Stockwell War Memorial

Friends of Stockwell War Memorial & Gardens

age 25

Charles William Hall

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C. W. Hall
Service no. G/10772
Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, 11th Battalion; also Machine Gun Corps, attd 39th
Killed in action aged about 25 on 14 April 1918
CWGC: “Son of Mrs. M. C. Hall, of 13, Priory Rd., South Lambeth, London.”
Remembered at St. Venant-Robescq Road British Cemetery, Robecque, Pas de Calais

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 Charles William Hall, then 18, lived with his widowed mother, Mary Chamberlain Hall, 59, at 13 Priory Road, South Lambeth, where they occupied 3 rooms. Mary was from Chatteris, Cambridgeshire. Charles, an only child, was born in Lambeth and worked as a clerk for a bottled beer manufacturer. On the night of the census, Mary Jane Jones, a 31-year-old married woman and her son Alfred James Jones, 2, were visiting. They were both Lambeth-born.

Benjamin James George

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B. J. George
Service no PS/2124
Private, Middlesex Regiment, 16th Battalion
Died of wounds age 25 on 15 July 1916
Born in Thornton Heath, Surrey; lived in Stockwell; enlisted in Lambeth
CWGC: “Born at Coulsdon, Surrey. Son of David John Gingell George and Emily George, of 76, Southview Rd., Southwick, Sussex.
Remembered at Hamburg Cemetery, Germany

British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920

Benjamin James George went missing on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. His status changed to “Killed in action” on two weeks later. However, this was wrong. He was, in fact, a prisoner of war in Germany and he was suffering from gunshot wounds to the left side of the chest and pneumonia. He died in the hospital of a German prisoner of war camp (Gefangener Lager Lazarett) at Minden, a city west of Hannover and over 600 kilometres from the Front.
A document translated from the German in George’s file (transmitted to the War Office through the Red Cross) states that he was visited by a clergyman adn buried in the French Cemetery at Minderheide, Grave 145, and gives his precise time of death – 12.30am.

His effects were sent to his family: French dictionary, torch, holdall, notebook, steel mirror. These items were presumably in his dugout. It is unlikely he would have had them with him when captured.

The other details we have on George are that he was 5 feet 6 inches, with a 34½ inch chest (which he could expand by 2½ inches). He weighed just over 9½ stone. There were small moles on the left side of his neck. He had fair hair. He gave his address as 46 Hemberton Street, and his occupation as salesman. He was 25 years and 9 months old and was born in Thornton Heath. He enlisted at Lambeth. He was hospitalised at Tidworth, Hampshire for 3½ weeks in October 1915 with impetigo on the chin. Impetigo, a highly contagious skin disease, was common in soldiers, although rarely reported in the field, as soldiers would wait until it became infected before seeking health. An article in the British Medical Journal of 2 February 1918 claimed that of 1800 military patients in one of the London General Hospitals over 1400 had the condition. Treatment was long and tedious.

Information from the censuses

In 1911 Benjamin James George, then 21, was living with his brothers and sisters at 71 Stanley Street, South Lambeth:
Claude William George, 30, was designated head of the household. He worked as a sorter for the G.P.O. (General Post Office). Born in High Wycombe. Buckinghamshire.

Mabel Adelaide George, 29, was a military tailoress working for the Royal Army Clothing Department. She was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire
Elsie Annie George, 25, had no employment. She was born in Hammersmith, west London.
John George, 23, was a railway porter. He was born in Hammersmith.
Benjamin James George, 21, was a shop assistant in the book trade. He was born in Thornton Heath, Surrey.
Emily White, 25, was a cashier in a restaurant. She was born in the City of London.
Their father was a police sergeant (1901 census).

Frederick Amos Frewer

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F. A. Frewer
Service no. 926373
Gunner, Royal Field Artillery, “A” Bty. 290th Bde.
Killed in action age 25 on 30 October 1918
CWGC: “Son of James and Elizabeth Frewer, of 39, Arlesford Rd., Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at Tournai Communal Cemetery Allied Extension, Belgium

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 Frederick Amos Frewer lived at 40 Chantry Road, Brixton where they had 6 rooms. James Frewer, 49,  born in Marylebone, London, was a vellum binder. Elizabeth Frewer, 44, was also born in Marylebone. Frederick Amos Frewer, 17, was a letterpress machine minder apprentice, born in Paddington, west London. Florence Elsie Elizabeth Frewer, 15, was an apprentice to an embroiderer. She was born in Paddington.

John Morgan French

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J. M. French
Service no. 668
Gunner, Royal Garrison Artillery, 1st/5th Glamorgan Bde.
Born in Lambeth; enlisted in Cardiff
Died of wounds aged 25 on 31 August 1916
CWGC: “Son of John W. French, of 282, South Lambeth Rd., London.”
Remembered at Richmond Cemetery, Surrey

Information from the 1901 census

In 1901 the French family lived at 59 Mawbey Street, South Lambeth. John French, 41, was a brakesman. He was born in Little Baddow, Essex. Sarah French, 41, was born in Glamorganshire, Wales. Rose A. French, 12, John M. French, 10, Frederick French, 7, were all at school and all were born in Lambeth. Lawrence Swan, 25, a 25-year-old single steam engine maker from Burntisland, Fifeshire, Scotland, and William Freeborn, 21, a railway porter from Turweston, Northamptonshire boarded with the family.

John Morgan French, who at some point moved to Cardiff and worked for the Western Mail as a compositor, is also remembered on the Roath Local History website Western Mail Roll of Honour, where you can find further details.

Jeffrey Ely

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J. Ely
Service no. C/276
Private, Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), 2nd Battalion
Killed in action at around age 25 on 25 September 1915
Remembered at Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

Information from the 1911 census and other sources

The Ely family lived in 4 rooms at 95 Paradise Road, Stockwell. Charles Ely, 47, a sewer flusher born in Horseheath, Cambridgeshire, and his wife, Alice, 50, who was born in Lambeth had 9 children (one had died). All were born in Lambeth:
William Ely, 27, a gold blocker
John Ely, 23, a carman
Jeffrey Ely, 19, labourer
Alice Ely, 17
Robert Ely, 15
Samuel Ely, 13
Arthur Ely, 11
Ada Ely, 9
The family were at the same address in 1901.

In 22 December 1912 Jeffrey Ely married Rose Leeves at All Saints, South Lambeth.

Harry George Burls

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H. G. Burls
Service no. 15147
Gunner, Royal Field Artillery, “B” Bty. 211th Bde.
Died of wounds age 25 on 25 October 1918
Born in Stockwell, enlisted at Camberwell
Son of George and Elizabeth Burls, of 25 Moat Place, Stockwell, London.
Buried at Romeries Communal Cemetery Extension, France

National Roll of the Great War 1914-1918

BURLS, H. G., Gunner, R.F.A.
Volunteering in April 1915, he was sent to the Western Front in the same year. He took part in many important engagements, including those on the Somme, and was wounded. He also served in the Retreat and Advance of 1918, and was killed in action at Cambrai in October of that year. He was entitled to the 1914-15 Star, and the General Service and Victory Medals.
25, Moat Place, Stockwell, S.W.9.

There is also an entry for Harry’s brothers Walter Alfred (born 1897) of 25 Moat Place and Frederick Arthur Burls of 1 Combermere Road, a few streets away. Both these men survived the war (the latter being invalided out of the Army).

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 Harry George Burls lived with his widowed mother and siblings in 5 rooms (including kitchen) at 25 Moat Place, Stockwell SW9. Elizabeth Burls, 45, was a housekeeper, born in Finchenfield, Essex. She had given birth to 9 children, 8 of them surviving. Six of them lived with her:
Frederick Burls, 24, a labourer
Harry Burls, 18, a labourer
Zillah Burls, 16, a daily servant
Alfred Burls, 13, part-time schoolboy and baker
Eva Burls, 12
Nellie Burls, 6
All were born in Lambeth