St Laurence Remembers WWI
"Benedictus" from Karl Jenkins'
"The Armed Man - A Mass for Peace"
at St Laurence on 11th November 2018
Capriol Chamber Orchestra and Phoenix Choir, Stroud
conducted by Jonathan Trim
"The Armed Man - A Mass for Peace"
at St Laurence on 11th November 2018
Capriol Chamber Orchestra and Phoenix Choir, Stroud
conducted by Jonathan Trim
Poppy Cascade 2018
St Laurence Parish Church
1000s of knitted, crocheted, sewn and paper poppies made by individuals and groups around Stroud and from throughout the UK, remembering those who lost their lives in the Great War
Conceived and designed by Sue Green
St Laurence Parish Church
1000s of knitted, crocheted, sewn and paper poppies made by individuals and groups around Stroud and from throughout the UK, remembering those who lost their lives in the Great War
Conceived and designed by Sue Green
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St Laurence Remembers
St Laurence Parish Church just prior to the installation of the cross above the rood screen in 1914
Revd Henry Proctor
Vicar of St Laurence, 1912-1919
Vicar of St Laurence, 1912-1919
Henry Proctor was the son of George Proctor, who had been curate at St Laurence over 50 years earlier. Born in Stroud in about 1852, he was vicar at St John’s in Newland, Under Principal at the Gloucester, Bristol and Oxford Diocesan Training College for Schoolmistresses at Fishponds, near Bristol, vicar at St Luke’s in Gloucester, and rector at Leckhampton, before becoming vicar at St Laurence in 1912. It was Proctor who, in 1912, bought Rodney House by the church, which was later bought from him by the diocese for use as the vicarage (today it is the Church Court Care Home). The nearby St Alban’s Church was the idea of Proctor, who was concerned about the large and growing population on Stroud Hill.
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Revd Henry Proctor, with members of the Stanton family, at the opening of the sister church of
St Albans in Parliament Street, Stroud, in 1916
St Albans in Parliament Street, Stroud, in 1916
"MY DEAR FRIENDS, I have said so much to you about the War from the pulpit, that there is no need for me to speak about it here. Only "let us not be weary in well-doing:" let us not allow ourselves to grow callous or indifferent, if things should seem to go well with us, or if the period of suspense be prolonged. God has spoken to us - personally, and as citizens; let us respond promptly and earnestly, and preserve in whatever amendment of life we undertake. At least let us "pray, and not faint.""
Revd Henry Proctor, Vicar of St Laurence 1912-1919, in the Parish Church Magazine
Revd Henry Proctor, Vicar of St Laurence 1912-1919, in the Parish Church Magazine
A List of the Soldiers and Sailors of the Parish
on Active Service at the Outbreak of the War
from the Parish Church Magazine
on Active Service at the Outbreak of the War
from the Parish Church Magazine
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John Raymond Morton Ball
Alexander Keith Morton Ball Leonard Beckenham William John Betterton Lewis James Bingham Charles Bingham Lionel Theodore Blick Gilbert Norman Blick Sydney Thomas Blick Walter Harry Blick George William Bowerman Harold Bowerman Albert James Bullock William Burrows George Burford Francis John Carter Charles William Carter Allen Carlyle Chisholm Albert Close Gilbert Cooley Frank Curtis |
William James Coward
Arthur George Dackrell Walter Freeman Charles Robert Geler William Simeon Geler Lewis Geler Reginald Godsell Kenneth Bruce Godsell Henry Herbert Charles Edward Haines Walter Hawkins Albert Hogg Edwin Howlett Nelson Jerome Henry James Lane Joseph Raymond Lewis Robert William Lewis Robert Johnston Caruthers-Little Thomas Llewellyn Moore Howard Nicholls |
Harold O'Brien
Percy Parker Ernest Pates Percy Pope Frank Pope Ernest Pullen Daniel Reynolds Lewis Reynolds Frederick Ralph Richards Samuel Rogers Joseph Roseblade Christopher William Rowland Frank Arthur Charles Stinchcombe Nathaniel Smith John Townsend George Edward Townsend Henry Walker John Walker William George Workman John Young |
"Always in our thoughts though in a foreign grave"
Listed below are the names and, where known, details of the 81 men who died in the Great War and who are listed on the War Memorial in
St Laurence Parish Church
St Laurence Parish Church
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The St Laurence Memorial
Private SH ADAMS
Lincolnshire Regiment. Died 20th May 1915; buried at Packhorse Farm Shrine Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
Private FRANCIS CHARLES ALDER
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 16th August 1916, age 22; buried at Cerisy-Gailly Military Cemetery, Somme, France
Born in Nash, Shropshire, in 1893. Son of George Francis Alder, a green grocer and, later, seedsman in King Street, Stroud, and Minnie Louisa (Rodway). As a child lived in Badbrook, Stroud. His parents later lived in King Street, Stroud.
Private HAROLD VINCENT (‘JACK’) ANGELL
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 13th June 1915 of wounds sustained on 30th May, age 18; buried at Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Born in Stroud in 1897, and baptised in Stonehouse. Son of Charles Angell, a hotel keeper, and Laura (Price). As a child lived in Russell Street, Stroud, and later at the Rowcroft Hotel (commercial and temperance), Stroud. Enlisted in Swindon. His parents kept Hotel London in Lancaster Gate, London, at the time of his death.
Private ARTHUR JAMES ALLEN
Machine Gun Corps. Died 6th October 1918, age 29; buried at Tehran War Cemetery, Iran. Born in Stroud in 1890. Married Emily R (Clift) in Stroud in 1911, and father of Ruth Allen born in 1912 (later Ruth Theyer, died in Cheltenham in 1992). Worked at Stroud Brewery. Emily later lived in Threadneedle Street, Stroud.
Lance Corporal ALBERT EDWARD ARKELL
Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Died 3rd September 1918, age 33; buried at Fienvillers British Cemetery, Somme, France. Born in Birmingham in 1886. Son of John Henry Arkell, a one-time journeyman brewer and later carter, and Ellen (Ballard). As a child lived in Birmingham . Later became a brass worker in Birmingham, and married Nora (Pagett) there in 1914.
Rifleman EDWARD H BASSETT
Rifle Brigade. Died 8th July 1918; commemorated at Karachi 1914-1918 War Memorial, Pakistan. Born in Stroud in 1879. Son of Frederick C Bassett, a dyer in the cloth industry, and Lucy. As a child lived in London Road, Stroud, and later Churchfield Road, Stroud.
Private GILBERT NORMAN BLICK
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 25th March 1916, age 28; buried at Noeux-les-Mines Communal Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Born in Stroud in 1888. Son of Robert Blick, a domestic gardener, and Elizabeth M, a laundress. Lived at The Leazes, Stroud.
Lance Corporal WILLIAM HENRY BROADLEY
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died in Mesopotamia on 15th December 1916, age 28; commemorated at Basra Memorial, Iraq. Born in 1888 in South Fencote, Yorkshire, and lived there as a child. Son of William Broadley, a domestic gardener, and Elizabeth (Boddy). Later moved to Stroud, living in Bisley Old Road, and working as a grocer’s assistant. Married Beatrice Alice (Churches), a tailoress, on 25th December 1911 at St Laurence, Stroud, and father of Kenneth Henry C Broadley born in Stroud in 1914 (died in Stroud in 1992).
Private LEONARD NORTON BROWN
Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Died 9th June 1919, age 19; buried at Cologne Southern Cemetery, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. Born in Summer Street, Stroud, in 1900, and baptised at St Laurence. Son of Edgar Roger Brown, a general labourer/builder’s carter, and Sarah. Grew up as a child in Summer Street, Stroud.
Private CHARLES BROWNETT
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died at Gallipoli on 26th November 1915; commemorated at Helles Memorial, Turkey. Born in Bedminster, Bristol.
Private CHARLES (‘CHARLIE’) EDWARD BROWNING
Worcestershire Regiment. Died 3rd September 1916; commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. Born in Stroud in 1892, and baptised at St Laurence in 1893. Son of Nathan Browning, a plate layer, and Emily (Pearce). Lived as a child at Rose Bank, London Road, Stroud. Worked as a butcher. Later of Merrywalks, Stroud.
Private SAMUEL BURRUS
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 23rd December 1914, age 21; buried at Brown’s Road Military Cemetery, Festubert, Pas de Calais, France.
Private SIDNEY ARTHUR BURRUS
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died at Gallipoli on 8th January 1916, age 22; commemorated at Helles Memorial, Turkey.
Brothers. Sidney was born in Ebley, Stroud, in 1893, and Samuel in 1895. They were sons of Samuel Burrus, a chimney sweep, and Ellen Matilda (Smith). Grew up as children in Upper Leazes, Stroud, and later Parliament Street, Stroud. At one time Sidney worked in an oil and colour works in Stroud. He married Elsie Lilian (Merrett) in Coleford in 1914, and was the father of Eileen Rosina Lilian Burrus, born in Coleford in 1915. His wife, Elsie, remarried after his death becoming Elsie Lilian Smith, dying in Dursley in 1959. His daughter Eileen married Henry William Saunders, and died in Bristol in 2001. It is believed that she has three surviving children.
Lance Corporal CHARLES HENRY CARTER
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 18th June 1918, age 21; buried at Montecchio Precalcino Communal Cemetery Extension, Italy. Born in Stroud in 1896. Son of Harry C Carter, a bread baker, and Elsie S. Lived as a child in Bisley Road, Stroud. Possibly later lived with his widowed maternal grandfather, Alfred Trinder, a farmer at Derretts Farm in Bisley, while working as a lawyer’s clerk.
Private JAMES JOHN CLARKE
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 9th September 1916, age 35; buried at Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval, Somme, France. Born in Stroud in 1881. Son of William J Clarke, a carpenter, and Ellen. Grew up in Acre Street, Stroud, and worked as a journeyman bread baker.
Lieutenant ARTHUR VINCENT COLLEDGE
Worcestershire Regiment attached to the Royal Fusiliers. Died in North Russia on 10th August 1919, age 21; commemorated at Archangel Memorial, Russia. Born in Stroud in 1898, and baptised at St Laurence. Son of Thomas Charles Colledge, a dentist in Lansdown, Stroud, and Kate. He was later a boarding student at Sangeen School in Bournemouth. His parents were living in Boscombe, Hampshire, at the time of his death.
Private ASHLEY GEORGE COOKE
Lancashire Fusliliers (formerly Gloucestershire Regiment). Died 28 September 1918, age 33; buried at Ribecourt Road Cemetery, Trescault, Pas de Calais, France. Born in Stroud in 1885, and baptised at St Laurence. Son of Albert Frederick Cooke, a cloth worker, and Maria. Grew up in Stroud, living at Middle Hill, The Leazes, Gaineys Well, then Middle Leazes. Worked as a sewing machinist in a tailor’s. Formerly in the Gloucestershire Regiment, he later enlisted in Middlesbrough for the Lancashire Fusiliers.
Private ERNEST EDWARD COOK(E)
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 23rd July 1916, age 27; commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. Born in Stroud in 1889, and baptised at St Laurence in 1890. Son of Daniel Albert Cooke, a labourer and, later, local bailiff, and Louisa, a spinner and wool cloth worker. Lived as a child in Silver Street, Lower Hill Street, and Upper Leazes, Stroud. Possibly later a musician with the QMO Royal Hussars, based at military barracks at South Tidworth in Hampshire.
Private THOMAS HORACE COOLEY
Worcestershire Regiment. Died 26th June 1917, age 24; buried at Belgian Battery Corner Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Born in Stroud in 1893, and baptised at Holy Trinity, Stroud. Son of Thomas Cooley, a labourer, and Clara Alice (Dixon), later a stick worker. Lived as a child in Thrupp then Lower Hill, Stroud. He later joined the Worcestershire Regiment and for a time was stationed at Carisbrooke on the Isle of Wight.
Lance Corporal CHARLES GILBERT COVE
King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Died 20th May 1917, age 20; commemorated Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France. Born in Stroud in 1896, and baptised at St Laurence. Son of William Cove, a builder’s labourer and later worker in a gravel pit, and Annie Maria. Lived as a child at Bisley Old Road, Stroud.
Sapper FRANCIS JOHN DOWERS
Royal Engineers. Died 18th November 1918, age 26; buried at Douai British Cemetery, Cuincy, Nord, France. Born in Swindon in 1892, and baptised at St Mark’s in Swindon in 1893. Son of Francis John Dowers, a labourer in a railway factory and, later, machinist, and Lucy Louisa Ann. Lived in Swindon and served an apprencticeship in road wagon building at Swindon Carriage Works, and later worked as a wheelwright at the Great Western Railway Works there. In 1911 he married Elizabeth (Jones) at Rodborough Parish Church. Later lived with Elizabeth in Bath Place, Stroud. A son, Francis J, was born to them in Stroud in 1917.
Private A HARRY DURN
Wiltshire Regiment. Died 9th June 1917, age 18; commemorated at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Son of Emily Durn of Honest Corner, Ruscombe, Stroud.
Private EDWARD STEPHEN EARLE
Royal Warwickshire Regiment (formerly Cheshire Regiment). Died 7th June 1918; buried at Terlincthun British Cemetery, Wimille, Pas de Calais, France. Born in 1892 in Stroud. Son of James Hy Earle, a railway shunter, and Ellen Brighta. Lived as a child in Bisley Old Road. Married Florence Emily (Pitt) in 1912 at the Register Office in Stroud. They lived in Middle and Upper Leazes, Stroud, and had four children born to them in Stroud: Minnie Gertrude born in 1912 (died in Stroud in 1925); Edward, born in 1914 (died the same year in infancy); Rose, born in 1916 (died the same year in infancy); and Horace Edward, born in 1918 (died in Stroud in 2004).
Private ARTHUR HENRY ELDRIDGE
Royal Berkshire Regiment. Died 22nd November 1916, age 21; buried at HAC Cemetery, Ecoust-St Mein, Pas de Calais, France. Born in Stroud in 1895, and baptised at St Laurence. Son of George James Eldridge, a general labourer and stone breaker, and Sarah Ann (Stanley), a stick worker and varnisher, and later a charwoman. Lived as a child in Somer Street, Stroud, Wallbridge, and later in Middle Hill, Stroud. Worked as a labourer in a cloth factory. His parents were living in Old Bisley Road, Stroud, at the time of his death.
Lance Corporal ARTHUR WILLIAM ELLIOTT
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 31st July 1919, age 27; buried at Essex Farm Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Born in Stroud in 1890, and baptised at St Laurence. Son of Joseph Henry Elliott, a foreman in a cloth dyer’s, and Mary Jane (Taylor). Lived as a child in Downfield Terrace, Chalford Road, Stroud. His mother Mary died in Stroud in 1906, and his father re-married and became the proprietor of The Bell Hotel in Stroud. By now the family were living in Wallbridge. Arthur worked as an assistant commercial clerk for Strachan & Co of Stroud, woollen manufacturers (now WSP Textiles Ltd).
Private ROBERT ELY
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 21st March 1919, age 28; commemorated at Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France. Born and baptised in Littleworth, Amberley, in 1890. Son of Owen Ely, a grocer and beerhouse keeper, and Fanny Maria (Gardner). As a child lived at the Lamb Inn at Littleworth, and later at Woodbine Cottage, Spriggs Well. By now his father was a labourer and for a time, with his son Robert, a nursery gardener. He married Emily Elsie (Knee) in Stroud in 1914. They lived in Bisley Old Road, Stroud, at the time of his death.
Private HENRY JAMES FISHER
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 28th September 1918, age 20; buried in Stroud Old Cemetery. Born in Stroud in 1898, and baptised at Slad. Son of Henry Fisher, a grocer’s porter, and Alice (Tooze). His father died when Henry was still a child. As a child lived in Belle Vue Road, Stroud.
Private WALTER FRANKLIN
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 24th September 1918, age 30; commemorated at Vis-en-Artois Memorial, Pas de Calais, France. Born and baptised (non-conformist) in Stroud in 1888. Son of Arthur (‘Jack’) Franklin, a mill hand and cloth worker, and Charlotte (Harmer), a tailoress/machinist. Married Rose Maud (Verrinder) in Stroud in 1909. They had two children: Flossie Maud, born in 1910, and Walter William, born in 1911. Lived in Summer Street, Stroud, and worked as a cow man on a farm.
Private LIONEL VICTOR (de/d’) GRAY
Canadian Infantry (Alberta Regiment) (formerly Gloucestershire Regiment and Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force in the UK). Died 3rd June 1916 at Square Wood, near Hooge, age 22; commemorated at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Born in Stroud in 1894, and baptised at Holy Trinity. Son of Charles Gray, a tailor, and his third wife Alexandra Ada (Abbott). His father died in 1897 when Lionel was just three years old. As a child lived in Bisley Old Road, and then in Lansdown, Stroud, where his widowed mother kept a boarding house. He worked as a law clerk. At the age of 18, he left for Canada, sailing from Liverpool on the “Empress of Ireland”, and arriving in Montreal, Quebec, on 25th October 1912. His mother Alexandra had moved to Longton Grove Road in Weston-Super-Mare by the time of his death, and died there in 1944.
Private CHARLES HENRY HARDING
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 10th June 1916, age 20; buried at Loos British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Born in St Thomas, Exeter, Devon, in 1895. Stepson of Charles Henry Franklin, later a labourer for a building contractor in Stroud, and son of Elizabeth Jane (Harding). As a child lived at College in Ide, Devon, then moved with his family to Stroud, and lived in Middle Hill, working as an errand boy.
Private WH HATHAWAY
Possibly Royal Berkshire Regiment. Died 8th August 1918; buried at Beacon Cemetery, Sailly-Laurette, Somme, France.
Private JOSEPH GEORGE HAWKER
Royal Fusiliers. Died 14th October 1918, age 36; commemorated at Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaandered, Belgium. Born and baptised in Chard, Somerset, in 1882. Son of Thomas Hawker, a labourer and, later, coachman/groom, and Annie. At one time, as a child, lived in Belmont, Cheam, Surrey.
Private J HAWKINS
Private GEORGE HENRY HYAM
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 15th September 1918, age 26; buried at Roisel Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France.
Private JAMES HYAM
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 16th June 1915, age 21; buried at Leicester (Welford Road) Cemetery, Leicestershire.
Brothers. George was born in Stroud in 1892, and James in 1896 (baptised at St Laurence the following year). Sons of Charles Hyam, a lodging house keeper in Tower Hill, Stroud, and Elizabeth Amelia (Newman). George worked as a tailor’s presser. George is believed to be the father of two children by Mary Annie Carpenter (1893, Bisley – 1941, Stroud): Beatrice MK Carpenter (1913, Wheatenhurst, Glos – 1998, Stroud; she married George Edward Jesse Butler at St Laurence, Stroud, in 1933, and they are believed to have one surviving child); and William George H Carpenter (1915, Wheatenhurst – 1970, Stroud). The brother’s mother Elizabeth later lived in Parliament Street, Stroud.
Private CC JACKSON
Driver FREDERICK JONES
Australian Army Service Corps. Died 15th September 1918, age 27; buried at Cerisy-Gailly French National Cemetery, Somme, France. Born in Stroud in 1890, and baptised at St Laurence. Son of Henry Jones, a tailor’s cutter and, later, cloth merchant’s clerk, and Louisa, a tailoress. Lived in Bath Place, Stroud. His widowed mother later kept a boarding house in Bath Place, where Frederick lived and worked as a clothing warehouseman.
Rifleman H JONES
Private HJW JONES
Corporal HENRY JAMES LANE
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 8th September 1916, age 31; buried at Flatiron Copse Cemetery, Mametz, Somme, France. Born in Stroud in 1885, and baptised at St Laurence in 1887. Son of James Philip Lane, a carter and, later, drayman, and Rebecca, a cloth cutter. Lived as a child in Silver Street, Stroud, Tower Hill, Stroud, and Upper Leazes. Worked, like his father, as a drayman. He married Kate Albina White at St Laurence on 25th December 1908.
Lance Corporal JR LEWIS
Captain FRANK LEWIS LLOYD
Cheshire Regiment. Died on 3rd October 1915, age 51; commemorated at Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, France. Born in 1864 in Newport, South Wales. Son of John Lewis Lloyd, a wine merchant, and Emma Frances (West). Lived as a child in High Street, St Woollos, Newport. By 1908 he was a Captain in the Reserve of Officers at Ventnor in the Isle of Wight, when he married Mabel Godsell of Stratford Lawn, Stroud, at St Laurence. Following the death of his first wife, Frank married for a second time at The Strand in London in 1913. His second wife was Dorothy Marguerite Florence Lind. Frank and Dorothy were living in Sandford Road in Bromley at the time of his death. Dorothy had previously been married to Thomas Dixon Ridley II, and their son (Frank’s stepson), Claude Raymond D L Ridley-Lloyd, later became a Group Captain and received an OBE (he died in Swindon in 1998).
Private ALBERT FRANCIS MERRICK
South Wales Borderers. Died at Salonika on 18th September 1918, age 34; buried at Doiran Military Cemetery, Greece – his gravestone is inscribed, “Always in our thoughts in a foreign grave”.
Private GEORGE EDWARD MERRICK
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died at Ypres on 6th May 1915, age 24; commemorated at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
Brothers. Sons of Francis Charles Merrick, a fitter, and Ellen (Jones). Albert was born in 1884, and George in 1890 (baptised at St Laurence). As children they lived in The Leazes, and Chapel Street, Stroud. Both later left Stroud. Albert went to work as an iron moulder at a foundry near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales, whilst George joined the Gloucestershire Regiment and was stationed in Malta. Upon the outbreak of the war, George went to France on 19th December 1914. Meanwhile, Albert enlisted at Newport and arrived in France on 5th September 1915.
Lance Corporal SA MILLS
Air Mechanic 2nd Class WINSTON REDVERS CHURCHILL NASH
Royal Air Force (Blandford Depot). Died 7th August 1918 at Blandford Military Hospital, Dorset, age 18; buried at Stroud Old Cemetery.
Lance Corporal FREDERICK HENRY NASH
32nd Ammunition Park Train Army Service Corps. Died 27th October 1918, at No 24 Casualty Clearing Station, Italy, age 26; buried at Montecchio Precalcino Communal Cemetery Extension, Italy
Brothers. Both were born in Stroud - Frederick in 1892, and Winston in 1900. Winston was baptised at St Laurence. Son of Frederick Henry Nash, a tailor, and Clara Eliza (Smith), a tailoress. As children they lived in Bisley Old Road, Stroud. Frederick worked as a gas fitter. Their father died in 1907. The widowed Clara later lived in Middle Hill, Stroud.
Private Tom (Jack) NEALE
Tom (known to the family as Jack) was born in 1899 to Tom and Johanna Neale (nee O'Brien). He was a driver farrier T4/249121 with 459th Convoy Army Service Corps and died in Italy on 28/05/1918. He is remembered with honour at Monteccio Communal cemetery plot 9, row A, grave 14. This is in Vicenza province.
Information supplied by Marian Smith, Great-niece, December 2023.
2nd Lieutenant HENRY SEPTIMUS PAINTER
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 29th July 1916, age about 39; commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. Born in Lambeth, London, in 1879. Son of John Painter. He later lived in Dorchester. In 1899 he married Jane Elizabeth Magdalene (Trusson) in Melcombe Regis, Weymouth, Dorset. They later lived in Salisbury, where Henry worked as a bank clerk. At the time of his death he lived in Lower Street, Stroud. His wife Jane died in 1956.
Private FREDERICK EDWARD PARTRIDGE
Army Service Corps – later Labour Corps. Died 10th July 1918, age 37; buried at Terlincthun British Cemetery, Wimille, Pas de Calais, France. Born in Battersea in 1880. Son of John Augustus Partridge, a carpenter, and Rhoda Jane (Edmonds). Lived in Battersea as a child. In 1904 he married Daisy (Lee) in Battersea. Two daughters were born to them in Battersea: Esther Daisy in 1906, and Edith in 1910. The family later moved to Fulham. Frederick worked as a painter.
Private FREDERICK PICKETT
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 16th February 1918, age 33; commemorated at Basra Memorial, Iraq. Born in Wortley, Gloucestershire, in 1885, and baptised in Alderley. Son of Thomas Pickett, a labourer, and Olive Louisa (Grimes). As a child lived in Haresfield, Ingleton Common, Alderley New Mills, Brown Hill. His father died in Stroud in 1898, and he later lived with his widowed mother in Selsey and Kingstanley. Worked as a woollen mill gig minder. His mother Olive died in Stroud in 1905. Frederick then married Alice Maud Snell in 1906. They later lived in Summer Street, Stroud (where a son, Raymond Frederick, was born in 1908); and in Middle Hill, Stroud (where a second son, Reginald James, was born in 1909). By 1911 they were back living in Summer Street, with Frederick working as a cloth worker. Of their sons, Raymond later Mabel Oliver in Stroud in 1930, and they had two children, including Colin Raymond Pickett (1939-2008). Raymond died in Stroud in 1987. The other son, Reginald, married Eva B Ireland in Stroud in 1932. He died in 1984, and Eva in 2003.
Private J POWER
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 3rd May 1915; buried at Chocques Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France.
Private CV PRICE
Bombardier HH PRIDE
Private J RICE
Believed to be James Rice. He was born in Stroud, and lived in Summer Street with his wife Emma Amelia. He enlisted in Stroud and served in the Labour Corps as a Private. His Regimental Number was 120660. He died on 30th June 1918 of tonsillitis and pleurisy in Greece and was buried in Salonika. (Information kindly supplied by Tessa Pilipczuk, James' great granddaughter, November 2019). James’ parents were William Rice, from Chalford, and Eliza from Cirencester. William was a barge master. James was born to them in Chalford in about 1883. In 1891, the census recorded the family living on the barge “Kate”, then at Bullo Docks at Newnham in the Forest of Dean. By 1901, James’ father had died, and he was now living with his mother and grandfather in Chalford Hill. James was working as a mill hand. Later returning to his father’s occupation as a boatman, he was living on a barge at New Brentford in Middlesex in 1906, when he married Emma Amelia Hyatt at Hounslow St Laurence. By 1901, James and his family were ‘casual’ residents at the Farngdon Union Workhouse (then in Berkshire). By 1915, the family were living in Summer Street, Stroud. Private James Rice, service number 120660, of the Labour Corps (202nd Area Employ), enlisted in Stroud (he had previously been in the Gloucester Regiment). He died on 30th June 1918 at 63 General Hospital of the Balkan Theatre, Salonika, Greece; the cause being tonsillitis and pleurisy. He left his widow, Emma, and children Elsie, Arthur, Thomas, Joseph, Frank and John.
Private ET ROGERS
Private FRANCIS (‘FRANK’) CYRIL RUCK
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died at Arras on 20th February 1916, age 18; commemorated at Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France.
Lance Serjeant HAROLD JAMES RUCK
Grenadier Guards. Died at The Somme on 26th September 1916, age 28; buried at Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longueval, Somme, France
Brothers. Sons of William Francis Ruck, a groom, and Clara (Mynett). Harold was born in 1889 and baptised at Slad. Frank was born in 1898 and baptised at St Laurence. The family lived in Middle Hill and then Tower Hill, Stroud. Harold joined the Grenadier Guards and was based in London. In 1913 he married Edith Eliza Hayward at St Cyr’s in Stoenhouse. At the outbreak of war he enlisted in Stroud and went to France on 16th March 1915. Frank enlisted in Bristol with the Gloucestershire Regiment and went to France on 27th October 1915.
Serjeant CHARLES WILLIAM SCRIVEN
Wiltshire Regiment. Died 28th October 1915, age 28; buried at Chocques Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Born and baptised in 1887 in Hullavington, Chippenham, Wiltshire. Son of Edwin Scriven and Mary Ann (Greenman). Lived as a child in Hullavington, Minety, Oaksey, and Wootton Bassett. Worked as a plate layer and point setter on the railways for 14 years. In 1907 he married Sarah Ann Tull at Pembrokeshire in Wales, where a daughter, Freda Annie Edith, was born to them the following year. They were living in Dublin, Ireland, in 1910 when a son, Charles Edwin, was born. Then they were living in Stroud in 1913 when a second son, Hubert Archibald, was born. His wife Sarah died in 1941. Of their three children, Freda married Ernest Herbert Walker in 1948. She died in 1994 at Haverfordwest in Dyfed. Charles married Kathleen Broomhead. He died in Bournemouth in 1988. Hubert was also married. He died in Bath, Somerset in 1966.
Serjeant ALBERT VICTOR SMITH
Royal Army Service Corps (Mobile Repair Unit). Died 23rd February 1919, age 30; buried at Belgrade Cemetery, Namur, Belgium. Born in 1888 in Stroud, and baptised at Slad. Son of Joseph John Smith, a labourer and, later, brewer’s drayman for Godsell’s, and Kate. As a child he lived in Vatch Lane, Stroud, and later in Rowcroft. He worked as a barman. His parents were living in Pooles Lane, Selsley, Stroud, at the time of his death.
Private LC SMITH
Private GH TANNER
Worcestershire Regiment. Died 3rd July 1916, age 39; buried at Bapaume Post Military Cemetery, Albert, Somme, France. Husband of E Tanner of Summer Street, Stroud.
Private H TANNER
Private JA TANNER
Private GEORGE H TAYLOR
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 5th June 1919, age 44; buried Stroud Old Cemetery. Born in 1875.
Private ALFRED JOHN TOOZE
Canadian Infantry (New Brunswick Regiment). Died 30th April 1917, at Preston, Lancashire, age 24; buried at Stroud Old Cemetery. Born in Stroud and baptised at St Laurence in 1892. Son of Alfred Richard Tooze, a cabinet maker, and Eva Maria (Haynes). As a child lived in Church Street, Stroud. He worked as a porter for an iron monger. His father died in 1911.
Private ALFRED ERNEST VERRINDER
Royal Navy - Royal Marine Light Infantry. Died 26th October 1917, age 27; commemorated at Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Born in Stroud in 1890. Son of William Verrinder and Mary Ann (Cole). His father died in 1912. His widowed mother later lived in Summer Street, Stroud.
Private HENRY (HARRY) WALKER
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 1st November 1918, age 23; buried at Stroud Old Cemetery. Born in Northampton in 1895. Son of Elizabeth; father not known. In 1913 he married Helena (Wigley) at Uplands, Stroud. They had two daughters: Doreen Helena in 1914 (died 1919), and Josephine Malines in 1915 (died 1922). Discharged from the army on 9th December 1915, when living in Stroud and describing his occupation as a tinker.
Lieutenant THOMAS HENRY WHALLEY WALLER
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died in Flanders on 22nd October 1917, age 21; commemorated at Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Born in Stroud in 1896. Son of Dr Alfred Whalley Waller and Violet Sarah (Chambers). His grandfather, Thomas H Whaller, was a Church of England clergyman. As a young boy he was a student at Malvern College, Worcestershire, and later a registered medical student. His address was given as Waldringfield, Suffolk, at the time of his death (which is where his grandfather lived).
Private OLIVER JAMES WATSON
Royal Army Medical Corps (Field Ambulance). Died 8th April 1916, age 29; buried at Noeux-les-Mines Communal Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Born and baptised in 1887 in Doncaster, Yorkshire. Son of Joseph Oliver Watson and Fanny (Womack) of Doncaster. Later the family lived in Edinburgh. His father died in 1896. As a printer’s apprentice he lived in Lansdown, Stroud, with his uncle John White (a printer and stationer), and remained living in Lansdown throughout the 1910s. Later worked as a compositor (letterpress printing), at one time while lodging in Tivoli, Cheltenham. Married Kate (Stockley) at Tottenham, London, in 1915 – by which time he had already enlisted. The widowed Kate later remarried twice: firstly William John Wood, and secondly James Bacon (both in Worcester). At some time she was living in Easington, Co Durham, but died back in Worcester in 1974.
Private ARTHUR ORCHARD WEBB
Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex) Regiment (formerly with Essex Regiment). Died 21st March 1918, age 25; buried at Duisans British Cemetery, Etrun, Pas de Calais, France. Born in Stroud in 1892. Son of Joseph Orchard Webb, a lamp lighter and labourer, and Kate (Winn). As a child lived in Lower Leazes, Stroud. Worked as a painter. Enlisted in Birmingham.
Private WILLIAM RICHARD (‘DICK’) ORCHARD(-) WEBB
Royal Army Medical Corps – later Labour Corps (Agricultural Company). Died of pneumonia at the 2nd Southern General Hospital (Queen Mary’s), Bristol, on 1st November 1918; buried at Stroud Old Cemetery. Born in Stroud in 1887. Son of James Orchard Webb, a cart haulier, dealer and lime burner, and Leticia of Stroud. Husband of Rose Charlotte (Ayers) – who he married at St Laurence in 1912. They lived in Tower Hill, Stroud. His mother died when he was a child, and his father died in 1911. Previously working as a coal merchant, he enlisted at Blackpool in 1917, when he gave his occupation as haulier. William and Rose had four children born in Stroud: Robert William Orchard (1913 – 2005, Gloucester); Kathleen Orchard (1914 – 2000, Stroud General Hospital – married to Edmund Andrew Frusher, and mother of Donald Ernest Frusher (1939, Stroud – 1998, Gloucester Royal Hospital)); Lilian Winifred Orchard (1915 – 1993, Gloucester – married to Walter Barstow); and Iris M Orchard (1917 – died in infancy in 1918). William’s wife Rose died on 5th October 1918 less than a month before he did.
NOTE: Records indicate an association of the Orchard and Webb names going back to at least Richard Orchard Webb, who was born in Stroud in about 1825. One possibility for the convergence of the two names is the marriage of James Webb to Mary Orchard at Wotton-Under-Edge in 1818. However, it has not been possible to clearly establish how the two names came to be associated, or how the two Orchard Webb’s listed above are related.
Private PERCY WILLIAM WEBB
Royal Marine Light Infantry. Died 7th September 1917, age 21; buried at Bailleul Road East Cemetery, St Laurent-Blangy, Pas de Calais, France. Born in Stroud in 1896. Son of Samuel Webb, a tailor’s machinist, and Annie. As a child lived in Parliament Street and Lower Leazes, Stroud. Worked as a mill hand in a metal works, and later recorded on the National Union of Railwaymen Members Register in 1915, age 18, as a ‘horse lad’ for the Midland Railway at Stroud. Later still he was a carter. Joined the Navy Reserve in 1915. Was mobilised on 19th February 1917 to Deal, and drafted on 29th May 1917.
Private GEORGE FREDERICK WHIPP
Cheshire Regiment. Died 14th February 1918, age 37; buried at Staglieno Cemetery, Genoa, Italy. Born in Rodborough in 1880, and baptised at St Laurence in 1881. Son of George Wallace Whipp, a coachman groom, and Sarah (Bartlett). Lived as a child at Wallbridge and Merrywalks, Stroud, and, later, Old Bisley Road. Worked as a grocer’s porter.
Lance Corporal CECIL CLARENCE WILFRED WHITE
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 22nd October 1917, age 22; commemorated at Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaadderen, Belgium. Born 1895 in Stroud, and baptised at St Laurence in 1897. Son of Harry George White, described as a stick worker and ‘umbrella furniture mechanic’ (metal work), and Annie, a tailoress. Gre up in Middle Hill, Stroud. Worked as an engineer’s iron moulder.
Private A WILLIAMS
Private AG WILLIAMS
Private AJ WILLIAMS
Driver J WINFIELD
Royal Field Artillery. Died 23rd September 1918; buried at Beveren-Ijzer Churchyard, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
Private AE WOOLLEY
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 9th July 1917; commemorated at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
Private WILLIAM GEORGE WORKMAN
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 25the December 1914, age 31; buried at Bethune Town Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Born in London in 1883. Son of George William Workman, a bricklayer’s labourer, and Emily (Goatman). Lived as a child in Newcastle upon Tyne, then Stroud. In Stroud lived in Summer Street and Middle Hill. He was a labourer. In 1906 he married Agnes Sarah Orchard Webb at Holy Trinity, Stroud. They had several children, all born in Stroud: Olive Agnes (1907 – married Harold Pillinger and died at Belle Vue Road, Stroud, in 1983); Daisy Gladys Lilian (1908 – married Frank Jeavons and had two children, dying in Dudley, Worcestershire, in 1999); Lilian Dorothy Emily (1910 – died as a child in 1914); Frank William George (1912 – married Elizabeth Hinds, and died in Dudley in 1992); and Dorothy Ruby A (1914 – married James E Nicklin and, later, Arthur Sadler, and died in Dudley in 1985). His widowed wife Agnes later married Walter Edward Parker at Gloucester Register Office, and had five further children by him. She died in Dudley, Worcestershire, in 1956. A story in the family was that William was in a farmhouse in France on Christmas Day 1914 when he was shot by a sniper and died of his wounds.
Lincolnshire Regiment. Died 20th May 1915; buried at Packhorse Farm Shrine Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
Private FRANCIS CHARLES ALDER
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 16th August 1916, age 22; buried at Cerisy-Gailly Military Cemetery, Somme, France
Born in Nash, Shropshire, in 1893. Son of George Francis Alder, a green grocer and, later, seedsman in King Street, Stroud, and Minnie Louisa (Rodway). As a child lived in Badbrook, Stroud. His parents later lived in King Street, Stroud.
Private HAROLD VINCENT (‘JACK’) ANGELL
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 13th June 1915 of wounds sustained on 30th May, age 18; buried at Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Born in Stroud in 1897, and baptised in Stonehouse. Son of Charles Angell, a hotel keeper, and Laura (Price). As a child lived in Russell Street, Stroud, and later at the Rowcroft Hotel (commercial and temperance), Stroud. Enlisted in Swindon. His parents kept Hotel London in Lancaster Gate, London, at the time of his death.
Private ARTHUR JAMES ALLEN
Machine Gun Corps. Died 6th October 1918, age 29; buried at Tehran War Cemetery, Iran. Born in Stroud in 1890. Married Emily R (Clift) in Stroud in 1911, and father of Ruth Allen born in 1912 (later Ruth Theyer, died in Cheltenham in 1992). Worked at Stroud Brewery. Emily later lived in Threadneedle Street, Stroud.
Lance Corporal ALBERT EDWARD ARKELL
Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Died 3rd September 1918, age 33; buried at Fienvillers British Cemetery, Somme, France. Born in Birmingham in 1886. Son of John Henry Arkell, a one-time journeyman brewer and later carter, and Ellen (Ballard). As a child lived in Birmingham . Later became a brass worker in Birmingham, and married Nora (Pagett) there in 1914.
Rifleman EDWARD H BASSETT
Rifle Brigade. Died 8th July 1918; commemorated at Karachi 1914-1918 War Memorial, Pakistan. Born in Stroud in 1879. Son of Frederick C Bassett, a dyer in the cloth industry, and Lucy. As a child lived in London Road, Stroud, and later Churchfield Road, Stroud.
Private GILBERT NORMAN BLICK
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 25th March 1916, age 28; buried at Noeux-les-Mines Communal Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Born in Stroud in 1888. Son of Robert Blick, a domestic gardener, and Elizabeth M, a laundress. Lived at The Leazes, Stroud.
Lance Corporal WILLIAM HENRY BROADLEY
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died in Mesopotamia on 15th December 1916, age 28; commemorated at Basra Memorial, Iraq. Born in 1888 in South Fencote, Yorkshire, and lived there as a child. Son of William Broadley, a domestic gardener, and Elizabeth (Boddy). Later moved to Stroud, living in Bisley Old Road, and working as a grocer’s assistant. Married Beatrice Alice (Churches), a tailoress, on 25th December 1911 at St Laurence, Stroud, and father of Kenneth Henry C Broadley born in Stroud in 1914 (died in Stroud in 1992).
Private LEONARD NORTON BROWN
Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Died 9th June 1919, age 19; buried at Cologne Southern Cemetery, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. Born in Summer Street, Stroud, in 1900, and baptised at St Laurence. Son of Edgar Roger Brown, a general labourer/builder’s carter, and Sarah. Grew up as a child in Summer Street, Stroud.
Private CHARLES BROWNETT
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died at Gallipoli on 26th November 1915; commemorated at Helles Memorial, Turkey. Born in Bedminster, Bristol.
Private CHARLES (‘CHARLIE’) EDWARD BROWNING
Worcestershire Regiment. Died 3rd September 1916; commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. Born in Stroud in 1892, and baptised at St Laurence in 1893. Son of Nathan Browning, a plate layer, and Emily (Pearce). Lived as a child at Rose Bank, London Road, Stroud. Worked as a butcher. Later of Merrywalks, Stroud.
Private SAMUEL BURRUS
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 23rd December 1914, age 21; buried at Brown’s Road Military Cemetery, Festubert, Pas de Calais, France.
Private SIDNEY ARTHUR BURRUS
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died at Gallipoli on 8th January 1916, age 22; commemorated at Helles Memorial, Turkey.
Brothers. Sidney was born in Ebley, Stroud, in 1893, and Samuel in 1895. They were sons of Samuel Burrus, a chimney sweep, and Ellen Matilda (Smith). Grew up as children in Upper Leazes, Stroud, and later Parliament Street, Stroud. At one time Sidney worked in an oil and colour works in Stroud. He married Elsie Lilian (Merrett) in Coleford in 1914, and was the father of Eileen Rosina Lilian Burrus, born in Coleford in 1915. His wife, Elsie, remarried after his death becoming Elsie Lilian Smith, dying in Dursley in 1959. His daughter Eileen married Henry William Saunders, and died in Bristol in 2001. It is believed that she has three surviving children.
Lance Corporal CHARLES HENRY CARTER
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 18th June 1918, age 21; buried at Montecchio Precalcino Communal Cemetery Extension, Italy. Born in Stroud in 1896. Son of Harry C Carter, a bread baker, and Elsie S. Lived as a child in Bisley Road, Stroud. Possibly later lived with his widowed maternal grandfather, Alfred Trinder, a farmer at Derretts Farm in Bisley, while working as a lawyer’s clerk.
Private JAMES JOHN CLARKE
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 9th September 1916, age 35; buried at Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval, Somme, France. Born in Stroud in 1881. Son of William J Clarke, a carpenter, and Ellen. Grew up in Acre Street, Stroud, and worked as a journeyman bread baker.
Lieutenant ARTHUR VINCENT COLLEDGE
Worcestershire Regiment attached to the Royal Fusiliers. Died in North Russia on 10th August 1919, age 21; commemorated at Archangel Memorial, Russia. Born in Stroud in 1898, and baptised at St Laurence. Son of Thomas Charles Colledge, a dentist in Lansdown, Stroud, and Kate. He was later a boarding student at Sangeen School in Bournemouth. His parents were living in Boscombe, Hampshire, at the time of his death.
Private ASHLEY GEORGE COOKE
Lancashire Fusliliers (formerly Gloucestershire Regiment). Died 28 September 1918, age 33; buried at Ribecourt Road Cemetery, Trescault, Pas de Calais, France. Born in Stroud in 1885, and baptised at St Laurence. Son of Albert Frederick Cooke, a cloth worker, and Maria. Grew up in Stroud, living at Middle Hill, The Leazes, Gaineys Well, then Middle Leazes. Worked as a sewing machinist in a tailor’s. Formerly in the Gloucestershire Regiment, he later enlisted in Middlesbrough for the Lancashire Fusiliers.
Private ERNEST EDWARD COOK(E)
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 23rd July 1916, age 27; commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. Born in Stroud in 1889, and baptised at St Laurence in 1890. Son of Daniel Albert Cooke, a labourer and, later, local bailiff, and Louisa, a spinner and wool cloth worker. Lived as a child in Silver Street, Lower Hill Street, and Upper Leazes, Stroud. Possibly later a musician with the QMO Royal Hussars, based at military barracks at South Tidworth in Hampshire.
Private THOMAS HORACE COOLEY
Worcestershire Regiment. Died 26th June 1917, age 24; buried at Belgian Battery Corner Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Born in Stroud in 1893, and baptised at Holy Trinity, Stroud. Son of Thomas Cooley, a labourer, and Clara Alice (Dixon), later a stick worker. Lived as a child in Thrupp then Lower Hill, Stroud. He later joined the Worcestershire Regiment and for a time was stationed at Carisbrooke on the Isle of Wight.
Lance Corporal CHARLES GILBERT COVE
King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Died 20th May 1917, age 20; commemorated Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France. Born in Stroud in 1896, and baptised at St Laurence. Son of William Cove, a builder’s labourer and later worker in a gravel pit, and Annie Maria. Lived as a child at Bisley Old Road, Stroud.
Sapper FRANCIS JOHN DOWERS
Royal Engineers. Died 18th November 1918, age 26; buried at Douai British Cemetery, Cuincy, Nord, France. Born in Swindon in 1892, and baptised at St Mark’s in Swindon in 1893. Son of Francis John Dowers, a labourer in a railway factory and, later, machinist, and Lucy Louisa Ann. Lived in Swindon and served an apprencticeship in road wagon building at Swindon Carriage Works, and later worked as a wheelwright at the Great Western Railway Works there. In 1911 he married Elizabeth (Jones) at Rodborough Parish Church. Later lived with Elizabeth in Bath Place, Stroud. A son, Francis J, was born to them in Stroud in 1917.
Private A HARRY DURN
Wiltshire Regiment. Died 9th June 1917, age 18; commemorated at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Son of Emily Durn of Honest Corner, Ruscombe, Stroud.
Private EDWARD STEPHEN EARLE
Royal Warwickshire Regiment (formerly Cheshire Regiment). Died 7th June 1918; buried at Terlincthun British Cemetery, Wimille, Pas de Calais, France. Born in 1892 in Stroud. Son of James Hy Earle, a railway shunter, and Ellen Brighta. Lived as a child in Bisley Old Road. Married Florence Emily (Pitt) in 1912 at the Register Office in Stroud. They lived in Middle and Upper Leazes, Stroud, and had four children born to them in Stroud: Minnie Gertrude born in 1912 (died in Stroud in 1925); Edward, born in 1914 (died the same year in infancy); Rose, born in 1916 (died the same year in infancy); and Horace Edward, born in 1918 (died in Stroud in 2004).
Private ARTHUR HENRY ELDRIDGE
Royal Berkshire Regiment. Died 22nd November 1916, age 21; buried at HAC Cemetery, Ecoust-St Mein, Pas de Calais, France. Born in Stroud in 1895, and baptised at St Laurence. Son of George James Eldridge, a general labourer and stone breaker, and Sarah Ann (Stanley), a stick worker and varnisher, and later a charwoman. Lived as a child in Somer Street, Stroud, Wallbridge, and later in Middle Hill, Stroud. Worked as a labourer in a cloth factory. His parents were living in Old Bisley Road, Stroud, at the time of his death.
Lance Corporal ARTHUR WILLIAM ELLIOTT
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 31st July 1919, age 27; buried at Essex Farm Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Born in Stroud in 1890, and baptised at St Laurence. Son of Joseph Henry Elliott, a foreman in a cloth dyer’s, and Mary Jane (Taylor). Lived as a child in Downfield Terrace, Chalford Road, Stroud. His mother Mary died in Stroud in 1906, and his father re-married and became the proprietor of The Bell Hotel in Stroud. By now the family were living in Wallbridge. Arthur worked as an assistant commercial clerk for Strachan & Co of Stroud, woollen manufacturers (now WSP Textiles Ltd).
Private ROBERT ELY
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 21st March 1919, age 28; commemorated at Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France. Born and baptised in Littleworth, Amberley, in 1890. Son of Owen Ely, a grocer and beerhouse keeper, and Fanny Maria (Gardner). As a child lived at the Lamb Inn at Littleworth, and later at Woodbine Cottage, Spriggs Well. By now his father was a labourer and for a time, with his son Robert, a nursery gardener. He married Emily Elsie (Knee) in Stroud in 1914. They lived in Bisley Old Road, Stroud, at the time of his death.
Private HENRY JAMES FISHER
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 28th September 1918, age 20; buried in Stroud Old Cemetery. Born in Stroud in 1898, and baptised at Slad. Son of Henry Fisher, a grocer’s porter, and Alice (Tooze). His father died when Henry was still a child. As a child lived in Belle Vue Road, Stroud.
Private WALTER FRANKLIN
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 24th September 1918, age 30; commemorated at Vis-en-Artois Memorial, Pas de Calais, France. Born and baptised (non-conformist) in Stroud in 1888. Son of Arthur (‘Jack’) Franklin, a mill hand and cloth worker, and Charlotte (Harmer), a tailoress/machinist. Married Rose Maud (Verrinder) in Stroud in 1909. They had two children: Flossie Maud, born in 1910, and Walter William, born in 1911. Lived in Summer Street, Stroud, and worked as a cow man on a farm.
Private LIONEL VICTOR (de/d’) GRAY
Canadian Infantry (Alberta Regiment) (formerly Gloucestershire Regiment and Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force in the UK). Died 3rd June 1916 at Square Wood, near Hooge, age 22; commemorated at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Born in Stroud in 1894, and baptised at Holy Trinity. Son of Charles Gray, a tailor, and his third wife Alexandra Ada (Abbott). His father died in 1897 when Lionel was just three years old. As a child lived in Bisley Old Road, and then in Lansdown, Stroud, where his widowed mother kept a boarding house. He worked as a law clerk. At the age of 18, he left for Canada, sailing from Liverpool on the “Empress of Ireland”, and arriving in Montreal, Quebec, on 25th October 1912. His mother Alexandra had moved to Longton Grove Road in Weston-Super-Mare by the time of his death, and died there in 1944.
Private CHARLES HENRY HARDING
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 10th June 1916, age 20; buried at Loos British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Born in St Thomas, Exeter, Devon, in 1895. Stepson of Charles Henry Franklin, later a labourer for a building contractor in Stroud, and son of Elizabeth Jane (Harding). As a child lived at College in Ide, Devon, then moved with his family to Stroud, and lived in Middle Hill, working as an errand boy.
Private WH HATHAWAY
Possibly Royal Berkshire Regiment. Died 8th August 1918; buried at Beacon Cemetery, Sailly-Laurette, Somme, France.
Private JOSEPH GEORGE HAWKER
Royal Fusiliers. Died 14th October 1918, age 36; commemorated at Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaandered, Belgium. Born and baptised in Chard, Somerset, in 1882. Son of Thomas Hawker, a labourer and, later, coachman/groom, and Annie. At one time, as a child, lived in Belmont, Cheam, Surrey.
Private J HAWKINS
Private GEORGE HENRY HYAM
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 15th September 1918, age 26; buried at Roisel Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France.
Private JAMES HYAM
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 16th June 1915, age 21; buried at Leicester (Welford Road) Cemetery, Leicestershire.
Brothers. George was born in Stroud in 1892, and James in 1896 (baptised at St Laurence the following year). Sons of Charles Hyam, a lodging house keeper in Tower Hill, Stroud, and Elizabeth Amelia (Newman). George worked as a tailor’s presser. George is believed to be the father of two children by Mary Annie Carpenter (1893, Bisley – 1941, Stroud): Beatrice MK Carpenter (1913, Wheatenhurst, Glos – 1998, Stroud; she married George Edward Jesse Butler at St Laurence, Stroud, in 1933, and they are believed to have one surviving child); and William George H Carpenter (1915, Wheatenhurst – 1970, Stroud). The brother’s mother Elizabeth later lived in Parliament Street, Stroud.
Private CC JACKSON
Driver FREDERICK JONES
Australian Army Service Corps. Died 15th September 1918, age 27; buried at Cerisy-Gailly French National Cemetery, Somme, France. Born in Stroud in 1890, and baptised at St Laurence. Son of Henry Jones, a tailor’s cutter and, later, cloth merchant’s clerk, and Louisa, a tailoress. Lived in Bath Place, Stroud. His widowed mother later kept a boarding house in Bath Place, where Frederick lived and worked as a clothing warehouseman.
Rifleman H JONES
Private HJW JONES
Corporal HENRY JAMES LANE
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 8th September 1916, age 31; buried at Flatiron Copse Cemetery, Mametz, Somme, France. Born in Stroud in 1885, and baptised at St Laurence in 1887. Son of James Philip Lane, a carter and, later, drayman, and Rebecca, a cloth cutter. Lived as a child in Silver Street, Stroud, Tower Hill, Stroud, and Upper Leazes. Worked, like his father, as a drayman. He married Kate Albina White at St Laurence on 25th December 1908.
Lance Corporal JR LEWIS
Captain FRANK LEWIS LLOYD
Cheshire Regiment. Died on 3rd October 1915, age 51; commemorated at Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, France. Born in 1864 in Newport, South Wales. Son of John Lewis Lloyd, a wine merchant, and Emma Frances (West). Lived as a child in High Street, St Woollos, Newport. By 1908 he was a Captain in the Reserve of Officers at Ventnor in the Isle of Wight, when he married Mabel Godsell of Stratford Lawn, Stroud, at St Laurence. Following the death of his first wife, Frank married for a second time at The Strand in London in 1913. His second wife was Dorothy Marguerite Florence Lind. Frank and Dorothy were living in Sandford Road in Bromley at the time of his death. Dorothy had previously been married to Thomas Dixon Ridley II, and their son (Frank’s stepson), Claude Raymond D L Ridley-Lloyd, later became a Group Captain and received an OBE (he died in Swindon in 1998).
Private ALBERT FRANCIS MERRICK
South Wales Borderers. Died at Salonika on 18th September 1918, age 34; buried at Doiran Military Cemetery, Greece – his gravestone is inscribed, “Always in our thoughts in a foreign grave”.
Private GEORGE EDWARD MERRICK
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died at Ypres on 6th May 1915, age 24; commemorated at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
Brothers. Sons of Francis Charles Merrick, a fitter, and Ellen (Jones). Albert was born in 1884, and George in 1890 (baptised at St Laurence). As children they lived in The Leazes, and Chapel Street, Stroud. Both later left Stroud. Albert went to work as an iron moulder at a foundry near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales, whilst George joined the Gloucestershire Regiment and was stationed in Malta. Upon the outbreak of the war, George went to France on 19th December 1914. Meanwhile, Albert enlisted at Newport and arrived in France on 5th September 1915.
Lance Corporal SA MILLS
Air Mechanic 2nd Class WINSTON REDVERS CHURCHILL NASH
Royal Air Force (Blandford Depot). Died 7th August 1918 at Blandford Military Hospital, Dorset, age 18; buried at Stroud Old Cemetery.
Lance Corporal FREDERICK HENRY NASH
32nd Ammunition Park Train Army Service Corps. Died 27th October 1918, at No 24 Casualty Clearing Station, Italy, age 26; buried at Montecchio Precalcino Communal Cemetery Extension, Italy
Brothers. Both were born in Stroud - Frederick in 1892, and Winston in 1900. Winston was baptised at St Laurence. Son of Frederick Henry Nash, a tailor, and Clara Eliza (Smith), a tailoress. As children they lived in Bisley Old Road, Stroud. Frederick worked as a gas fitter. Their father died in 1907. The widowed Clara later lived in Middle Hill, Stroud.
Private Tom (Jack) NEALE
Tom (known to the family as Jack) was born in 1899 to Tom and Johanna Neale (nee O'Brien). He was a driver farrier T4/249121 with 459th Convoy Army Service Corps and died in Italy on 28/05/1918. He is remembered with honour at Monteccio Communal cemetery plot 9, row A, grave 14. This is in Vicenza province.
Information supplied by Marian Smith, Great-niece, December 2023.
2nd Lieutenant HENRY SEPTIMUS PAINTER
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 29th July 1916, age about 39; commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. Born in Lambeth, London, in 1879. Son of John Painter. He later lived in Dorchester. In 1899 he married Jane Elizabeth Magdalene (Trusson) in Melcombe Regis, Weymouth, Dorset. They later lived in Salisbury, where Henry worked as a bank clerk. At the time of his death he lived in Lower Street, Stroud. His wife Jane died in 1956.
Private FREDERICK EDWARD PARTRIDGE
Army Service Corps – later Labour Corps. Died 10th July 1918, age 37; buried at Terlincthun British Cemetery, Wimille, Pas de Calais, France. Born in Battersea in 1880. Son of John Augustus Partridge, a carpenter, and Rhoda Jane (Edmonds). Lived in Battersea as a child. In 1904 he married Daisy (Lee) in Battersea. Two daughters were born to them in Battersea: Esther Daisy in 1906, and Edith in 1910. The family later moved to Fulham. Frederick worked as a painter.
Private FREDERICK PICKETT
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 16th February 1918, age 33; commemorated at Basra Memorial, Iraq. Born in Wortley, Gloucestershire, in 1885, and baptised in Alderley. Son of Thomas Pickett, a labourer, and Olive Louisa (Grimes). As a child lived in Haresfield, Ingleton Common, Alderley New Mills, Brown Hill. His father died in Stroud in 1898, and he later lived with his widowed mother in Selsey and Kingstanley. Worked as a woollen mill gig minder. His mother Olive died in Stroud in 1905. Frederick then married Alice Maud Snell in 1906. They later lived in Summer Street, Stroud (where a son, Raymond Frederick, was born in 1908); and in Middle Hill, Stroud (where a second son, Reginald James, was born in 1909). By 1911 they were back living in Summer Street, with Frederick working as a cloth worker. Of their sons, Raymond later Mabel Oliver in Stroud in 1930, and they had two children, including Colin Raymond Pickett (1939-2008). Raymond died in Stroud in 1987. The other son, Reginald, married Eva B Ireland in Stroud in 1932. He died in 1984, and Eva in 2003.
Private J POWER
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 3rd May 1915; buried at Chocques Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France.
Private CV PRICE
Bombardier HH PRIDE
Private J RICE
Believed to be James Rice. He was born in Stroud, and lived in Summer Street with his wife Emma Amelia. He enlisted in Stroud and served in the Labour Corps as a Private. His Regimental Number was 120660. He died on 30th June 1918 of tonsillitis and pleurisy in Greece and was buried in Salonika. (Information kindly supplied by Tessa Pilipczuk, James' great granddaughter, November 2019). James’ parents were William Rice, from Chalford, and Eliza from Cirencester. William was a barge master. James was born to them in Chalford in about 1883. In 1891, the census recorded the family living on the barge “Kate”, then at Bullo Docks at Newnham in the Forest of Dean. By 1901, James’ father had died, and he was now living with his mother and grandfather in Chalford Hill. James was working as a mill hand. Later returning to his father’s occupation as a boatman, he was living on a barge at New Brentford in Middlesex in 1906, when he married Emma Amelia Hyatt at Hounslow St Laurence. By 1901, James and his family were ‘casual’ residents at the Farngdon Union Workhouse (then in Berkshire). By 1915, the family were living in Summer Street, Stroud. Private James Rice, service number 120660, of the Labour Corps (202nd Area Employ), enlisted in Stroud (he had previously been in the Gloucester Regiment). He died on 30th June 1918 at 63 General Hospital of the Balkan Theatre, Salonika, Greece; the cause being tonsillitis and pleurisy. He left his widow, Emma, and children Elsie, Arthur, Thomas, Joseph, Frank and John.
Private ET ROGERS
Private FRANCIS (‘FRANK’) CYRIL RUCK
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died at Arras on 20th February 1916, age 18; commemorated at Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France.
Lance Serjeant HAROLD JAMES RUCK
Grenadier Guards. Died at The Somme on 26th September 1916, age 28; buried at Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longueval, Somme, France
Brothers. Sons of William Francis Ruck, a groom, and Clara (Mynett). Harold was born in 1889 and baptised at Slad. Frank was born in 1898 and baptised at St Laurence. The family lived in Middle Hill and then Tower Hill, Stroud. Harold joined the Grenadier Guards and was based in London. In 1913 he married Edith Eliza Hayward at St Cyr’s in Stoenhouse. At the outbreak of war he enlisted in Stroud and went to France on 16th March 1915. Frank enlisted in Bristol with the Gloucestershire Regiment and went to France on 27th October 1915.
Serjeant CHARLES WILLIAM SCRIVEN
Wiltshire Regiment. Died 28th October 1915, age 28; buried at Chocques Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Born and baptised in 1887 in Hullavington, Chippenham, Wiltshire. Son of Edwin Scriven and Mary Ann (Greenman). Lived as a child in Hullavington, Minety, Oaksey, and Wootton Bassett. Worked as a plate layer and point setter on the railways for 14 years. In 1907 he married Sarah Ann Tull at Pembrokeshire in Wales, where a daughter, Freda Annie Edith, was born to them the following year. They were living in Dublin, Ireland, in 1910 when a son, Charles Edwin, was born. Then they were living in Stroud in 1913 when a second son, Hubert Archibald, was born. His wife Sarah died in 1941. Of their three children, Freda married Ernest Herbert Walker in 1948. She died in 1994 at Haverfordwest in Dyfed. Charles married Kathleen Broomhead. He died in Bournemouth in 1988. Hubert was also married. He died in Bath, Somerset in 1966.
Serjeant ALBERT VICTOR SMITH
Royal Army Service Corps (Mobile Repair Unit). Died 23rd February 1919, age 30; buried at Belgrade Cemetery, Namur, Belgium. Born in 1888 in Stroud, and baptised at Slad. Son of Joseph John Smith, a labourer and, later, brewer’s drayman for Godsell’s, and Kate. As a child he lived in Vatch Lane, Stroud, and later in Rowcroft. He worked as a barman. His parents were living in Pooles Lane, Selsley, Stroud, at the time of his death.
Private LC SMITH
Private GH TANNER
Worcestershire Regiment. Died 3rd July 1916, age 39; buried at Bapaume Post Military Cemetery, Albert, Somme, France. Husband of E Tanner of Summer Street, Stroud.
Private H TANNER
Private JA TANNER
Private GEORGE H TAYLOR
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 5th June 1919, age 44; buried Stroud Old Cemetery. Born in 1875.
Private ALFRED JOHN TOOZE
Canadian Infantry (New Brunswick Regiment). Died 30th April 1917, at Preston, Lancashire, age 24; buried at Stroud Old Cemetery. Born in Stroud and baptised at St Laurence in 1892. Son of Alfred Richard Tooze, a cabinet maker, and Eva Maria (Haynes). As a child lived in Church Street, Stroud. He worked as a porter for an iron monger. His father died in 1911.
Private ALFRED ERNEST VERRINDER
Royal Navy - Royal Marine Light Infantry. Died 26th October 1917, age 27; commemorated at Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Born in Stroud in 1890. Son of William Verrinder and Mary Ann (Cole). His father died in 1912. His widowed mother later lived in Summer Street, Stroud.
Private HENRY (HARRY) WALKER
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 1st November 1918, age 23; buried at Stroud Old Cemetery. Born in Northampton in 1895. Son of Elizabeth; father not known. In 1913 he married Helena (Wigley) at Uplands, Stroud. They had two daughters: Doreen Helena in 1914 (died 1919), and Josephine Malines in 1915 (died 1922). Discharged from the army on 9th December 1915, when living in Stroud and describing his occupation as a tinker.
Lieutenant THOMAS HENRY WHALLEY WALLER
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died in Flanders on 22nd October 1917, age 21; commemorated at Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Born in Stroud in 1896. Son of Dr Alfred Whalley Waller and Violet Sarah (Chambers). His grandfather, Thomas H Whaller, was a Church of England clergyman. As a young boy he was a student at Malvern College, Worcestershire, and later a registered medical student. His address was given as Waldringfield, Suffolk, at the time of his death (which is where his grandfather lived).
Private OLIVER JAMES WATSON
Royal Army Medical Corps (Field Ambulance). Died 8th April 1916, age 29; buried at Noeux-les-Mines Communal Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Born and baptised in 1887 in Doncaster, Yorkshire. Son of Joseph Oliver Watson and Fanny (Womack) of Doncaster. Later the family lived in Edinburgh. His father died in 1896. As a printer’s apprentice he lived in Lansdown, Stroud, with his uncle John White (a printer and stationer), and remained living in Lansdown throughout the 1910s. Later worked as a compositor (letterpress printing), at one time while lodging in Tivoli, Cheltenham. Married Kate (Stockley) at Tottenham, London, in 1915 – by which time he had already enlisted. The widowed Kate later remarried twice: firstly William John Wood, and secondly James Bacon (both in Worcester). At some time she was living in Easington, Co Durham, but died back in Worcester in 1974.
Private ARTHUR ORCHARD WEBB
Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex) Regiment (formerly with Essex Regiment). Died 21st March 1918, age 25; buried at Duisans British Cemetery, Etrun, Pas de Calais, France. Born in Stroud in 1892. Son of Joseph Orchard Webb, a lamp lighter and labourer, and Kate (Winn). As a child lived in Lower Leazes, Stroud. Worked as a painter. Enlisted in Birmingham.
Private WILLIAM RICHARD (‘DICK’) ORCHARD(-) WEBB
Royal Army Medical Corps – later Labour Corps (Agricultural Company). Died of pneumonia at the 2nd Southern General Hospital (Queen Mary’s), Bristol, on 1st November 1918; buried at Stroud Old Cemetery. Born in Stroud in 1887. Son of James Orchard Webb, a cart haulier, dealer and lime burner, and Leticia of Stroud. Husband of Rose Charlotte (Ayers) – who he married at St Laurence in 1912. They lived in Tower Hill, Stroud. His mother died when he was a child, and his father died in 1911. Previously working as a coal merchant, he enlisted at Blackpool in 1917, when he gave his occupation as haulier. William and Rose had four children born in Stroud: Robert William Orchard (1913 – 2005, Gloucester); Kathleen Orchard (1914 – 2000, Stroud General Hospital – married to Edmund Andrew Frusher, and mother of Donald Ernest Frusher (1939, Stroud – 1998, Gloucester Royal Hospital)); Lilian Winifred Orchard (1915 – 1993, Gloucester – married to Walter Barstow); and Iris M Orchard (1917 – died in infancy in 1918). William’s wife Rose died on 5th October 1918 less than a month before he did.
NOTE: Records indicate an association of the Orchard and Webb names going back to at least Richard Orchard Webb, who was born in Stroud in about 1825. One possibility for the convergence of the two names is the marriage of James Webb to Mary Orchard at Wotton-Under-Edge in 1818. However, it has not been possible to clearly establish how the two names came to be associated, or how the two Orchard Webb’s listed above are related.
Private PERCY WILLIAM WEBB
Royal Marine Light Infantry. Died 7th September 1917, age 21; buried at Bailleul Road East Cemetery, St Laurent-Blangy, Pas de Calais, France. Born in Stroud in 1896. Son of Samuel Webb, a tailor’s machinist, and Annie. As a child lived in Parliament Street and Lower Leazes, Stroud. Worked as a mill hand in a metal works, and later recorded on the National Union of Railwaymen Members Register in 1915, age 18, as a ‘horse lad’ for the Midland Railway at Stroud. Later still he was a carter. Joined the Navy Reserve in 1915. Was mobilised on 19th February 1917 to Deal, and drafted on 29th May 1917.
Private GEORGE FREDERICK WHIPP
Cheshire Regiment. Died 14th February 1918, age 37; buried at Staglieno Cemetery, Genoa, Italy. Born in Rodborough in 1880, and baptised at St Laurence in 1881. Son of George Wallace Whipp, a coachman groom, and Sarah (Bartlett). Lived as a child at Wallbridge and Merrywalks, Stroud, and, later, Old Bisley Road. Worked as a grocer’s porter.
Lance Corporal CECIL CLARENCE WILFRED WHITE
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 22nd October 1917, age 22; commemorated at Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaadderen, Belgium. Born 1895 in Stroud, and baptised at St Laurence in 1897. Son of Harry George White, described as a stick worker and ‘umbrella furniture mechanic’ (metal work), and Annie, a tailoress. Gre up in Middle Hill, Stroud. Worked as an engineer’s iron moulder.
Private A WILLIAMS
Private AG WILLIAMS
Private AJ WILLIAMS
Driver J WINFIELD
Royal Field Artillery. Died 23rd September 1918; buried at Beveren-Ijzer Churchyard, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
Private AE WOOLLEY
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 9th July 1917; commemorated at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
Private WILLIAM GEORGE WORKMAN
Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 25the December 1914, age 31; buried at Bethune Town Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Born in London in 1883. Son of George William Workman, a bricklayer’s labourer, and Emily (Goatman). Lived as a child in Newcastle upon Tyne, then Stroud. In Stroud lived in Summer Street and Middle Hill. He was a labourer. In 1906 he married Agnes Sarah Orchard Webb at Holy Trinity, Stroud. They had several children, all born in Stroud: Olive Agnes (1907 – married Harold Pillinger and died at Belle Vue Road, Stroud, in 1983); Daisy Gladys Lilian (1908 – married Frank Jeavons and had two children, dying in Dudley, Worcestershire, in 1999); Lilian Dorothy Emily (1910 – died as a child in 1914); Frank William George (1912 – married Elizabeth Hinds, and died in Dudley in 1992); and Dorothy Ruby A (1914 – married James E Nicklin and, later, Arthur Sadler, and died in Dudley in 1985). His widowed wife Agnes later married Walter Edward Parker at Gloucester Register Office, and had five further children by him. She died in Dudley, Worcestershire, in 1956. A story in the family was that William was in a farmhouse in France on Christmas Day 1914 when he was shot by a sniper and died of his wounds.
A Wartime Wedding
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This undated postcard showing the interior of St Laurence Church was found on a stall at an Antique Fair in the Church Hall. On the reverse of the postcard is written in hand, “In memory of my marriage on Feb 5th 1917. Edith”. Research has found that Edith Mary Edwards married Thomas James Thomas at St Laurence Church on 5th February, 1917. Thomas, born in Milford Haven, was working as a mason in Swansea in 1915, when, at the age of 36, he signed up for the Welsh Regiment. In October 1916 he embarked from Southampton, arriving in Rouen, France, the following day. Two months later, on 20 December, he was wounded in action at a place known as High Wood – a site fiercely fought over in what was the Battle of the Somme. Thomas received gun shot wounds to the right side of his face, and left arm and elbow. After being initially treated at a field hospital, he was transferred to the Army Hospital Centre at Wimereux, before being sent back to England on the ship ‘Carisbrooke Castle’ in early January 1917. Admitted to Southern General Hospital in Bristol, by February he was recuperating at the Red Cross Hospital set up in Roxburgh House in Stroud. Edith’s father, Charles, originally from Pembroke, was a police constable in south-east London. Edith was born at Shooter’s Hill in about 1885 and grew up in Orpington. Upon retirement from the police force, her father Charles moved back to South Wales, becoming a school caretaker in Sketty near Swansea. It was from here that Edith made the journey to Stroud in February 1917 to be with and marry Thomas. In time, Thomas recovered sufficiently from his wounds to later be re-assigned to the Army Labour Corps, before eventually being de-mobbed in February 1919. It is not known what became of Thomas and Edith after the war.
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The Unveiling of the War Memorial in the Church Grounds 29th September 1921 
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"To His Love"
by Ivor Gurney, 1917
A Gloucester man, Ivor Gurney was a talented young composer before joining the army in 1914, and loved the Gloucestershire countryside. He was bipolar and suffered from manic depression and two nervous breakdowns, and after the war was admitted to an asylum where he remained until his death in 1937. This poem is a monologue, in which one soldier speaks to the fiancé or girlfriend of a dead soldier of his death— mourning his loss and regretting that he will never have the pleasure of the dead soldier’s company again. The dead soldier that Gurney was referring to was his bosom friend and fellow poet, Will Harvey, who Gurney thought had been killed but who, in fact, survived the war, albeit badly wounded and held as a prisoner of war. The 'small boat' mentioned in the poem was called 'Dorothy', and he kept it at the lock-keeper's cottage in Framilode where he lived for a while.
(Additional information courtesy of Geoff Shaw)
(Additional information courtesy of Geoff Shaw)
He's gone, and all our plans
Are useless indeed.
We'll walk no more on Cotswold
Where the sheep feed
Quietly and take no heed.
His body that was so quick
Is not as you
Knew it, on Severn river
Under the blue
Driving our small boat through.
You would not know him now ...
But still he died
Nobly, so cover him over
With violets of pride
Purple from Severn side.
Cover him, cover him soon!
And with thick-set
Masses of memoried flowers -
Hide that red wet
Thing I must somehow forget.
Are useless indeed.
We'll walk no more on Cotswold
Where the sheep feed
Quietly and take no heed.
His body that was so quick
Is not as you
Knew it, on Severn river
Under the blue
Driving our small boat through.
You would not know him now ...
But still he died
Nobly, so cover him over
With violets of pride
Purple from Severn side.
Cover him, cover him soon!
And with thick-set
Masses of memoried flowers -
Hide that red wet
Thing I must somehow forget.
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