sharing Solihull's local history
Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Courtenay Brabazon Throckmorton, known as Courtenay, was killed at the Battle of Sannaiyat, Mesopotamia (now Iraq) on 9th April 1916. He was aged 49 and was the eldest son of Captain Richard Acton Throckmorton, whose brother was Sir William Throckmorton of Coughton Court, Warwickshire, 9th Baronet. Courtenay was the heir presumptive to his uncle’s estates.
The local link is that he was a member of the North Warwickshire Hunt, which was based in Meriden.
Private (Acting Corporal) John Henry Andrews, 2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade, died of wounds on 6th April 1916. He was born in West Hanningfield, near Chelmsford, Essex, on 13th September 1886 and was baptised there on 10th October 1886.
Private George William Kippen was killed in action in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) on 5th April 1916, serving with the 9th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He was the eldest of five children born to parents George (born 1861), a gun screwer, and Jane (née Farrington) and he seems to have had rather a difficult life before enlisting in the Army in March 1914. Two of his three brothers are also known to have served in the Armed Forces.
Private Arthur Watton, also with the 9th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, died of wounds on the same day in the same place. The Battalion was mobilised for war in June 1915 and sent to Gallipoli. Owing to severe losses from combat, disease and harsh weather, the Division was evacuated to Mudros and then Egypt in January 1916. On 16th February 1916 the Battalion embarked for Basra from Suez to defend British interests against Turk forces, arriving on 28th February 1916.
Both men are commemorated on the Basra Memorial.
Private Harry Bradford Kerbey, 2nd/6th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment, died in the Military Hospital, South Tidworth, Hampshire, on 29th March 1916 and is buried in Sutton Road Cemetery, Southend-on-Sea.
He was born in Charmouth, Dorset and was the second-youngest of the nine children of a General Practitioner, Dr William Holman Kerbey, and his wife, Fanny (née Bradford). Dr Kerbey died in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex on 28th June 1908. His widow, who was born in Leominster, Herefordshire, and her youngest daughter were recorded as visitors in Birmingham in 1911. Harry Kerbey doesn’t appear to be on census returns in 1911 but Soldiers Died in the Great War gives his residence as Olton and his place of enlistment as Birmingham.
Lieutenant Glyn Cuthbert Robertson was shot and killed by a sniper at Neuville St Vaast, France whilst inspecting trenches previously taken over from the French. There is a slight discrepancy in the date of death, with some sources giving this as 15th March.
Although Glyn was born in Southgate, London in 1893, the family actually seems to have been living in Warwickshire for several years. His parents, Arthur (an insurance inspector) and Agnes (née Fitter), were married at Edgbaston parish church in 1889, and his sister, Dorothy, was born in Egbaston in 1890. Glyn was baptised at Hampton-in-Arden on 22nd July 1893, with his parents’ address at the time being recorded as Pembroke House, Bounds Green, London and his father’s occupation as clerk.
20-year-old Sergeant Alfred Rabone, the only son amongst the four children of parents Alfred Harry (who seems to have been known as Harry) and Jane Rabone, was killed in action on 24th February 1916, serving with the 10th Battalion, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.
According to the 1901 census Alfred was born in Olton in 1896, although baptism records show that he was baptised at Knowle parish church, aged 3 months, at which time his parents were living in Chessetts Wood and his father was working as a brickmaker. Soldiers Died in the Great War, and the 1911 census, both give his place of birth as Knowle.
23-year-old Private Walter Tarver, a gardener by trade, was killed in action on 21st February at Etaples, France, serving with the 8th Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment. His older brother, Harry, a baker, was also killed on active service.
Walter was born in Cubbington, near Leamington Spa, in 1893, the second youngest of four sons born to parents Thomas and Elizabeth who lived in the village. Harry and Walter both joined up in September 1914 and both are listed as being old boys of Cubbington School. Walter is commemorated on the war memorial at Berkswell but we haven’t been able to find his connection with the village, although there has been speculation that perhaps he worked as a gardener at Berskwell Hall. His brother Harry is not listed on the Berkswell memorial.
Private Hugh Hargrave Wyatt-Smith died of peritonitis in the Military Hospital, Endell Street, London as a result of appendicitis. He had served in the military for only 37 days and was just a few days past his 18th birthday.
Private Joseph Harrison, who died on 31st January 1916 serving as a Private with the 1st Battalion, King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, was born in Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire in 1887. Apart from his war service, he seems to have lived in Baddesley Clinton for his whole life, as did many of his family, who seem to have had a long association with Baddesley Clinton Hall as servants.
On the 1891 census, all four of the live-in female servants (housekeeper, cook, housemaid and kitchen maid) were members of the Harrison family – the sister of Joseph’s father, and three of her nieces.
On 25th January 1916, two local men died as a result of their war service:
Solihull Life 