HOLY TRINITY, LYNE WAR MEMORIAL

Researched and written by Graham Webster

The Holy Trinity church, Lyne, Surrey’s War Memorial takes two forms: a stone cross and a tablet on the church’s west wall.

Holy Trinity church, Lyne Surrey War Memorials (© Graham WEBSTER)

The inscriptions on the three sides of the plinth of the cross read as follows:

In everlasting honour of those who having left all that was dearest to them made the great sacrifice for the sake of righteousness and freedom May they rest in peace”

This cross is erected to the glory of God for our victories by sea and land during the Great War 1914 – 1919

In perpetual and glorious memory of the sixteen men of this parish who laid down their lives for their country Their name liveth for evermore The memorial was unveiled on 9 October 1920 by Lt Gen Sir Edward T H HOTTON and dedicated by the Archdeacon of Surrey, Canon A G ROBINSON. It was created by Farmer and Brindley of London, a firm of monumental masons and sculptors, stone importers and architectural modellers, responsible for a number of war memorials, including the Albert Memorial, London and the Waterloo Station Victory Arch.

The tablet lists the names and regiments of the 16 men:

Holy Trinity church, Lyne Surrey War Memorial tablet (© Graham WEBSTER)

ATKINS, T

Thomas ATKINS, son of T and A ATKINS, husband of Jane ATKINS, of Botleys Lyne, Chertsey, Surrey, a Private with 1st Bn, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment), service number G/37874, died 26 September 1917. He is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Poperinge, Belgium.

Thomas was born 9 April 1882 in Chertsey, Surrey to Thomas and Ann (nee PATFIELD) ATKINS; he was baptised at St Peter, Chertsey, Surrey on 14 May 1882 (father is a gas stoker at the time). In 1891, Thomas is living with his parents (father is a gas works labourer) in Green Lane, Chertsey, Surrey; he has two older sisters, Sarah and Fanny, two younger brothers, Frank and William, and a younger sister, Ann. In 1887 he is enrolled in Windsor Street Church of England / Council School, Chertsey (infants). In 1901, he is still living in Green Lane Chertsey, Surrey (he is a farm labourer), with parents – father still a gas works labourer) with Sarah, Frank and Ann, and another younger sister, Kate. On 18 February 1905 he marries Jane SEWELL at St Peter, Chertsey, Surrey, living at Pretoria Cottages, Chertsey, Surrey - they have had a daughter born in 14 February1904, Harriet Mary. In 1911 he is living with wife, Harriet and son Thomas born 10 June 1905 at 15 Mead Lane, Chertsey, Surrey, together with Jane’s widowed father and her brothers and sister.

Thomas joined up under the Derby Scheme* and enlisted in July 1916; he had been was employed by Mr H GOSLING JP. He transferred to France on 27 November 1916. Thomas died of wounds in his legs and thighs sustained on 24 September 1917; the Chaplain wrote to Jane and said that Thomas suffered little owing to the shock and was too weak to speak or understand and passed away peacefully after the Chaplain had commended his soul to God.

*The Derby Scheme was proposed by Lord DERBY as an attempt to increase recruitment and avoid the need for conscription by allowing men to voluntarily attest for service at a later date. Between 1 December 1915 and 13 December 1915, 1,070,478 men were attested under the Derby Scheme; this was nearly 48% of the total number of men who had attested up to 15 December 1915.

ATTFIELD, S

Stuart ATTFIELD (celiahill21, Ancestry.co.uk)

Stuart ATTFIELD, son of Mrs W ATTFIELD, of Lyne Lane, Chertsey, Surrey, was a Lance Corporal with the 1st/5th Bn, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, service number 37381, died 17 March 1919. He is buried at Etaples Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France.

Stuart was born on 27 March 1899 in Lyne, Surrey to William John ATTFIELD (when he was 39) and Elizabeth (nee WATTS) (when she was 34), and he was baptised there on 29 September 1899. In 1901 Stuart (also Stewart) was living in Lyne, Surrey with parents (father was a gardener) and older brothers and sisters – William A, Mary, Mabel, Jillian, Betsey (or Bessie), and Arthur (or John). By 1911, the family had grown to include Maurice, Walter, and Edgar with all but Mary, Mabel and Jillian living in the family home; father was still a gardener and they were living in Lyne Lane, Chertsey, Surrey. His parents had a further daughter, Winifred Helen later in 1911.

Stuart had been promoted from Private. He died after contracting influenza and pneumonia after returning to France; he was buried on 19 March 1919.

Stuart was the second cousin of George Hugh CHANDLER and the first cousin once removed of William CHANDLER, who both also died in the First World War and are also commemorated on the War Memorial at Lyne.

(celiahill21, Ancestry.co.uk)

His father, as next-of-kin, received £16 11s 3d as his effects (including £11 war gratuity).

BAIGENT, F

(Surrey Herald, 16 Nov 1917)

Frank BAIGENT, son of Harry BAIGENT, husband of Amy L Baigent, of 4, May Avenue, Lymington, Hants, a private with 1st Bn, East Surrey Regiment, service number G/6616, died 15 September 1917. He is buried in the Berlin South Western Cemetery, Brandenberg, Germany. Francis ‘Frank’ BAIGENT was born in Longcross, Cherstsey, Surrey, in 21 May 1879 to Henry and Hannah (nee FURZE), and was baptised on 22 June 1879 at Christchurch, Longcross, Surrey. In 1881, he is living in a “private house” in the area of Kits Mead, Longcross with father (a gardener but also “in care of” the house), mother, elder brothers, William Henry E, Frederick and Charles, and younger sister, Mary Beatrice. In 1891, the family – father is still a gardener – is living in Longcross Road, Lyne, Chertsey, Surrey. Elder brother, Frederick is still at home, as is (Mary) Beatrice, but he now has other siblings – brother Weller, sister Emily, brother Valentine, and youngest sister Margaret. In January 1901, brother William dies. The family is living in Well’s Lane, Sunninghill, Berkshire but Frank has moved away from home, working as a domestic footman in Knowlton Court, Knowlton, Eastry, Kent in the house of William H PETO, a retired building contractor. Henry is still a domestic gardener in 1911 and living with Hannah and children Valentine and Margaret at 2 Park Cottages, Lyne Chertsey, Surrey; four of their eight children had died. In Q3 1905, Frank marries Amy Louisa Hendey WHITREN in Lymington, Hampshire. His daughter, Ida Beatrice is born on 2 Jul 1906 in Longcross, Chertsey, Surrey. In the 1911 Census he is a gentleman’s servant at The Royal York and the Royal Albion Hotels, Old Steine, Brighton, while wife Amy is a butler at 103 Ebury Buildings, Hanover Square, London (with daughter, Ida). His son, Norman Arthur is born also in the district of Chertsey, Surrey 21 August 1912.

Frank BAIGENT and family (Valmerryweather Ancestry.co.uk)

He enlists in Bath, Somerset in November 1914 (according the newspaper cutting below); he joined the 1st Bn, East Surrey Regiment on 15 November 1916. He is reported missing on 8 May 1917 from ‘C’ Coy; he is official recorded as a prisoner of war on 8 May 1917 taken at Fresnoy (although the International Committee of the Red Cross has records from his prisoner of War Camp – Wittenberg - that state he was taken on 6 May 1917). Official he dies from his wounds in the Wittenberg POW Camp, Saxony, Germany although the cutting below states dysentery; his family is informed on 16 October 1917.

Surrey Advertiser, 12 November 1917, page 2, col 3

The probate of his estate (granted 9 February 1918 in London) gives Frank’s 1917 as Farleigh Plain, Hinton Charterhouse, Bath, with the value of his effects £170 (to Amy, his widow).

He is also commemorated on the Longcross war memorial at Christchurch:

Christchurch, Longcross Surrey War Memorial (SGW Project http://tinyurl.com/jazadx5 )

BOSHER, F N

Source: http://www.hurstatwar.co.uk/

Frederick Norman BOSHER, a Private with the 7th (City of London) Bn. London Regiment, service number 2450, died on 3 April 1915. He is buried in Brown’s Road Military Cemetery, Festubert, Pas de Calais, France.

Frederick (also Norman) was born Q3 1894, in the district of Chertsey, Surrey, to parents Frederick and Louisa-Mary (nee HOPKINS) BOSHER; he was baptised 12 August 1894 at St Mary, Thorpe, Surrey. In 1901 they are living in Level Crossing Road, Lyne, Chertsey, Surrey with Frederick’s (Norman in the census) older siblings, John Leslie and Kathleen Eleanor; father is a farmer. The 1911 Census shows that his parents (at Lyne Farm, Lyne, Chertsey, Surrey) had had four children; one had died by this date. Frederick was a pupil at Hurstpierpoint College, Cuckfield, Sussex – he was at the college from 1907-1911. He is recorded as being a farmer when he left school..

He enlists at Sun Street, Finsbury Square, London in September 1914. Frederick’s battalion (some sources record this as 5th Bn) landed in France on 3 March 1915; he was killed in action by a bursting shell and its shrapnel a month later at Bethune near Armentiéres, France – two days after moving to the front line. A war gratuity was paid to his father.

He is also commemorated on the Hurstpierpoint College War Memorial in the Chapel to St John:

Source: http://tinyurl.com/z5hogsf

CHANDLER, G H

George Hugh CHANDLER, Son of George John and Jane Elizabeth (nee BINDON) CHANDLER, of Milita Cottage, Lyne, Chertsey, England, was a private in the 8th Bn, Canadian Expeditionary Force, service number 865862, died on 16 July 1918, in Tuxedo, Manitoba, Canada. He is buried in the Brookside Military Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

George CHANDLER, with brother Edward and sister Grace (David Bennett, Ancestry.co.uk)

George was born on 25 January 1893 in Lyne, Surrey and baptised at Holy Trinity there on 26 March 1893. In 1901 he is living in Botleys and Lyne, Surrey with parents (father is a carter on a farm) and younger siblings, Grace and Edward. By 1911, he is a carter on a farm, living with his family (father is a farm labourer), at 2 Garden Cottages, Botleys Chertsey, Surrey.

He was a second cousin of Stuart ATTFIELD and a first cousin once removed of William CHANDLER.

He is recorded as arriving in Quebec, Canada, from Southampton, on 24 June 1912, on the Ascania. When he enlisted in Brandon, Manitoba on 30 November 1916 he was living in Terence, Manitoba, Canada, being a farmer and giving his father, George (living in Botleys, Chersey, Surrey), as next-of-kin – interestingly he gives his date of birth as 25 Jan 1892. He served in the Canadian Infantry (Manitoba Regiment). When he died he was a naturalised Canadian.

He is also commemorated on the Griswold War Memorial in the Rural Municipality of Sifton, Manitoba, Canada, occupation a farmer:

Griswold War Memorial (Gordon Goldsborough, (http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/griswoldwarmemorial.shtml )

CHANDLER, W

(Surrey Herald, 10 Mar 1916)

William CHANDLER, brother of Mr C Chandler, of Farm Cottage, St. Ann's Heath, Virginia Water, Surrey, a Private with 4th Dragoon Guards (Royal Irish), service number 6901, died 11 February 1916. He is buried Vermelles British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France.

William was born ca 1883 to Charles and Caroline (nee OSMON) CHANDLER; he was baptised at Holy Trinity, Lyne, Surrey on 1 December 1883. In 1891 he is living in Pyrcroft Road, Chertsey, Surrey with parents (father is an agricultural labourer) with older siblings Charles and Jannette (also Jane MILLS); he had older sisters Alice (WARD) and Ellen Harriet (MILLS), and an older brother, Robert (born 1875, died 1878) . They (parents and Charles) had moved to Lyne, Chertsey, Surrey, by 1901 when William is a garden labourer; father is a cowman. In Q1 1912, father Charles at the age of 70, dies in Chertsey District; his mother dies on 3 April 1915 aged 71 in Lyne, Surrey of heart disease and oedema bronchitis; informant is William’s brother, Charles, of Lyne, Chertsey, Surrey. She is buried at Holy Trinity, Lyne, Surrey, on 8 April 1915.

William enlists at Woolwich on 30 Jan 1906 (he agrees to join “corps of hussars of the line”), he gives his occupation as groom and stableman; from other records he is employed at Holloway Sanatorium. He serves in 7th (Princess Royal’s) Dragoons Guards, three years in Egypt (contracting gonorrhoea) before being posted to India from October 1910. His records show that he has had two spells of 18 months as an officer’s servant before transferring to the reserves in March 1913. He is mobilised 5 August 1914 and posted to 4th Dragoons Guards and is embarked for Rouen, France November 1914 joining his regiment in the field on 29 November 1914. He is killed in action.

His personal effects (1 packet of letters and 12 photographs) are returned in April 1916 to his brother, Charles, at Ivy Cottage, Lyne Lane, Chertsey, Surrey; his later address is recorded as The Farm Cottage St Ann’s Heath, Virginia Water in July 1919. Charles acknowledges the receipt of William’s medals on 10 March 1921 (at The Farm Cottage).

He is also commemorated on the Christchurch, Virginia Water War Memorial.

Christchurch, Virginia Water War Memorial (© Graham WEBSTER)

William was a cousin (first cousin once removed) of Stuart ATTFIELD and a cousin (first cousin once removed) of George Hugh CHANDLER also on the Lyne War Memorial.

CHEESMAN, F

Frank CHEESMAN, son of Mr and Mrs Maurice CHEESMAN, of Lyne Lane, Chertsey, Surrey, a Lance Bombardier with the 116th Heavy By, Royal Garrison Artillery, service number 63515, died on 2 December 1918. He is commemorated on the Wall of Remembrance in Busigny Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord, France.

Frank was born in Mickleham, Surrey in Q1 1894 to Maurice and Charlotte (nee LEE). In 1901 he is living at Norbury Lodge Farm Cottage, 1, Mickleham, Dorking, Surrey, with elder sister, Francis, and younger sister. Amy; father is a farm labourer. By 1901, Frank, a domestic gardener is living at Lyne Lane, Chertsey, Surrey, with parents (father is still a farm labourer) with Amy, sister Grace and brother, George; parents had had two other children who had died.

When he enlists in Woolwich, Kent on 6 November 1915 he is living at 27 Hollyhill Road, Erith, Kent (parents, Amy and George are still in Lyne Lane, Chertsey, Surrey); his occupation is an iron driller with Messrs Vickers Ltd (who give their consent to his enlistment on 3 November 1915). As a Gunner he is based in UK until 4 June 1916 when he is posted as part of the British Expeditionary Force. He is posted to 116th Bty, 83rd Bde Royal Garrison Artillery on 20 June 1916 as a Lance Bombadier; by 13 September 1918 he is appointed a Temporary Bombadier, a rank confirmed on 4 October 1918. His records show he died of broncho-pneumonia at no 12 Casualty Collection Station, Busigny. He is buried at Busigny Communal Cemetery Extension.

GOODYEAR, J G

(Surrey Herald, 25 May 1917)

John George GOODYEAR, son of James George and Lydia GOODYEAR of 1, Hardwick Lane, Lyne, Chertsey, Surrey, a Private with the 6th Bn, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), service number G/13166, died 9 April 1917. He is buried in Tilloy British Cemetery, Tilloy- les-Mofflaines, Pas de Calais, France.

John was born in Q2 1891 to mother Lydia COOMBES. He took the surname GOODYEAR when his mother married James George GOODYEAR in Q2 1902 in the district of Chertsey. In 1901, John was living in Hardwick Lane, Lyne, along with his grandfather, William (aged 64), a widower, and his mother, Lydia, and aunt Eliza a laundress, both single; a granddaughter of William’s, Annie, was also living at that address. John was baptised at Holy Trinity, Lyne, Surrey on 15 November 1903, together with his step-brother Albert James. By 1911, still in Lyne, (3 Hardwick Cottages), Chertsey, Surrey , with step-father (a cowman on a farm) and mother, he (recorded as John George Coombes GOODYEAR) is now living with, in addition to Albert, younger step-sister May Lydia, step-brother William Henry, and twin step-sisters Dorothy Elizabeth and Maud Elizabeth. Annie was still living with them. Another step-brother, Walter Ernest, was born in 1912.

John had enlisted at Addlestone, Surrey, on 12 May 1916 giving his address as Lyne, Surrey. It is believed he had worked as a baker with the Co-op before enlisting. He was killed in action.

The following was printed in his Memoriam, published in the Surrey Herald on 11 Apr 1919:

There is no death, that noble life upon the battlefield So bravely given for King and Right, on Motherland to shield; And with this thought to comfort us, we all sorrow bear Remembering he is ever near, and we shall join his there. In Life, not Death.

GORDON, W H

William Henry GORDON, son of the late Dr Charles GORDON, of Pietermaritzburg, Natal, a private with the 3rd South African Infantry Regiment, service number 2524, died 8 August 1916. He is buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity, Lyne, Surrey.

His father married Martha GORDON [sic], his second wife, at St Saviour Cathedral, Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa on 30 March 1880 (he eventually married four times). She is unlikely to have been his mother as according to records William was born ca 1895; he was father’s, Charles, youngest son. His record initially lists his half brother, Charles Austin GORDON, as his next-of-kin (address, Amsterdam, Netherlands) – although it is also noted that he had died and replaced by his sister Mary, who married J B TAYLOR in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa on 10 March 1891 (address ‘Chilterns’, Wynberg, Cape Province, South Africa). Father, Charles, died in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa on 31 October 1904. Records show his address as living in Lyne Grove House.

William appears to have enlisted in August 1915 and was assigned to ‘A’ Coy, 3rd South African Infantry Regiment. He was in action at Delville Wood on 15 July 1916 and was reported wounded on 29 July 1916; he died of his wounds.

There is, in addition to his name on the war memorial, a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone on the east side of the churchyard of Holy Trinity, Lyne, Surrey:

CWGC headstone for William Henry GORDON, Holy Trinity , Lyne, Surrey (© Graham WEBSTER)

GUDEFIN, F

Frank GUDEFIN was a private with 44th Bn, Canadian Infantry, service number 865435, died 13 January 1918. He is buried in the Sucrerie Cemetery, Ablain-St. Nazaire, Pas de Calais, France.

Frank was born on 17 January 1890, in some sources, Lyne, Surrey, in other, Lambeth, London; it would appear that his mother, Lydia was single, born in Somerset, but of French nationality. In 1891 he is recorded (as GADEFIN) as “nursechild” living with Henry JOHNSON and family in Lyne Lane, Chertsey, Surrey. He is still living with that family in 1901, being recorded as a “boarder”, in St Anne’s Heath, Virginia Water, Egham, Surrey. He is listed as leaving Liverpool on 4 May 1910 for Quebec, Canada, on the Montrose.

He enlisted at Brandon, Manitoba, on 10 April 1916, giving Mrs Lydia GUDEFIN, mother, as next-of-kin with her address as 11 Cumberland Street, Westminster, London (she was living at this address in 1911 and was working as a dressmaker); he lists his occupation as a farmer and his address as Terrace, P.C., Manitoba. He declares that he had previously served in the 6th Bn, East Surrey Regiment. He fought in the New Brunswick Regiment and is recorded as “killed in action” in trenches at Avion.

HERBERT, A

Arthur HERBERT, son of John and Kate HERBERT, of Essex Cottage, Elm Grove Road, Farnborough, Hampshire, a private with the 2nd Bn Lancashire Fusiliers, service number 40573, died 9 October 1917. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, West- Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Arthur Ernest HERBERT was born 24 September 1885 at East Malling, Kent to John William and Martha K[ate] (nee COX) and was baptised there on 15 November 1885. In 1891, his family - father (a domestic coachman), mother, and two older brothers, Henry E and Ethelbert F, and two younger brothers, Percy William and Frederick Allen - are living on Cliddesden Road, Cliddesden, Hampshire; older siblings John W, Henry E and Emily L were living away. In 1901, he is a groom at Kensington Palace living at the stables there. The rest of the family – Henry and Ethelbert were no longer living at home - with the other two sons, and Mildred Emily, Mervyn George and Isabel Ella, were living in Dummer, Hampshire; father is still a domestic coachman. In 1911, John and Martha - coachman cab driver and monthly nurse respectively - were living at Essex Cottage, Elm Grove Road, Farnborough, Hampshire with sons, John, Mervyn and Isabel. One of their 11 children had died by this time.

He enlisted in Hounslow, Middlesex, possibly in 1914, initially with 2nd King Edward’s Horse, service number 1129, and was subsequently transferred to the Lancashire Fusiliers. His father collected £14 army pay on 7th January 1920.

HORNE, W

Source: http://tinyurl.com/jzpkyv9 William HORNE, son of Mrs J Horne, of Church Street, Hungerford, Berks; husband of Edith Mary DESMOND (formerly HORNE), of 6, Allen Road, Sunbury, Middlesex, a Sergeant in the 1/1st Berkshire Yeomanry, service number 1176, died on 21 August 1915. He is commemorated on Helles Memorial in Turkey.

William John Hoare was born in Hungerford, Berkshire in January 1888 to John Waller and Rhoda Elizabeth (nee HOARE) HORNE. In 1891 they are living in the High Street, Hungerford, Berkshire; father is a butcher. Also at home were older sister, Emma Elizabeth, and younger sister, Beatrice Ethel. Living next door was the HOARE family – Rhoda’s family , perhaps. In 1901 he is living at the same address but father is now an innkeeper and carman. In 1911 the family (less sisters) are living at Charnham Street, Hungerford, Berkshire; father is a haulier and he is a haulier’s assistant. In Q3 1912 he marries Edith Mary CASWELL. Father died on 25 December 1914 in Hungerford, Berkshire; in his probate papers he is describes as a dealer (his effects were £191 and in addition to his widow, a rate collector is his other executor).

William enlisted in Hungerford and was living in Sunbury, Middlesex. His regiment arrived at Sulva Bay, Gallipoli, landing at ‘A’ Beach. William was killed in action in Gallipoli in the assault on Scimitar Hill (Hill 70). On 21 August 1915 “…Berkshire Yeomanry started the attack. Heavy casualties were caused in all Regiments owing to the skillful way in which the enemy's trenches had been sited. It was impossible to se them. The Berks, with portions of the Bucks and Dorset's charged and captured the enemy's front trench. The position captured formed the apex of a triangle and owing to enfiladed fire the Brigade were unable to hold it. All the Brigade Officers and 70% of Regimental Officers had become casualties.”

Edith, his wife, remarries John DESMOND in Reading in early 1917.

PUTTOCK, F G

(Surrey Herald, 11 Jul 1919) Frederick George PUTTOCK, a Lance Corporal in the 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards, Service number: 16102, died 13 April 1918. He is commemorated on Ploegsteert Memorial, Hainaut, Belgium.

Frederick was born in Q1 1896 in Lyne, Surrey to Albert and Eliza (nee LACEY) PUTTOCK; he is baptised in Lyne, Surrey on 14 November 1896 – he is living in Westcott, Surrey. In 1901 he is living in Lyne, Surrey, next to the vicarage, with parents (father is a garden labourer) with older siblings Ada Bertha, Alice Elizabeth, Walter, Ernest James, Ethel and Emmeline Mary, and younger sister, Margaret Ellen. In 1911 he is living in Lyne Lane, Chertsey, Surrey with parents (father is still a garden labourer), older brothers Walter and Ernest, younger sister Margaret and two younger brothers Arthur Edward and Sidney Frank; he is a garden boy.

Frederick enlists in Chertsey, Surrey in May 1915 and joins the Coldstream Guards. He was wounded on 6 Nov 1916 but after being repatriated to England returned to France on 28 Dec 1917. His records show that he dies “on or around” 13 April 1918 in Germany although this may be confusing with a similar solder; other sources give killed in action.

ROLFE, C

Charles BURT ROLFE (http://tinyurl.com/goffbrv )

Charles Burt ROLFE, son of Mr and Mrs ROLFE, of Lynn, Chertsey, Surrey; husband of Elsie WOODYER (formerly ROLFE), of 80, South Street, Andover, Hants, a Leading Seaman on HMS submarine D2, service number 226345, died 1 December 1914. He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Southsea, Hampshire.

Charles was born 1 December 1886 in Lyne, Chertsey, Surrey, to Peter and Ann (nee DIGANCE) ROLFE. In 1891 he is living in Lyne Lane, Chertsey, Surrey with the family - father (an under gardener), mother, with children George, James Albert ( an under gamekeeper), Lily, Percival Randolph, Emma, and younger sisters, Maud Mary and Kate; brother, Frederick John, was not listed. Still living in Lyne, Surrey, in 1901 in a cottage next to the Royal Marine beer house; father is a gardener/labourer, with siblings Percival, Maud, Kate and youngest sister, Constance. Mother, Ann, dies in January 1906. Charles marries Elsie WOODYER (or WOODGER) in April 1910, in Portsmouth, Hampshire. In 1911, his new family – wife and older son, Charles William Peter ROLFE born 1910, Andover, Hampshire – are living with her parents at 3 Anton Terrace, South Street, Andover, Hampshire. His younger son, Victor Daniel Peter ROLFE, is born in April 1914 in Andover, Hampshire.

In 1911, as an Able Seaman, he is serving on HMS submarine C6 in the China and East Indies theatre. The Navy List of December 1914 lists Charles as a Leading Seaman, based in Portsmouth.

On the 24th November Submarine D2 sailed from Harwich for a patrol near Borkum Island off the German Coast. The Submarine did not return from patrol and was lost with all hands. It is believed that D2 was trapped in shallow water off the Ems estuary and was rammed by German Patrol Craft. There were no survivors; he died on his 28th birthday..

WEBB, C E

Charles Ernest, son of William and Margaret WEBB, of Lyne, Chertsey, Surrey, a Gunner in “D” Battery, 298th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, service number 826685, died 25 September 1917. He is buried in Vlamertinghe New Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Charles born in Heston, Middlesex in ca 1882 to William Henry and Elizabeth Margaret (nee LANGSTON) WEBB. In 1891 he is living with parents (father is a farm baliff) in Fruen Road, Bedfont Lane, Feltham, Middlesex with older siblings Josephine Mary Amelia, William (Henry) and Emily Beth, and younger brother Alfred; there was the oldest sibling, Elizabeth Margaret, not at home. In 1901 the family are living in Lyne, Chertsey, Surrey. At home were parents (father is listed as ‘no occupation’), and brothers William and Alfred; Charles is an agricultural labourer. By 1911, the same family is living at Pretoria Cottage, Lyne, Chertsey, Surrey; father is a domestic gardener, as is Charles. Father, William, died in May 1911, in Lyne, Chertsey, Surrey.

Charles enlists in Chertsey in March 1916; he is killed in action at his guns and was buried at 11.45am in a British cemetery. Prior to his enlistment Charles was employed as a gardener at Holloway Sanatorium for eight years.

WILSON, J

The Georgian, May 1918, pp11-12 (RogerWilson10, Ancestry.co.uk)

Joseph Augustine WILSON, son of James and Mary WILSON (nee SIMPKIN), of Home Farm, Silverlands, Chertsey, Surrey England, born at Liverpool, England, a private with the Army Service Corps, 648th Motor Transport Coy, service number M/296205, died 13 December 1917. He is buried at Dar Es Salaam War Cemetery, Tanzania

Joseph was born in West Derby, Liverpool on 16 December 1897. In 1901, the family – parents (father is a domestic gardener and farmer), elder siblings, Wilfred, and Mary J, and younger siblings James and Monica – are living in the ‘Cottage’, Druids Cross, Gipsy Lane, Wavertree, Lancashire. In 1911 he was living with parents (father is recorded as a bailiff) at Home Farm, Silverlands, Chertsey, Surrey.

Joseph enlisted in Woking; The Georgian of May 1918 (pp11-12) reports on his life:

JOSEPH AUGUSTINE WILSON, A.S.C., M.T. Died in East Africa, December 13th, 1917, aged 20.

The next loss we have to deplore is that of young Joseph Augustine Wilson, son of a good Catholic gentleman, manager of the Silverlands Estate in the Chertsey district. No one acquainted with our neighbourhood can fail to appreciate its quite beauty, and we ourselves have frequently made the house of the Wilsons – just under three miles from here – the starting point of a quite ride through the quaint up-and-down lanes leading to Virginia, Long Cross, and other favourite haunts. For once, however, as one afternoon we went in that direction in search of information to lay before our readers, our thoughts were diverted from the charms of the country to the restful home we were visiting for the first time, and we mused – regretfully, though in no despondent mood – upon the thousands of times that Joseph Wilson, first as a little boy, then as a grown-up lad, had ridden the same road to and fro in his daily routine. It was also our errand to renew our deep sympathy with his bereaved family, and though his father was not at home, we had the good fortune to meet Mrs Wilson and one of her daughters and hold long converse with them on our common regrets. The talk was serious – for partings in all cases, especially with the young, are hard and bitter things – yet withal it was cheery and hopeful; death for such good people had lost its terrors, and as their Joseph had been an affectionate brother and a dutiful child, so, too he had been as exemplary Christian, and a model to all young men for the purity of his life, and we could not doubt he had met with his reward.

He was born in Liverpool in December 1897, ten years before the family had settled in Chertsey, and was inscribed as a pupil in April, 1909, leaving us [St George’s College, Weybridge] in December, 1913. Probably his late companions* will wonder at his having been here so long; quiet and unassuming he would little attract their notice, and had it not been for those affectionate little scoldings that even the best do not altogether escape we t, too, might never have really understood the lad’s sterling goodness. Rarely – and this we write in all justice, and not merely to comfort his mother – have we met with such goodwill and such a sincere wish to please. Yet, with all his gentleness, he was by no means a dull boy and, among other instances if his ingenuity, we might mention that up to the time of the War restrictions he used to experiment at home with some wireless apparatus he himself had erected.

We do not know what career he would have followed under normal circumstances; perhaps he might have become an engineer, but more probably he would have gone in for the Church. Conspicuous among his good qualities, less well known than they deserved was his solid and genuine piety, and arrangements had been made for him to enter St John’s seminary. God willed it otherwise, and the few remaining years of his life were devoted to his country’s service.

Too young to enlist at the outbreak of hostilities, he worked for some months at Weybridge with Messrs. Jarvis and Mackay. As soon as he could, he joined the Army Service Corps Motor Transport, and was attached to H.Q. Records Office. After some time spent at Norwood he went to Salisbury Plain, sailing for British East Africa in September last. On the way out he contracted dysentery, with malarial fever, and died at Dar-es-Salaam (G.E.A.) on December 13th, just three days before his twentieth birthday.

We saw during our visit some letters and cards that reached his mother after his death. They all breathed the same spirit of happy contentment; and surely, if duty fulfilled so faithfully, joined to a blameless life can give a lad happiness, none had the right to be happier than he. His only regret, on leaving England, was having no opportunity of revising his home, and indeed, was we were informed, on his last journey to Salisbury, he passed almost close enough to Silverlands to see its foliage, without being allowed to go nearer. We could gather no details of his last moments, for only the bare facts of his death, as we have related, had been announced to his parents. Then, however, as we firmly trust, his great disappointment was set right, and now from his better home above, he looks down upon his terrestrial dwelling to bless and comfort them both; there is no sorrow where he is, and, lest at any time the thought of his absence should give the survivors a little pain, the memory of his virtues and their glorious recompense will linger behind him to soothe and encourage them during the few years of an earthly separation. R.I.P.

[As a caption to the photograph above]. We trust they will recognize his features in the photo which we reproduce, though we do not care for it; it is the best we can procure, and we publish it as a token of our deep sympathy with Mr. and Mrs. Wilson.

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Graham WEBSTER August 2017