Ogbourne St George: WWI War Memorial

The Ogbourne St George WWI memorial can be found inside Ogbourne St George Church in the village. Research has been completed on the nineteen names listed on the plaque and can be found below. Further research was also carried out on men listed on the war grave in the churchyard and those can also be found below.

Percy S BANNING
Captain, 2nd Royal Munster Regiment

Percy Stuart Banning was born on 22 June 1887, the sone of Stephen Thomas and Isobel Margaret (née Moriarty). he was a regular Army Officer, a lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers in which his father had been a lieutenant-colonel. he was posthumously promoted to captain. He married Mona Mary Chaplin in early 1913. She remarried in 1918 and again in 1932 and died in 1966. Captain Banning was killed in action, aged 27, on 4 November 1914 and is buried in Ypres in Belgium. He is also commemorated on his father-in-law’s gravestone in Henfield, Sussex and in London.The Banning family lived in London but held land in Ogbourne St George from 1816. In 1923 Bannings Farm was sold by Lt-Col S T Banning. His son had been an only child. There was no close Banning cousin and no heir to the land in the village.

Henry G BOWLEY
Private, 5th Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment

Henry George Bowley was born in 1891 in Oare and seems to have lived from childhood with his uncle and aunt, George and Mary Jane Stroud, who had no children of their own. He was Shepherd and his uncle a Farm Labourer or Shepherd. In 1911 they were at Lower Upham, Aldbourne, very near Ogbourne St George. Henry enlisted in Devizes, although he seems later to have lived in Willesden. He was killed in action in Mesopotamia on 14 Febraury 1914, aged 35, was buried in Al Basrah, Iraq.

Thomas H BOYLES
Private, 152nd Labour Corps

Thomas Henry Boyles was born in early 1891 in Ogbourne St George, the eldest son and 3rd (of 10) child of Henry and Annie Boyles. Henry was a Coachman and Gardener and later a Farm Labourer. In 1911 Thomas was a Milker on a farm, as was one of his brothers. He enlisted in Swindon, initially in the Wiltshire Regiment, but was in the Labour Corps when he died of wounds, age 26, on 18 November 1917 and was buried in Ypres.

William HOLMES
Private, 5th Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment

William Holmes was born in Crofton on 27 Jaunary 1894, the 4th son of William and Mary Holmes with 2 younger brothers and a sister. In 1901 they were living in East Grafton where William snr was a Farm Servant and the eldest, 15 year old Percy, a Milker on a farm. By 1911 they were Herdswick, Ogbourne St. George; William a Shepherd and 4 sons, including William jnr, were Carters. He enlisted in Marlborough, was killed in action at Gallipoli on 10 August 1915, aged 21, and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial in Turkey.

Francis W Johnson
Private, 1st Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment

Francis Wootton Johnson was born about 1897 in Ogbourne St George, son of George and Martha Johnson, whose older son George Smith was also lost. His father, who was born in the village, was working as a Railway Signalman in 1901. In 1911, having lost a foot in 1904, he was Groom and Francis a Farm Labourer. Martha died in 1902 a few months after the birth of her 6th child and George remarried in 1910. Francis enlisted in Swindon, was killed in action on October 1914, aged 18, and is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial in the Pas-de-Calais area of France.

Bertie J Maisey
 Flight Sergeant, RAF

Bertie Joseph Maisey was born in Newmarket in 1897, the son of William Joseph Clarence and Florence Mildred (née Bush) Maisey, who were married in 1894 in Highworth. The family moved to Ogbourne St George  with 5 sons in about 1900, nearer to Swindon-born Florence’s roots. William was a Wine and Spirit Agent and they lived in Fern Cottage. By 1911, 4 more children has arrived and William, who had previously been an Apprentice Stableman in Bishopstone and Turf Correspondent in Newmarket, was again a Turf Correspondent. Bertie served in the 11th Squadron of the RAF, was killed in action on 24 April 1918, aged 20, and is buried in the Doullens Communal Cemetery, Extension No 1 in Picardie, France. At the time of his death his parents were still in Ogbourne St George and they remained in the area until their deaths in 1956 and 1941.

Isaac SPACKMAN – Sapper, Royal Engineers
Percy E SPACKMAN – Private 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment
William A SPACKMAN – Sergeant 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment

The Spackman brothers were 3 of the 9 sons and 2 daughters of Isaac  and Ann Spackman. The family had been in the village for at least 3 generations. Issac Snr was born in Ogbourne St George and worked as an Agricultural (ploughing and Traction) Engine Driver. Ann came from Great Bedwyn.

Issac, the eldest son was born in 1881, was also an Agricultural Engine Driver and served with the Royal Engineers. He married Lucy Miles in 1913. Issac, who enlisted in Marlborough, died of wounds in France on 24 May 1915, aged 34 and is buried in the Boulogne Eastern Cemetery in the Pas-de-Calais region.

Percy Edgar, the 7th son born in late 1894, joined the 2nd Wiltshires at the same time as his brother William (the have consecutive numbers). They were both Farm labourers and enlisted in Swindon. Percy was killed in action on 24 October 1914, aged 19 and is commemorated on the Menin Gate at Ypres in Belgium.

William Arthur, the 5th son born in early 1891, was killed in action on 9 April 1917, aged 26, and is remembered on the Arras Memorial in France.

A O Hawkins
Hants Reg (12th Btn)

Arthur Oliver Hawkins was born in Ogbourne St George in 1893, the eldest son of Oliver Tom and Julia Ellen Hawkins. He had 3 brothers and 4 sisters. His father was a Carpenter and Joiner, who by 1911 was a Builder working on his own account. Arthur was also a Carpenter and Joiner. he died on 6 May 1919 and was buried in his own village.

Daniel Bull – Private, 1st Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment
George Bull – Private, 13th Worcs

The Bull Brothers were the 2nd and 4th surviving sons of William and Elizabeth (formerly Peckover) Bull. In 1911 Elizabeth Bull is listed as having 12 children, of whom 4 had died before the deaths of Daniel and George in the War.  The 2 eldest children were Peckover half-siblings. The family moved from Northamptonshire to Ogbourne St George in about 1889 and the parents died here in the ’20s.

Daniel was born in late 1881 in Newbottle, Northamptonshire. In 1901 Daniel, his father and older brother were all working as Carters. His father was a Farm Worker and Daniel was a Labourer for a Builder in 1911 and unmarried at that time. He enlisted in Swindon, was killed in action, aged 35, on 30 may 1917 and is buried in the St Quentin Cabaret Military Cemetery, in Belgium.

George Edmund was born on 13 March 1889, the first of William and Elizabeth Bull’s children born in Ogbourne St Goerge. The family were living at New Buildings, Draycott Road. In 1911 he was a Carter living near Faringdon. On 18 April 1914 he married Edith Elizabeth Giffin in Foxley, near Malmesbury. They had one son. George enlisted at Stow-on-the-Wold and was killed in action, aged 28, on 31 July 1916 in France and was buried in the Cambrin Churchyard extension near Calais.

Percival E Bush
Private, 1st Grenadier Guards

Percival Edward Bush was born in Ham near Hungerford in December 1883, the son of John Henry Bush, a Carpenter, and Annie (née Dixon). He was a Carter and on 7 March 1908 he married Kate Mary King in her home aprish of St Mary, Ide Hill, Kent. They had 3 sons John, Fred and Reuben, who was only a few months old at the time of his father’s death. In 1911 they were living in Ham, but John Henry and Annie with 2 other sons and a daughter had move to Ogbourne St George. Percival enlisted in Newbury and was killed in action in France on 1 December 1917 aged 33. He is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial at Louverval in Pas-de-Calais region.

Tom Cox
Private 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment

Tom Cox was born late in 1875 in Ogbourne St George, the son of Mark and Elizabeth Cox. He was living with them and 3 brothers and 2 sisters in 1881 when Mark, who was a Farm Bailiff, died aged 34. His widowed mother married George Spackman, an Agricultural Labourer and Woodman, in 1885. In 1891 Tom was a Ploughboy still living in Ogbourne with his mother, step-father, 2 brothers and a sister. In 1911 he was living at Woodsend, Albourne, just up the hill from Ogbourne, with wife Mabel Blanche (née Bailey), who was an Ogbourne girl, and their year old daughter Olive Blanche. Tom enlisted in Devizes and was killed in action aged 41, on 14 October 1916 in France. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the fallen of the Somme. Mabel Cox died in 1981 aged 92.

Frances H Gough
Private 1st Royal Berks

Francis Henry Gough was born 1882 in Bristol. it seems that he was brought up by his uncle and aunt, Henry George and Eleanor Fisher, in Whittondittch, Ramsbury, where in 1901 Francis was a Horseman on a farm. By 1911 he was already in the 2nd Battalion Royal Berks Regiment apparently serving in India and Henry Fisher, a Carter, had moved to Southend, Ogbourne St George, with Eleanor and 2 sons, one a Groom and the other a a Baker’s Assistant. Francis, who had enlisted in Reading, was killed in action on 24 August 1914, aged 32, and was buried in the Maroilles Communal Cemetery in the Pas-de-Calais area of France.

William J Hathrill – Private 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment
Frederick Hathrill – Private 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment

The Hathrill brother were the 2nd and 3rd sons of Thomas and Maria Hathrill. Thomas was born in Albourne and Maria in Ogbourne St George and they had 5 sons and 4 daughters.

William James was born in 1893 in Albourne. In 1901 they were living in Ogbourne Maizey, where Thomas was a Carter on a farm and James (as he was known) aged 8 was a Ploughboy. By 1911 they were in New Buildings, Ogbourne St George and James was an Under Carter. He enlisted in Swindon, was killed in action on 10 March 1915, aged 21, and commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial in the Pas-de-Calais area of France.

Frederick was born in 1897 also in Albourne. In 1911 when the family were living in New Buildings, Ogbourne St George, he is described, aged 14, as “with horses on the farm”. He enlisted in Swindon, initially in the Wiltshires but later, it seems, transferred to the 9th Battalion Tank Corps, with whom he was serving in France when he was killed in action on 25 March 1918 aged 21. At the time of his death his parents were living in Kintbury, Berkshire. Frederick is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial in Picardie.

Arthur E Moore
Private 5th Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment

Arthur Edward Moore was born in 1881 in Ogbourne St Andrew, the 3rd son of Herbert Henry and Sarah Moore. Sarah and the 6 children were all born in Ogbourne St Andrew. Herbert was a Bricklayer and the family moved from St Andrew to Southend and then by 1901 were in Mildenhall where Arthur and an elder brother were also Bricklayers. In the autumn of 1910 Arthur married Elizabeth Evelyn Blanche Mary Hill, born in Ogbourne St George in 1883, the daughter of the late Henry John and Maria Hill, both Teachers who lived for some time at the then Post Office. Arthur and Elizabeth were living in Ogbourne St George in 1911, as were both their families. Elizabeth died in October 1913 aged 30 and Arthur, who enlisted at Trowbridge, served with the Expeditionary Force in Persia and was killed in action on 18 April 1916 aged 34. He is remembered on the Basra Memorial in Iraq. He was survived by his parents; his widowed mother in-law deid 2 months before his death.

William H Ryland
Private 7th Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment

William Henry Ryland was born in 1888 in Ogbourne St George, son of James and Ann Ryland both also borin in Ogbourne. In 1901 he was living in Southend with his father, an Agricultural Labourer, his mother, older sister and his niece. His parents were still in Ogbourne St George in 1911, where James was a Roadman for the Rural District Council, but William was working as a Carter at that time in East Soley, near Chilton Foliat. He enlisted in Devizes and was killed in action, aged 30, on 7 October 1918 in France. His grave is in the cemetery at Templeux-le-Guérard in Picardie.

George C Smith
 Private 6th Royal Berks

George Charles Smith was born in 1890 in Ogbourne St George, son of George and Martha Johnson and older brother of Francis Johnson. He enlisted in Reading but seems to have been living in Kensington at some time when serving. George was killed in action on 1 July 1916 aged 26. he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to those who fell at the Somme, in Picardie, France.

Download a copy of the names on the Ogbourne St George – War Memorial