Stockwell War Memorial

Friends of Stockwell War Memorial & Gardens

age 38

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.

Henry William Laidler

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H. W. Laidler
Service no. 188508
Sapper, Royal Engineers, Gen. Base Depot
Born in Lambeth; enlisted in Lambeth; lived in Stockwell
Died age 38 on 25 July 1918
Remembered at Basra War Cemetery, Iraq

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 Henry William Laidler, then 31 and working as a plumber, lived in 3 rooms at 42a Lingham Street, Stockwell. He and his wife, Emily Laidler, 28, were born in Lambeth. Emily worked as a cigarette box maker, and they had a 3-year-old daughter, Lilian, who was born in Stockwell.

Information from the 1901 census

In 1901 Henry William Laidler was a 21-year-old plumber living with his family at 13 Brooklands Road. The household consisted of his father, William H. Laidler, 44, also a plumber, born in Hampton Wick; mother, Sarah J. Laidler, 41, born in Islington; brother Arthur L. Laider, 14, shop assistant; and great-aunt, Marion Lamb, 62. Henry and Arthur were both born in Lambeth. A sister, Rose Laidler, born in 1883, is listed on the 1891 census.

Ernest Girdlestone

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E. Girdlestone
Service no. 16374
Private, Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, 6th Battalion
Killed in action age 38 on 17 September 1916
Enlisted in Lambeth; lived in Brixton
CWGC: “Son of the late Owen William and Clara Morten Girdlestone, brother of Mrs. L. Boughey, of 283 Rosendale Road, Herne Hill, London.”
Remembered at London Cemetery and Extension, Longueval, France

Information from the censuses

In 1911 Ernest Arthur Girdlestone, 30, was working as a painter’s labourer and living with his brother Percy James Girdlestone, 28, a widowed upholsterer, and his son, William Girdlestone, 6, at 188 Icknield Port Road, Birmingham, where they occupied 2 rooms. All were born in Brixton, south-west London.
Twenty years earlier Ernest was living with his parents and siblings at 99 Stockwell Road, where the household included:
Owen Girdlestone, 63, an upholsterer from Halesworth, Suffolk
Clara Girdlestone, 44, from Colchester, Essex
Owen Girdlestone, 16, a tailor’s porter, born in Holborn, London
Ernest Girdlestone, 13, born in Holborn, London
Percy Girdlestone, 12, born in Holborn, London, “speech and hearing imperfect”
Clara Girdlestone, 2, born in Lambeth

There is a discrepancy between the 1891 and 1911 censuses in place of birth for Ernest and his siblings. It is possible that, since the death of Owen and Clara Girdlestone, this knowledge was lost.

George Cecil Barter

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G. C. Barter
Service no. 130528
Bombardier, Royal Garrison Artillery, 359th Siege Bty.
Died on 3 April 1918
Husband of Mrs. M. A. E. Barter, of 4, Wyvil Road, South Lambeth Road, London.
Remembered at Voormezeele Enclosures No. 1 and No.2, Ypres, Belgium

Information from the 1911 census and London Marriages and Banns

In 1911, before their family was started, George Cecil Barter, 26, and Mary Ann Elizabeth Barter (nee Dade), 29, lived at 39 Coppermill Row in Walthamstow, east London. George was working as a hotel porter. He was born in Swindon, Wiltshire. Mary was  born in Lambeth. The census shows that her family were living at 4 Wyvil Road, which became her home after she was widowed. The couple were married at St Anne’s Church, South Lambeth Road on 11 December 1910.

British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920

When George Barter died at Ypres his widow Mary was left to care for five young children. It was too much. “You will notice that my son G. W. B. Barter is not at present living with me as his uncle has undertaken him for me,” she explained to the notoriously strict Pension Board in April 1918. Her hands were full, she said, coping on her own with four younger children from five to 10 months.  Soon afterwards she moved back to her parents’ home at 4 Wyvil Road, South Lambeth.

Sadly, her burden was reduced a few months later. Ernest, her youngest, died of convulsions and brochopneumonia. She carefully submitted his death certificate to the authorities.

In civilian life, Barter was a hotel porter. Before they started their family he and Mary lived at 39 Coppermill Row in Walthamstow, east London. Originally he was from Swindon, Wiltshire, while Mary was  born in Lambeth. They married at St Anne’s Church, South Lambeth Road (which Mary called “Old Lambeth Church” in her paperwork) on 4 December 1910.

Barter, 5 feet 8 inches, with a 39-inch chest (which he could expand by four inches), was 36 when he was conscripted on 19 November 1916. He was in England until June 1917, when he was sent to France (he was simultaneously promoted to Bombardier).  After death, he was awarded a Military Medal.

His effects included photos, pipe pocket, book, religious medallion, match box case, two cigarette cases, pocket knife, pouch, nine-carat gold ring, wristwatch and strap, photo case, disc, cards and a farthing.

Henry Eustace Adams

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H.E. Adams
Rifleman, Rifle Brigade, 13th Bn.
Service No. S/2950
Died 25 October 1916, aged 38
Remembered at Wimereux Communal Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France, at St Mark’s Church, Kennington and on the war shrine at St Michael’s Church, Stockwell Park Road, London SW9 0DA

Henry Eustace Adams, from De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour, 1914-1924

Chris Burge writes:

Henry Eustace Adams, born in Southwark in 1878, was the youngest son of Robert Adams and Ann (née Lee), who were married at St Martin in the Fields Church in Trafalgar Square in 1863. At the time of Henry’s birth his father was already established as a successful mechanical engineer.  By the time of the 1891 census his widowed father Robert lived at 162 Brixton Road (still standing and Grade II listed), with Sidney James, 21; Emily Martha, 17; Fanny, 14; Henry Eustace, 12; and Annie, 10. The family employed a single domestic servant. The house, which is still standing, is a double-fronted Regency villa dating from around 1823, with, at that time, 13 rooms, a basement, attic and coach house.

At the age of 50, Robert Adams was married for a second time, to Louisa Mary Pearce, who was ten years younger. A decade later, the family were still living at 162 Brixton Road, which they had named Victor Lodge.  

Henry went to  West Cliff School, Ramsgate and City of London School, and matriculated at the University of London in 1900. After qualifying as an architect in 1904 he joined his father’s engineering business and later became a partner.

Henry was educated at West Cliff School, Ramsgate and City of London School, matriculated at the University of London in 1900 and qualified as an architect four years later. He worked in his father’s 30-year-old business at 3 and 5 Emerald Street, near Holborn along with his older brother Sidney James; the brothers later became partners. When Henry’s 70-year-old father completed the 1911 census the household consisted of himself, his wife Louisa Mary, and his children, now all in their 30s: Sidney, Emily, Henry and a domestic servant Annie Dickenson. 

On the outbreak of war Henry felt compelled to volunteer. On 9 September 1914, after failing to get into the Royal Engineers, Henry had gone to 32 St Paul’s Churchyard, where he joined the Rifle Brigade. He was 35 years old, 5ft 9½in in height and weighed almost 10½st with a 36in chest. His hair and eyes were brown and he had a fresh complexion and no distinguishing marks other than two moles on his back.  

Henry’s father died on 11 September 1914, aged 74.  With Henry in the Army, Sidney was left to run the family business.

The part he played in the War and his own fate is described in detail in an entry in De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour, based on information provided most likely by his older brother Sidney James Adams.

Henry served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders from 29 July, 1915. He took part in operations along the British front from Armentieres to Albert and was selected for special duties with the Royal Engineers. in the winter of 1915–16, and was attached to the 147th Army Troop Company, when he was entrusted with the survey of important works connected with the 7th Corps line, which included those in front of the villages of Souastre and St Armand, and prepared the plans which were submitted to Headquarters, and for these services he was highly commended.

He took part in the Battle of the Somme, and died in No. 14 Stationary Hospital, Wimereux, 25 October from complications arising from exposure in the field, after being wounded in action between Contalmaison and Pozières on 10 July. 

A comrade wrote:

We had been carrying bombs, etc., up to the front line, a small party of about eight, and we succeeded in getting through a terrible barrage to our destination safely. We were told to take shelter in the front line for a time. It was then he [Adams] got hit by a piece of shrapnel. As things did not get better, we were told to make our way back, and, of course, take Mr. Adams with us; but he absolutely refused to let us do so, saying he did not want to jeapardize [sic] our young lives in attempting to save his. We were all so sorry to leave him, for he was highly respected by us all, and he was always looked upon as our adviser owing to his superior knowledge on almost everything possible to think of. 

Henry had left a will in favour of Sidney and probate was granted on 23 October 1917, amounting to £3171 12s 6d.  At the end of the war Henry’s brother had preferred to deal with the Army’s officialdom via his family solicitor.  In 1920, there was confusion over a communication printed with the words ‘army service effects’, containing the sum of £9. This was a war gratuity payment and not the personal effects that Sidney still longed to have, as his solicitor pointed out: ‘Our client is very anxious to have his brother’s effects, and we would be obliged if you will have a special enquiry made about them…’ There is no record that any of Henry’s personal belongings were ever returned to his brother. 

Mr S.J. Adams was listed among those who made an additional subscription to the Stockwell Memorial fund when it was officially unveiled in 1922, as reported in The Brixton Free Press on 5 May 1922. In 1927, aged 57, Sidney married Dorothy Winifred Passmore. The couple, along with Sidney’s sister Emily, lived at 162 Brixton Road until 1937 when Sidney passed away at the age of 67.

The full entry for Henry Eustace Adams in De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour, probably based on information provided by Adams’ older brother Sidney James Adams.