Stockwell War Memorial

Friends of Stockwell War Memorial & Gardens

SWM

Richard Charles Heath

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R. C. Heath
Service no. 42295
Private, Hertfordshire Regiment, 1st/1st Battalion, formerly 242378, South Staffordshire Regiment
Born in Farnborough, Hampshire; enlisted in Camberwell; lived in Stockwell
Killed in action 4 November 1918
Remembered at Ghissignies British Cemetery, Nord, France

On 8 July 1914 Richard Charles Heath, a licensed victualler, married Mary Elsie Redshaw at All Saints, Stoke Newington in north London. Their daughter Elsie Maud was born in March the following year. 

Heath was born in Farnborough, Hampshire on 16 March 1892. He moved to London and is listed in the 1911 census as a barman at The Albion, 2–3 New Bridge Street in the City of London. and lived in Stockwell. He enlisted in Camberwell.

At the time of his death his family lived at 76 Studley Road, Stockwell. Mary died in 1985, and Elsie in 2004, both in Penzance, Cornwall.

Herbert Thomas Head

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H.T. Head.
Private, 3rd Reserve Cavalry Regiment
Service no. 7211
Died on 26 December 1916, aged 37, after discharge

Chris Burge writes:

Herbert Thomas Head was born in 1879 to parents William and Sarah. He was baptised Herbert Thomas William Head, at St Stephen’s, Villa Street, Walworth Common, Southwark, on 21 August 1879. His father William was a hackney carriage driver.

On 7 October 1897, at the age of 19, Herbert joined the 3rd Dragoon Guards. He was described as 5ft 6in tall, 115lbs with a fresh complexion, grey eyes and dark brown hair. He served in the South African War before being discharged on 1 September 1902 as medically unfit. After returning to ‘civvie street’, Herbert found work as a coachman  and married widow Caroline Applegate (née Pettit) on 30 July 1905 at St Jude’s in Brixton. The couple lived at 269 Shakespeare Road, opposite the extensive Herne Hill railway sidings. Caroline was originally from Norfolk. 

Herbert and Caroline’s first child William Herbert George was born on 24 April 1906 and baptised at St Jude’s on 17 June. Herbert was now described as a carman and the couple had moved close to 69 Saltoun Road, a turning off Atlantic Road in the centre of Brixton. 

The 1911 census shows that Herbert, Caroline and William had moved to the ground floor of 91 Hargywne Street, Stockwell, where they rented three unfurnished rooms on the ground floor of 91 Hargywne Street from Sarah Neighbour, a widowed domestic cook, who lived at the same address. Herbert was now earning a living as an ‘acetylene generator’. 

At the outbreak of war, Herbert left the family home to volunteer, enlisting in Lambeth on 31 August 1914. Three days later Herbert Head was in Canterbury, as a private in the 3rd Reserve Cavalry. He was now 37 years old. Outwardly his physical appearance was little changed but he was no longer fit and was discharged on 6 June 1915. The Dragoon records show he was issued with a silver war badge by October 1916. 

Herbert and Caroline’s second child, Lilian Winifred Head, was born on 16 September 1916 and baptised on 1 November at St Andrew’s, Stockwell Green. The family were still living at Hargywne Street. Herbert’s health deteriorated and he died on Boxing Day 1916, leaving his widow and children with no means of support. 

At the end of the war Caroline received a £3 war gratuity, but the war pension ledgers imply that Herbert’s married sister Elsie May Gazzard had become the guardian of William and Lilian. Caroline married Walter Hill in 1921 and they lived in Santley Street in Clapham until 1925. 

Caroline died in Wandsworth in 1964, aged 87. William was living in Cato Road, Clapham when he passed away on 6 September 1979, aged 73.

William Alfred Haynes

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W. A. Haynes
Service no. 12374
Lance Corporal, Bedfordshire Regiment, 4th Battalion
Born in Lambeth; enlisted in Lambeth; lived in Lambeth
Killed in action 30 October 1917
Remembered at Tyne Cot Memorial, near Ypres, Belgium

A tentative identification, awaiting more supporting evidence.

Robert Charles Hayes

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R. C. Hayes
Service no. G/14909
Lance Corporal, Middlesex Regiment, 20th Battalion
Killed in action age 24 on 30 July 1916
CWGC: “Son of Robert Charles and Emily Kate Hayes, of 33, Hargwyne St., Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 the Hayes family lived at 33 Hargwyne Street, Stockwell, where they occupied 3 rooms. Robert Charles Hayes (Senior), 41, was a timekeeper for the London County Council sewerage department. He was from Portsmouth, Hampshire. Emily Kate Hayes, 39, was from Wandsworth. The couple had 2 surviving children (of 3). Eighteen-year-old Robert Charles Hayes was a clerk for a type foundry. He was born in South Lambeth. His brother William Alfred, 17, was a clerk for a motor sport company and was born in Kennington.

Henry George Hayes

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H. G. Hayes
Service no. 3/26023
Private, Durham Light Infantry, 10th Battalion, formerly 14284, Dragoon Guards
Born in Westminster; enlisted in London; lived in South Lambeth
Killed in action age 21 on 23 September 1915
CWGC: “Son of Charles Edward and Florence Eleanor Hayes, of Westminster, London.”
Remembered at Popinghe New Military Cemetery, Belgium

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 the Hayes family – parents and 5 children – lived at 27 Wilkie Buildings, Westminster, where they occupied 3 rooms. Charles Edward Hayes, 42,  was a cutter in the cap trade. He was born in Westminster. Florence Eleanor Hayes, 39, was born in Hackney. Charles Thomas Hayes, 18, was apprenticed to a butcher. Henry George Hayes, 17, was a brass finisher’s apprentice. Leonard Hayes, 15, was a junior clerk. Sidney Arthur Hayes, 11, and Florence Ellen Louisa Hayes, 8, were at school. All the children were born in Westminster, apart from Sidney Arthur, who was born in Lambeth.

Frederick Charles Hayden

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F. C. Hayden
Service no. 724529
Private, London Regiment, 24th Battalion
Born in Thaxted; enlisted in Lambeth; lived in Studley Road
CWGC: “Husband of Mrs E. Hayden, of 2 Stanley Villas, Studley Road, Clapham, London.”
Died of wounds at age 36 on  22 August 1918
Remembered at Bray Vale British Cemetery, Bray-sur-Somme, France

British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920

Frederick Charles Hayden, a 35-year-old married travelling salesman, living at 2 Stanley Villas, Studley Road, Stockwell, attested on 8 December 1915 and joined the Army Reserve. He was mobilised on 28 August 1916 and posted to France the next day, leaving his wife, Emily (née Austin) and their daughter Ethel, 9. It is unclear from the records whether his 14 days’ leave, granted on 31 July 1918 enabled him to return to London to see them, or were spent near the Front. In any case, he died shortly afterwards, on 22 August.

Few details of his life are available, but the medical examination on mobilisation records him as 5 feet 5 inches tall, with a 34½ inch chest, to which he could add 2 inches. He had both upper and lower dentures. His effects consisted only of two military discs.

Information from the 1911 census

The 1911 census shows a 29-year-old Frederick (or Fredrick*) Hayden working as a warehouseman and living with his wife Emily (née Austin), three-year-old daughter Ethel and in-laws at 2 Stanley Villas, Studley Road, London SW4. He was born in Thaxted, Essex. Emily’s stepfather, Henry Willey, 57, was a railway locomotive engine driver. There was a boarder, Alice Robinson, a 38-year-old single nurse from Gateshead, County Durham.
*The 1911 census has Frederick as Fredreck.