Census he was single, working as a grocer's assistant and living at Hindon Road, East Tisbury, Wiltshire, where his father was now described as a 'cycle repairer'. The family later moved to Sunny Bank, Shillingstone. He enlisted on 5th September, 1914 in Dorchester and joined the 5th Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment (Service No. 10585) and at the time of his death held the rank of Lance Corporal. He served in Gallipoli and was awarded the Victory, British War and 15 Star medals. He was presumed killed in action on 21st August 1915 whilst with No. 8 Platoon on Chocolate Hill near Suvla Bay and his name appears on the Helles Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey (Panel 137-140). He is remembered as "Bertram Robins" on the Park Walk War Memorial and on the Holy Trinity Memorial, now in St. Peter's Church,, Shaftesbury. At some time he worked for the firm of Stratton, Son & Mead in Shaftesbury and is remembered on their Roll of Honour as well as on the War Memorial in the churchyard of Holy Rood Church, Shillingstone. His father was in receipt of his effects whilst his mother received a pension of 5s. (25p.) per week.

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Harry Robins

3rd February 2017/in 1914-1918 Worcestershire Regiment /by Ann Symons

Surname: Robins

Other names: Harry Vaughan

Locations in this story:
East Ham, Essex
France & Flanders
Etaples Military Cemetery, Etaples, Pas de Calais, France
Salisbury Street, Shaftesbury
St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury
Bournemouth
Holy Trinity Church, Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury Grammar School, Shaftesbury, Dorset

Story:
Harry Robins was born in 1894 in East Ham, Essex. He was the son of James Robins, a police constable, and Emma Jane Robins (née Cooke). He attended Shaftesbury Grammar School from September 1905 to April 1912. At the time of the 1911 Census he was single, a Scholar and living at 21 Salisbury Street, Shaftesbury. After leaving school he entered a wholesale drapery firm in Bournemouth. He enlisted in the 4th Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment (Service No. 28656) and at the time of his death held the rank of Lance Corporal. He served in France and Flanders and was awarded the Victory and British War medals. He died of wounds in a military hospital in France on 29th August 1917 and was buried at Etaples Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France (grave id. XXII.R.12A). He is remembered on the Park Walk War Memorial and on the Holy Trinity Memorial, now in St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury. Harry's mother had died in 1914 and was buried in the Holy Trinity Churchyard. Following Harry's death the following inscription was added to the kerb surrounding her grave: Also of our brother, Harry, who died from wounds in France, Aug: 29th.1917, aged 22. Later his father received his personal effects and was also granted a pension of 5s. (25p.) per week. As a former pupil his name was also included on the Shaftesbury Grammar School memorial, now in Shaftesbury School. During the war a hand written list was compiled of Shaftesbury Grammar School old boys serving in the armed forces. An asterix can be seen next to Harry's name, indicating that he had died. The board is now at Gold Hill Museum. Harry's brother, Stephen Robins, also served with the Royal Air Force and survived until his early death in 1937. Printed Sources: Shaftesbury Grammar School Magazine, November 1917

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Shastonian

Alfred Stainer

3rd February 2017/in 1914-1918 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers /by Ann Symons

Surname: Stainer

Other names: Alfred

Locations in this story:
Shaftesbury
France & Flanders
Tyne Cot Memorial
St. James, Shaftesbury
St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury
Dorchester
Ypres
Bristol

Story:
Alfred Stainer was born in 1881 in Shaftesbury. He was the son of George Stainer, a mason, and Sarah Ann Stainer (nee Hanham). At the time of the 1911 Census he was single, working as a cabinet maker and living at 80 St. James, Shaftesbury though he shortly after married Dorothy Mary Dunn at St. Simon's Church, Bristol, on 5 Jun 1911. He enlisted in Dorchester as a Private in the 8th Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Service No. 41708). He served in France and Flanders and was awarded the Victory and British War medals (though the record shows the medals were returned and never claimed). He was presumed killed in action on 16th June 1916 and his name appears on the Tyne Cot Memorial (Panel 70 to 72). He is remembered on the Park Walk War Memorial and on the Holy Trinity Memorial, now in St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury. He is also remembered on a cross/kerb (B77) in St. James's Churchyard with the words "Gave his life that we might live. Died at Ypres". His widow, then living at 23 Albany Road, Sussex Place, Bristol, was granted a pension of 13s. 9d. (about 67p.) per week which was eventually paid to her in Australia where she had moved to. There were no children of the marriage.

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Charlie Stephen King

3rd February 2017/in 1914-1918 Royal Garrison Artillery /by Ann Symons

Surname: King

Other names: Charlie Stephen

Locations in this story:
Shaftesbury, Dorset
Sunderland War Hospital, Northumberland
Holy Trinity Churchyard, Shaftesbury
Layton Lane, Shaftesbury
Bay, Gillingham
St. James' Church, Shaftesbury
St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury
France & Flanders

Story:
Charlie Stephen King was born on 18th October 1888 in Shaftesbury, Dorset. (Note the family lived during his early life in Gillingham, Dorset.) He was the son of Stephen King, a painter, and Virtue King (née Hanks). His mother, Virtue, died in 1893 and was buried on 10th August, 1893. His father remarried on 28th August, 1897 to Emily Ann Chapple. On 17th October, 1909, Charlie married Bessie Imber and they had three children: two girls and a boy. Their first child, Dorothy Edith was born in 1910. At the time of the 1911 Census Charlie was working for a railway company as a house painter and the family were living in Bay, Gillingham, Dorset. Later in the year their son Charlie John was born and the family moved to 5 Layton Lane, Shaftesbury, Dorset. Charlie enlisted on 11th December, 1915 but was not mobilized until 17th August 1916 as a Gunner in the 237th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery (Service No. 116267). He received gun shot wounds to his legs in Flanders on 17th August 1917. On 6th September he was transferred to the Sunderland War Hospital where he died of septicaemia and shell shock on 15th September 1917. He was buried south of the church in Holy Trinity Churchyard in Shaftesbury. (The name inscribed on the headstone was "C.R. KING" which differs from the name that appears on official documents. In 2018 this error was rectified with the erection of a new headstone, after a local resident contacted the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.) He was awarded the Victory and British War Medals. Charlie is also remembered on the Park Walk and St. James’ War Memorials and on the Roll of Honour in St. James’ Church. His name can be seen on the Holy Trinity memorial, now in St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury. At the time of Charles' death his wife Bessie was living at 5 Layton Lane, St. James, Shaftesbury where a third child, Bessie Elizabeth, was born on 9th November 1917. Charles' widow was in receipt of a pension for herself and the three children of 26s. 3d. (£1.32p.) per week. His brother, Edmund Arnold King, served and survived but his half-brother, Arthur Stanley King, was also killed in action in Flanders. His mother continued to live in Layton Lane, Shaftesbury, certainly up until 1939 and did not remarry.

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William Edwin Large

3rd February 2017/in 1914-1918 Royal Sussex Regiment /by Ann Symons

Surname: Large

Other names: William Edwin

Locations in this story:
Shaftesbury
France & Flanders
Heilly Station Cemetery, Mericourt-L'Abbe, Somme, France
Bell Street, Shaftesbury
St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury
Holy Trinity Church, Shaftesbury

Story:
William Edwin Large was born in 1883 in Shaftesbury, Dorset, and baptised at Holy Trinity Church on 20th May, 1883. (On all the Census records he is known in the family as Edwin, although the army records show his full name, William Edwin.) He was the son of Frederick William Large, a house painter, and Ellen Large (née Alner). At the time of the 1911 Census he was single, working as a house painter and living at 22 Bell Street, Shaftesbury. He enlisted as a Private in the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment (Service No. G/11252). He served in France and Flanders and was awarded the Victory and British War medals. He died on 10th September 1916 whilst being treated at the 88th Casualty Clearing Station for wounds received in battle on the Somme and was buried at Heilly Station Cemetery, Mericourt-L'Abbe, Somme, France (grave id. IV.C.4). He is remembered on the Park Walk War Memorial and on the Holy Trinity Memorial, now in St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury. His mother received a pension as a result of his death paid until her death on 21 Dec 1925.

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Sidney Rex Lawson

3rd February 2017/in 1914-1918 Dorsetshire Regiment /by Ann Symons

Surname: Lawson

Other names: Sidney Rex

Locations in this story:
Morpeth, Northumberland
France & Flanders
Torreken Farm Cemetery No 1, Heuvelland, West Flandser
Cresswell Terrace, Newbiggin by the Sea, Northumberland
St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury
Holy Trinity Church, Shaftesbury

Story:
Sidney Rex Lawson was born in December 1893 in Morpeth, Northumberland. He was the son of Thomas James Lawson, a house carpenter, and Mary Jane Lawson (née Kirkup). At the time of the 1911 Census, Sidney was working as a house carpenter and living at Cresswell Terrace, Newbiggin by the Sea, Northumberland. He enlisted in Shaftesbury with the 5th Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment (Service No. 16466) and at the time of his death he held the rank of Sergeant. He served in France and Flanders and was awarded the Victory and British War medals. He died on 18th June 1917 and was buried at Torreken Farm Cemetery No 1, Heuvelland, West Flanders, Belgium (grave id. A.1). He is remembered on the Park Walk War Memorial. He also appears as "E.Rex Lawson" and on the Holy Trinity Memorial, now in St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury. His mother received his effects following his death as his sole legatee.

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