|
In
Loving Memory of our Fallen
THE FALLEN OF THE GREAT WAR
Surnames N to
R
|
NICHOLLS, W. H.
William Herbert Nicholls was born in Maids Moreton,
Buckinghamshire, to George Nicholls and his wife Grace, née Jones, who
had married in 1876. Mr Nicholls was in 1881 a shepherd and Mrs Nicholls
a lacemaker; they lived then in Foscott, Buckingham, with their first
child, George F. They eventually had six children; George was followed
by Francis or Frank, then William in 1883, Winifred, Wilfred, and Rose. One of
the children died before 1911.
Mr Nicholls by 1891 a butcher and dealer, and the
family had moved to Maids Moreton. In 1901 their address was 2 Main
Street, Maids Morton, and Mr Nicholls had become a master carter.
William, or Herbert as he was probably known to the family, was then old
enough to work; he was a grocer's apprentice. By 1911 Mr Nicholls was a
farmer.
William meanwhile, had married in 1909, to Rose
Martha Mills from Lyndhurst in Hampshire. They were living at 8 Silver
End, Olney, and had one child, a daughter named Eva. William was then a
grocer's assistant. The couple probably had another daughter, Edith J,
in 1916; they also had a third child.
William enlisted in Wolverton and became a Private,
27790, in the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, 1st battalion. He died in
Mesopotamia on 22 July 1917 and is buried in the Baghdad (North Gate)
War Cemetery, Iraq, XX K 13
Memorial - SPi, SPo |
|
ODELL, P. J.
Percy John Odell was from the family that ran for well over a
century an ironmongery business in Newport Pagnell. Begun by Percy's
grandfather, John, the business eventually closed in 1991, having been
run by four generations of direct descendents before passing to Percy's
second cousins once removed. They were descended from John's brother,
James, and their business remains open in Stony Stratford.
Percy, born in 1879, was the first child of John Odell (junior) and his wife
Elizabeth Anne, née Shakeshaft. They were married in 1878. In
1881 the family were living at 14 St John Street, Newport Pagnell, and
Percy had been joined by a brother, Clarence William. Sadly, Clarence
died at the age of 7 in 1888. By that time the family had two more sons,
Reginald Thomas and Cecil Charles. By 1891 the family were living at 128
High Street, and in 1901 at 13 High Street, where they had been joined
by a daughter, Dorothy Mary.
Percy, in 1901, was at 6 Vansittert Road, Walton
Terrace, Clewer Without, Windsor, lodging with the Brown family and
working as an ironmonger's assistant. By 1911 he was back home with his
family, working alongside his brothers for his father as ironmonger's
assistants. His sister Dorothy, meanwhile, was a probationer nurse.
Percy enlisted in Aylesbury to become a Private,
33035, in the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, 5th battalion. He was
awarded the Military Medal, which his brother, Reginald, invalided from
the army, collected for him posthumously. Percy had been killed on 9
October 1916, and is buried at the Bancourt British Cemetery, France,
III K 5.
Memorial - SPi,
SPo,
SPp
There is also a
plaque
in Percy's memory in SS Peter and Paul church. Percy's father may have
been the churchwarden in 1911. |
OLD, H. W.
William Old married Harriet Hannah Payne in 1881, and the
couple eventually had eleven children. Sadly four of them died; Harry in
1901 was their first living son. Coming from Stoke Goldington, and
living at Mount Pleasant in 1881, William was an agricultural labourer,
age 21, while his wife was a lacemaker, aged 17.By 1891 they had
moved to Priory Street, Newport Pagnell, and had living with them two
daughters, Emma Rosa, born 1883, and Beatrice Louisa, born 1890. They
were at 12 Priory Street in 1901, and William had changed jobs to become
an engine driver at the Railway Carriage Works. Emma was making lace for
pillows, and the family had four more children; Lizzie Lily, 1892,, Amy
Ellen, 1895, Harry, about 1898, and Arthur Ezra, about 1901. In 1911 the
family were living at 5 Tickford Street, and had two more children with
them; Lawrence Jesse, 1903, and Mary, about 1908.
Harry enlisted in Bletchley, and was 24346 of the
Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry before he became a Private, 34697, in
the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. Serving in the 1st battalion he
died on 11 May 1918. He is buried in the Morbecque British Cemetery,
France, plot 9, row F, grave 10. At the foot of his headstone are the
words, "He loved us and gave his life for us".
Memorial -
Mi,
SPi,
SPo |
|
PAGE, W. A. C.
William Albert Charles Page was the son of Albert Charles
Page and his wife Annie Elizabeth, née Turney, who had married in 1897.
They had lost one of their four children by 1911 (possibly Eva Annie,
born and died 1901); at home then at 3 Tickford Street, Newport Pagnell,
were William, born about 1898, his sister Doris Sarah, born about 1904,
and his brother Arthur Ronald, born 1906. All the children had been born
in Leighton Buzzard, where Mr and Mrs Page had been recorded at Clarence
Road ten years previously. Mr Page had then been a general labourer, and
in 1911 had become a viceman at the Motor Carriage Works. Mr and Mrs
Page later moved to 73 High Street, Newport Pagnell.
William was living in Bedford when he enlisted and became a Lance
Corporal, 33071, in the Bedfordshire Regiment, 6th battalion. he died on
16 May 1917 from wounds, and is buried at Étaples Military Cemetery,
France, grave XVIII N 19. At the foot of his headstone are the words,
"We hope to meet him, never to part again".
Memorial -
Fi,
SPi,
SPo,
URCo |
|
PAYNE, E. W.
Enlisting in Oxford, Ernest William Payne was a Private, 18323, in the Wiltshire
Regiment, 1st battalion. He died on 23 September 1915 and is
commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, panel 53.
Ernest, born about 1886, was probably the first of the thirteen children of Jesse Goodall Payne and
his wife Ellen, née Turvey, who had married in 1885. They were in
1891 living in Church Passage, Newport Pagnell, with Mr Payne an
agricultural labourer. By this time they had three daughters as well:
Harriet Elizabeth, Edith Ellen, and Annie Kate. Sadly little Annie was
to die in the year of her birth, 1891.
By 1901 the family were The Cottage, on Tickford
Fields Farm, and Mr Payne had become a milkman. Ada Kate, Abraham John,
Susan Clara, Louisa Sarah, Jesse Goodall, and a new baby had joined the
family; the baby would be named John. Ethel May and George Edward joined
the family in 1903 and 1909 respectively; the family were in 1911 at
Caldecote Farm Cottages with Mr Payne working as a shepherd. The family
had lost another child in infancy; sadly the name of this one is
unknown.
By 1911 Ernest had moved out of the family home and
was living at 35 Priory Street. He was working as a waggoner on a farm,
having been a farm labourer ten years before.
Memorials -
Fi,
SPi,
SPo |
|
 PETTIT, W. H.
William Henry Pettit is buried at Sherington, St Laud, in the
south-west area. He died from fever on 28 April 1916, while serving as
5807, a Private in the 3/4th battalion of the Oxford and Bucks Light
Infantry. He had enlisted in Bletchley.
Born in 1896 he was the son of
Richard Pettit, in 1901 a master butcher of 5 High Street, and his wife
Kate Marion, née Smith. The family kept three servants; two
domestic and one an assistant in the butcher's shop. Richard's father,
William Stephen, had also been a butcher, and William's widow, Sarah
Anne, carried on after she was widowed in 1878, assisted by Richard.
In 1911 Dorothy Elizabeth, William's younger sister, was boarding at a school in London Road Stony
Stratford. Unfortunately William and his parents have been difficult to
trace, although Mr and Mrs Pettit later lived at The Walnuts, Newport
Pagnell.
The headstone on the grave reads, "In loving memory
of William Henry, eldest son of Richard and Kate Pettit. Died April 28th
1916,
aged 21 years". On the other side, facing the church, the
inscription reads, "In loving memory of Richard Pettit, who fell asleep
on November 17th 1936, aged 77
 years. At Rest. Also of Kate Marion,
beloved wife of the above, died January 5th 1965, aged 98 years".
Next to this grave another is marked by a cross. This
marks the resting place of William Pettit, brother of Richard, who was a
draper in Marylebone in 1901. The inscription reads, "In loving memory
of William Pettit, died February 19, 1918, aged 54 years. Abide with me.
Also of Alice Jane, his beloved wife, died Novr 17 1920, aged 53 years.
At Rest". On the back of the headstone is the inscription, "In loving
memory of Claude William Gardiner, died March 17th, 1956, aged 63 years.
I heard the voice of Jesus say Come unto me and rest." Claude married
Mary Pettit in 1918; she was the daughter of William and Alice. On the
side of the headstone are the words, "Mary Gardiner, Dec.1st 1971 aged
77 years".
Memorial - SPi, SPo
photos by HVKR |
|
RICH, T.
Thomas Rich was probably the first of the 12 children of
James William Cockman Rich and his wife Mary Elizabeth, née Denton.
The couple had married in 1886 and by 1891 they were barracked at Bury
St Edmunds, where James was a Sergeant on the Permanent Staff of the
Militia. They then had two sons, Thomas, and James John, then one, who
sadly would die the following year.
By 1901 the family were living at Mill Lane, Linton,
Cambridgeshire, and five more children had joined Thomas: Alice, another
James, George, Harry, Ida, and William. Mr Rich was stationed at Little
Warley in Essex. Around 1904 the family moved to Newport Pagnell, to 7
Abbey Terrace, Priory Street. Mr Rich had become an army pensioner and
night watchman, while Thomas was a brewer's labourer. James was a
grocer's porter, and George a baker. There were three more children;
John, Frederick, and Harry. Two other children had died young.
Thomas enlisted in Wolverton and was serving as a Private, 20244, in
the Suffolk Regiment 2 battalion, when he died on 20 July 1916. He is
commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France, pier and face 1C and 2A.
Memorial - SPi, SPo |
|
ROBERTS, H. S.
Herbert Sidney Roberts was the son of John Roberts and his
wife Amy, née Wadsworth. John, a grocer's porter and born
in Limehouse, London, was in 1881 lodging with Bartholomew and Sarah
Wadsworth, who lived at Cannon Court. Their daughter Amy, a domestic
servant, was also living there. The following year the couple married.
By 1891, now with three sons - Walter Leonard, Arthur
John, and Frederick William - Mr and Mrs Roberts were living at Cannon
Court. Bartholomew Wadsworth had died in 1885, but his widow Sarah was
also at Cannon Court, living on her own means. The Roberts remained at
Cannon Court for the next twenty years, being joined by children
Reginald Ernest, Gertrude Ellan, Amy, Herbert, and Edgar Percy. In 1911,
however, four of the brothers - Arthur, Reginald, Herbert, and Edgar -
appear to have been counted as a separate household (Harvey Cottage, 1
Cannon Court) from their parents and siblings (Harvey Cottage, 2 Cannon
Court); Arthur, then a clerk, was named as the head of their household.
Meanwhile, Mr Roberts had become a grocer's assistant. Mr and Mrs
Roberts later moved to 35 St John Street.
Herbert enlisted in Bletchley, joining up in November
1916. He was sent to France in March 1918 and took part in the Second
Battle of the Somme. He died at Gommecourt on 23 August 1918, serving as
a Private, 203198, in the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, 2nd
battalion. He is buried in the Gommecourt South Cemetery, France, I B 4.
"A valiant soldier with undaunted heart, he breasted life's
last hill."
Memorial - Fi, SPi, SPo
|
|
ROSE, C. H.
Charles Henry Rose, born in 1882, was the only son of William Rose and his
wife Annie, née Whiting, who had married in 1873. Mr Rose in 1881
was a corn miller's labourer, and he and his wife and two daughters,
Annie Elizabeth and Florence May, were living at Linford Cottage, Little
Woolstone. They had moved to Club Court, Priory Street, by 1891, with Mr
Rose becoming a farm labourer. Their daughter Annie had become an
envelope-maker, and the family had increased with Charles and a new
daughter, Louisa, born in Jane, born in 1884.
Mr Rose died in 1894, and by 1901 Mrs Rose had become
a charwoman, with Charles still at home and working as a Saw Mill
Labourer at the Railway Carriage Works. Charles married in 1903 to
Maggie Temple, and by 1911, living at 43 Priory Street and with Charles
working as a machinist, they had three children; Arthur William, born
1903, Lilian, born 1905, and Stanley Francis, born 1909.
Charles enlisted in Bedford, and died on 10 October
1918, serving as 449930, a Sapper in the Corps of Royal Engineers. He
had been part of the 52nd Artisan Works Company. He is buried in the
Terlincthun British Cemetery, Wimille, France, V D 13.
Memorial -
SPi, SPo
Note: On the Memorial outside
the Parish Church, Charles Rose is attributed to the Oxford and Bucks
Light Infantry. There was another C. H. Rose who served with this
regiment, probably also Charles Henry. Having enlisted in September
1914, he was invalided home from the Western Front in 1916 through
pleurisy and finally invalided from the Army in May 1917. His address
was 11 Mill Street, and prior to that probably 7 Greenfield Road.
|
|