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Claypits Pond with Horses 1905
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Watkinson

Selected Biographies

Watkinson, Augustus Rowland – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 3.3.1889.[1]  Parents: Rowland Watkinson (Coconut Mat Maker) and Sarah [née Woodgate] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Father to Hugh Rowland Watkinson [b1921] and Jeffrey James Watkinson [b1923]; also, brother of Bertie Cornelius Watkinson [b1901] and brother-in-law of Percy James Boggis [b1892], David Sander Davies [b1897] and Roland Ford [b1889].  Home: Cock and Bell Lane, Long Melford (1891 and 1901), Spring Gardens, Long Melford (1911), Hall Street, Long Melford (1921 to 1939).  Occupation: Labourer, later Galenical Maker for Stafford Allen and Sons, Distillers of Herbal Oils (1911 to 1939).  Married: Mildred ‘Millie’ Boggis in 1915.  Service Record: During the Great War Augustus served as Private, later A/Cpl.80674 with the Royal Engineers.[2]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1961.

Watkinson, Bertie Cornelius – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 12.3.1901.[3]  Parents: Rowland Watkinson (Coconut Mat Maker) and Sarah [née Woodgate] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Brother to Augustus Rowland Watkinson [b1889] and uncle of Hugh Rowland Watkinson [b1921] and Jeffrey James Watkinson [b1923]; also, brother brother-in-law of Percy James Boggis [b1892], David Sander Davies [b1897] and Roland Ford [b1889].  Home: Spring Gardens, Cock & Bell Lane, LM (1901 to 1921), 7 Bull Lane, LM (1939).  Occupation: Assistant in Fred Bond’s Baker’s Shop (1921), Stone & Sand Quarry Worker (1939).  Service Record: Bertie was a member of the Local Defence Volunteers in Long Melford, being part of ‘H’ Company, 10th Battalion, Suffolk Home Guard when it was formed in August 1942.  His name is recorded in the official tribute to the organization entitled The Lion Roared his Defiance, photographed in and around Long Melford in 1944.[4]  Died: Southwark, London in 1968.

Watkinson, Frederick Herbert – Born: North Weald, Essex on 22.5.1898.[5]  Parents: Herbert William Watkinson of Long Melford (Farrier) and Alice Edith [née Plummer].  Family Connections: Nephew of Frederick James Watkinson [b1880].  Home: Tylers Green, North Weald, Essex (1901), 4 Skipps Corner, North Weald (1911), 34 Ringslade Road, Wood Green, Middlesex (1939).  Occupation: Railway Booking Clerk [1916] to (1939).  Married: Edith Jessie Aylard in 1921.  Service Record: Frederick was conscripted on 28.9.1916 as Aircraft Mechanic No. F21390 with Royal Naval Air Service, transferring on 1.4.1918 as No.221390 to the Royal Air Force, receiving his discharge in May 1920.[6]  Died: Wood Green, Middlesex in 1956.

Watkinson, Frederick James – Born: Earls Colne, Essex on 21.4.1880.[7]  Parents: Edgar Watkinson of Long Melford (Engine Fitter) and Amy [née Taylor].  Family Connections: Uncle of Frederick Herbert Watkinson [b1898].  Home: High Street, Earls Colne, Essex (1881), Burrows Lane, Earls Colne (1891), Church Street, Lavenham, Suffolk (1911), 2 Trafalgar Square, Maldon Road, Witham, Essex (1921), 57 St Pauls Road, Bradford, Yorkshire (1939).  Occupation: Grocery Manager (1911 to 1939).  Married: Kate Walker in 1909.  Service Record: Frederick was conscripted on 24.6.1916 as Gnr.234982 with the Royal Field Artillery, mobilising on 25.5.1917 serving briefly with the Tank Corps.  On 28.8.1917 he transferred to 3rd Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, then as Rfn.58762 to 25th [Service] Battalion, Kings Royal Rifle Corps when he was posted to France from 14.6.1918 to 26.2.1919 as part of 59th [2nd North Midland] Division, his unit operating as a pioneer battalion.  He received his discharge in March 1919.[8]

Watkinson, Hugh Rowland – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk in 1921.  Parents: Augustus Rowland Watkinson (Galenical Maker) [see details above] and Mildred [née Boggis].  Family Connections: Nephew of Bertie Cornelius Watkinson [b1901].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1921 to 1939).  Service Record: Hugh was conscripted in 1939 as Pte.624004, later promoted to Corporal with No.119 Squadron, Royal Air Force operating as an Air Gunner with Coastal Command based at Pembroke Docks in Pembrokeshire.[9]  Died: Corporal Watkinson was recorded as missing presumed killed in action on 15.12.1942 when his plane, a Sunderland flying boat was lost without trace on patrol off the coast of enemy-occupied France west of Brest.  He is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial [Panel 97], Englefield Green, Runnymede, Surrey and the War Memorial in Long Melford.[10]

Watkinson, Jeffrey James – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 5.10.1923.[11]  Parents: Augustus Rowland Watkinson (Galenical Maker) [see details above] and Mildred [née Boggis].  Family Connections: Nephew of Bertie Cornelius Watkinson [b1901].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Printer’s Apprentice (1939).  Married: Barbara Mary Warren in 1951.[12]  Service Record: Jeffrey was a member of the Local Defence Volunteers in Long Melford, being part of ‘H’ Company, 10th Battalion, Suffolk Home Guard when it was formed in August 1942.  His name is recorded in the official tribute to the organization entitled The Lion Roared his Defiance, photographed in and around Long Melford in 1944.[13]  He was later conscripted and by December 1945 was stationed in Germany as part of the British Army of Occupation on the Rhine.[14]  Died: Croydon, Surrey in 1973.

Related Biographies

Davies, David Sander – Born: Whittington Moor, Derbyshire on 4.5.1897.[15]  Parents: Benjamin Davies (Grocery Manager) and Eliza Ann Sanders [née Sanders].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Augustus Rowland Watkinson [b1889] and Bertie Cornelius Watkinson [b1901] of Long Melford.  Home: Staffa Street, Tibshelf, Nottinghamshire (1901), 1 Brooke Street, Tibshelf (1911), 10 Windsor Road, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire (1939), 1 Fieldside Crescent, Mareham-le-Fen, Lincolnshire [1981].  Occupation: Civil Servant at the Ministry of Labour (1939).  Married: Gertrude Hannah Watkinson of Long Melford in 1920.  Service Record: David enlisted on 21.4.1915 as Pte.22521 with 9th [Service] Battalion, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, being posted to France on 30.12.1915 as part of 64th Brigade, 21st Division.  He saw action during the Somme Offensive of 1916 and at the First and Third Battles of the Scarpe in April and May 1917, receiving his discharge on 23.7.1917.[16]  Died: Boston, Lincolnshire on 18.2.1981.

Ford, Roland  – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1889.  Parents: George Ford (Mat Maker) and Susannah [née Oakley].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Augustus Rowland Watkinson [b1889] and Bertie Cornelius Watkinson [b1901].  Home: 16 East Street, Sudbury, Suffolk (1891), 3 Bridge Terrace, East Street, Sudbury (1901 to 1911).  Occupation: Baker (1911).  Married: May Watkinson in 1916.  Service Record: Roland was conscripted as Pte.202621 with 9th [Service] Battalion, Essex Regiment, transferring as Pte. TF/238017 to 12th [Service] Battalion, Duke of Cambridge’s Own [Middlesex Regiment] and posted to France as part of 54th Brigade, 18th (Eastern) Division.  He saw action during the Third Battles of Ypres including the First Battle of Passchendaele on 12.10.1917.[17]  Died: Roland was listed as missing presumed killed in action on 17.10.1917 and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Passchendaele, West Flanders, Belgium and the War Memorial in Sudbury, Suffolk.[18]

Notes – [1] Baptism Register 5.5.1889, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [2] Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [3] 1939 Register.  [4] Published by Marten & Son, Ltd., of Market Hill, Sudbury, Suffolk in 1946. [5] 1939 Register.  [6] Royal Navy Registers of Seaman’s Services [ADM 188/602], Royal Air Force Airman’s Records [AIR 79/1994], and Royal Navy Medal and Award Rolls [ADM 171/118].  [7] 1939 Register.  [8] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [9] See article ‘Missing Melford Airman’ Suffolk and Essex Free Press 21.1.1943.  [10] Commonwealth War Grave Commission record.  [11] Date of birth taken from the official Death Notice; the 1939 Register however gives his birth date as 11.10.1923.  [12] Suffolk and Essex Free Press 10.4.1951.  [13] His name is variously shown in official records as Geoffrey as well as Jeffrey and it is as Watkinson, G.J. that he is recorded with the Home Guard.  [14] Royal Artillery Attestations 1883-1942 as Geoffrey Watkinson and in Suffolk and Essex Free Press 13.12.1945.  [15] 1939 Register. [16] Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923 [ref: 7/MD/1191], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [17] Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923 [ref: 11/PP/D/15157 and 11/APW/1685], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [18] Commonwealth War Grave Commission record and British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 [ref: 628144].

Genealogical Tables

Research by David Gevaux MA © 2024
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