Birth
Samuel’s father, Samuel John Gillim, was born at Hardington in 1872.[1] In 1891, he married Annie Sartin, the illegitimate daughter of Fanny May Sartin.[2] Their first child, Samuel John Gillim, was born at West Coker on 30 December 1892.
Yeovil
After living in West Coker, Samuel senior and his family moved to Yeovil, where, in 1897, they lived near Prospect Place.[3] His occupation was then “Soldier.”[4]
Hardington
By March 1901, the family had moved to North Lane, Hardington.[5]
Melcombe Regis
By September 1904, they had moved to 15 Ferndale Road, Melcombe Regis.[6] Samuel senior died there in April 1905, aged 35.[7] His widow remained at Weymouth and, in 1909, had a son with another man. In April 1911, she lived in one room at 18 High Street, Weymouth, with two children.[8]
Englishcombe
By then, her son, Samuel junior, had left home. In April 1911, he was a farm labourer at Englishcombe, near Bath, boarding with a farm carter.[9]
Return to Hardington
In July 1913, Samuel stayed with his uncle, Charles Ernest Gillim, his father’s brother, at Hardington Marsh.[10]
Military career
Samuel enlisted in the army at Yeovil on 13 July 1915. He was with the Dorset Regiment and then transferred to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.[11]
He was with the 1st 6th Battalion-Territorial when he was killed in action in Belgium on 27 August 1917.[12] His name is recorded on the Tyne Cot Memorial.[13]
References
[1] Civil Registration Birth Index.
[2] Civil Registration Marriage Index.
[3] St Michael’s, Yeovil baptism register.
[4] St Michael’s, Yeovil baptism register.
[5] RG13, piece 2297, folio 44, page 8.
[6] Melcombe Regis burial register.
[7] Melcombe Regis burial register. The burial register and the Civil Registration Birth Index record his age as 35, but he was actually 32 at the time of his death.
[8] RG14, piece 12353.
[9] RG14, piece 14676.
[10] Western Chronicle, 18 July 1913, p.7.
[11] UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919.
[12] UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919.
[13] Find a Grave.