Stockwell War Memorial

Friends of Stockwell War Memorial & Gardens

Greece

Thomas Joseph Meredith

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T. J. Meredith
Service no. 69867
Gunner, Royal Field Artillery, “B” Bty. 99th Bde.
Died on 9 September 1918 at age 23
CWGC: “Son of Thomas George and Annie Eliza Meredith, of 40 Wilcox Road, South Lambeth, London.”
Remembered at Salonika (Lembet Road) Military Cemetery, Greece

Information from the censuses

The 15-year-old Thomas Meredith, an apprentice bookbinder, born in Lambeth, lived at 21 Neptune Street, Lambeth with his parents and siblings. The family occupied 4 rooms. Thomas’s father, also called Thomas Meredith and born in Lambeth, was 37 and worked as a printer’s labourer. Annie Meredith, 35, was born in Westminster. The couple had had 8 children, 7 of them surviving and 6 appearing on the 1911 census:
Thomas Meredith, 15
Esther Meredith, 12
Annie Meredith, 10
Florrie Meredith, 8
Violet Meredith, 6
Ada Meredith, 4
George Meredith, 1 month
The five-year-old Thomas Meredith and his family were registered on the 1901 census at 39 Neptune Street, Lambeth.

Frank Radcliffe King

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F. R. King
Second Lieutenant, The King’s (Liverpool Regiment), “D” Coy. 14th Battalion
Killed in action at age 30 on 14 September 1916
CWGC: “Son of George Edward King, J.P. (Alderman and Guardian for the Borough of Lambeth and Mayor of Lambeth 1928-29), of 57 Aytoun Road, Stockwell, London, and the late Julia Constance King.”
Remembered at Doiran Memorial, Greece

Information from the South London Press, October 1916

The South London Press reported his death in October 1916 and quoted from a letter from King’s Commanding Officer Colonel Lambert to his father “I regret to say your son was killed two days ago fighting gallantly. We had taken a position held by the Germans, and he and the bombers guarded our right flank and did great execution. He will be a great loss to the regiment, as he was so keen, and a most promising officer, but he died a soldier’s death. The regiment fought splendidly, and though we had heavy casualties – four other officers in the battalion being killed – we caused great losses to the Germans. My sincere sympathy in your bereavement.” A friend stated that King had been made Bombing officer of his battalion, but did not want his parents or sisters to know as this would have worried them. 

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 Frank Radcliffe King, 25, was working as an insurance clerk with the Law Union and Rock Insurance Company. He lived with his parents and 3 of his siblings at 57 Aytoun Road, Stockwell, where the family occupied 8 rooms. Frank’s father, George Edward King, 57, described himself as a schoolmaster and headteacher working for London County Council. He was born in Gorleston, Suffolk. His mother, Julia Constance, 54, was from Islington, north London. They had 5 children, 3 of whom lived at home:
Constance Dorothy King, 30, a schoolmistress and assistant teacher working for the London County Council, born in Brixton
Frank Radcliffe King, 25, born in Stockwell
Kathleen Muriel King, 23, a schoolmistress and assistant teacher working for the London County Council, born in Stockwell
Information from the 1901 Census
The family lived at 57 Aytoun Road in 1901. The census includes Frank’s other siblings
Ethel King, 18, a pupil-teacher, born in Brixton
Ernest King, 16, a clerk with an insurance company, born in Stockwell

John Strachan Kelly

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J. S. Kelly
Service no. 45038
Private, Surrey Yeomanry (Queen Mary’s Regiment), “A” Sqdn.
Born in Aberdeen; enlisted in Clapham; lived in Brixton
Killed in action aged 31 on 22 October 1917
Son of Timothy and Agnes Kelly; husband of Laura M. Kelly, of 6 Benedict Road, Brixton, London.
Remembered at Struma Military Cemetery, Greece)

Information from the 1911 census

John Strachan Kelly, 25 in 1911, lived with his parents and siblings at 13 Dunbar Road, Forest Gate, West Ham. His father, Timothy Kelly, 50, was a customs and excise officer from County Roscommon, Ireland. His mother, Agnes Kelly, 49, was from Aberdeen, Scotland. Of their 10 children, 7 survived (5 of them are on the census return):
John Strachan Kelly, 25, an assistant clerk at the Board of Trade, born in Aberdeen
Mary Kelly, 23, an assistant teacher, born in Aberdeen
Agnes Kelly, 21, a student teacher, born in Aberdeen
Edith Kelly, 19, no occupation, born in North Shields, Northumberland
Charles Edward Kelly, 7, born in Edinburgh

Information from 1901 Scottish census on the BERR website (which lists employees of the Board of Trade who died in the First World War).

John S. Kelly, who at the time of his death worked for the Board of Trade Seamen’s Registry, lived with his family at 4 Admiralty Street, Leith, Midlothian. Nellie Kelly, 8, and Alice Kelly, 9 months, are on this census (and not on the 1911 census).

Joseph Edward Hobbs

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J. E. Hobbs
Service no. 970079
Gunner, Royal Field Artillery, Reinf. Base Depot
Born in London; enlisted in London
Died age 20 on 19 September 1917
CWGC: “Son of Joseph Edward and Edith Hobbs, of 62, Hargwyne Street, Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at Salonika (Lembet Road) Military Cemetery, Greece

Information from the censuses

In 1911 Joseph Edward Hobbs, 39, a fitter’s mate for an electrical light company, and his wife Edith Hobbs, 35, lived in 3 rooms at 62 Hargwyne Street, with their three sons: Fred Hobbs, 16, a messenger boy; Edward Hobbs (the J. E. Hobbs listed on the Stockwell memorial), 13; and Henry Hobbs, 11. The parents, Joseph and Edith, were both born in Paddington, Fred in St Pancras and the younger two brothers in North Kensington.

Frank Barlow

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F. Barlow
Service no. 6507
Private, London Regiment (London Scottish), 2nd/14th Battalion
Died in an accident on 17 February 1917, aged 21
Son of Moses and Frances Barlow, of 20, St Stephen’s Terrace, Albert Square, Clapham Road, London.
Remembered at Salonika (Lembet Road) Military Cemetery, Greece, and at Stockwell War Memorial, London SW9

British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920

Frank Barlow was buried 10 yards from the road at Katerini, near Thessaloniki, Greece. On 17 February 1917 he fell down a precipice and fractured his skull. He was killed instantaneously, according to a witness at the Council of Enquiry in the Field held by Lieutenant Colonel R. J. L. Ogilby on the same day.

The platoon had been told to make their way down a sharp slope east of the camp and up a hill on the other side. “I came to the edge of a cliff with a drop of about 90 feet to a stream below,” said R. C. Hone. “I told the men to get round the best way they could.” They split in two and he tried to cross the stream but fell in and lost his stick. “I called to the others to catch the stick as it went by,” he continued. But then he noticed the body of Private Barlow. “The last time I saw Pte. Barlow was about a quarter of the way down […] when I noticed he was carrying a signalling flag. Serjeant Souter “saw something in the water, which I first thought was an animal. On looking down I found it was a London Scottish man.” They hauled the body out.

No one had seen him fall. “Pte. Barlow was in front of me,” said Private Keech. “I had to drop out for a few minutes and did not see him any more. I had noticed that he was using his signalling flag as a walking stick.”

Barlow was examined by a Captain J. D. Stubbs, of the Royal Army Medical Corps and pronounced dead.

The conclusion was clear: “The court, having considered the evidence [are of the] opinion that the death of 6507 Pte. Frank Barlow was caused by an accident in performance of his duties and that no blame can be attached to any person concerned.”

There is no record that Barlow’s family saw the witness statements or received any further explanation of the death of their son’s death. Three months after the accident, his effects (matchbox, spectacles, pipe, wristwatch, scissors, knife, key, pouch, air pillow, books, compass, cup, dictionary, diaries, wallet and sundries) were sent to his mother at 20 St. Stephen’s Terrace, South Lambeth. She duly completed the paperwork but wrote on 23 Mary 1917: “I have not received my son’s pay book or will. I have had a copy of the latter sent from the War Office, but I should like his own handwriting.”

Barlow served in France for two months before he was sent to Salonika in November 1916. He had enlisted in the London Scottish on 24 January 1916 at Buckingham Gate, London, where he was described as having “good” physical development. He was 5 feet 8 inches, with a 35-inch chest (which he could expand 4 inches). His papers do not include his civilian ocupation, but the 1911 census shows that he was at that time a 14-year-old part-time student and office boy. He lived with his family at 20 St Stephen’s Terrace, SW8, where they occupied five rooms. His father, Moses Barlow, 52, was a mechanical engineer (working in boiler making), from Reading, Berkshire. His mother, Frances Barlow, 43, was born in Chelsea. There was a brother, George, who also later served in the Army.

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 Frank Barlow was a 14-year-old part-time student and office boy, living in 5 rooms with his family at 20 St Stephen’s Terrace, SW8. His father, Moses Barlow, 52, was a mechanical engineer (working in boiler making), from Reading, Berkshire. His mother, Frances Barlow, 43, was born in Chelsea. Others on the census return were
George Barlow, 13
Miriam Barlow, 8
Both were born in Lambeth
A nephew, Richard Barnes, 18, a motor engineer from Sunbury, Middlesex, lived with the family.