Stockwell War Memorial

Friends of Stockwell War Memorial & Gardens

T names

William Evan Turpin

by

william-evan-turpin2
Wiliam Evan Turpin. Photo courtesy of George Cody.

W. E. Turpin
Service no. 140311
Gunner, Royal Garrison Artillery, 172nd Siege Bty.
Born in Clapham; enlisted in Clapham
Killed in action on 31 May 1918, aged 32
Remembered at Montecchio Precalcino Communal Cemetery Extension, Italy

National Roll of the Great War 1914-1918

TURPIN, W. E., Gunner, R.G.A.
He joined in January 1917, and in the following May was sent to France, where he took part in the fighting at Bullecourt and Messines. Later he was transferred to Italy, where he was unfortunately killed in action on May 30th, 1918, and was buried at Montechiaro. He was entitled to the General Service and Victory Medals.
“Great deeds cannot die.”
15, Elwell Road, Clapham, S.W.4.

William Turpin (centre) at Young's on Larkhall Lane, at the corner of Gaskell Street
William Turpin (centre) at Young’s on Larkhall Lane, at the corner of Gaskell Street. Courtesy of George Cody.

Information from the censuses

In 1911 William Evan Turpin was a 25-year-old grocer’s assistant, living in three rooms at 15 Elwell Road, Clapham, with his wife Emma Turpin (née Guy), 25, from Wolverhampton, and their young son William Joseph Turpin, 11 months, born in Clapham.Meanwhile, his parents, Jesse Turpin, a 48-year-old bricklayer’s labourer from Little London, Essex, and Mary A. Turpin, 48, from Averayon, Cardiganshire, were living at 62 Paradise Road, Stockwell.

William attested on 8 December 1915. He was 5ft 11in tall, with a 43in chest. His Service record states that he died of shell injuries to the right side of body, particularly his stomach and hand. After an Enquiry in the Field, these injuries were judged to be   ‘negligently self-inflicted’, ‘an accident due to disobedience to orders’.Lieutenant Colonel W.D. Alexandia came to the conclusion that Turpin died after ‘scraping the nose of an old Austrian fuze and having done that he walked away and the explosion took place in his hand.’ Alexandia stated that ‘all  men in the battery have been warned repeatedly not to tamper with enemy duds, fuzes etc.’

Emma was awarded a widow’s pension of 27s 7d a week for herself and her three children.

George Cody (Emma’s great nephew) adds: “Sadly William and Emma’s son Ernest Walter was also killed in action, in WW2, and is interred in a military cemetery also in Italy.”

William Evan Turpins Memorial Plaque, issued to his widow Emma. The plaques were made of bronze and popularly known as the Dead Man’s Penny because of their similarity to penny coins. Courtesy of George Cody.
william-and-emma-with-bill-and-ernie
William Evan Turpin with Emma and their sons William and Ernest. Courtesy of George Cody.

Arthur George Tuffrey

by

A. G. Tuffrey
Service no. 93886
Gunner, Royal Field Artillery (3rd Prov Battery)
Died age 35 on 17 December 1917

Information from Mike Tuffrey (no relation to Arthur George Tuffrey)

Arthur George Tuffrey (1881-1917) enlisted 29 November 1915 and served as a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery. He was discharged in April 1917 as permanently unfit to serve due to tuberculosis and bronchitis on both lungs. A widower when he volunteered, Tuffrey left two young sons, then aged 8 and 6.

Arthur George Tuffrey was born on 16 Dec 1881 to John Tuffrey and Mary (née Parnham), in Brompton London, and grew up in and around Chelsea, where his father was a coachman. Before the war he worked as a bank messenger.

He and Madeline Ruth Barnes were married at St Barnabas, Pimlico on 8 August 1908. Madeline’s father, John Barnes, was a coachman, originally from Walsingham, Norfolk.

Madeline and Arthur moved to Stockwell and lodged at 49 Thorne Road. Two sons followed – Alec Arthur John, born 12 April 1909, and Mervyn Harry, born on 12 November 1911. However Madeline died just days after Mervyn’s birth, presumably due to complications, leaving Arthur with two small children. 

The family moved in with Tuffrey’s parents at 30 Edithna Street, off Landor Road, Stockwell. Also in the neighbourhood was his older brother William Frank, a postman, living at 43 Tradescant Road with his wife, Ellen.

Under these circumstances, it is all the more remarkable he decided to enlist. Perhaps the answer lies in him having previously served, before the war started, four years in the 2nd Middlesex Artillery Volunteers. After signing up in November 1915 he was mobilised in June 1916. The records are silent about his service during his short period; not overseas, apparently. They do however tell us he was of fair complexion, with grey eyes and light hair, standing 5 feet 9 inches tall. His military character was ‘good’, described as steady and sober.

Illness cut short his service, albeit assessed as not the result of ordinary military service but aggravated by it, resulting in total disablement and entitling him to a pension. 

He was discharged from Norfolk War Hospital, Norwich on 26 April 1917, as permanently unfit to serve.  He did not recover and died at Greenwich on 17 December 1917, aged 35.

Just a few months before that, Arthur’s younger brother Harry had died, aged 33 in May 1917, also of illness aggravated by active service. He had served in the East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) and was buried in Herne Bay cemetery, leaving a widow and two young children. 

John Tuffrey continued living at Edithna Street, after the wartime death of two sons and then of his wife Mary in 1919. He died in 1924, aged 73. His son William, the postman, stayed in the neighbourhood, moving to Coronation Buildings on South Lambeth Road with his wife and children. He lived through the second war, dying in 1946.

And what of Arthur George Tuffrey’s orphaned sons, Alec and Mervyn? They moved to Oxfordshire, to be cared for by Hannah Turner, a cousin, who received the widow’s pension. The 1921 census finds them in Ambrosden, Bicester, with Hannah and her father, James – Arthur George’s uncle and brother-in-law to John Tuffrey, having married his sister, Eliza. Alec and Mervyn were described as nephews and presumably regarded Hannah as aunt, or surrogate mother. Both later married, had their own families and lived until 1978 and 1986 respectively.

Sources

British Army World War I Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920

British Army World War I Pension Records 1914-1920

Robert William Trussler

by

R.W. Trussler
Aviation Boatswain’s Mate, Royal Navy, HMS Russell
Died on 27 April 1916
Remembered at Portsmouth Naval Memorial

National Roll of the Great War 1914-1918
TRUSSLER, R. W., A.B., Royal Navy.
Serving at the outbreak of hostilities, having joined in 1913, he was with the H.M.S. “Russell” in the Mediterranean station in August 1914. He was engaged on important duties with his ship until he lost his life, when she was sunk on April 27th, 1916. He was entitled to the 1914-1915 Star, and the General Service and Victory Medals.
“Whilst we remember, the Sacrifice is not in vain.”
29, Crimsworth Road, Wandsworth Road, S.W.8.

HMS Russell joined the Channel Fleet in November 1914 when at Portland and after bombarding the coast of Belgium was sent to the Dardanelles. She stayed at Mudros as support alongside HMS Hibernia in November 1915 but eventually took part in the evacuation on 7 January 1916. HMS Russell was mined on 27 April 1916 just off the coast of  Malta with the loss of over 100 lives.

James Trimmer

by

J. Trimmer
Service no. 9374
Serjeant, The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, 1st Battalion
Born in Battersea; enlisted in London
Killed in action on 18 August 1916, aged 26
CWGC: “Son of Harry and Sophia Trimmer, of London; husband of Jane Elizabeth Trimmer, of 94 Wilcox Rd., South Lambeth, London.”
Remembered at Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval, Somme, France

Information from the 1901 census

In 1911 James Trimmer was a private in the 1st Battalion of the North Lancashire Regiment. He was stationed at the Bhurtpore Battacks, in South Tedworth, Hampshire. Meanwhile, his parents, Harry Trimmer, 53, a locomotive engine driver from Holybourne, Hampshire, and Sophia Elizabeth Trimmer (née Adams), 56, from Marylebone, London were living in four rooms at 94 Wilcox Road, South Lambeth, where they had lived since at least 1901. James was one of their three surviving children (of six).

Bertram Triance

by

B. Triance
Service no. 164288
Sapper, Royal Engineers, 219th Field Coy.
Died on 19 November 1916, aged 28
CWGC: “Son of William and Jane Triance; husband of Elizabeth Daisy Triance, of 28 Chelsham Road, Clapham, London.”
Remembered at Mailly Wood Cemetery, Mailly-Maillet, Somme, France

Information from the censuses

Publisher’s clerk Bertram Triance, who was 22 in 1911, lived at 32 Army Street, Clapham with his wife Elizabeth Daisy Triance (née Salter), 22, and baby daughter, Kathleen Margaret Triance, 6 weeks. The couple went on to have three further children.

Bertram was born in Kilburn, north-west London, Elizabeth in Walworth, and Kathleen in Clapham. Ten years earlier, Bertram lived at 55 Lower Marsh, Waterloo, with his parents, William Howard Triance, 50, a coffee house keeper from Middleton, Norfolk, and Isabella Triance, 45, from Hampstead, north London. Bertram was one of at least five children.

Information from Ian Mackarel

“I am Bertram Triance’s great-grandson. My grandmother (his daughter), Jean Louise Triance (later Mackarel) recounted the circumstances of his death to me some years ago. I took some brief notes about this and other family details at the time. The account given to his family was that he was hit by an artillery shell and died instantly. I was told that he had only joined the army 6 weeks before his death following an incident at work where he was given white feathers by colleagues. He had been exempted service previously. His widow, Daisy, subsequently married James Culverwell and had other children.”

Stanley Humphrey Tremelling

by

Stanley Humphrey Tremelling
Stanley Humphrey Tremelling. Photo © Jean Murray

S. H. Tremelling
Service no. 3000
Private, London Regiment, 1st/24th Battalion
Enlisted in Kennington; lived in Brixton
Killed in action on 26 May 1915, aged about 22
CWGC: “Son of the late Mrs L. M. Tremelling.”
Remembered at Le Touret Memorial, France

Information from the censuses

Stanley Humphrey Tremelling, 18 in 1911, was a machine ruler working for a general printing firm. He lived with his 55-year-old widowed mother, Lucy Tremelling (nee Blundell) from Poplar and 30-year-old stepsister Hilda Tremelling (his dead father’s daughter), who was working as a dressmaker. The family lived in eight rooms at 1 Milkwood Road in Brixton.

In 1901 James Tremelling was a 53-year-old patten maker from Hayle, Cornwall and the family lived at 6 Gladstone Street in Southwark with James Tremelling’s brother Hampton, a French family of three and an American miner.