Stockwell War Memorial

Friends of Stockwell War Memorial & Gardens

1918

Frederick Charles Vincent Upton

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F. C. V. Upton
Service no. 189301
Air Mechanic 2nd Class, Royal Air Force, 116th Squadron
Died on 11 November 1918 (Armistice Day), aged 18
CWGC: “Only son of Frederick William and Annie Upton, of 2 Portland Place South, Clapham Road, London.”
Remembered at Aylesbury Cemetery, Buckinghamshire

Information from the 1911 census

The Frederick Charles Vincent Upton who is in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database appears as Frederick William Upton on the 1911 census. This is somewhat confusing especially given that the census return was completed by his father. It is possible that the CWGC has made an error over the identity of this casualty as some details do match.

Frederick William Upton in the 1911 census was an 11-year-old schoolboy born in Farnham, Surrey, the only son (as corroborated in the CWGC database) of Frederick William Upton, 39, a coffee shop keeper from Betsham, Kent, and Annie Upton, 37, from Farnham, Surrey (she is described as “assisting in the business” on the census). They had three daughters: Ivy Blanche Upton, 14, born in Aldershot, Hampshire; Edith Gertrude Upton, 8; born in Farnham, Surrey: Hilda Annie Upton, 6, born in Farnham. The family lived in 5 rooms at 2 Portland Place South, near Clapham Road. This street has now disappeared (apart from a few houses) and has been replaced by Portland Grove. The area sits within the Mursell Estate.

Albert Edward Upton

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A. E. Upton
Service no. L/17507
Private, London Regiment, 7th Battalion, formerly Middlesex Regiment
Born in Lambeth; enlisted in London
Killed in action on 21 March 1918, aged about 23
Remembered at Chauny Communal Cemetery British Extension, Aisne, France

Information from the censuses

Albert Edward Upton, 16 in 1911, was described by his father Edward Upton as “youth – not settled” on the 1911 census. Edward repeated the word “unsettled’ in the next column (which is meant for information on the type of business a person is employed in) and added “butcher”, confusingly, to the next column (designed to record whether the business took place at home or outside the home). Edward Upton’s mistakes have given us a lot more information than most census returns. For instance, he tells us that he was born “between Brixton and Clapham Roads” and that he and his wife, Mary Ann Upton, at 54 the same age as her literal-minded husband and from Beaulieu, Hampshire, had been married 21 years last September. We also know that he worked as a goods guard for the London & South West Railway.  The couple had two children (one had died): Albert and Ada Mary Ellen Upton, 19, a service housemaid. Both were born, Edward tells us, were born at 7 Dawlish Street, South Lambeth, where the family still lived.

William Evan Turpin

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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.

Cecil Archibald Jaques Treacher

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C. A. J. Treacher
Service no. 33191
Private 2nd Class, Royal Air Force
Died on 9 May 1918, aged 25
CWGC: “Son of Joseph Jaques and Sarah Ann Treacher, of 14 Stansfield Road, Brixton, London.”
Remembered at Lambeth Cemetery, Tooting, London SW17

Information from the censuses

Stockwell-born apprentice electrical wireman Cecil Archibald Jaques Treacher, 17, lived with his parents, Joseph Jaques Treacher, 48, an electrical wireman from Clerkenwell, north London and Sarah Ann Treacher, 50, from Bermondsey, and older brother Joseph Jaques, an instructor of handicrafts, born in Newington. Their accommodation at 14 Stansfield Road, Brixton had five rooms, and the family had been there since at least 1901.

Charles John Totham

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C. J. Totham
Service no. G/20867
Private, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), then London Regiment, posted to 1st/20th Battalion
Born in Stockwell; enlisted in Camberwell
Killed in action on 2 June 1918, aged 18
CWGC: “Son of Arthur John and Emma Alice Totham, of 2a Tasman Road, Landor Road, Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension, France

Information from the censuses

We have not found Charles Totham on the 1911 census, but his parents and siblings are registered at 32 Eastcote Street, Stockwell, where they had two rooms. Arthur John Totham, 33, was a “contractor’s carman” from Coggeshall, Essex;Emma Alice Totham, 33, was from Castle Combe, Wiltshire. Charles’s siblings were Lilian Annie Totham, 8, and Frederick Thomas Totham, 3, both born in Lambeth.

British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920

When joining the Kings Royal Rifle Corps at Battersea on 10 March 1915, Charles Totham gave his age to the attesting officer as 18 years and 272 days and his occupation as “carman”.

Totham was posted to Winchester on 12 March and then to Sheerness on 19 March, but he was found out on 19 June 1915 and discharged, “having made a mis-statement as to age in enlistment.” He had served 102 days. He returned to his family at 24 Lingham Street, Stockwell.

He was a slight lad, although at 5 feet 3 inches and weighing 121 pounds with a 35 inch chest he was not unusual. Many recruits were similarly slender and he was judged fit to serve. But he was only 15, possibly 16.

Later, he joined the Queen’s Own and died, killed in action at age 18.

Frederick Tomlin

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F. Tomlin
Corporal, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), 108th Coy., Service no. 42235; formerly 4151, London Regiment.
Died of wounds on 24 March 1918, aged 38.
CWGC: “Son of John and Emma Tomlin; husband of Ethel Tomlin, of 98, Dalyell Rd., Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at Noyon New British Cemetery, Oise, France.

Frederick Tomlin, a married salesman originally from Tring, Hertfordshire, lived at 98 Dalyell Road, Brixton, and enlisted in May 1916. Tomlin’s physical development was described as “good” by the examining officer: he was 5 feet 2 inches tall, had a 36-inch chest and weighed 10 stone. He sustained a gunshot wound to his back on 23 March 1918 and died of his wounds. He was the father of five children.