Pye, Thomas Henry

Wellington Remembers 1914–1918 142 22353 Private Thomas Henry Pye King’s Shropshire Light Infantry Born on 28 July 1892 in Marchamley, Shropshire Lived in Nordley, Astley Abbotts, Bridgnorth Died on 25 March 1916 aged 23 in Shropshire Buried at All Hallows Churchyard, Rowton, Shropshire His story Thomas Henry Pye was the only child of Thomas and Elizabeth (née Wellings) Pye, who had married at Stanton upon Hine Heath, near Shawbury, on 20 May 1888. He was born in Marchamley on 28 July 1892, and when Elizabeth registered his birth she gave Thomas’ occupation as a gamekeeper. In 1901 the family was living at Astley Abbotts near Bridgnorth where Thomas was still working as a gamekeeper. Thomas Henry seems to have been known as Henry, presumably to diff erentiate him from his father. His birthplace is given as Hodnet, a parish in North Shropshire that incorporates the village of Marchamley. Ten years later, when the 1911 census was taken, the family was in the same home, and still had the same neighbours. Thomas was working as a jobbing rabbit catcher and young Thomas Henry was employed as an assistant gardener. We know that Thomas Henry enlisted into 9th Battalion King’s Shropshire Light Infantry in Bridgnorth sometime after October 1915 and was issued with the service number 22353. It appears that he spent his army career training in the UK, as record of soldiers’ eff ects tells us that he had no overseas service. Thomas Henry died of pneumonia in the military hospital at Prees Heath on 25 March 1916 after less than six months in the army. Prees Heath Army Camp opened in 1915 as an army training base, with the capacity for 30,000 men to be trained in trench warfare. Prees Heath Camp Hospital It later acted as a store for supplies, with its own railway depot fed by a 1-mile branch line from the LNWR’s Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway. As casualties mounted, it became a hospital with a fully fl edged barracks housing over 600. 146 Wellington Remembers 1914–1918 Thomas Henry is buried in the south east corner of the old ground at All Hallows churchyard, Rowton. There is no Commonwealth War Graves (CWGC) headstone, the headstone schedule stating that ‘headstone for this grave is not included in the contract’, which would normally indicate that the family wanted to make their own arrangements for a headstone. On a recent visit (July 2018) to All Hallows the grave of Thomas Henry was located. It refers to him as Harry. CWGC records his mother’s address as 29 Regent Street, Wellington. No war gratuity was paid, being deemed inadmissible, because of less than six months’ service and no overseas service. In 1939 Thomas Henry’s mother, Elizabeth was still living in the same house in Wellington, and described herself as a widow, though no record has been found of Thomas’ death; indeed he appears to be living in Wem in 1939 at 17 Wemsbrook Road. He records himself as married, occupation a retired gamekeeper. Elizabeth remained in Wellington until her death at Wrekin Lodge Hospital on 2 January 1946 at the age of 89. Thomas Henry’s The probate documents for Elizabeth describe her as ‘wife of headstone at Rowton Thomas Wellington Pye’. Acknowledgements: Thanks to Whitchurch Museum and Archives for permission to use their image of Prees Heath Camp Hospital. Thanks to A Holmes for use of the image of All Hallows church; All Hallows Church at Rowton cc-by-sa/2.0 – © A Holmes – geograph.org.uk/p/570042 147.

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