John Augustus Lloyd was born at Hockley Heath on 1st June 1887 and is buried at Umberslade Baptist Church, having died of sickness on 14th May 1915 whilst serving as a Private with the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.
Help us identify Borough casualties
So far, we have over 800 names on our list of those from places now in the Solihull Borough, or from the Solihull Rural District, who died as a result of their war service. However, we are struggling to identify in official records some of the people named on local memorials. This can be because there are too many people of the same name, or because we don’t have full names or service details, or because we have found possible individuals but can’t be sure of any local connection.
If you can help with information on any of the following, especially exact dates of death, please let us know:
5th November 1914
We don’t have very much information about Private Thomas Reader, 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, so would be very grateful if you can add any details.
He was born in London c. 1880, but had moved up to Warwickshire by the time of the 1891 census, when he was listed, aged 12, living with his grandparents William Reader (a farmer) and Elizabeth at Trap’s Green Farm, Ullenhall.Ten years later, he was still in Warwickshire, aged 20, boarding with 71-year-old charwoman, Maria Hunt, at Tanworth-in-Arden. He was listed as a bricklayer’s labourer.
We struggled to find him on the 1911 census but, thanks to an email from researcher, Helen, we know he was still living in Tanworth-in-Arden, aged 32, unmarried, and listed as a boarder with the Collins family. His occupation is listed as general labourer (Army Pensioner), indicating that he had been a regular soldier and had been discharged to pension. Continue reading “5th November 1914”
25th October 1914
Two men who died on Sunday 25th October 1914 are commemorated locally. Private Alfred Hector Rowland Gwinnett is believed to have been killed by a sniper whilst serving with the 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He is commemorated locally at Solihull and Knowle.
Captain Sir Francis Ernest Waller Bt. died on the same day, serving with the Royal Fusiliers (6th Battalion, but attached to the 4th Battalion). The Evening Despatch 25 November 1914 reported that Sir Francis had been ordered to take some lost trenches and guns, which he did successfully. However, when he was rising to urge his men to the final charge, he was severely wounded and died a few hours later. He is commemorated locally at Forest Hall, Meriden (home to the Woodmen of Arden).
6th October 1914
Private Joseph Lenten Austin, a regular soldier who had served through the Boer War 1899-1902, died on 6th October 1914 whilst serving with the 3rd Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and lived in Tanworth-in-Arden.
He appears on the 1881 census, aged four, living with his parents, Joseph and Ursula, at the Cross Keys public house, Ely Street, Stratford, although his middle name appears to have been written down as Denton, rather than Lenton (or Lenten). His father, Joseph, is listed as the inn keeper. By 1891, the family had moved to Haselor, with Joseph (senior) now working as a gamekeeper, and 14-year-old-Joseph (junior) listed as gamekeeper’s assistant.
20th September 1914
Private Albert Newell, serving with the 1st Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Own), died on 20th September 1914. He is commemorated on war memorials at Bickenhill and Marston Green.
Also killed in action was Private George Johnson, 2nd Battalion, Durham Light Infantry. He is commemorated at Tanworth-in-Arden.
11th August 1914
Although Tanworth-in-Arden is not in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, it was part of the Solihull Rural District 1894-1932 and, before that, was part of the Solihull Union Rural Sanitary Authority 1872-1894.
The first casualty from Tanworth, also claimed as Birmingham’s first casualty, is Moseley-born Captain Edmund William Beech, of the First North Midland Field Company, Royal Engineers. He was a Chartered Accountant who lived with his wife and three children at The White House, Tanworth-in-Arden.
Continue reading “11th August 1914”
Solihull Life 