Stockwell War Memorial

Friends of Stockwell War Memorial & Gardens

Belgium

Walter Henry Nethercott

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W. H. Nethercott
Service no. Z/2766
Company Quartermaster Serjeant, Rifle Brigade, 3th Battalion
Born in Battersea; enlisted in London; lived in Lambeth
Killed in action on 10 October 1917, aged around 26
Remembered at Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium

Walter Henry Nethercott, 23, a clerk, enlisted on 12 September 1914. The medical officer described him as having a healthy complexion with brown eyes and auburn hair. He had a mole on the tip of his left shoulder. He stood 5 feet 7half inches, weighed just over 9half stone and his chest measured 33 inches.

The Army recognised Nethercott’s talents early. He rose through the ranks and was promoted to Serjeant in the field in July 1916 and made Company Quartermast Serjeant three months later.

In March 1915 Netherott married Majorie Ballance, of 15 Walberswick Street, South Lambeth. She gave birth to a daughter, Margarette Phyllis, a year later.  Nethercott’s parents were deceased and he had no siblings.

In February 1918, four months after Nethercott was killed, the Army sent his effects to Marjorie: a fountain pen, a disc and chain, diary, Kitchener’s message, a copy of A Rifleman Should Know, a lock of hair. However, a Mr. John Mayo, received his medals, sent to him at 93 Larkhall Rise. The file does not tell us why, and when Marjorie, still living at Walberswick Street, wrote to request to send them to her, the Army replied that they had already been sent to Mr. Mayo.

Marjorie was given a weekly pension of 22s 6d for herself and Margarette.

Information from the 1901 census

In 1901 Walter Nethercott, who was 10 (born in 1891), was living with his widowed grandmother Mary A. Nethercott, 60, at 31 Wheatsheaf Lane. Mary was born in Godstone, Surrey, Walter in Battersea. There are no other members of the household listed.

Arthur Morley Miller

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Arthur Morley Miller
Arthur Morley Miller

A. M. Miller
Service no. C/4039
Lance Serjeant, King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 20th Battalion
Born in Clapham; enlisted in Battersea; lived in Clapham
Died of wounds on 30 September 1917 age 27
CWGC: “Son of William and Emma Miller, of Clapham; husband of K. F. Miller, of 50, Chelsham Rd., Clapham, London.”
Remembered at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium

Arthur Morley Miller
Arthur Morley Miller. Photo (c) Marietta Crichton Stuart

British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920
Arthur Morley Miller joined the King’s Royal Rifle Corps at Battersea on 28 June 1915. He gave his address as 27 Courland Grove, Clapham and described himself as a clerk. The Army assessed him as being 5 feet 5 inches, with a 34½ inch chest which he could expand by 2½ inches. His one distinguishing mark was two moles under his left nipple.

He had no charges on his conduct form and by the time he died of wounds on 20 September 1917 he had risen to become Lance Serjeant. In October 1916 he was wounded and was sent back to England for treatment. At the London General Hospital at Poplar, east London, a doctor described the shrapnel wound to his left hand as a flesh wound with the bones not affected but the tendons exposed. He was discharged after three months and sent back to the front.

He must have had another period of leave because he married Kathleen Florence Cherrill on 16 February 1917. She later received his effects: a crucifix, 2 razors, a French book, letters, a religious book, a cap badge, dentures, diary, a wrist watch and strap, photos, a fountain pen and a whistle. When the Army sent Arthur’s medals, they described him as a Corporal. Florence wrote back: “Am sorry to note you have put Cpl. Miller on both my husband’s medals. He was a L. Sgt.”

Information from the 1911 census

Arthur Morley Miller, 20, was a builder’s clerk. He lived at 27 Courland Grove, where his large family occupied six rooms – he had 11 siblings and half-siblings. His father, Arthur William Miller, 53, worked as a carman. He was born in Lambeth. His mother, Emma Eliza Miller, 49, was from Marylebone, central London. An aunt, Alice Kate Miller, 55, a single machinist of underclothing, lived with the family. Eight children of Arthur William Miller were on the census return:
Alice Kate Miller, 31, born in Lambeth
Albert Ernest Miller, 24, a carpenter, born in Clapham
Arthur Morley Miller, 20, born in Clapham
Louise Emma Miller, 19, a laundry packer, born in Clapham
Elsie Elizabeth Miller, 17, a book folder, born in Clapham
Frederick John Miller, 14, an office boy to an electrical engineer, born in Clapham (he also served in the Army)
Dorothy Ethel Miller, 9, born in Clapham
Amy Eliza Miller, 6, born in Clapham

Frederick Albert Marsh

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F.A. Marsh
Rifleman, Royal Irish Rifles, 12 Bn.
Service no. 43355
Died 15 August 1917, aged 18
Remembered at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium

Chris Burge writes:

erick Albert Marsh was baptised on 26 February 1899 at St Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey, where his parents, Frederick Edwin Marsh, a railway goods shunter, and Frances Ellen Banks, had married just over a year earlier. By the time of the 1901 census, Frederick’s younger sister Ellen Frances was five months old and the family of four had moved to 8 Gaskell Street, off Union Road, in Stockwell. Engine driver William Meads’ family of eight lived at the same address. 

The 1911 census shows Frederick and Ellen Marsh had three children: Frederick Albert, 12, Ellen Francis, 10 and John Edwin, six. The family lived in five rooms at 37 Priory Grove. A family of four occupied two other rooms at the same address. Frederick’s father described his occupation as railway servant. 

Frederick Snr  had been employed by the London & South Western Railway since 1888, working as a shunter at Nine Elms. He was promoted yard foreman by 1907 and by 1912 his weekly wages were 38 shillings. The railways would be vital to the war effort and employees of the L&SWR were issued with a special war service badge. 

If Frederick and Ellen thought their son Frederick was too young to fight in this war, they were mistaken. With or without their consent, in the first week of June 1915, aged just 16, he volunteered at 9 Tufton Street, the administrative headquarters of the 2nd London Regiment. New recruits joined the 4th/2nd Battalion, the training reserve. Frederick was now private 4616 Marsh. 

Some underage recruits were weeded out before transfer to the 1st/2nd, or reported underage on landing in France, but Frederick seems to have remained in the Regiment, in England, until November 1916, when he was part of a large transfer of men to the 12th Irish Rifles and renumbered rifleman 43355 Marsh. A draft of around a hundred men sailed from Southampton to Le Havre on 11 November 1916, joining the 12th Royal Irish Rifles at the front near Messines two weeks later. After months of trench-holding, Frederick was with the 12th Royal Irish Rifles during the attack at Messines in early June and at Ypres in July and August, when heavy rain and constant shelling turned the battlefield into a hideous morass. On 15 August the battalion was readying for a 4.45am zero-hour attack the following day. Frederick was killed when their position was shelled.

Frederick’s parents were still at 37 Priory Grove when his father died in 1934. His mother passed away in 1949, aged 77. 

Frederick Marlow

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F. Marlow
Service no. 2999
Private, London Regiment, 1st/13th Kensington Battalion
Born in Lambeth; enlisted in Kensington; lived in Brixton
Killed in action on 9 May 1915, aged about 20
CWGC: “Son of Mrs C. Marlow, of 15, Stansfield Road, Stockwell Road, Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at Ploegsteert Memorial, Belgium, at Caxton House, Tothill Street, London SW1 and at St Andrew’s Church, Landor Road, London SW9

Memorial showing Frederick Marlow's name (middle of middle column
The original memorial showing Frederick Marlow’s name (middle of third column

Information from BERR.gov.uk
(Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform)

Before Frederick Marlow enlisted in the army, he was an abstractor in the Board of Trade – Labour Department (Central Office). He appears on a Board of Trade staff listed dated April 1913 as one of 47 Abstractors (New Class) in the Labour Exchanges and Unemployment Insurance Branch. The date of his appointment was 29 May 1912 (from when his pension accrued) and his salary was £45. He is remembered on the new war memorial plaque, unveiled in BERR’s headquarters at 1 Victoria Street, London SW1, on 11 November 2002, a replacement for a Roll of Honour to staff of the Board of Trade who fell in the First World War. (The original has been missing for many years.) Marlow is also commemorated on the Memorial to the Staff of the Ministry of Labour, now hanging in Caxton House, Tothill Street, London SW1.

British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920
Frederick Marlow’s brother George also served in the Army (London Regiment, 15th Battalion). He described himself as a clerk at the Admiralty. The records show that he stood over 6 feet tall. He was discharged in late September 1918 as no longer physically fit for War Service (he suffered a gunshot wound to the left wrist).

Information from the censuses

In 1911 Frederick Marlow was a 16-year-old “boy clerk” working for the civil service. He lived at 15 Stansfield Road, Stockwell, with his parents, John Marlow, 53, a joiner from Twickenham, and mother Catherine Marlow, 51, from Gypsy Hill. The occupied 6 rooms. The couple had had 6 children, with 5 surviving:
Catherine Marlow, 21, a dressmaker, born in Kennington
William Marlow, 20, an accountant clerk for the civil service, born in Battersea
Henry Marlow, 18, like his brother Frederick a boy clerk for the civil service, born in Battersea
Frederick Marlow, 16, born in Brixton
George Marlow, 14, a boy messenger for the civil service, born in Brixton
The family is found at the same address 10 years previously.
George Marlow, 4, born in Brixton

Albert Marjeram

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A. Marjeram
Service no. 232420
Private, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), 2nd/2nd Battalion
Born in Brixton; enlisted in Lambeth; lived in Lambeth
Killed in action on 20 December 1917 at age 21
CWGC: “Son of William Marjeram, of 2 Kibworth Street, Dorset Road, Clapham, London, and the late Ruth Marjeram.”
Remembered at Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 Albert Marjoram, then 15, worked as a van guard for the London & South West Railway. He lived with his family in 3 rooms at 2 Kibworth Street, Dorset Road. His father, William Marjoram, 55, was a night watchman born in Lambeth. His mother, Ruth Marjoram, 54, was from Manchester. The couple had had 15 children, of whom 7 had not survived. Three lived at home:
Elizabeth Marjoram, 21, an ironer, born in South Lambeth
James Marjoram, 19, born in South Lambeth, no occupation given
Albert Marjoram, 15, a van guard, born in South Lambeth
The census lists the family as “Marjoram”.
Albert Marjeram’s older brother William Marjeram, 36, a coal man, lived at 8 Alfred Court, South Lambeth, with his wife, Florence, and his four children.

Google trivia: There was another, rather more famous, Albert Marjeram, who was hanged in 1930 at Pentonville for the murder of Edith May Parker.

John George Lowther

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J. G. Lowther
Service no. G/10804
Serjeant, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), 11th Battalion
Born in Newcastle, Northumberland; enlisted in Lambeth; lived in Brixton
Killed in action on 7 June 1917 aged 30
CWGC: “Son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Henry Lowther; husband of Cecilia Lowther, of 6 Speenham Road, Brixton, London.”
Remembered at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium