From the book in church giving information about the Gillingham men who took part in WW1 we learn that he was a Private in the South Wales Borderers, who served in France and Belgium before being killed in action. We have no other information about him: it has not been possible to find him on the CWGC website - despite trying various spellings of his surname and allowing for the possibility that Henry was not his first name or was given as Harry. Nor has it been possible to identify him with any certainty in the census returns (the Henry Shepherds living closest to Gillingham in the 1901 were living in Milborne Port; the 1901 census showed a George Henry Sheppard living with his uncle in Lynton but born in Gilingham. These seem the most likely matches).

Herbert George Hooper was a Private in the Royal Marine Light Infantry; he had joined the army before the war - in September 1911 - and served in the Channel Fleet.

Born in 1894, Herbert was the son of Henry (Harry) - a boot and shoe maker - and Mary Hooper, and like them was born about 4 miles up the road from Gillingham in Mere (Wiltshire). In 1901 the family were still in Mere; Herbert was the middle child of a family of 7 (one child died in infancy and the last was born in 1901 after the census). By 1911 the family had moved to 4 Portland Cottages in Queen Street, and Herbert was working as a journeyman baker. His parents were later "of Cemetery Road, Gillingham".

His first cousin, Albert Henry Hooper, also died in the war.

Herbert is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

Robert was an Able Seaman, and is buried in Gillingham (Woodlands) Cemetery in Kent.

Robert is not in the book of the war service of the men of the town or on the Town War Memorial; he may well never have lived in Gillingham. A John Robert Lockett was born in the Sherborne in 1885; the parents of this individual married in the Wincanton district in 1882, his father being from Wells (Somerset) and his mother from Compton Pauncefoot i.e. not very far from Gillingham. The only Lockett's found in Gillingham in the 1911 census are another son, William, and daughter-in-law of this couple. It would seem likely, therefore, that this is the right Robert and that he is on the Roll of Honour because he had his brother living in the town (his parents may have moved here). The family were in Sherborne for both the 1891 and 1901 censuses, and his parents still there in 1911, with his father Eli being described as a "blacksmith" (1891 and 1911) and more specifically as a "a journeyman shoeing smith" (1901). His mother Fanny was recorded as a "glover" in 1881 before she married. Robert himself was an errand boy for a china shop as a 16 year old in 1901; he has not yet been found in the 1911 census. He could well have lived with his brother in Gillingham prior to his death, but his omission from the Town War Memorial and War Service Book suggests not. More likely his mother moved to live with William in Gillingham and wanted her son on the church war memorial as after losing one of her sons late in 1914 she suffered another loss in being widowed early in 1915.

He had joined the navy before the war in November 1911, and served during the war as an Armourer, at sea.

Henry Sidney John Vincent was the only child of Frederick James Vincent, a blacksmith from Wilton, Wiltshire and his Gillingham born wife, Annie. At the time of the 1901 census he was living with his parents and maternal grandmother, District Nurse Mary Extence. The family lived at Pierston, Milton-on-Stour. Henry followed a similar occupation to his father but whereas his father worked for an agricultural engineer, Henry was a coachsmith, working for a coach and carriage builder.

He is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

He had joined the army on August 18^th 1903, aged 17, and was a Private in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, serving in France during the war where he was killed in action.

Saba Tom Bealing was born locally in 1886, the son of carpenter Tom Bealing and his Irish born wife Margaret nee Mangin, a silk throwster prior to her marriage to Tom in 1883. Saba Tom's parents were living in Rose Cottage, Wavering (aka Waverland) Lane when the CWGC information was compiled, and had been in Wavering Lane in 1891, 1901 and 1911. He was the second of six children and his occupation was given as "general labourer" at the time of the 1901 census when he was 14.

Saba Tom Bealing died barely a month after the outbreak of the War, on 9th September 1914. He is remembered on the La Ferte-sous-Jouarre Memorial in France.

So far it has not been possible to find out anything about George Parr. It seems he may not have been a Gillingham man, being one of the five men on St. Mary's Roll of Honour but neither on the Town War Memorial or in the Town War Service Book in St. Mary's.

A number of George Parrs died in WW1; given this one's position on the Roll of Honour he probably died early in the war (late 1914 or early 1915). The two most likely candidates are then one George Henry Parr, a Tavistock born Private in the Devonshire Regiment who died on Christmas Eve, 1914 or George Rowarth Parr, a Lieutenant in the Somerset Light Infantry who died on 19^th December 1914. The latter seems the most likely, as it seems more common for the "well to do" to have entries when not local, probably due to their greater tendency to move around (i.e. he would be more likely to have close relations in Gillingham). One of 3 children of Henry Hallam and Lilian Mary Parr, George was the only one still living in 1911.

Appropriately for someone named after a Field Marshal (Garnet Wolsely), he joined the regular army in 1901, serving in India and France where he died of pneumonia, 29^th January 1915.

Garnet Wolsely Read was a Private in the 1^st Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment at the time of his death, though the 1911 census shows him with the 2^nd Battalion. The son of William and Emily Read, he was born in Zeals (Wiltshire), about 4 miles north of Gillingham in 1883, he was living in Gillingham by 1891 - in Peasemarch Place, with his father William (a picture frame maker) and Ellen nee Hatcher, his step-mother, and three brothers and three sisters; he was the fourth of the seven children present. Garnet's parents showed imagination in naming their children - a brother was named Martin Luther, while a sister was called Adelaide.

Three of the children must have been half-siblings as his mother, born Emily Gough, died a few months after his birth, aged 38, and his father remarried a few months later. He was from a large family; from the 1881 census it can be seen he had at least 4 older siblings who had left home by 1891, while the 1901 census shows a younger half sister not born by 1891. HIs father, William, predeceased Garnet, dying in 1908.

He is buried in the St. Sever Cemetery in Rouen.

A Private in the army which he joined before the war in October 1908. He served with the Dorsetshire Regiment in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) where he was killed in action on 17^th November 1914, aged 26.

Gideon was born in Gillingham in 1888, the son of George Stone, a railway labourer, also born in Gillingham and his wife Eliza, who was from Motcombe. Only 13 at the time of the 1901 census, Gideon had already left school and was working as a general agricultural labourer. He seems to have been the youngest of 5 children, and also to have had an older half brother, born when his mother was 20 in 1869 and brought up with his grandparents. She continued to live at home with her parents and son, working as a silk winder, until marrying Gideon's father 10 years later in 1879.

Gideon is buried in the Basra War Cemetery in Iraq.

Francis Joseph Kinnaird joined the army in 1906, serving in the South Staffordshire Regiment and dying in 1915, at which time he was a Captain in the 4^th Battalion but attached to the 2^nd Battalion.

His father, an artist named Francis Henry Kinnaird, was also born in London, whilst his mother, Charlotte nee Lee, was from Wharncliffe in Yorkshire, where his parents married in 1859, Francis being one of the younger children, being born in 1875. In 1881 the family were living in Islington with 6 children ranging in age from 3 to 21, all born in St. Pancras. With the family back in St. Pancras in 1891, Francis was an art student in an evidently artistic family - his oldest sister Francisca was a music teacher. In 1901 Francis junior was still living at home, and like his father now described as an artist. With the family was a visitor, a widow Gertrude Cookes nee Green, who he married later that year; their daughter Mary Gertrude ("Mollie") was born in 1904. Astley, Worcestershire born Gertrude was 5 years older than Francis, quite a difference to her first marriage where it would appear her husband was 65 years older!

(more of the family tree can be seen here)

Born, married and died in London - what was his connection with Gillingham? (he is not only on the Roll of Honour but on the town War Memorial and in the War Service book in St. Mary's so there clearly was one). His daughter was born in Gillingham but the family were in his wife's brithplace of Astley near Stourport - in Woodyate Cottage - in 1911. Francis was then an "Amry Officer (Reserve) Captain".

Although he died of wounds, apparently in London, he is remembered on the Le Touret Memorial (intended to record those with no known grave)

Which William Thick? - show / hide more about this

William Charles Thick joined the army on August 5^th 1914, enlisting in Dorchester the day after the outbreak of war, serving as a Private in France and Belgium in the 1^st battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment, before dying of pleurisy less than a year later, on July 2^nd 1915. In 1914 he was decorated with the Star and Clasp. He is buried in Gillingham Cemetery.

Show / hide more about the Star and Clasp

William was born in 1885, the son of Henry (a general labourer, from Milton), and Fanny nee Gray. Fanny was the daughter of agricultural labourer William and his wife Elizabeth (probably nee Green), from Lovington / "Whettle" (presumably Wheathill) near Castle Cary, in Somerset but only about 15 miles from Gillingham. William Gray probably married Elizabeth in 1853, and their first child, Charlotte, was born late in the year. Prior to her marriage Fanny, like her three sisters, was employed in the silk industry - this, along with glovemaking, providing most of the women's work in the town at this time.

In 1891 William was with his "ag lab" father and his mother and younger brother Francis in Peasmarsh Place, Gillingham but sadly the boys were to lose their mother the following year. Henry remarried to Harriet Emma Lye in 1893 and, as well as being step mother to William and Francis, Harriet bore Henry several children (3 by the time of the 1901 census). Despite 5 children aged 2 to 15 and a husband to look after Harriett still found time to work as a glover. She was born in Dunkerton in Somerset, but her mother, Harriet Read was from Gillingham and she may have been brought up by her grandparents, Silas and Elizabeth, since she was with them at the time of the 1871 census (when aged 6) and was a housemaid at the Rectory in the village of Stour Provost (near Gillingham) 10 years later; her aunt Frances Read, only 9 years old was cook at the same Rectory.

In 1901 William was living with his father and stepmother and 4 younger siblings in Culvers Lane and was working as a mason. William married "Eliza A Belgin" locally in 1914; this seems to be the Eliza Alice Bulgin, born in Yenston (Henstridge) in 1882 and recorded simply as Alice in both the 1891 and 1901 censuses. In 1901 his wife-to-be Alice Bulgin was living and working as a servant at Lower Dykes Farm in Henstridge, Somerset, her elderly father having died in 1897 her mother had moved to live with Alice's sister Jane who was married to a railway engineer in Southampton, Dinah working as a laundress. William and Alice were to be married a little over a year, and to enjoy even less time together, as William had joined up within months of their marriage. William's brother Francis and half brother Harry also served in the War but thankfully both returned.

It is assumed that William died in the town and that is why he is buried here - although he does not seem to be in the registers of births, marriages and deaths (the only William Thick in 1915 died in the Blofield district in Norfolk - would his body have been returned to Gillingham - this does not seem to have been normal practice at this time, but he was the same age). During the first world war there were hospitals in requisitioned buildings in the town - possibly William was in one of these. Military records show his residence at time of death as Stourton Caundle, while by 1921 when the CWGC information was published his widow was living in Roath, Cardiff; by 1891 her elder brother William was living in Cardiff with his Welsh wife and their children so presumably she had gone to join family.

In 1916 William's half sister Ella gave birth to a son and named him William Charles after her half brother.

Lionel Frederick Southwell Sotheby is on the Church Roll of Honour but was not a Gillingham man (he is not on the town War Memorial Roll of Honour or in the town War Service book). His connection seems to be that his father's cousin, Walter Edward Hamilton Sotheby, was Vicar at the time Lionel died.

Lionel was born in Cippenham, Burnham near Slough, Buckinghamshire in 1895, moving to Slough before his brother Nigel was born the following year, and then subsequently to Anglesey, from where his mother's family came.

He was the elder son of William Edward Southwell Sotheby, an electrical engineer born in 1865, and his first wife, Margaret nee Williams, who married in London in 1894. The family were landed gentry with a tradition of military and naval service. Sotheby's paternal grandfather was Admiral Sir Edward Southwell Sotheby (1813 – 1902) but after the outbreak of war Eton College educated Lionel, who had intended to follow a career in business, followed his uncle, Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert George Sotheby, in becoming an officer in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He was serving with the 2^nd battalion of the Scottish Black Watch regiment in France in 1915 when he was killed at the Battle of Loos at the age of 20.

His brigade attacked at Aubers Ridge, Artois, advancing through British chlorine gas (the first British use of chemical warfare) with Sotheby's platoon in the first line. After capturing the German first and second lines the Germans counter-attacked. The battalion suffered heavy casualties, with Lionel among them - according to his battalion commander he was wounded, then killed by a grenade.

Lionel's body was not found and he is commemorated on the Loos Memorial.

A fuller account of his life can be found in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (most UK public libraries have a subscription - enter the no. off your library card to gain access to read the entry)

Lionel was the author of a published war diary - his family having kept his Diaries and Letters they were published in 1997: "Lionel Sotheby's Great War: Diaries and Letters from the Western Front" ed. Richter, Donald C. (ISBN: 0-8214-1178-0)

Sir Thomas Evans Keith Lees is another not found in the town's war service book or on the town war memorial, but in his case the link to the town is known: his wife, although born in London, lived from childhood at Thorngrove (a house in the town); she appears to have returned to the parental home as the CWGC who compiled their information in 1921 recorded her as "of Thorngrove, Gillingham, Dorset". Thomas had married his wife, Benita Blanche Pelly on 16^th September 1913, so they didn't have long to set up a home of their own before the war started.

Thomas served as a Lieutenant in the Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry before his death on 24^th August, 1915. He is remembered on the Helles Memorial.

Thomas became the second Baronet on the death of his father in 1908, his father, Sir Elliott Lees, a politician, being the first. Although his father was from a Lancashire family, and was MP for Oldham (where he was born), and later Birkendhead, his parents married in London and Thomas was born in the Wimborne area, as were his siblings (who were with him in Westminster at the time of the 1891 census). In 1901 Thomas was a student at Eton College, whilst four siblings were at South Lytchett House in Lytchett Minster with their governess and 11 other servants.

Thomas was named after both of his grandfathers: Thomas Evans Lees and Patrick Keith. The former, who died aged 49, some 7 years before his grandson was born, was a magistrate, a master of cotton engines and a Major in the 31st LRV. Scot Patrick Keith was a banking apprentice in his teens, but went on to become an East India merchant, resulting in Thomas's mother, Florence, being born in Calcutta, but Thomas's uncle, Clive S Keith, was a regular in the army.

Frederick William Bracher joined the army on September 6^th 1914 and was killed in action a year later (19^th September 1915), having served in France as a Lance Corproal with the 1^st battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment.

Born in about 1887, he was the elder of the two sons of Frederick John Bracher and his wife, born Sarah Stockdill Ridout, who married in London (the Lambeth area) in 1885 although all were Gillingham born. In 1891 Frederick senior was following in his father's (and uncle's) footsteps and was a cabinet maker and the family lived at Newbury (the east end of the High Street). By 1901 the family were in Wincanton, with Frederick senior now the manager of a furnishings business. By 1921 they were back in Gillingham, in Newbury where the firm Bracher Brothers continued to sell furniture and furnishings until the 1990s and the linked undertaking business still continues.

Frederick might have been expected to be found working in the family firm in 1911 but actually he was employed as a Police Constable in the Metropolitan Police, though a patient in the Royal Naval Hospital in Haslar, Alverstoke (near Gosport) at the time of the census.

Frederick was buried in the Citadel New Military Cemetery, Fricourt.

Joined up on September 9^th 1914, serving in Gallipoli as an Able Seaman in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve before dying of fever on 30^th June 1915 aged 24.

Wilfred's parents Arthur and Minnie seem to have liked to move around. Arthur, a Grocer's manager in 1901, was from East Wellow, near Romsey in Hampshire; his wife Minnie nee Tull was born in Brighton in 1865 but moved to Reading with her parents in about 1870. Arthur and Minnie married there in 1887 (Arthur was a grocer's assistant living in Reading by 1881). Wilfred was born in Leamington in Warwickshire in 1890; three siblings were born in the Poole area (in 1893, 5 and 7) but by the time of the 1901 census the family were living in Newbury Street, Gillingham, by 1911 moving within Gillingham to Queen Street, and later to Shaftesbury. By the time of the 1911 census Wilfred was working as a journalist, boarding with a tailor and his family in Battersea.

Wilfred is buried in the East Mudros military cemetery in Greece.

He joined up prior to the outbreak of war in March 1914 and served as a Lance Corporal in the Dorset Yeomanry (Queen's Own) in Egypt and Gallipoli before dying of wounds on August 30^th, 1915.

Born in Gillingham in 1889, Bertram was living in Wincombe Lane, Shaftesbury as a baby in 1891 with 4 older siblings and his parents - his father Edward was described as a "farm servant (agricultural)". By 1901 he was living in Peasemarsh (Gillingham) with his widowed mother Emily and 2 older brothers - both out at work and so presumbably maintaining the family - and a younger sister. With his mother, a brother, a sister and a neice in 1911, Bertram was living in St. Martin's Square. Like his brother, Bertram was a commercial clerk - in Bertram's case working for a bacon curing business.

He is buried in Cairo war memorial cemetery.

Edgar Albert Gower joined the 5th Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment when it was formed in August 1914, serving as a Serjeant in Gallipoli before being killed in action on 31^st August, 1915.

Edgar was not born or brought up in Gillingham but perhaps had moved to the town as a young man (he IS listed as a Gillingham man in the war service book). He was born in 1881 in Hastings and was still there at the time of the 1901 census, aged 19, and living with his parents and 6 siblings, whose ages ranged from 3 to 26; his parents were still in Hastings when the War Graves Commission information was recorded after the war. Like his brothers he was a clerk - in his case for a brewer, in 1901 in Hastings, perhaps at the brewery where his father Jesse was manager. In 1891 had been a "scholar" whilst his father was then a merchant's clerk. In 1911 he was still a brewer's clerk - but at a brewery in Petersfield, Hampshire.

He is buried in Addolorata Cemetery in Malta.

George Harold Edwards was a Private in the Wiltshire Regiment, having joined up on the 1^st of January 1914 (i.e. before war broke out); he served in Mesopotamia before being killed in action on 5^th April 1916.

George was born in 1895, the youngest of the 10 children of Fred and Sarah Ann Edwards, who had married in 1872. Fred and Sarah may have been distant cousins - Sarah was an Edwards before her marriage, the daughter of saddler John and his wife Ann nee Trim, while Fred was the son of wheelwright William and Eliza (Edwards was a common name in Gillingham, with quite a number of families with this name in the C18th and C19th).

The family lived in or close to the High Street, with Fred being variously described as some combination of painter, plumber and glasier. Sarah died in 1912, and after the war widower Fred was living in Octave Terrace. George's mother was a dressmaker and several, possibly all, of his sisters followed their mother into this occupation; at least one of George's brothers followed their father's trade as may George if the war hadn't claimed him. He was still at school (aged 15 - past the minimum school leaving age) at the time of the 1911 census.

He is remembered on the Basra Memorial.

The match between the details for George in the town war service book and for Alfred George on the CWGC site provide convincing evidence that the two are one and the same.

Alfred George Stickland joined the army as a teenager in 1913, and can't have expected that the next year he would be one of the first in action in a world war, with him one of the early victims, being killed in action on 16^th September 1914. He served as a Private in the 1st Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment.

George Stickland was born in Hinton Martel near Wimborne in 1896, the son of Walter John Stickland and his wife, born Edith Sarah Parsons. In 1891 Walter was a lodger, an agricultural labourer, with the Parsons family at Hull Farm in Horsington (Somerset); the following year one of daughters of the house married Walter. There were two other sons from the marriage - Walter (b 1892 - Gillingham, according to the 1901 census but with the birth registered in the neighbouring Wincanton registry district. Perhaps Edith had gone home to her parents in Horsington to the birth while the family lived in Gillingham) and Harold (b 1894, Barford St. Martin - near Salisbury). A sister of Walter senior, Ella, was with the family - presumably to look after the family and see to the domestic chores while Walter senior worked as a gardener. Stickland is a southern, especially Dorset name, and Ella was born in Blandford, but the censuses show her oldest brother as born in Leics. (where her parents were living at the time of the 1891 census) and Walter as born in Cheshire.

George is commemorted La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre Memorial.

He was a professional soldier, killed in action on 1^st July 1916 while serving as a Lieutenant Colonel with the 18^th Battalion of the Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment. He had previously been wounded soon after the start of the war in November 1914.

One of the four children of Robert William and his wife, born Rose Nicholl Byass who had married in 1881, Maurice Kennard was born in Blaenavon near Abergavenny in 1883, and was educated at Radley College, Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The family were still living in the area at the family home at Lloynden Court, Abergavenny at the time of the 1901 census.

Presumably sometime between 1901 and 1916 the family made their home in Gillingham - he is recorded in the town's War Service Book, as is his brother who survived the war (Howard John Kennard, a Captain in the Royal Navy, serving in the Grand Fleet). His parents were living in Bradford-on-Avon (Wiltshire) when the CWGC information was gathered (Maurice's parents have not been found in the 1911 census).

More about his the family and his mother's childhood home can be seen here.

Prior to the war the London Gazette records that in April 1901 he was appointed a Second Lieutenant with the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia). Just under a year later he resigned from the Militia to become a Second Lieutenant in the 6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers), in which he gained the rank of Captain in 1913. He was a temporary Major when in April 1916 it was decided he was to command a Battalion, as a temporary Lt.-Col.

An account of the probing raid - the start of an offensive on the Somme - in which he died can be found in this world war one diary.

The book "Bradford Pals" gives a fuller account, describing how coming under a heavy cross fire Kennard stood erect whilst almost everyone dropped flat. He encouraged the Battalion to rise to their feet and follow him, but casualties were heavy and Kennard was killed by a shell bursting close by him.

He is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial.

Brighouse, Yorkshire born Samuel Shaw had enlisted in Halifax by 1901, in which year he was based at Aldershot in Hampshire with the 10th Battery of the Royal Field Artillery (at the time of the census). He was shown as "single" but had in fact married - probably an Elizabeth Kitchingman - in Yorkshire in 1897. He had retired from the army by the time of the 1911 census and was his father making brass wire scrubbers. He was living in Bridlington (Yorkshire) with his parents and 2 of his remaining 3 (out of 7) siblings. His wfe was not with the family and has not been identified in the census. At the time of his death on 23^rd December 1916 he was serving as a Private with the 5^th Battalion of the Duke of Edinburgh's Wiltshire Regiment, having seen action in Mesopotamia. His residence at this time was given as Gillingham; his wife subsequently remarried and moved to Yeovil.

Born in 1876, Samuel was the oldest son of "wire drawer" Thomas Shaw and his wife Selina nee Heap and in 1891 he was following his father's trade and was an apprentice wire drawer.

He is buried in the Basra War Cemetery.

One of two sons of George Gerrard and Elizabeth Caroline Matthews of Wyke House killed in the war, the other being Walter Franey Matthews; the sanctuary screen and reredos in St. Mary's are in their memory. Two other brothers served but survived.

The Matthews family have many connections with Gillingham Church, and also with Milton-on-Stour.

Edward is buried in La Neuville British Cemetery, Corbie in France.

Charles Down enlisted with the Dorset Regiment in May 1912, in which he was serving as a Lance(?) Corporal with the 5th Battalion when he was killed in action on 26^th September 1916. (The CWGC shows him as a Corporal, the town war service book, a Lance Corporal). He saw something of the world before dying, serving in Salonica, Egypt, the Dardanelles, Mesopotamia and France, although he died aged just 21.

Charles was born in Wyke, Gillingham in about 1895, the son of Gillingham born general labourer, William and his wife Ellen, born Ellen Oborne in Oakhill, Somerset. At the time of the 1901 census he had 2 younger brothers.

He is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial.

Walter William Stone was a Private in the 5th Battalion of Dorsetshire Regiment which he joined on June 5th, 1915. He served in Gallipoli, Egypt and France before dying of wounds on February 5th, 1917.

Walter William Blackmore, as he was also known, was the oldest son of Mary Jane Blackmore nee Stone, born in Shaftesbury in 1890; his mother married Isaiah Blackmore following the next year. Isaiah was older than Mary and had been married before so William did have an older step or half brother.

Buried in Etaples Military Cemetery in France.

John Harris joined the army before the war in 1911 and was killed in action some 6 years later on 4th February 1917, after seeing service in France as a Corporal. Information about him disagrees as to whether he was in the Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry or the 2nd Battalion of the Dorset Regiment.

John was born in Gillingham in 1891, the youngest of at least 10 children born to Ebenezer and Emily Harris, who had married and had their first child nearly 25 years before in 1867. Emily died aged 69 in 1916 so was spared hearing of her son's death in the war, but Ebenezer lived on to die aged 80 in 1924. He was a carpenter's son from Charlton, Wiltshire (near Shaftesbury) but added to being a builder / carpenter being innkeeper at the Grosvenor Arms in Bridge Street, Gillingham. Emily, born Emily Scammell, was a boot and shoemaker's daughter born in Kington Magna, but the family were living in Motcombe by 1861 when aged 14 she was working, as were her older sisters, as a glover. Before joining the army John followed the family tradition and was working as a carpenter (living at home) at the time of the 1911 census.

John William Harris was buried in the Beaumont-Hamel British Cemetery in France.

James was the son of Motcombe-born charwoman Ann Maria Foote. Ann did not have the easiest start in life - her mother Tabitha died when she was 2 and her father Jeremiah when she was 10. By the age of 8 she and her sister Betsy, aged 15 but also still at school, were living with their married sister Mary, a glover, and her husband James Aldridge (an agricultural labourer) in Motcombe, while their father lived nearby with another sister, Sarah. Annie had a daughter Linda born 1873 when aged 30 before having James when she was 41. Linda married Walter Bealing in 1897; they and their oldest daughter were living with Annie and James in Cemetery Road in 1901; by 1911 the roles were reversed and Walter was recorded as head of the household and Annie and James were living with the Bealings (who by now had 3 children). James was a wooden box maker for a timber merchant (1901 and 1911 censuses). Perhaps Annie (or Linda) didn't want Walter to know she wasn't married - earlier censues show her as single but once living in the same house as the Bealings she is described as a widow!

He joined up as soon as the War started in August 1914, serving as a Second Lieutenant with the 2^nd Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers in Belgium before being killed in action on 8^th May the following year.

The youngest of the 5 children of Alfred Thomas Manger and his wife, born Elizabeth Ann Keevil, John Manger was born locally in 1895. The family lived at Stock Hill House in Langham, John being born in Gillingham but his older siblings being born in Putney and Kent before their father retired.

He is remembered on the .

A Lance Corporal in the 1st Dorsets which he joined on Aug 12th 1914, served in France before being killed in action.

Read was a common surname in the town and it is not easy to be sure which Henry Read died.

A Private in the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the Dorsetshires (sic - CWGC is diff ??) Alfred Thomas joined up in 1908, and served as a Private before dying on Home Service on 12th March 1917.

Frank Tom Read joined up on October 19th 1915, serving as a Private with the 6th Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment before being killed in action on 12th April 1917.

William Oliphant Down, born in 1885, was born like his three siblings and his father in Bridgwater, but the family had moved to Gillingham by the time he was five. His early schooling was in the town but by 1901 he was a boarder at Warminster Grammar School.

William was the son of Evan Roberts Down and Sarah Alice Down nee Boswall; the latter appears to have been known as Alice - possibly because she shared her Christian names with her mother. She was born in Islington though her mother from Bridgwater - no doubt the connection that led to her marrying Evan - while her father was a Scot from an interesting family descended from the Royal Stewarts; more can be read about them on this site. Evan was an architect and surveyor living in Wembdon near Bridgwater in 1881, but by 1891 the family had not only moved to Gillingham but Evan had made a career change to become a merchant / wholesale bacon curer!

William joined up on 8th August, 1914 just four days after Britain declared war against Germany, serving in the Royal Berkshire Regiment. He was appointed to be a Second Lieutenant on 6th September, 1915. In 1916 he was made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order "in recognition of [his] gallantry and devotion to duty in the field". In a supplement to the London Gazette it was reported that he received the honour "For conspicuous gallantry in action. He made an excellent reconnaissance of an enemy strong point, and brought back most useful information. Two nights later he commanded the right platoon in an attack, and after entering the enemy's trench led a bombing party which killed 11 of the enemy." He had reached the rank of Captain and been awarded the Military Cross when he met his death.

He is mentioned in chapter XVII of the Project Gutenberg eBook, The War Service of the 1/4 Royal Berkshire Regiment where his death in 1917 is recorded: "The total casualties for the period were no more than 15, but included Captain Down, who died of wounds on 22nd May. He had been with the Battalion since the spring of 1916, and was deeply regretted as a capable officer, who showed always the greatest consideration for his men."

He is buried in the Hermies Hill British Cemetery.

In addition, he is remembered on a monument on the north wall of the tower in St. Mary's:

In loving memory of
William Oliphant Down M.C.
Captain 4th Batt Royal Berkshire Reg^t
Younger son of Evan and Alice Down
who died of wounds in France
on the 23rd May 1917, aged 31 years.

"He died the noblest death a man may die
fighting for God and right and liberty.
Requiescat in pace."

He served as a Private in France with the 2^nd Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment, joining up on 16^th February 1917 and dying of wounds about 6 months later on 3^rd September.

William was born in Henstridge, Somerset (about 9 miles from Gillingham) in 1888. He was a son of John and Sarah Bracher, both of whom hailed from Motcombe. He had at least one older brother, and 2 younger brothers and 1 sister. By 1891 the family were living in Yeovil with John an agent for the Singer Sewing Machine Company. With a number of glovers as neighbours, including one described as a "glove machinist", perhaps John hoped that he would find a good demand for sewing machines. But it appears he may have been disappointed - at any rate, by 1895 the family were in Gillingham, in 1901 living at Forestdeer with John senior empoyed as a gardener ("non domestic").

William married Alice Tucker in 1909 and was the father of 3 daughters, Sarah born 1912, Dorothy born 1914 and Adeline born around the time of his death in 1917. Alice was the daughter and sister of glovers, but she herself was working as a paper folder at a Printer's in Gillingham in 1901, when she was living with an aunt and uncle in the town. At the time the CWGC records were made she was living in Tomlin's Lane.

William was buried in the Lancashire Cottage Cemetery in Belgium.

One of two sons of the family killed in the war, the other being Edward Philip Matthews; the sanctuary screen and reredos are in their memory.

Joining up on 7th September 1914, Arthur Green was killed in action on 6th October 1917, having served as a driver in the R F A (Royal Field Artillery) in France. He was awarded the 1914/15 star.

George Henry Ware in the War Service Book (and elsewhere), he joined up on 5th August 1914 and served as a Private in the 5th Dorsets in the Dardanelles, he was killed in action about a year later on 21st August 1915.

The John Hull referred to is presumably one of the two John Hulls shown on the 1901 census as born in Gillingham in 1888 and 1891. One was the son of Gillingham born Henry, a farm labourer, and Matilda Hull. The other was away from home working as a stableboy in 1901 - he was probably the son of the Amos and Annie Hull, who were living in Gillingham in 1891 although John was shown there as born in Newport, Monmouthshire before Amos returned to the town of his birth to work as a coal merchant's carter.

If the John Hull referred to is the one shown as serving in WW1 in the War Service Book he served in the Royal Engineers as a Trooper, serving in France and Belgium after joining up in Spetember 1914.

John G Foulkes was the son of Peter Gifford and Violet Agnes Foulkes. His father was a medical student at the time of the 1901 census so presumably worked as a doctor. When the family were in Gillingham is not at present known, but they appear not to have had a strong connection with any particular place. John's parents were described as "of Sidmouth, Devon" by the CWGC but had married in the Kingston (Surrey) area in 1913 and their first son, Peter was born in Essex (1914), the next, Robert, in Kent (1916) and John was born in Norfolk in 1921. John's father was born to his Scottish mother in Tring, Hertfordshire in 1878 where his Devonian father was a land agent; John's mother was born Violet Agnes Bland in Maldon, Essex also in 1878, where her Wisbech born father was a wine merchant and JP, her mother being from Bath but with parents from London.

He is buried in Hamburg Cememtery.

William was the second of 5 sons of William Harry James Collis and his wife, born Mary E Byles.

His father, William Harry James Collis served in the First World War - a gunner, he joined up on 4^th October 1917 and served with the RFA in France.

William was on HMS Drake, a training ship for stokers. He is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial.

Remembered on the Alamein Memorial.

Born in Monmouthshire in 1919, Ronald was the son of John Thomas Davies and Alice Beatrice Davies nee Cook who married also in the Croydon area in 1909.

Buried in Killead (St. Catherine) Chuch of Ireland Churchyard. St. Catherine's on the Crumlin Road in Killead is based inside the RAF camp in Aldergrove, where the flying tradition dates back to 1918, although the Church is much older, dating from 1712. It has been the only civilian place of worship inside a military base anywhere in the UK.

Frank Henry George Tucker was born 1910, the son of Philip Henry Tucker and Kate nee Smith who had married in 1908. No evidence found of any other children from this marriage, but Philip was probably the Philip previously married to Sarah with whom he had a family. This Philip was a gardener.

Frank was married to Reca (probably Reca Phyllis Legg).

He is buried in the Choloy War Cemetery in France.