A Joyous Wartime Wedding Story with a tragic outcome

While browsing copies of the newly digitised copies of The Nursing Times on The British Newspaper Archive I saw a lovely photo of a wedding between a nurse and a soldier that took place in July 1915. The paper named them as  Bessie Irene Titchmarsh and Corporal Percy Southall. I wondered what their lives had been like before their marriage and after - indeed, did Percy even survive the War? 

 

Percy was born in 1884 in Saffron Walden and worked as a clerk in his father's firm - The Saffron Walden Steam Laundry Company Limited was founded in 1897 and still operates  from the same site in Saffron Walden since the early 1900s.

 

Percy volunteered for the army early in the War  - before conscription - - on 9th Feb 1915. He was a despatch rider in the Royal Engineers, attached to an Essex Regiment. 

 

Bessie was born on 21st March 1894 in Ipswich. Her father was a local civil servant. Bessie trained as a nurse at the East Suffolk and Ipswich Hospital from 1913 until 1916.  According to the report of the wedding, this was the hospital that Bessie was nursing in at the time of her marriage.

 

 

Percy and Bessie on their wedding day

26th July 1915, Ipswich 

BNA 

 

 

The day after the outbreak of World War One, the Board of the East Suffolk & Ipswich Hospital met. It agreed to offer a number of beds to the Admiralty, to receive wounded or sick men from the Navy. It was soon discovered that the Army’s need was far more urgent and the Admiralty gave permission for the Board to make its offer to the Military Authorities instead.  Of course, if it became necessary, wounded sailors would be admitted.

 

 The hospital at the time of Bessie's nursing career

credit: see link below 

 

 

 I wonder if Bessie is in this photo!

 

Along with the photo, the wedding itself was reported in the local papers.It was described as the first "khaki" wedding in the town. One report gives a lovely description of the service, the clothes of the bride and bridesmaids, the presents and even the "going away" outfit! Bessie chose to marry in her nursing uniform (surely showing her pride at "doing her bit" for the War as  her solidier husband was.) It was noted that she wore no jewellery in line with hospital regulations and she carried no flowers - just an ivory backed prayer book. The bridesmaids carried "patriotic" Union Jack flower baskets with red roses, that were strewn before the bride and groom.  It sounds rather lovely! 

 

What became of the couple after the wedding?The story took an unexpected turn as I delved deeper. Firstly though, the couple had a son, Peter,  in 1918. It would seem, however, that by December 1919 there were problems in the marriage. 

 

 

Percy seems to be disassociating himself from Bessie. Of course,  from the distance of over 100 years we have no idea if any "blame" lay with either of the couple. However, for Bessie, her life was to become even harder. Percy died on 17th November 1920 aged just 27 and leaving a widow and a one year old son. According to reports of his funeral, he had been ill in bed for year due to illness contracted overseeas. This can be confirmed by the fact that he was awarded the Silver War Badge - which was awarded to men (and some women) who left the forces because of illness or injury during the Great War. The report of the funeral is what made me delve deeper into the state of the marriange. In a very long list of mourners neithe Bessie or any of her family attended the funeral. We don't know and never will, if it was her choice to stay away or if his family requested it. However, Bessie was in receipt of a small widow's pension from the army.

 

What became of Bessie and her son? In 1921 she was living with her son and parents in Saffron Walden.. She is still using her nursing qualification - she is a health visitor for Essex County Council. However, yet another tragedy loomed.

 

In November 1938 Peter was killed in a road accident, along with a young female friend. He was just 20 and Bessie's only child. . There is a long report about the accident in the local paper. Bessie was called to give evidence.at the inquest, stating that Peter was a bank clerk and she had spoken to him the day before,

The following year shows her living in Harrow. The 1939 register entry is hard to read but it would seem her occupation is still connected to nursing and the care of those with TB.

 

Bessie died in 1985. She had survived her husband by over 60 years and her son by 40.  The photo of the happy couple and their lovely wedding foreshadows a tragic future of  the couple's estrangement and the early death of both Bessie's husband and her son - both dying in their 20s. 

 

 

 

 

https://greatwarhomehospitals.wordpress.com/home/ipswich-east-suffolk-ipswich-general-hospital/ 

Triplets born in 1916: The testament of a mother's love and resilience in Wartime

 

I found this photo in a copy of the Nursing Times in January 1916. It shows a nurse holding triplets! I wondered what the story was behind this photo. It must have been very unusual for a woman to be delivered of triplets that all survived the birth. I wondered if they survived into adulthood and who their parents were – did their father survive the War? 

The birth was announced in their local paper – the Staffordshire Sentinel – on 17^th January 1916. I discovered that their mother was Catherine May Kinght (nee Rigby). She married Frank Knight(aged 23) in October 1915 at the young age of 18 ; judging by the date of their sons’ births, it was a hastily arranged wedding!  And must have been something of a shock to the parents! 

 

I discovered that their father Frank was a Second Class Air mechanic in the Royal Flying Corps.  Frank had been single and an electrician before the War. By 1921 he was living with his in laws, wife and sons and was  out of work. It seems likely that things were really hard for the family, especially Catherine. To be the mother of triplets at the age of 18 and with a marriage that may well have only taken place because she became pregnant must have been tough enough – but she was living with her three 5 year olds, parents and an unemployed husband. Sure enough, by the 1939 register it would appear that the couple had split up – Catherine living in an address in Kidsgrove and Frank was employed as an “electrician instructor”  in Ampthill. Indeed, Catherine died in 1951 in Staffordshire and Frank died in 1971 in Cheshire. Remarkably all three boys survived into adulthood, at a time when there was no NHS and high infant and mother mortality and during three long years of War. What a remarkable testament to a mother's resilience. 

I did try to trace the rather nervous looking Nurse Timmins but didn’t really have enough information although I have found a Sarah Timmins who trained and worked in Stoke on Trent at the time and place where the boys were born. Perhaps it is she, peering at the camera rather shyly!

 Sources:

British Newspaper Archive

Ancestry.co.uk 

The Zion Letters: Thomas Percy Taylor - From Clerk to Flying Officer and a tragic death

The Zion letters are a collection of letters from servicemen in the British forces during WW1 to Harold Hill of the Zion Congregational Church Sunday School and Institute on Stretford Road, Hulme. The church was a community hub with 1000 members in the congregation. It provided educational and social activities as well as religous services.

 

Most of the men concerned would appear to have been members of the Institute, though some are clearly work colleagues, though possibly also Zion members.Their letters span the period from early in the war until shortly after its end, though the vast majority date to 1915 and 1916.

 

The letters came to Manchester & Lancashire FHS  in a small suitcase, their provenance was not known by the person who passed them to the society.

 

 

I am researching the lives of some of the men whose letters were found in that suitcase. These letters are a really interesting resource and window into the lives and experiences of "ordinary" men"; there are no famous names or in depth discussions of battles (the censor saw to that!) It is truly amazing how much information can be found on researching them!

 

There is just one letter from Thomas Percy Taylor Jones but it shone a light not only on his military service but also his father 's - he served in the British Army for 22 years! Tragically, I was to discover that Thomas survived the war - and he described how lucky he was - only to die in an accident while flying a plane over England 4 years after the War.

 

The envelope  that contained Thomas' Letter

 

Thomas was born on 20th June 1895 in Pontefract, Yorkshire. His parents were Frank and Florence Adelaide (nee Taylor). Frank was stationed there as he was a member of the Royal Army Medical Corps. I discovered that Frank served for over 20 years and much of it was when he was stationed in Barbados! The couple had another son -George Leonard - in 1897 and within a year they were in the West Indies. I think Florence and her sons accompanied Frank - I cannot find them anywhere on the 1911 census. What a place to spend the boys' childhood - slightly warmer and than Manchester! 

 

By 1911 the family were back in Manchester and Thomas was working as a "junior accountant" for the Guardians of the poor in King Street Manchester. 

 

 

The offices of the Guardian of the Poor in Manchester

 

 

He  began his army service in the Territorial army in 1912 and was mobilised in August 1914 at the outbreak of the war. However, he received a very unusual "war" wound - he was kicked by a horse "on the road to Blackburn" and invalided out of the army. The wound was described as being "as the result of ordinary military service" presumably as distinct  from "Wounded in Action" The medical report shows that it was initially quite a serious injury (he received disablity payments until 8th February 1918). It was at this time that he joined the Royal Flying Corp.

Thomas' Letter

 

Thomas' letter -  there was only one in the suitcase- (the letter and full transcript can be seen at the link below) ) was dated 11th December 1918, exactly one month aftter the Armistice. 

 

 

Very interestingly, Thomas refers to the Armistice and he describes the news being met not with huge relief and celebration, but:

 

"No doubt everyone would be in the highest of spirits when news of the Armistic came through. Everything taken into consideration, the boys out here heard the news quite calmdly. There was certainly a fair amount of merrymaking but not so much as one might ordinarily have expected" 

 

This is a really interesting first hand report of how many servicemen greeted the news - no doubt very war weary and perhaps remembering all the men they had seen killed who would not be alive to see the end of the horror. 

 

I have not found a lot of information about Thomas' time in the RFC/RAF BUT I did find a fascinating piece of information - Thomas was awarded a medal for gallantry - from the Russian Government! It was an Order of St Stanslaus, II class cross and swords. I cannot find anything on his records but this proves that Thomas was engaged in action in Russia, after the Armistice in Europe! I have not been able to find much information but this is a really wonderful discovery!

 

 Medal card 

 

The rest of the letter discusses news from the Home Front, including concern about the flu epidemic and the coming, post war election

 

 "Yes! I suppose the coming election is causing lots of excitement."

 

Thomas also describes how he and his pilot (Thomas was an observer) had many scares:

 

Of course, right up to the last might the fighting went on hotly. Less than 24 hours before the cessation my and I had some very narrow "shaves" 

This is so touching: I discovered that only four years later he would die in a plane crash in peacetime.

 

After the War and Tragedy

 

Thomas remained in the RAF after his sortie in Russia. In 1921 he is based at Shotwick Aerodrome Cheshire and is a Flying Officer (Training). In 1923 he married Florence Lilian Dixon who, according to the 1921 census, was a lady's companion (sadly "out of work"). I think she was a distant cousin as I have seen the surname while researching Thomas' mother. After marrying  in Salford in 1923, tragedy struck just a year later. on searching the newspaper archives I discovered that Thomas died in a flying accident in May 1924. There was some discussion on whether the plane was airworthy and another Flying Officer seems to say that Thomas might have contributed to the accident. However, the Coroner observed that no blame could be attached to anyone.

 

 

Report of the fatal accident

Thomas came through the war years, surviving many "close shaves" and considering himself "a very fortunate individual indeed to have come out of it all safely". He served in Russia, and was awarded a medal for gallantry only to die in peacetime within four years of the end of hostilities. I have been unable to trace what happened to his wife, Florence. She may have remarried and so I would not be able to trace her under a different surname.

 

Thomas' letter has allowed me an insight into the thoughts of a serviceman about the end of the war, his sympathy for those suffering in the flu epidemic and his horribly ironic optimism aftrer surviving the war - only to die after it before the age of 30. It has been a privilege and a very rewarding "journey" to trace his life from a clerk in Manchester to Russia via France. A short life, well lived.

 

Thank you for your service Thomas. 

Images courtesy of  Manchester & Lancashire FHS 

copyright on  images of letters and Zion Chapel  are "Copyright: Trustees of Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society".

 

  

https://mlfhs.uk/zion/letters/servicemen-h-l/2297-jones-thomas-percy-taylor/file 

https://uk.forceswarrecords.com/image/722180757/jones-thomas-percy-taylor-page-1-uk-wwi-royal-flying-corps-and-successors-gallantry-award-medal-index

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