Stockwell War Memorial

Friends of Stockwell War Memorial & Gardens

age 21

William Lawrence Murray

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W. L. Murray
Service no. 2251
Rifleman, London Regiment (City of London Rifles), 6th Battalion
Killed in action on 25 September 1915 at age 21
CWGC: “Son of Alec and Elizabeth Alice Murray, of 37, Kay Rd., Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at Maroc British Cemetery, Grenay, France

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 William Lawrence Murray was a junior clerk working for the Amalgamated Press and living in a three-roomed apartment at 15 Rhodesia Road, Stockwell. The census return included William and his mother, Elizabeth Alice Murray, 44, born in St Giles in the Fields, London. Alec Murray is not on the return.

Frederick James Moulder

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© South London Press
© South London Press

F. J. Moulder
Service no. 512364
Private, London Regiment (London Scottish), “C” Coy. 1st/14th Battalion
Killed in action at age 21 on 23 August 1918
Son of Frederick and Elizabeth Moulder, of 35 Cottage Grove, Stockwell, London.
Remembered at Bucquoy Road Cemetery, Ficheux, France

South London Press, 4 October 1918
CLAPHAM LONDON SCOT KILLED.
Brave Runner Falls While Dispatch Carrying
Pte. F. T. Moulder, London Scottish, killed in action while carrying dispatches under heavy shellfire, was a native of Clapham, formerly residing at 35, Cottage-grove, Bedford-rd. He joined the London Scottish in the early days of the war and did excellent work as a company and battalion runner since the days of the terrible Somme push of 1916.

A comrade, Pte, E. A. McKearon, himself wounded and an inmate of the 1st London General Hospital, Camberwell, says of him: “He was well known throughout the battalion and had earned the esteem and respect of all who knew him.”

John Charles Miller

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J. C. Miller
Service no. 7267
Private, Australian Infantry, A.I.F., 21st Battalion
Died of wounds 19 May 1918 aged 21
CWGC: “Son of Amy Miller, of 296, Clapham Rd., London. Native of Middlesex, England.”
Remembered at Querrieu British Cemetery, Somme, France

Information from the Australian National Archives

John Charles Miller, a single man earning his living as a clerk, lived at 300 Queens Street, Melbourne, Australia when he signed up for service in the Infantry on 12 December 1916. Within days he was on the troop ship Ballarat heading for Devonport, England, where he arrived in late April 1917.

Miller was 5 feet 10 inches and 148 pounds (10½ stone), his chest measured 36 inches and he could expand it by an impressive 5 inches. He had a scar on his right knee. He had blue eyes, brown hair and his complexion was described as “mid”, whatever that means. His father was deceased, but his mother lived at 296 Clapham Road.

The journey was not without events. Miller was hauled up twice – once for failing to report for duty when warned and once for going absent without leave, for which he was punished with 24 hours detention. He was also made to forfeit two days’ pay (10 shillings).

By September 1917 he had joined his battalion. We know he had a period of leave to England between 16 January and 16 February 1918, and on 19 May he suffered a shell wound to his left leg, which shattered. He died of wounds in the 5th Australian Field Ambulance.

Before he died, Miller wrote a will leaving all his possessions to his mother, Amy Miller. This was dated 4 August 1917, that is before he went to France. It was witnessed by Laura Miller of 35 St Stephens Terrace, South Lambeth, who stated that she was involved in “war work at the Admiralty” and by a police constable, Stephen Staughton, who lived in the same house as Amy.

Claude James Edwin Meacock

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C. J. E. Meacock
Service no. 200253
Corporal, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), 1st Battalion
Killed in action on 26 August 1918 at the age of about 20
Born in Lambeth; enlisted at Handel Street; lived in Wandsworth
Remembered at Summit Trench Cemetery, Croisilles, France

Information from the 1901 census

In 1911 Claude Meacock lived at 11a Goldsboro Road, near Wandsworth Road, with his parents and 5 siblings. His father, James Meacock, 39, was a chargeman of cleaners for the London & South West Railway. He was born in Bayswater, west London. His mother, Anna Mary Meacock, 41, was from Croydon. The children were:
Claude Meacock, 12, born in Clapham
Muriel Meacock, 10, born in Clapham
Stewart Meacock, 8, born in Clapham
Irene Meacock, 6, born in Clapham
Beatrice Meacock, 4, born in South London
Edna Meacock, 2, born in South London
There was also a boarder: Benjamin Pay, an 18-year-old single man (no occupation given) from Elstead.In 1901 Claude, then aged 3, was living with his mother, younger sister Muriel, cousin Lucy Bashford, 11, at 27 Ashburnham Grove, Greenwich. His father James is not listed.

James William McEvoy

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J. W. McEvoy
Service no. 93025
Gunner, Royal Field Artillery, 378th Bty. 169th Bde.
Died of wounds on 28 April 1918 at age 21
CWGC: “Son of James and Elizabeth McEvoy, of 35 Sutherland Street, Pimlico, London. Native of South Lambeth, London.”
Remembered at Mont Huon Military Cemetery, Le Treport, France

Information from the 1901 Census

In 1901 James McEvoy was 4 and living with his parents at 38 Lansdowne Road, a boarding house. His parents, James McEvoy, 30, from Pimlico, and Elizabeth McEvoy, 30, from Bedford, had six boarders (their first names are not listed):
Smith, 53, a widowed dress-maker, from Hampshire
Farris, 26, a cheesemonger, born in Guildford
Major, 40, a commercial traveller, born in Clapham
Geverding, 32, a musician, born in Camberwell
O’Connell, 25, a bank clerk, born in Southsea
Mortlock, 46, a governess, born in Hackney
I cannot find James William McEvoy on the 1911 census.

Charles Thomas Markham

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C. T. Markham
Service no. 232431
Private, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), 2nd Battalion, also Royal Fusiliers, attd. 7th Battalion
Born in Wandsworth; enlisted in Clapham; lived in Lambeth
Killed in action on 6 April 1918, aged 21
Remembered at Pozieres Memorial, France

Charles Thomas Markham (courtesy of Pat Norris)

Information from the 1911 census

This identification is somewhat tentative. We do not have a year of birth for Charles Thomas Markham.
In 1911 a Charles Markham, born in Wandsworth, was living at 75a Ellerslie Road, Clapham. He was 16 and working as a grocer’s shop assistant. The household included his father, William Markham, 46, a carpenter and joiner from Framingham, Suffolk, and his mother, Mary Ann Markham, 45, from Holburn, London. They had had 8 children, 6 surviving. Apart from Charles there were 3 children living at home: Jessie Markham, 12, born in Stockwell; Sidney Markham, 7, born in Clapham; and Stanley Markham, 4, born in Stockwell.