Stockwell War Memorial

Friends of Stockwell War Memorial & Gardens

R names

George Rixton

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G. Rixton
Service no. 3483
Sapper, Royal Engineers, 2nd/1st Lowland Field Coy.
Born in Maiden Newton; enlisted in Victoria Park, east London; lived in Weymouth, Dorset
Killed in action on 16 September 1916, aged 32
CWGC: “Son of Robert and Annie Rixton, of 14, Victoria Rd., Dorchester.”
Remembered at Thiepval Memorial, France

Information from the censuses

In 1911 George Rixton, then aged 26, was boarding with the Reed family at 1a Elwell Road, Clapham and working as a brewer’s cooper. Rixton was born in Weymouth (Maiden Newton, according to the 1901 census), Dorset, where his family still lived. The 1901 census shows that his father, Robert Rixton, then aged 43, worked as a brewer’s cellarman. He was born in Muckleford, Dorset. George’s mother, Annie, 47, was born in Maiden Newton, Dorset. Two daughters were also registered: Elizabeth F. Rixton, 17, a dressmaker, born in Maiden Newton; Fanny Rixton, 15, a dressmaker’s apprentice, also born in Maiden Newton.

Norman Victor Riva

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N.V. Riva
Service no. 1891
Private, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), 2nd Battalion
Born in Lambeth; enlisted in London; lived in Lambeth
Killed in action on 31 March 1915, aged 18
CWGC: “Son of Mr E. Riva, of 46 Priory Grove, South Lambeth, London.”
Remembered at Ferme Buterne Military Cemetery, Houplines, France

Information from the censuses

Norman Riva, 14 in 1911, was a dental assistant. He lived five rooms at 46 Priory Grove, South Lambeth, with his parents and siblings. Riva’s father, Charles Edward Forrester Riva, 42, a warehouseman (provisions), was from Camberwell; his mother, Susannah (née Martin), 41, was born in Westminster. Their six surviving children (of seven) were:
Francis Riva, 16, a railway clerk
Norman Riva, 14
William Riva, 11, at school and helping on a milk round
Ida RIva, 8
Dora RIva, 2
Edgar Riva, 7 months
All were born in South Lambeth. In 1901 the Riva family were living at 52 Priory Grove.

Walter Albert Ridout

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W. A. Ridout
Service no. 119029
Canadian
Private, Canadian Corps Cyclist Battalion
Died on 16 June 1916, aged 30
CWGC: “Son of Mrs A. L. Ridout, of 2 Eythorne Road, Brixton, London, England, and the late Mr W. Y. Ridout. Enlisted Nov.”
Remembered at Nunhead (All Saints) Cemetery, London

Streatham-born shoemaker Walter Albert Ridout volunteered early in the war. On 12 November 1914 he presented himself to the attesting officer at Brighton and was signed up to the Royal Sussex Regiment, 8th Reserve Cyclists Battalion. His form states that he had lived outside the UK – in Vancouver, Canada – for more than three years.

Ridout, 28 years and 8 months, stood 5 feet 5 inches tall, with dark hair and a dark complexion, with grey eyes. His chest was 34 inches, with 2 inches expansion. He gave his religion as Baptist.

By 17 February 1915 he was appointed acting Lance Corporal; then promoted to acting Corporal on 11 March. By 20 April he had reverted to Private. However, on 25 June he was discharged from the Royal Sussex Regiment to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force at Southwold, Suffolk.

Information from the censuses

Walter Albert Ridout was one of five surviving children of Walter Young Ridout, a 60-year-old bootmaker and repairer from Dorset, an Alice Lydia (née Plater), 49, “assisting in the business”, born in the City of London. In 1911 there were three children at home, Frederick Ridout, 15, an apprentice bootmaker; Dora Ridout, 13; and Eveline Ridout, 11. All were born in Lambeth. The family lived in five rooms at 14 Robsart Street, where they had been since at least 1901.

Reginald Parnham Ridley

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R. P. Ridley
Service no. 589
Rifleman, London Regiment (Queen’s Westminster Rifles), 16th Battalion
Killed in action on 23 September 1916, aged 23
Born in Clapham; enlisted at Westminster; lived in Clapham
CWGC: “Son of Frederick William Ridley, of 420 Clapham Road, Clapham, London.”
Remembered at Delville Wood Cemetery, Longeuval, France, at St John’s Church, Clapham Road, London SW9

Information from the censuses
Reginald Parnham Ridley, 18 in 1911, was an electrical engineer. He was the eldest of three sons of Eliza Mary Ann Ridley, 47, a dressmaker. Ridley lived in nine rooms at 420 Clapham Road with his mother and two brothers, Roy Trevor Ridley, 16, an optician’s apprentice, and Leslie Howard Ridley, 11. The boys were born in Clapham. Ridley’s father, Frederick W. Riley, a grain merchant, does not appear on the return for this address. Eliza has listed herself as “wife” rather than “head”, so it is possible that he was away from the house that night. However, the London County Suburbs Directory for 1913 lists her as “Ridley, Mrs. Eliza, dressmaker” without mentioning her husband. A visitor, Alice Hannah Wright, 38, from Brighton, was staying on the night of the census.

Everard Vaughan Ridge

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E. V. Ridge
Lieutenant, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), 153rd Coy.
Died on 9 April 1917, aged 21
CWGC: “Son of the late Edward H. Ridge, of 15, Bedford Row, High Holborn, London.”
Remembered at Arras Memorial, France and at St John’s Church, Clapham Road, London SW9

Everard Vaughan Ridge attested for service in the Territorial Force on 13 April 1913. He served as Gunner in the 7th County of London Battery Royal Garrison Artillery. He was discharged to a commission in the 13th Reserve Battalion Worcestershire Regiment in September 1915. Transferred to the 153rd Company Machine Gun Corps, he was killed in action, on 9 April 1917, aged 21 years.

Information from the censuses

In 1911 Everard Vaughan Ridge was a 15-year-old schoolboy living with his family in nine rooms at 55 Chelsham Road, Clapham. His father, twice-widowed Edward H. Ridge was a 52-year-old solicitor born in Manchester. There were five children from the first marriage and one from his second (all born in Clapham).
Violet Maude Ridge, 20, a millinery shop assistant
Phyllis Myfanwy Ridge, 18, a clerk in an insurance office
Ronald Edward Trevor Ridge, 16, an engineering apprentice
Everard Vaughan Ridge, 15
Victoria Gwenllian Ridge, 13
Reginald Nelson Ridge, 4
Dorothy Robinson, 21, a housekeeper from Bootle, Lancashire, lived with the family.

Francis Rhodes

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F. Rhodes
Service no 37889
Serjeant, Royal Army Medical Corps
Died on 2 September 1916, aged 23
CWGC: “Husband of Grace Lilian Rhodes, of 80, Crimsworth Rd. Wandsworth Rd., South Lambeth, London.”
Remembered at Basra War Cemetery, Iraq

Francis Wynne Rhodes, known as Frank, was born in Lambeth on 5 December 1892, the son of Samuel Rhodes and Alice (née Sales). He left a widow, Grace Lilian (née Hall), of 80 Crimsworth Road, South Lambeth, and two sons, Charles Wynn, born 1913, and Francis Mons, born in 1915, who died on war service in 1942.