Gilbert Purchase was born at Hardington in 1892.[1] He was the tenth of eleven children born to George Purchase and his wife, Sarah Ann (nee Partridge).[2]
Gilbert was probably born at Hardington Moor, where his parents lived from about 1889 onwards.[3] This cottage stood at the junction with Lyatts Lane and was later known as Beech Cottage.
Gilbert’s father was a general labourer. His mother looked after the home.
In April 1911, Gilbert was with the 1st Cavalry Brigade, 3rd Dragoon Guards, in barracks at Aldershot.[4]
The regiment was in Cairo at the start of the First World War. It landed in France as part of the 6th Cavalry Brigade in the 3rd Cavalry Division in October 1914 for service on the West Front. It fought at the First Battle of Ypres in October 1914 and the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915.[5]
Gilbert was killed in the Battle of Hooge on 28 May 1915. His body lies in the Ypres cemetery, and his name is on the Menin Gate Memorial.
After Gilbert’s father died in 1918, his sister Ethel returned home to look after their mother.[6]
When Sarah Ann Purchase died in 1933, she left all her real and personal property, including her house and its contents, her grounds, pigs and other livestock, to her four unmarried daughters, Emily, Elizabeth, Annie and Ethel, in equal shares.[7]
Ethel Purchase lived at Beech Cottage until she died in 1977.[8]
References
[1] Civil Registration Birth Index.
[2] RG14, piece 2297, folio 46, page 11, and family reconstitution.
[3] Western Gazette, 15 March 1889, p.6; voters’ lists; Guardian valuations.
[4] RG14, piece 3122.
[5] Wikipedia; entry for 3rd Dragoon Guards, accessed 22 August 2024.
[6] Memorial inscription in Hardington churchyard; RG15, piece 11308, schedule 40.
[7] The will of Sarah Ann Purchase, dated 5 September 1928, proved at Taunton on 27 October 1933.
[8] Memorial inscription in Hardington churchyard.
