Merryweather – William Henry Charles Merryweather

William was born abroad and but for several pieces of independent evidence, the lack of a written birth or baptismal record might have been a weak link in an otherwise unchallengeable chain stretching back 300 years to Anthony Merewether. However, there is enough evidence to show that he was indeed the son of Henry and Julia. Firstly William's age and birthplace were shown as follows in censuses taken on the following dates:

Then there is the Ohio newspaper and the document dated 20 September 1879 accepting from the U.S. Government Julia's final pension payment following her death, signed by all three Merryweather children, Martha, Amelia and William. And finally, the Amiel Settlement Trust.

It was said by George Merryweather that his father William had a very deep and attractive laugh and met his future wife, Ada Caroline Cullimore after she had heard it when they were both out walking in London's Hyde Park. They were married following the calling of banns, at St. Luke's, Sydney Street, Chelsea¹ on the 10 January 1889, the witnesses being William Samuel Evans and Mary Evans about whom nothing is known. On marriage, Ada was a nurse living-in at St. George's Infirmary, Fulham Road, the daughter of Henry Cullimore a mining surveyor (sometime mineral agent²), by his first wife Sarah Mansel Cullimore née Jones. The Cullimores moved to many places in South Wales during the 19th century and although Ada is said to have been born at Abersychan, Monmouthshire on the 4 March 1860 she was not baptised until 29 January 1865 at Loughor, Glamorganshire. She didn't get on with her father Henry's second wife Ellen Walter(s) born at Paddington, London in 1831, so, it is said, she ran away to London.
Before taking up nursing in Fulham at St. Stephen's Hospital (formerly the Westminster Infirmary), she had worked at the Poplar and Stepney Sick Asylum, Bromley by Bow, in East London. She was either living-in or on duty there when the 1881 census was taken when she gave her age as 21, born at Ynyscedwin in Wales.³ Her age is shown as 32 in the 1891 census.

William had a hard life. He worked as a florist's clerk when living at 68 Church Street, Chelsea in 1881, and later as a commercial clerk in the accounts department of James Veitch and Sons of the Kings Road, Chelsea. They were prominent 19th century horticulturists and hybridists, cultivating new species gathered by their collectors who explored the world, and introducing many new hybrids. He must have been a valued employee since in 1906 Mr. James Veitch presented him with a signed copy of his privately published history of the company, Hortus Veitchi which is now in Gavin Merryweather's book collection. William is said to have stayed with the firm for 33 years until they closed down in 1921 but the 1911 census shows his occupation as Clerk (Solicitors). After a two month illness he died of mitral heart disease at 41 Cale Street, Chelsea, 10 August 1923, Ada with him at the end. The death certificate described him as a nurseryman's clerk but it was said by son George that he suffered from epilepsy following a swimming accident and had only been able to get casual employment in the City.
He did not make a Will - there was so little to leave as the family, then living at 105 Edith Grove were very poor, but regardless of poverty, custom required the expense of printing mourning cards and his shows that he was buried at Fulham New Cemetery, North Sheen. His sister Martha told widow Ada that there was no room for him in the family tomb at Brompton cemetery, and although Ada always believed this to have been a spiteful act, it has been found to be true as only three spaces had been purchased.

On the following 8 December his widow was granted Letters of Administration allowing her to wind up his affairs and take possession of his estate, effects valued at only £88.17.8d.

I well remember my 'Chelsea grandma' as a frail old lady living out her final years in Ellerby Road, Fulham, her soft Welsh accent and the aroma of wintergreen or camphor about her. She died on the 9 August 1949, peacefully in her sleep, which is what she always hoped for. George and his family were on holiday at Combe Martin, Devon when the news of his mother's death reached him by telegram and he travelled back alone to London to be at her funeral.

The following obituary appeared in a local paper.

Former Nurse at the Old Infirmary
Death of Mrs A C Merryweather.

A former nurse at St. Stephen's Hospital in the days when it was Fulham Infirmary, Mrs. Ada Caroline Merryweather, of Ellerby Street, Fulham, died at her home last week aged 89. The Interment took place at Fulham Old Cemetery on Friday. The principal mourners were her daughter, Mrs. Maude Barratt; her sons Messrs. George and Reginald Merryweather; and a friend Mrs. D Wheeler. Although residing in Fulham before her marriage, Mrs. Merryweather left the district but returned 15 years ago after the death of her husband. There were many floral tributes.

As we have already seen, our branch of the family name came very close to extinction as William was its only known bearer, but he set about ensuring that the next generation would have no such problem. He and Ada produced no less than seven children, six of them boys.

Maud Amelia Julia Merryweather, born 5 October 1890 married 15 September 1918 at Eton, Buckinghamshire,⁴ George H Barrett, sometime Squadron Sergeant Major 5th Inniskillings by whom she had five children. These were Hubert Walter (born 1919), then Geoffrey (11 July 1925) and Victor (1926). Their daughters had some already familiar Christian names. One was Joyce Amiel (1929), the other Muriel Collins. According to George Merryweather, Maud was friendly with a postman's daughter, Annie Withers, when they were both in service together. He said that Maud and Annie's brother-in-law were cousins.

After marriage, the Barretts went to India on a three year tour of duty with Hubert, their first-born. George Merryweather recounted that George Barrett was a very strict father and Maud is said to have told her mother that if ever he laid hands on the children again, she would leave him.
George was in France with the Machine Gun Corps in World War One and Northern Ireland at the time of the Black and Tans (1921), and sometime with the 7th Hussars at Risalpur on the Northwest frontier of India. Unfortunately, he destroyed all the family papers after Maud's death, a serious loss since amongst them was believed to have been the photograph of Henry Merryweather in his other uniform.
I remember Maud as a kindly aunt living at Slough, Buckinghamshire (now Berkshire), but her husband seemed a very severe fellow and I was terrified of him! She died 4 June 1963 and was cremated at Breakspeare Road, Ruislip, Middlesex.

Henry Winsor Merryweather the heir was born 5 January 1891 at 2 Tetcott Road, Chelsea but died ca. May 1894⁵ during the catastrophic measles epidemic.

Charles William Merryweather followed two years later being born 26 January 1893 also at 2 Tetcott Road, Chelsea but he died on the 29 June at 10 Tetcott Road.

William John Edward Merryweather was yet another son given names carried forward from previous generations. He was born in Chelsea on 28 November 1894 and was affectionately remembered by his brother George as a studious lad and book collector. His copies of Thomas Hood's poems, Dante's Divine Comedy and the Koran in English are in my library. Also passed down was his set of Scott's Waverley Novels - and he may well have read them all as he spent many hours reading alone in his room. Brother George said that he was employed by a solicitor^XX which may account for the shorthand he used so extensively in his 1917 diary which gives an almost daily record of his life and army activities in England and on his way to the front line in northern France.

Will (sometimes Willie) was living in Chelsea when in 1916 he joined the army at Clapham Junction as a Rifleman with the 23rd London Regiment. This had come into being in an unimportant side-street in Camberwell, Surrey and from 1916 was a Territorial battalion of the East Surrey Regiment. Later, Will transferred to the 21st (County of London) Battalion (1st Surrey Rifles).

The 12 February 1917 found Corporal William Merryweather on a train going to Brentwood, Essex for a general Course of Instruction. The following day he received two letters from 'Betty' and he wrote two in reply. Will was already entangled in a passionate, but ill-fated affair with this woman whose love sustained him. They were to exchange many letters. According to his brother george, Will was never a lady's man and it may well be that the sudden release of pent-up feelings which his bullet-ripped diary reveals, were a consequence of this reticence.

Close reading of the diary makes it clear that Betty had a husband and that Will and Betty were lovers. Betty's real name was Alice née Oxley who on the 8 April 1903 had married Albert Jarvis, ('Bert J' in the diary), a carpenter from Frinton in Essex⁶. Alice and Albert appear in the Electoral Registers for 1915 and 1918 at Ashleigh, Pole Barn Lane, Frinton, Essex. There can be no doubt at all about Betty's identity as Will wrote 'My beloved's Birthday' as an entry for the 9 December 1917 and Alice Oxley's birth certificate confirms this date, showing her to have been ten years older than Will and it also reveals that her mother, Ann Oxley had previously been married to a Popperwell - another name which features in the diary.

Will and Betty met frequently, sometimes at Ashleigh, enjoying a lot of each other's company until an ominous diary entry on Friday, 6 July records that Will's name was on the Orders for Winchester, Hampshire. Things then moved swiftly; the following Monday he had to tell Betty and the news was a tremendous shock to her. The next day when he saw her, 'She was in a terrible state,' and he added, 'Oh, if only I were not going away'. On the 11 July Betty went to see him off from Frinton station. Thereafter he was under training until granted his last leave before embarking for France. The diary entries for the early days of October are very bittersweet.

Mon. Promoted L[ance] Sergeant.
Tue. 5.56 train to W[ater]loo & 8.45 to Colchester. Oh! what a meeting!!!
Thu. Theatre in evening. Photos taken morning.
Sat. Wired for an extension - not granted.
Sun. In all day.
Mon. Shopping morning. Went to catch 6.30 train back but returned [home with Betty].
Tue. Caught 7.30 train in morning. Oh how terrible to leave. Under close arrest reduced to Private.

The time-worn photograph with his Sergeant's stripes was one of those taken on the 4 October.
On the 17 October he was at Southampton Rest Camp embarking for France arriving at Le Havre early on the 19th. Then followed much movement, gradually nearing the front line. A pencil-written letter to younger brother Reg has survived.

Sunday 11.11.17. 2 pm.
My dear brother,
I had a letter from Dad the other day, and he tells me that you have been called up - he also gave me your address, so I am taking the first opportunity of writing to you. First of all, although it is incorrect, I want to say a few words about myself. You doubtless knew before you left home that I had arrived in France - but it is possibly news that I have not been sent up the line. I am at a Training Base for a few weeks, prior to going up, - am billeted in a barn and carry on parades as though in England, the conditions being somewhat harder.
We sleep well feed not so well as you may guess. Fortunately cigs are dirt cheap - Players etc. 25 Centimes for 10 that is about 2½p. Smoking as I do, about 25 cigs a day, nothing[?] is left me at the end of the week to save money, our pay being 5 francs per week = 4 shillings [20p]. 'Nuff said. My address pro tem, No.653775 21st London Regt. 13th Corps, M & K Camp, B.E.F. France. I have booked a return ticket to Blighty, so don't worry old chap.
Now a few questions about yourself. How do you like Army life? Are you in huts, is the grub good, do you find your army pay sufficient to keep you in cigs etc.? Let me have an answer soon to all these questions. One word of advice to you, Reg, which I hope you will accept from a good authority and an old soldier. Don't be led by other fools to gamble or play cards for money. I have seen a deal of this madness, and my experience proves it is madness. For one thing, if you are caught, it generally means CB. or Guard Room, and it does you no good. Keep a clean sheet if poss, old boy. 'Nuff said. Write to Ma and Dad at least once a week, as the old people like to know how things are with us.
Dad told me you had put your name in for a job as stoker, - have you heard any more about it? I should think it might be well worth trying for, as probably it means additional pay to your army pay. It certainly cannot be worse than the hum drum of Army existence, as you will be more your own master. Let me know as soon as poss. Now, Reg old man, I will close. Be sure and write to me by return as letters are all we have to cheer us here. Aurevoir. Trusting you are in the pink of condish.
I remain, Your loving Brother Will.
PS. Poor Mrs Fitz - what do you think of the news of her. Bad eh! She sent me 2/6[d] Friday. Tresbon Eh!

Among the notes in the diary of letters sent and received, is one about his final letters to Betty. He wrote her on the 23 November and later noted that he was composing another one, but does not record that he ever posted it. On the 30 November he pencilled the fateful words, 'Up to Front Line' and on the 6 December he recorded that he was handed amongst others, 11 letters from Betty, the very last thing he ever wrote.

He was killed Monday 10 December 1917. The Regimental histories provide details about the action that followed the battle at Cambrai which Will had missed by a few days, an action where massed tanks known as ironclads were used, startling the Germans and pushing them back several miles in some places except at the village of Flesquières where there was no break-out, leaving it as a vulnerable salient. Due to a severe shortage of reserves the British army was unable to follow up its gains and so very little advantage was achieved.
The November weather was intensely cold. The Germans had devastated village after village as they retreated so that nothing habitable was left for the advancing troops. The newly-won territory was characterised on the north by the wide valley between Flesquières and Bourlon Wood but on the south is separated by high ridges like the fingers of an outstretched hand. The 47th (London) Division arrived in the area on the 28 November taking over to the accompaniment of the dull belching of gas shells and a severe high explosives bombardment. The enemy's effort was so heavy that a gradual withdrawal from Bourlon Wood took place. Will and his comrades had been sent to the Front earlier than expected. The Commander-in-Chief had advised Gen. Byng to use his reserves energetically as there was nothing else available,⁷ something confirmed by a remark in the above letter. For doubtful gains, 46,600 men had fought, more than 5,000 killed and more dead were amongst the 10,000 listed as missing. The blood of 90,000 men of the German and British empires was spilled on the approaches to Cambrai, the greater part in and around Bourlon.⁸

Will lies buried in the tranquil Flesquières Hill British Cemetery alongside comrades in 913 other Commonwealth graves. With my brother Brian, I went there in the Spring of 1986. The inscription is still clearly readable, 'Pte. William John Edward Merryweather - a Rifleman, 1st Surrey Rifles.' A poppy, picked from a nearby roadside verge was left on his grave. Sad and poignant moments as I fulfilled this long-planned pilgrimage.

Evidently his father had asked the War Office about the manner of his death and the following handwritten letter dated 3 Feb 1918 was received.

Dear Sir,
I will endeavour to give you the particulars you desire but am restricted to a certain extent.
Your son was killed whilst holding a front line trench. A shell fell within a few feet of him. I saw him a few minutes after it exploded[?] and am sure that death was instantaneous. I mention this as I think it may relieve you somewhat to know that he did not die in pain.
He was buried by his comrades at a point N.W. of Havrincourt.⁹ The map reference which may be useful to you later is K.15d.95.80.
Personal effects have been sent to the base and in due course will be forwarded on to you.
Thanking you for your kind wishes.
I am
Yours sincerely
F.C. Barker / Capt.

Little more is known about Will apart from his peculiar habit of constantly pulling one ear. This annoyed his mother, as did his liaison with Betty, and in a strange way she seems to have seen his death as an honourable end to the affair.

What Betty's state of mind must have been on learning of her lover's fate, (perhaps after an agonizing wait), cannot now be known, and she may have lived out her days nursing her dead Will's memory, but not as far as can be traced, any child of his. Apart from their having a mentally retarded child much later on, we do not know what happened to Betty or husband Bert.

The diary lists and mentions many names but family excepted, the only people in the diary who have been identified are Florence Popperwell who died in East London in 1980; possibly Miss Ashby¹⁰; and 2/Lt. E Cotterell. All of Will's soldier friends seem to have survived the war apart from perhaps Smye.¹¹

Leonard Llewellyn Merryweather born early 1896, died before the end of June 1901.¹²

Reginald Alfred Merryweather, born 26 September 1899 (see Chapter XXXXXXX).

George Alexander Merryweather, my father, the last of William and Ada's children was born on the 19 March 1903 at 31 Uverdale Road, Chelsea (see Chapter XXXX).

¹ Destroyed by bombing in WWII.
² Synonymous with coal merchant. An alternative name for a mining surveyor was colliery viewer.
³ The 1891 census RG12/66/f.36 shows Glamorgan as her birthplace.
⁴ ONS Marriages Eton September 1918, 3a 2106.
⁵ ONS Deaths Hampstead June 1894, 1a 428.
⁶ Three of the most important research aids for First World War family historians are all by Norman Holding. World War I Army Ancestry, The Location of British Army Records and More Sources of World War I Army Ancestry. Federation of Family History Societies. 1991, 1987 and 1986. Among these exhaustive works was the clue about Absent Voters' lists, without which I may never have been able to prove Betty's true identity.
⁷ Quoted in W Moore, A Wood Called Bourlon. The Cover-up after Cambrai, 1917. Leo Cooper. London 1988.
⁸ Alan H Maude, Ed. The 47th (London) Division 1914-1919. London 1922, Amalgamated Press (1922) Ltd. Capt. W G Pidsley et al. A War Record of the 21st London Regiment (First Surrey Rifles) 1914-1919, H B Skinner & Co. London 1928.
⁹ From notes about Flesquières Hill British Cemetery, Havrincourt Communal Cemetery, from which four British soldiers were taken to Achiet-le-Grand Communal Cemetery Extension and three to Flesquières.
¹⁰ Miss Ashby was almost certainly Hilda Alberta Ashby, born 1888. A letter from Mrs. M Lilley of Maidenhead reads, '... Hilda Alberta did have a boy friend in France who was killed and his name was Billy; unfortunately his surname is not known.'
¹¹ ONS War Deaths 1918. Pte. Arthur J Smye 79138 R.F.London, 1.81 366 and Pte. Charles H Smye 722080 London Regiment, 1.86 377.
¹² ONS Deaths Fulham June 1901, 1a 210.

	Website of ALAN MERRYWEATHER

	*SHARE MY HARVEST* by Alan Merryweather CHAPTER 12. WILLIAM HENRY CHARLES MERRYWEATHER and ADA CAROLINE CULLIMORE
	William was born abroad and but for several pieces of independent evidence, the lack of a written birth or baptismal record might have been a weak link in an otherwise unchallengeable chain stretching back 300 years to Anthony Merewether. However, there is enough evidence to show that he was indeed the son of Henry and Julia. Firstly William's age and birthplace were shown as follows in censuses taken on the following dates: 1871, 2 April. age 14, Canada 1881, 3 April. age 23, Canada 1891, 5 April. age 32, Canada 1901, 31 March. age 41, Canada 1911, 2 April. age 53, Hamilton, Canada Then there is the Ohio newspaper and the document dated 20 September 1879 accepting from the U.S. Government Julia's final pension payment following her death, signed by all three Merryweather children, Martha, Amelia and William. And finally, the Amiel Settlement Trust. It was said by George Merryweather that his father William had a very deep and attractive laugh and met his future wife, Ada Caroline Cullimore after she had heard it when they were both out walking in London's Hyde Park. They were married following the calling of banns, at St. Luke's, Sydney Street, Chelsea¹ on the 10 January 1889, the witnesses being William Samuel Evans and Mary Evans about whom nothing is known. On marriage, Ada was a nurse living-in at St. George's Infirmary, Fulham Road, the daughter of Henry Cullimore a mining surveyor (sometime mineral agent²), by his first wife Sarah Mansel Cullimore née Jones. The Cullimores moved to many places in South Wales during the 19th century and although Ada is said to have been born at Abersychan, Monmouthshire on the 4 March 1860 she was not baptised until 29 January 1865 at Loughor, Glamorganshire. She didn't get on with her father Henry's second wife Ellen Walter(s) born at Paddington, London in 1831, so, it is said, she ran away to London. Before taking up nursing in Fulham at St. Stephen's Hospital (formerly the Westminster Infirmary), she had worked at the Poplar and Stepney Sick Asylum, Bromley by Bow, in East London. She was either living-in or on duty there when the 1881 census was taken when she gave her age as 21, born at Ynyscedwin in Wales.³ Her age is shown as 32 in the 1891 census. William had a hard life. He worked as a florist's clerk when living at 68 Church Street, Chelsea in 1881, and later as a commercial clerk in the accounts department of James Veitch and Sons of the Kings Road, Chelsea. They were prominent 19th century horticulturists and hybridists, cultivating new species gathered by their collectors who explored the world, and introducing many new hybrids. He must have been a valued employee since in 1906 Mr. James Veitch presented him with a signed copy of his privately published history of the company, Hortus Veitchi which is now in Gavin Merryweather's book collection. William is said to have stayed with the firm for 33 years until they closed down in 1921 but the 1911 census shows his occupation as Clerk (Solicitors). After a two month illness he died of mitral heart disease at 41 Cale Street, Chelsea, 10 August 1923, Ada with him at the end. The death certificate described him as a nurseryman's clerk but it was said by son George that he suffered from epilepsy following a swimming accident and had only been able to get casual employment in the City. He did not make a Will - there was so little to leave as the family, then living at 105 Edith Grove were very poor, but regardless of poverty, custom required the expense of printing mourning cards and his shows that he was buried at Fulham New Cemetery, North Sheen. His sister Martha told widow Ada that there was no room for him in the family tomb at Brompton cemetery, and although Ada always believed this to have been a spiteful act, it has been found to be true as only three spaces had been purchased. On the following 8 December his widow was granted Letters of Administration allowing her to wind up his affairs and take possession of his estate, effects valued at only £88.17.8d. I well remember my 'Chelsea grandma' as a frail old lady living out her final years in Ellerby Road, Fulham, her soft Welsh accent and the aroma of wintergreen or camphor about her. She died on the 9 August 1949, peacefully in her sleep, which is what she always hoped for. George and his family were on holiday at Combe Martin, Devon when the news of his mother's death reached him by telegram and he travelled back alone to London to be at her funeral. The following obituary appeared in a local paper. Former Nurse at the Old Infirmary Death of Mrs A C Merryweather. A former nurse at St. Stephen's Hospital in the days when it was Fulham Infirmary, Mrs. Ada Caroline Merryweather, of Ellerby Street, Fulham, died at her home last week aged 89. The Interment took place at Fulham Old Cemetery on Friday. The principal mourners were her daughter, Mrs. Maude Barratt; her sons Messrs. George and Reginald Merryweather; and a friend Mrs. D Wheeler. Although residing in Fulham before her marriage, Mrs. Merryweather left the district but returned 15 years ago after the death of her husband. There were many floral tributes. As we have already seen, our branch of the family name came very close to extinction as William was its only known bearer, but he set about ensuring that the next generation would have no such problem. He and Ada produced no less than seven children, six of them boys. Maud Amelia Julia Merryweather, born 5 October 1890 married 15 September 1918 at Eton, Buckinghamshire,⁴ George H Barrett, sometime Squadron Sergeant Major 5th Inniskillings by whom she had five children. These were Hubert Walter (born 1919), then Geoffrey (11 July 1925) and Victor (1926). Their daughters had some already familiar Christian names. One was Joyce Amiel (1929), the other Muriel Collins. According to George Merryweather, Maud was friendly with a postman's daughter, Annie Withers, when they were both in service together. He said that Maud and Annie's brother-in-law were cousins. After marriage, the Barretts went to India on a three year tour of duty with Hubert, their first-born. George Merryweather recounted that George Barrett was a very strict father and Maud is said to have told her mother that if ever he laid hands on the children again, she would leave him. George was in France with the Machine Gun Corps in World War One and Northern Ireland at the time of the Black and Tans (1921), and sometime with the 7th Hussars at Risalpur on the Northwest frontier of India. Unfortunately, he destroyed all the family papers after Maud's death, a serious loss since amongst them was believed to have been the photograph of Henry Merryweather in his other uniform. I remember Maud as a kindly aunt living at Slough, Buckinghamshire (now Berkshire), but her husband seemed a very severe fellow and I was terrified of him! She died 4 June 1963 and was cremated at Breakspeare Road, Ruislip, Middlesex. Henry Winsor Merryweather the heir was born 5 January 1891 at 2 Tetcott Road, Chelsea but died ca. May 1894⁵ during the catastrophic measles epidemic. Charles William Merryweather followed two years later being born 26 January 1893 also at 2 Tetcott Road, Chelsea but he died on the 29 June at 10 Tetcott Road. William John Edward Merryweather was yet another son given names carried forward from previous generations. He was born in Chelsea on 28 November 1894 and was affectionately remembered by his brother George as a studious lad and book collector. His copies of Thomas Hood's poems, Dante's Divine Comedy and the Koran in English are in my library. Also passed down was his set of Scott's Waverley Novels - and he may well have read them all as he spent many hours reading alone in his room. Brother George said that he was employed by a solicitor^XX which may account for the shorthand he used so extensively in his 1917 diary which gives an almost daily record of his life and army activities in England and on his way to the front line in northern France. Will (sometimes Willie) was living in Chelsea when in 1916 he joined the army at Clapham Junction as a Rifleman with the 23rd London Regiment. This had come into being in an unimportant side-street in Camberwell, Surrey and from 1916 was a Territorial battalion of the East Surrey Regiment. Later, Will transferred to the 21st (County of London) Battalion (1st Surrey Rifles). The 12 February 1917 found Corporal William Merryweather on a train going to Brentwood, Essex for a general Course of Instruction. The following day he received two letters from 'Betty' and he wrote two in reply. Will was already entangled in a passionate, but ill-fated affair with this woman whose love sustained him. They were to exchange many letters. According to his brother george, Will was never a lady's man and it may well be that the sudden release of pent-up feelings which his bullet-ripped diary reveals, were a consequence of this reticence. Close reading of the diary makes it clear that Betty had a husband and that Will and Betty were lovers. Betty's real name was Alice née Oxley who on the 8 April 1903 had married Albert Jarvis, ('Bert J' in the diary), a carpenter from Frinton in Essex⁶. Alice and Albert appear in the Electoral Registers for 1915 and 1918 at Ashleigh, Pole Barn Lane, Frinton, Essex. There can be no doubt at all about Betty's identity as Will wrote 'My beloved's Birthday' as an entry for the 9 December 1917 and Alice Oxley's birth certificate confirms this date, showing her to have been ten years older than Will and it also reveals that her mother, Ann Oxley had previously been married to a Popperwell - another name which features in the diary. Will and Betty met frequently, sometimes at Ashleigh, enjoying a lot of each other's company until an ominous diary entry on Friday, 6 July records that Will's name was on the Orders for Winchester, Hampshire. Things then moved swiftly; the following Monday he had to tell Betty and the news was a tremendous shock to her. The next day when he saw her, 'She was in a terrible state,' and he added, 'Oh, if only I were not going away'. On the 11 July Betty went to see him off from Frinton station. Thereafter he was under training until granted his last leave before embarking for France. The diary entries for the early days of October are very bittersweet. Mon. Promoted L[ance] Sergeant. Tue. 5.56 train to W[ater]loo & 8.45 to Colchester. Oh! what a meeting!!! Thu. Theatre in evening. Photos taken morning. Sat. Wired for an extension - not granted. Sun. In all day. Mon. Shopping morning. Went to catch 6.30 train back but returned [home with Betty]. Tue. Caught 7.30 train in morning. Oh how terrible to leave. Under close arrest reduced to Private. The time-worn photograph with his Sergeant's stripes was one of those taken on the 4 October. On the 17 October he was at Southampton Rest Camp embarking for France arriving at Le Havre early on the 19th. Then followed much movement, gradually nearing the front line. A pencil-written letter to younger brother Reg has survived. Sunday 11.11.17. 2 pm. My dear brother, I had a letter from Dad the other day, and he tells me that you have been called up - he also gave me your address, so I am taking the first opportunity of writing to you. First of all, although it is incorrect, I want to say a few words about myself. You doubtless knew before you left home that I had arrived in France - but it is possibly news that I have not been sent up the line. I am at a Training Base for a few weeks, prior to going up, - am billeted in a barn and carry on parades as though in England, the conditions being somewhat harder. We sleep well feed not so well as you may guess. Fortunately cigs are dirt cheap - Players etc. 25 Centimes for 10 that is about 2½p. Smoking as I do, about 25 cigs a day, nothing[?] is left me at the end of the week to save money, our pay being 5 francs per week = 4 shillings [20p]. 'Nuff said. My address pro tem, No.653775 21st London Regt. 13th Corps, M & K Camp, B.E.F. France. I have booked a return ticket to Blighty, so don't worry old chap. Now a few questions about yourself. How do you like Army life? Are you in huts, is the grub good, do you find your army pay sufficient to keep you in cigs etc.? Let me have an answer soon to all these questions. One word of advice to you, Reg, which I hope you will accept from a good authority and an old soldier. Don't be led by other fools to gamble or play cards for money. I have seen a deal of this madness, and my experience proves it is madness. For one thing, if you are caught, it generally means CB. or Guard Room, and it does you no good. Keep a clean sheet if poss, old boy. 'Nuff said. Write to Ma and Dad at least once a week, as the old people like to know how things are with us. Dad told me you had put your name in for a job as stoker, - have you heard any more about it? I should think it might be well worth trying for, as probably it means additional pay to your army pay. It certainly cannot be worse than the hum drum of Army existence, as you will be more your own master. Let me know as soon as poss. Now, Reg old man, I will close. Be sure and write to me by return as letters are all we have to cheer us here. Aurevoir. Trusting you are in the pink of condish. I remain, Your loving Brother Will. PS. Poor Mrs Fitz - what do you think of the news of her. Bad eh! She sent me 2/6[d] Friday. Tresbon Eh! Among the notes in the diary of letters sent and received, is one about his final letters to Betty. He wrote her on the 23 November and later noted that he was composing another one, but does not record that he ever posted it. On the 30 November he pencilled the fateful words, 'Up to Front Line' and on the 6 December he recorded that he was handed amongst others, 11 letters from Betty, the very last thing he ever wrote. He was killed Monday 10 December 1917. The Regimental histories provide details about the action that followed the battle at Cambrai which Will had missed by a few days, an action where massed tanks known as ironclads were used, startling the Germans and pushing them back several miles in some places except at the village of Flesquières where there was no break-out, leaving it as a vulnerable salient. Due to a severe shortage of reserves the British army was unable to follow up its gains and so very little advantage was achieved. The November weather was intensely cold. The Germans had devastated village after village as they retreated so that nothing habitable was left for the advancing troops. The newly-won territory was characterised on the north by the wide valley between Flesquières and Bourlon Wood but on the south is separated by high ridges like the fingers of an outstretched hand. The 47th (London) Division arrived in the area on the 28 November taking over to the accompaniment of the dull belching of gas shells and a severe high explosives bombardment. The enemy's effort was so heavy that a gradual withdrawal from Bourlon Wood took place. Will and his comrades had been sent to the Front earlier than expected. The Commander-in-Chief had advised Gen. Byng to use his reserves energetically as there was nothing else available,⁷ something confirmed by a remark in the above letter. For doubtful gains, 46,600 men had fought, more than 5,000 killed and more dead were amongst the 10,000 listed as missing. The blood of 90,000 men of the German and British empires was spilled on the approaches to Cambrai, the greater part in and around Bourlon.⁸ Will lies buried in the tranquil Flesquières Hill British Cemetery alongside comrades in 913 other Commonwealth graves. With my brother Brian, I went there in the Spring of 1986. The inscription is still clearly readable, 'Pte. William John Edward Merryweather - a Rifleman, 1st Surrey Rifles.' A poppy, picked from a nearby roadside verge was left on his grave. Sad and poignant moments as I fulfilled this long-planned pilgrimage. Evidently his father had asked the War Office about the manner of his death and the following handwritten letter dated 3 Feb 1918 was received. Dear Sir, I will endeavour to give you the particulars you desire but am restricted to a certain extent. Your son was killed whilst holding a front line trench. A shell fell within a few feet of him. I saw him a few minutes after it exploded[?] and am sure that death was instantaneous. I mention this as I think it may relieve you somewhat to know that he did not die in pain. He was buried by his comrades at a point N.W. of Havrincourt.⁹ The map reference which may be useful to you later is K.15d.95.80. Personal effects have been sent to the base and in due course will be forwarded on to you. Thanking you for your kind wishes. I am Yours sincerely F.C. Barker / Capt. Little more is known about Will apart from his peculiar habit of constantly pulling one ear. This annoyed his mother, as did his liaison with Betty, and in a strange way she seems to have seen his death as an honourable end to the affair. What Betty's state of mind must have been on learning of her lover's fate, (perhaps after an agonizing wait), cannot now be known, and she may have lived out her days nursing her dead Will's memory, but not as far as can be traced, any child of his. Apart from their having a mentally retarded child much later on, we do not know what happened to Betty or husband Bert. The diary lists and mentions many names but family excepted, the only people in the diary who have been identified are Florence Popperwell who died in East London in 1980; possibly Miss Ashby¹⁰; and 2/Lt. E Cotterell. All of Will's soldier friends seem to have survived the war apart from perhaps Smye.¹¹ Leonard Llewellyn Merryweather born early 1896, died before the end of June 1901.¹² Reginald Alfred Merryweather, born 26 September 1899 (see Chapter XXXXXXX). George Alexander Merryweather, my father, the last of William and Ada's children was born on the 19 March 1903 at 31 Uverdale Road, Chelsea (see Chapter XXXX). ¹ Destroyed by bombing in WWII. ² Synonymous with coal merchant. An alternative name for a mining surveyor was colliery viewer. ³ The 1891 census RG12/66/f.36 shows Glamorgan as her birthplace. ⁴ ONS Marriages Eton September 1918, 3a 2106. ⁵ ONS Deaths Hampstead June 1894, 1a 428. ⁶ Three of the most important research aids for First World War family historians are all by Norman Holding. World War I Army Ancestry, The Location of British Army Records and More Sources of World War I Army Ancestry. Federation of Family History Societies. 1991, 1987 and 1986. Among these exhaustive works was the clue about Absent Voters' lists, without which I may never have been able to prove Betty's true identity. ⁷ Quoted in W Moore, A Wood Called Bourlon. The Cover-up after Cambrai, 1917. Leo Cooper. London 1988. ⁸ Alan H Maude, Ed. The 47th (London) Division 1914-1919. London 1922, Amalgamated Press (1922) Ltd. Capt. W G Pidsley et al. A War Record of the 21st London Regiment (First Surrey Rifles) 1914-1919, H B Skinner & Co. London 1928. ⁹ From notes about Flesquières Hill British Cemetery, Havrincourt Communal Cemetery, from which four British soldiers were taken to Achiet-le-Grand Communal Cemetery Extension and three to Flesquières. ¹⁰ Miss Ashby was almost certainly Hilda Alberta Ashby, born 1888. A letter from Mrs. M Lilley of Maidenhead reads, '... Hilda Alberta did have a boy friend in France who was killed and his name was Billy; unfortunately his surname is not known.' ¹¹ ONS War Deaths 1918. Pte. Arthur J Smye 79138 R.F.London, 1.81 366 and Pte. Charles H Smye 722080 London Regiment, 1.86 377. ¹² ONS Deaths Fulham June 1901, 1a 210.