Following on from my recent story of Boer War veterans, I return to the subject to tell the stories of the other two old soldiers mentioned in the article from the “Altrincham Guardian”.
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| Boys of the Old Brigade |
With only his initials to start the search J. P. Webster proved quite illusive to track down, but I think I finally ran him to ground. Joseph Paul Webster was born into an army family in the Portobello area of Dublin, Ireland on 27th May, 1874. Both his father and grandfather were also named Joseph Paul. His father was born in Canterbury, Kent the son of a policeman. When the third generation Joseph Paul Webster was born his father was a Sergeant-Major in 17th Lancers, based in Dublin Ireland.
His mother was Jane (née Adams) who was born in Godalming, Surrey in 1848. He was his parents third child and first son, after two older sisters Sarah Jane, born in Godalming in the March quarter of 1870 and Elizabeth who was born in Gort, Galway after her father had been posted to Ireland.
Soon after his birth the family moved back to England, to Basingstoke, Hampshire, where Sargeant-Major Webster took up the post as the drill instructor to the Hampshire Yeomanry as evidenced by the 1881 census.
This also shows, Jane had given birth to a second son, William Henry, in 1877, a third daughter, Clara, had followed in 1878 and another son George Augustus was just a month old when the census was taken on April 3rd, 1881. Later, a fourth son, Arthur Gulliver was born to Joseph Paul and Jane in Basingstoke in the March quarter of 1888.
A sad feature of the children of this family was curiously, although the three daughters all lived into adulthood, Joseph Paul Jr. was the only son to do so; the other three all dying tragically young.
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| The cap badge of the 17th Lancers |
The young Joseph Paul enlisted into his father’s old Regiment the “Death or Glory Boys” - 17th Lancers in Basingstoke, Hampshire on the 1st February, 1892. He served for a full 12-year term after being recalled to active service, on 28th December, 1899, at the outset of the Second Boer War during which he was promoted to the rank of Sargeant on the 5th May, 1900. He was finally demobilsed on the 31st January, 1904.
He married, only six weeks later, on the 14th March, 1904 at St. Mary’s Church, Edge Hill, Liverpool to Jane Mason (née Fox), a widow with two school-age children, Ellen (13) and Percival (10), who kept a boarding house at 85, Leopold Road, West Derby, Liverpool.
According to the 1911 census, the family had moved to 18, Lucan Road, Aigburth, Liverpool. Joseph Paul was recorded as a Mounted Police Constable; Ellen was a shop assistant and Percival a clerk.
Searches into possible records of his life after 1911 have been unproductive. It is likely that he did not serve in the forces during World War 1 as he was in a reserved occupation. From the press cutting he at some point moved, before the autumn of 1959, from Liverpool to Stretford, Lancashire.
A death of a Joseph P. Webster was registered in the Isle of Wight during the June quarter of 1960. Given his age (86) coinciding and his connections to the Hampshire area I think it’s fairly safe to conclude that this entry refers to our man.
The final veteran, Mr. W. Hayes, also provided a research challenge as again only his initial was provided by the paper and, unlike the above man, no indication was given as regards which army unit he served in. Fortunately, I was able to discover an article from the Manchester Evening News of the 14th February, 1951 on an inaugural annual dinner of the Manchester and District branch of the South African War Veterans Association. This article confirmed that the branch secretary was, 72-year-old, Mr. William Hayes and also furnished his regiment, the Duke of Lancaster’s Own Yeomanry into which, it was further stated he enlisted, aged 18, as a trumpeter.
Armed with this additional information I was able to find his various military records, which proved to be exceptionally comprehensive. They showed not just his army service history but additionally, his home address, the names of his wife and children, the details of his wedding (date, church, and even officiating minister’s name) and the date and place of birth of his children. I was then able to access other records to garner more details of William’s life story.
He was born at 1, Newton’s Buildings, Hulme, Manchester on the 11th July, 1880. His parents were Edward, a general labourer, and Annie (née Royle). William served an apprenticeship with P. R. Jackson (Engineers), Salford and became a motor mechanic before volunteering to join the 105 (Manchester) Company, 8th Battalion, The Imperial Yeomanry. Following his service in South Africa, he married at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Oldfield Road, Saford, Lancashire, on the 22nd February, 1902, (1) Mary Elizabeth Sharphouse. William’s bride was the daughter of Aaron Sharphouse, an engine driver, and Hannah Eliza (née Braithwaite); born in the village of Foston-on-the-Wolds, Near Bridlington, Yorkshire (East Riding), where she was baptised in its parish church on the 22nd January, 1879.
In the first few years of their marriage, William and Mary Elizabeth, moved a number of times between the Weast area of Salford and Prestwich before settling at 29, School Lane, Didsbury, Manchester, where they remained for more than thirty years. The couple’s first, of six children, Fanny, was born at 25, Trent Street (2) on Christmas Eve, 1902. Olive, followed on the 14th November, 1904 during their sojourn in Prestwich, where the first and only son, William Edward, was also born on the 10th June, 1906. After the family had returned to Salford, 37, Nelson Street, Florence Eunice, arrived on the 9th February, 1908. The fifth child, Doris Mary, was born on 19th May, 1910 whilst the family were already residing on School Lane, Didsbury. They were at this address at the 1911 census in which William gave his occupation as a chauffeur (domestic)
After William’s demobilisation from his service in the First World War a sixth child, Doreen, was born in Didsbury during the December quarter of 1920 but tragically she died in her first year of life.
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| School Lane, Didsbury,1962 |
Despite having a young family at home William felt it was his duty to enlist, which he did on the 28th October, 1914. He served as a driver in the Army Service Corps, arriving in France at Rouen on the 23rd November, 1914 after a long couple of days sailing from Avonmouth, Nr. Bristol on board the S.S. Woodfield. On arrival he was posted to the No. 2 Echelon the Indian Cavalry Division Supply Column. While serving with this unit, William was steadily promoted to reach the rank of acting Sargeant (without pay) on the 3rd December, 1915. However, after being admitted to hospital he was reverted to Private on the 1st March, 1916.
William remained a private for the remainder of the war. He suffered more bouts of sickness and was invalided back to England in October, 1917 with nephritis. The final year of his service was spent on home-based duty, including a brief posting to Dublin, Ireland during the summer of 1918. He ended his time in the army with duties in his home city of Manchester where he was demobilised on the 15th February, 1919 at the Army Dispersal Unit in Heaton Park. Following his 28-day demobilisation-leave he was transferred to the army reserve “Z”, and became a civilian again, on the 15th March, 1919. The danger and “excitement” for William did not end, however, as, after continuing his lorry driving into civilian life, later in 1919 he was involved in a serious road traffic accident. On Saturday, the 4th October, 1919 while negotiating Chapel Street, a steep hill in New Mills, Derbyshire, having picked up a van-load of Furniture in nearby, Mellor, an axle broke and his vehicle careered, out of control, down the hill. Hitting an embankment, it overturned and pinned William and his 12-year-old son underneath. The van and furniture were all smashed as was William’s jaw. It was reported that the child was also hurt. (3)
Between the two World Wars, William returned to his family home in, Didsbury, Manchester where as indicated by his entry in the National Register of 1939 he worked as a taxi driver. Approaching 60 at the start of the World War 2, he still saw service as a Sergeant in the Home Guard.
The records of his death are not conclusive but it’s most likely that he died in Withington Hospital, Manchester during the December quarter of 1962, aged 82.
Pictures; - newspaper cutting from the collection of Tony Goulding. Cap Badge of the 17th Lancers- by GMJ - www.paoyeomanry.co.uk. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28049195
School Lane, Didsbury – 1962 by R.F. Harris m 22122 Courtesy of Manchester Libraries Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
Notes: -
1) The marriage certificate recorded the address of both the bride and groom as 21, Oxford Street, Salford.
2) both Fanny, on the 21st January, 1903, and Florence Eunice, on the 25th March, 1908, were christened in St. Luke’s church, Weaste, Salford. William gave his occupation as “motor driver” and “chauffeur” respectively.
3) Manchester Evening News: Monday 6th October, 1919.
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