RAMSGATE AND ST LAWRENCE
CEMETERY, Kent
GEE, Frank William, 2592/SA, Second Hand,
Royal Naval Reserve, HMS Attentive II. Died 19 December 1917, aged
47. Husband of Martha Pottle, formerly Gee, of 41 St Luke's Avenue,
Ramsgate. He was born in Dover on 1 June 1871, the son of Henry Gee,
a baker, born in Dover, and his wife Hannah. When the census was
taken Mrs Gee was expecting Frank; the couple already had two
children, Elizabeth, aged 2, and Henry, aged 1, both born in Dover.
By 1881 they had moved to 3 Bella Vista Terrace, Ramsgate, and Mrs
Gee was working as a laundress. There was a new sister, Emily, 8,
born in Margate like her mother. Frank married Martha Philpott in
1896 and by 1901 they had two children, Frank, aged 3, and Ellen,
aged 1. They were both born in Ramsgate, and the family were living
at 11 Alfred Cottages, Ramsgate. Frank senior was working as a
fisherman.
RIVERHEAD (ST. MARY) CHURCHYARD, Kent
$SHINGLETON, ARTHUR ROBERT, 12 February 1916. South Side
RUSTHALL (ST. PAUL) CHURCHYARD, Kent
$BROWN,
Lieutenant, WILLIAM CHARLES, 387th Siege Bty. 103rd Bde, Royal
Garrison Artillery. 7 November 1918. Age 29. Son of William and
Alice Brown of 38 Erskine Park Rd, Rusthall; husband of Emma
Elizabeth Bonnage (formerly Brown) of 19 Union Rd, Dover. 2 71
SEAFORD CEMETERY, Sussex
SMITH,
Captain, CHARLES HENRY VERNON, Canadian Army Medical Corps. 1
November 1918. Age 32. Son of the Rev William Smith and Mrs Smith;
husband of C. H. V. Smith of "Barra" of 13,Marine Parade, Dover.
Born Montreal. MD CM (McGill University Montreal) A 652. He died
from pneumonia
Captain Smith's grave is the first on the left. The inscription on
his gravestone reads: "Greater love hath no man than this, to lay
down his life for his friends"
Captain Smith lies with many fellow Canadians. In their honour,
at Remembrance 2002, a maple tree was planted near their plot. Irish
and West Indian
people are also buried here.
photo right: courtesy of Seaford Museum
SHEERNESS (ISLE-OF-SHEPPEY) CEMETERY, Kent
(p)$EDWARDS,
Artificer Engineer, FREDERICK WILLIAM, HMS Flirt Royal Navy.
Drowned 1 June 1916. Age 43. Son of Frederick and Mary Edwards of
Dover; husband of Lottie Victoria Edwards of The Royal Hotel,
Sheerness. V 221.

(p)WILSON,
Lieutenant Colonel, ALEXANDER, Royal Army Medical Corps. 18
September 1919. Age 55. Son of Alexander Wilson; husband of A. M.
Wilson of 18 Liverpool St, Dover. Born Wicklow. OO
153 (image right)
left, figure at the cemetery
SHOTLEY (ST. MARY) CHURCHYARD, Suffolk
$BISHOP, Able
Seaman, F G, J/6765, HMS "Conquest" Royal Navy. Drowned 28
March 1916. Age 21. Son of William James and Florence Bishop of 6
Durham Place, Dover. RN Plot 103
SANDY, Stoker
1st Class, WALTER EDWARD, K/24214, HMS "Ganges" Royal Navy.
Died of pneumonia 8 March 1920. Age 27. Born 15 March 1891 at
Sandwich. Son of Jesse Edmund Sandy
and Emily Sandy; husband of Agnes Mary Sandy of 27 Waterloo
Crescent, Dover, who was at 71 High Street, Dover, when she was
informed of his death. RN Plot 142
SHREWSBURY General Cemetery, Shropshire
KENNETT, John George, J/13074, died from
disease on 11 February 1919, aged 24, serving in the Royal Navy with
HMS King George V. Born on 26 October 1894, he was the son of Harry
and Elizabeth Kennett, of 20 Butcher Row, Pride Hill, Shrewsbury. In
1901 he was aged 6 and living at Westmount Lodge, Folkestone Road,
Dover, where his father was a gardener. Other children were Lydia,
10, Jessie, 8, Frank, 4, and Kathleen, a new baby. All the children
were born in Dover, as was their father. Their mother came from
Haslingfield in Cambridgeshire. Grave 192.13.G
SILSOE (ST. JAMES) CHURCHYARD, Bedfordshire
(p) $FOSTER, Lance
Corporal, LOFTUS FRANK, 10680, 2nd Bn, King's Own (Royal Lancaster
Regiment) Died of wounds 9 May 1915. Age 22. Son of Mrs Sarah J.
Lawrence of 8 Queen St, Dover. Grave 2
SOUTHEND-ON-SEA (SUTTON ROAD) CEMETERY, Essex
$BELLFIELD,
Private, W H F, L/7424, "F" Coy. 1st Bn, Queen's Own (Royal West
Kent Regiment) Died of wounds (gas) 17 August 1915. Age 25. Son of
Walter Henry and Minnie Bellfield of 60 Folkestone Rd, Dover.
A 1169
FOULSHAM,
Private, JOHN HARRY, 9435, 2nd Bn, King's Own (Royal Lancaster
Regiment) 14 May 1915. Age 28. Son of Mr and Mrs J. Foulsham of Golbourne Rd, Kensington, London; husband of Rose Ellen Wingrave
(formerly Foulsham) of 92 Mayfield Avenue, Dover. A
1171
HEATH,
Trimmer, RICHARD HENRY, 104/ST, HMS "Pembroke" Royal Naval
Reserve. Born 1872 in Deal, Kent, died 25 June 1917. Husband of Florence Heath
née Bushell, of 8 Church Court, Dieu
Stone Lane, Dover, whom he married in 1904. In 1881 the family were living at 14a Adrian
Street, Dover, with father Charles Heath then aged 41 and working in
the Marine Packet Service. He had been born in Plymouth. His wife
Esther, 42, had been born in Cornwall, and their son James, 17, born
in Plymouth, like his father. Richard's younger two sisters, Laura,
7, and Esther, 5, had been born in Ramsgate, and Herbert, the baby,
aged 6 months, in Dover. Ten years later, Richard was a member of
the crew on Pembroke A at Gillingham, as a stoker. He was the uncle of
Richard Fritz Brown; Esther,
his sister, became Richard Fritz's mother. E 3448
ST. ALBANS CEMETERY, Hertfordshire
(p) LEE, Private,
JOHN, 299380, RAF Died of sickness 19 March 1919. Age
47. Son of James and Richenda Lee; husband of K. Lee of 21
Primrose Rd, Buckland, Dover. Born Chatham. Mil B
2B
ST. HELENS CEMETERY, Lancashire
DEVINE,
Private, Thomas, 41311, 1st/7th Bn, Worcestershire Regiment. 30 December
1918. Age 38. Husband of Mrs Rose Margaret Devine of 9 Adrian St, Dover,
and the son of John, a dock labourer from Dublin, and Jane, née
Kehoe, born Liverpool, Devine, married 1876 at Liverpool.
34 RC 773.
Private Devine enlisted on 7 June 1916. On 7
December 1917 at Warwick he was considered no longer fit for
service; he was awarded a silver war badge on 11 December. Suffering
from GPI, he was recommended for asylum treatment and was discharged
to the Dykebar War Hospital, Paisley, Renfrewshire. Thomas received
his war badge at the County Asylum, Rainhill, signing the receipt
with just an X and four wobbly letters; his writing had greatly
deteriorated since 10 October 1917 when he received his war
certificate. On his discharge, Thomas was described as an erector
and sheeter, 5' 7", with grey eyes and brown hair. He had a heart RN
anchor and cross on his left forearm and possibly a horse's head and
shoe, WI, and a crude mark on his right forearm. He also had three
transverse scars across his abdomen. His character was described as
good.
Born in Liverpool, Thomas had married at Chatham
in 1905 Rose Margaret Norris. In 1907 the couple came to Dover to
seek work, which Thomas took up at Snowdown colliery. In 1911 he is
recorded as a labourer, with the couple living at 13 Edred Road.
They had no children. In July 1915 Mrs Devine left her husband,
going to her parents and subsequently spending five months in a
sanatorium. In January 1916 she asked for a separation order at
Dover Police Court owing to her husband's ill-treatment, which order
was granted with maintenance of 10s a week.
Thomas went to Faversham and worked at the Gun
Cotton works. He had been living at 57 West Street, in Faversham. In
April 1917 Mrs Devine wrote to the army stating that she was in ill
health and unable to work and had received no maintenance for six or
seven weeks. She believed that a woman surnamed Clements, with whom
Thomas was living at Ospringe Road, was instead claiming this money.
On Thomas' army record Ellen Clements and a child, Thomas, are
described as his dependents. Thomas Devine Clements was born on 12
April 1916. In 1939 he was noted also as "Snipp", a lorry driver,
living at 22 Fairfield Road, Faversham, with Ellen M (born 12 March
1897) and with Frederick G (born 16 August 1888, a bricklayer) Snipp.
He died in 1986).
SUNDERLAND (MERE KNOLLS) CEMETERY, County Durham
KNOX, Serjeant,
C W, 168, 3rd Bn, Northumberland Fusiliers. Died of accidental
injuries 26 April 1916. Age 27. Son of John Charles and Mary Knox;
husband of Isabel Maria Knox of 12 Victoria St, Buckland, Dover.
Grave 24 A 2402. His wife requested on 8 December 1924 that
he should be included on the Memorial. Charles William Knox and
Isabel Maria Bowlt married in early 1910 in Dover. Isabel was the
sister of casualties Frederick and
Bartholomew Bowlt, and sister-in-law of
John Joseph Behan
from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission |