Stockwell War Memorial

Friends of Stockwell War Memorial & Gardens

age 23

Albert John Tooley

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A. J. Tooley
Service no. 1797
Private, London Regiment (County of London), 20th Battalion
Born in Stockwell; enlisted in Blackheath; lived in Brixton
Killed in action on 23 January 1916, aged 23
CWGC: “Only son of John and Bessie E. Tooley, of 44 Stockwell Green, Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at Maroc British Cemetery, Grenay, France and St Andrew’s Church, Landor Road, London SW9

Information from the censuses

Albert John Tooley, 18 in 1911, was a student teacher born in Stockwell. He lived in a three-roomed apartment at 14 Kimberley Road, Stockwell with his parents John Tooley, 56, a railway guard from Stockwell, and Bessie Tooley, 56, from St Columb, Cornwall. He was an only child (his parents had had two other children who died).

He was born in Stockwell on 3 May 1892 and baptised at St Andrew’s, on 29 June. 

Albert George Tilling

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A. G. Tilling
Service no. 83361
Gunner, Royal Field Artillery, “A” Bty. 93rd Bde.
Born in Wandsworth; enlisted in Camberwell
Killed in action on 8 June 1917, aged about 23
Remembered at Rue-Petillon Military Cemetery, Fleurbaix, France

National Roll of the Great War 1914-1918
TILLING, A. G., Gunner, R.F.A.
Volunteering in 1915, he was sent to France in the same year and was in action on the Somme and at Ypres. He fell fighting at Armentieres in 1917, and was entitled to the General Service and Victory Medals.
“And doubtless he went in splendid company.”
82, Wilcox Road, Wandsworth Road, S.W.8.

British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920

The file for Albert Tilling in WWI Service Records archive relates to an Albert Tilling born in Lambeth in 1895. I have made a connection between the Albert Tillings on the 1911 census, in the National Roll and in the Service Records. However, there are some anomalies, one of them being occupation. The 1911 census gives Albert Tilling as a horse keeper working for the London and South West Railway. The Army records state that Albert Tilling was an electrician’s mate. For me, this does not rule out a connection, but it brings in an element of doubt.

Electrician’s mate Albert Tilling, born in Lambeth and two days’ shy of his 20th birthday, signed up with the Dragoons of the Line (2nd Reserve Cavalry Regiment) at Clifton Street on 20 August 1914. He was tall and thin (5 feet 10 inches and only 9 stone, with a chest of 34½ inches) and his complexion was noted as “sallow”. However, he was accepted as fit for service.

However, after 65 days the Army noticed its mistake – this man’s physical development and pulse rate were “poor”. What’s more, he was suffering from tuberculosis. Tilling was duly discharged on 23 October.

In 1915, possibly cured of his TB or in remission, he must have enlisted again, this time with the Royal Field Artillery, and in 1917 he was killed in action.

Information from the 1901 census
In 1911 Albert Tilling, 17, was a horse keeper, working for the London and South West Railway. His family lived in six rooms at 82 Wilcox Road, South Lambeth. Albert’s father John Tilling, 50, from Wiltshire, was also a horse keeper for L&SW Railway. His mother, Annie Tilling, 49, was from Hampshire. There were four siblings: Florrie Tilling, 19, a waitress in a restaurant; Sidney Tilling, 14; Harry Tilling, 11; William John Tilling, 8. All the children were born in Lambeth. A cousin, Harry Burrell, 20, another horsekeeper for the railway, shared their home, as did a boarder, William Shickey, 30, a single fireman from Somerset. The family had lived at 82 Wilcox Road since at least 1901. In 1901 Albert was six and living with his family at 82 Wilcox Road. There were five boarders, three of them railway horse keepers, born in Iddesdone, Berkshire

John William Stevenson

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J. W. Stevenson
Service no. R/15974
Lance Corporal, King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 12th Battalion
Born in Chelsea, west London; enlisted in London; lived in Vauxhall
Killed in action on 18 September 1916, aged about 23
Remembered at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France

A tentative identification.

Information from the 1911 census

John Stevenson, 18, was an assistant in a butcher shop. He was one of seven children of John Ernest Stevenson, 41, a butcher shop assistant himself, from Pimlico, and Annie Stevenson, 36, from Westminster (one child had died). All the children lived at home, including:
Henry Stevenson, 16, another butcher shop assistant
William Stevenson, 14, an errand boy and shop assistant
Annie Stevenson, 11
Ernest Stevenson, 9
Lily Stevenson, 6
Walter Stevenson, 2
All but John (Pimlico) and Walter (South Lambeth) were born in Chelsea. The family lived at 27 Thorne Street, Wandsworth Road (I am not sure of the exact location of Thorne Street and am wondering if Thorne Road is meant) Stockwell, where they had 7 rooms.

Alfred Frank Spice

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A.F. Spice
Service no. M/1766
Cook’s Mate, Royal Navy, HMS Good Hope
Killed in action on 1 November 1914 at the Battle of Coronel off the coast of Chile, aged 23
Remembered at Portsmouth Naval Memorial
See LondonWarMemorial.co.uk

This identification was made by Chris Burge, who writes:

Albert Frank Spice was born on 9 March 1891 in Clapham, the third child of James Spring and Julia Spice. The family were living in Larkhall Lane at the time. Albert’s father worked as a house painter and decorator and by 1901 there had been two further additions to the family at Larkhall Lane. But fortunes changed with the death of Albert’s father in 1905.

The 1911 Census shows Albert’s widowed mother Julia was employed at home as a sewing machinist doing piecework, and Albert’s sisters Florence and Elsie worked as cardboard box makers. A cousin of Albert’s mother was staying with them, together with a paying boarder. Five people where sharing five rooms at 133 Larkhall Lane, Clapham.

Albert was not to be found at the family home in 1911, he was in the Navy. Albert joined on 11 April 1910, as a 2nd Class Cook’s Mate and had progressed to Cook’s Mate in the intervening year. He served on HMS Dreadnought for two years and moved to HMS Ariadne in 1913 when he had passed for Leading Cook’s Mate. At the outbreak on the war, Albert had been on the armoured cruiser HMS Good Hope since 31 July 1914. Later that year, HMS Good Hope was part of the 4th Cruiser Squadron, which engaged the enemy off the coast of Chile on 1 November. Outnumbered and outgunned, the HMS Good Hope was lost with all hands, a total of 926 officers and ratings.

Albert’s mother and sisters were left to mourn his loss as the war dragged on with no end in sight. The creation of the Stockwell War Memorial offered them a lasting act of remembrance. It had been a long wait.

Frederick James Edmund Spencer

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F.J. Spencer
Second Lieutenant, Wiltshire Regiment
Died of influenza as a prisoner of war on 9 November 1918, aged 23
Remembered at Niederzwehren Cemetery, Kassel, Germany 

Chris Burge writes:

Frederick James Edmund Spencer was born on 25 September 1895 in the Manchester area (Date of birth as in CWGC records, alternatively 25 September 1896 as recorded in German POW records. No registration of birth found in the GRO index.)Frederick’s half-bother Reginald Spencer Wilson was born on 31 October 1900 in Pimlico, London, after Frederick’s mother Maud Spencer married William Wilson on 25 July 1899 at All Saints Church, Stretford, Lancashire. William was an Army tailor and Maud was described as a 27-year-old spinster at the time of her marriage, which was witnessed by her sister Adeline. Maud’s address was 22 Sydney Street and she had worked as a dressmaker before her marriage. Reginald Spencer Wilson was baptised on 27 November 1900 at St Saviour’s, St George’s Square, Pimlico, London, when William and Maud lived at 22 Aylesford Street. Their address was close to the Royal Army Clothing Depot in Pimlico.

In the 1901 census, William, Maude and baby Reginald were in Lancashire again, recorded as boarders at 20 Sydney Street, Stretford, next door to Maud’s widowed mother and siblings. William Wilson was now a lance corporal. Frederick Spencer did not appear in the 1901 census. 

Maud Spencer died on 15 December 1907, while her husband was based in Aldershot. William Wilson was married for a second time in 1908 to Margaret Elizabeth McPherson on 23 July at Holy Trinity, Vauxhall Bridge Road. Margaret gave her address as 3 Bessborough Place and William his as ‘Borden Camp Hants’. 

In the 1911 census, Sergeant William Wilson was a master tailor with the 2nd Battalion Devonshire Regiment at St George’s Barracks, Malta. His wife Margaret and their children were in the married quarters, along with Reginald Spencer Wilson. Frederick Spencer’s whereabouts in 1911 are unknown. 

William Wilson left the Army in 1912 on the termination of his second period of service, with the intention of returning to 3 Bessborough Place. He had been in Egypt before his final discharge in Jersey. He soon moved his family across Vauxhall Bridge to Lambeth and was in Kennington by 1913 and first appeared at 22 Guildford Street in 1915, an address close to St. Barnabas Church. It was in March 1915 that Frederick’s half-brother Reginald joined the Army as a boy solider and was with the 5 Coldstream Guards. Reginald was an office boy at the time of joining and gave 22 Guildford Street as his home address. The recurrence of a childhood ailment was not helped by an operation to drain an abscess on his right kidney and Reginald was discharged unfit on 29 December 1916.

Frederick Spencer volunteered at the end of 1915, or early January 1916, and served as Private F/2792 in the Middlesex Regiment (data from Medal Index card of Frederick James Edmund Spencer). His service number and first date of entry in France on 4 May 1916 indicate he served in the 23rd Battalion, nicknamed the 2nd Football Battalion, of the Middlesex Regiment. Frederick Spencer served for around a year on the Western Front before he was recommended for a commission. He was gazetted on 1 August 1917 as a temporary 2nd Lieutenant in the Wiltshire Regiment, the notice appearing in the 1 September 1917 issue of the London Gazette. 

F.J.E. Spencer was one of several junior officers who joined the 2nd Wiltshire at the Wytschaete Sector from the Rouen base in October 1917. The keeper of the battalion’s war diary noted on 6 October 1917 that: ‘2/Lts G.R Gosling, G.D. Chapman, C.D. Baker, G.M. Jeans and C. Hirschhorn joined from Rouen and posted to “C”, “B”, “D”, “A” and “D” Coys. respectively.

Frederick Spencer’s arrival was noted on the 10 October 1917: ‘2/Lt F.J.E. Spencer arrived from Rouen & posted to “B” Coy.’

Like Frederick, William Robert Gosling (MM) and Cecil Hirschhorn were commissioned from the ranks. All had been the afforded the status, privileges and responsibilities of officer gentlemen, literally on a temporary basis for the duration of the war. As far as the battalion’s war diary is concerned, 2/Lt F.J.E. Spencer remained an anonymous figure for many months until he was noted as being on leave on 16 March 1918, one of the last of his original group to be granted leave. A fact that saved his life, at least in the short term. 

The 2nd Wiltshire were holding a part of the front in the Savy area, south-west of St Quentin when they were in the path of the enemy’s spring offensive which broke on 21 March 1918. Subjected to an intense five-hour bombardment, they faced an infantry assault of overwhelming numbers and were forced to give ground over the coming days. They were not relieved until 1 April 1918, by which time the battalion had lost 23 officers either killed, wounded or missing. Of other ranks, four were killed, nine wounded and 597 were missing. The battalion had in many senses ceased to exist. 

Among the missing were Frederick’s fellow officers 2/Lts W. R. Gosling and C.D. Baker. It had been a fluid and chaotic period, but there was no indication when, or if, Frederick Spencer had rejoined, what remained of his battalion by April, or when they had moved north again in mid-April. A composite battalion was formed from what was left of the 2nd Wiltshires and 2nd Bedfordshire on 19 April 1918. Between 25 and 28 April this composite formation was heavily engaged in the area south of the Yser Canal near a feature called the ‘spoil bank’. According to the 2nd Bedfordshire war dairy, ‘Captain Smith (Wilts R.) and part of his company were captured on 26 April 1918’ after the enemy crossed the canal. It is possible 2/Lt. F. J. E. Spencer was taken prisoner here, but his name does not appear in either the 2nd Wiltshires or 2nd Bedfordshire official war diaries. It is only German records which show he was taken prisoner in the Wytschaete area on 25 April 1918. 

Frederick was held at the Offizierlager, Mainz, a camp housing up to 700 prisoners. His records gave his address as 22 Guildford Road and incorrectly referred to his father as W. Spencer. Frederick James Edmund Spencer died in the camp hospital on 9 November 1918 of ‘infolge lungenentzundung und grippe’– he had contracted influenza. A death certificate was issued at the Festungslazarette I.Mainz dated 11 November 1918, the date of the ceasefire, and a copy passed to the International Red Cross, stamped ‘Comminqué famille 29.11.18’. 

At the end of the war, the balance of Frederick James Edmund Spencer’s account and war gratuity, which amounted to £98 15s 1d, was paid to his only blood relative, his half-brother Reginald Spencer Wilson. A RNVR record dated April 1919 shows Reginald Wilson had been a ship’s steward and part of the Mercantile Marine Reserve when he volunteered to work on mine clearance for a period of six months. Reginald passed way in Essex in 1927, aged 27. 

When the Stockwell War memorial was unveiled in 1922, William Wilson and family were still living at 22 Guildford Road, which remained their home until at least 1939.

William Thomas Snelling

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W.T. Snelling
Service no. R/2283
Able Seaman, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Howe Bn. R.N. Div.
Died on 26 October 1917 (missing, assumed killed in action), aged 23
Remembered at Tyne Cot Memorial, Heuvelland, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium

Brother of Frederick William Snelling and cousin of Harold Measday Snelling 

William Thomas Snelling, born in Limehouse, east London on 5 May 1894, the third son of Charles Henry and Emily Jane Snelling, and baptised at St Anne’s, Limehouse on 30 May (see Frederick William Snelling for family details). Formerly of the 2/1st Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry, enlisted in the Territorial Force on 30 August 1916, transferring to the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve on 16 June 1917. He joined the British Expeditionary Force on 4 July 1917 and Howe Battalion on 1 September. 

William’s father Charles Henry Snelling of 260 South Lambeth Road, Stockwell, was named as his next of kin. 

Ex-315900 Private 2/1st Westmorland & Cumberland Yeomanry, enlisted Territorial Force 30 August 1916, transferred to RNVR for RND 16 June 1917 ; Draft for BEF 4 July 1917, joined Howe Bn. 1 September 1917 to 26 October 1917 DD (declared dead).
Born 5 May 1894
Next-of-kin: Father, Charles Henry Snelling, 260 South Lambeth Road, Stockwell, London SW9.