Introduction
Alfred William Abbott spent nine years in the Somerset Light Infantry, serving overseas in India and Mesopotamia during the First World War. After returning to South Somerset in 1919, he married into a family connected to his own and spent the rest of his working life as a sawyer and labourer.
Early life
Alfred was born on 1 November 1890 at Halstock, the eighth of ten children of Edward Abbott and his wife Sarah Jane (née Balsom).[1] The 1891 census recorded Edward as a farm labourer, with the family living in a four-room house on the Yeovil Road.
In January 1897, Edward died from phthisis at the age of forty-eight, leaving Sarah Jane to support four young children, including Alfred.[2] By 1901, she worked as a postwoman and had two boarders, one of whom was Albert Edward Clarke, a farm labourer five years younger than her. In late 1908 or early 1909, Sarah Jane married Albert in the Yeovil registration district.
Shortly after their marriage, they moved to Hill End, Hardington Mandeville, where they lived in one of the cottages at Bridge Close Farm. In late 1911, Alfred’s sister Amelia married Alfred James Quarterman Beck at Hardington church. This marriage created a connection between the Abbott and Beck families, which was strengthened when Alfred later married Beck’s younger sister Gladys. Alfred Beck and his wife, Amelia, lived in Martock for at least six years before moving to Yeovil, where they shared their home with Sarah Jane and Albert by June 1921.
Military career
Alfred lived at Hardington for only a short time before he enlisted in the 1st Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry in about 1910.[3] By April 1911, he was a private stationed at the Verne Citadel on Portland, undergoing standard peacetime training and garrison duty.
When war broke out in August 1914, the 1st Battalion was deployed to France. However, it appears Alfred was transferred to the 2nd Battalion, which was stationed in India. By June 1915, he was reported to be serving there.
In January 1915, he was included on Hardington’s Roll of Honour.[4] In June 1915, a local newspaper reported that Mrs Clarke of Hill End had four sons on active service—Arthur George, Henry Thomas and Alfred with the Somerset Light Infantry, and Walter Charles with the Territorial Force. Arthur was stationed in France, while Henry, Alfred and Walter were in India.[5]
In 1916, Alfred appears to have left India for Mesopotamia. A newspaper report about his wedding in 1919 stated that he had spent the last three years of his nine years’ military service in Mesopotamia.[6] A roll of individuals entitled to the Victory Medal and British War Medal states he was attached to the Signal Service, served in Mesopotamia, and attained the rank of acting corporal.[7]
Marriage and later life
Shortly after leaving the army, Alfred married Gladys Georgia Beck at All Saints Church, Martock, on Whit Monday 1919. Gladys was the youngest daughter of William Beck, a glover of Bower Hinton, and the sister of Alfred James Quarterman Beck, who acted as the best man. A newspaper described Alfred as of Hardington and Bower Hinton, suggesting he had recently moved to the latter. It also noted that Gladys looked charming in a white crepe-de-chine dress with a bridal veil and orange blossom.[8]
The couple settled at Bower Hinton. Alfred became a sawyer working for Sibley and Son at the Parrett Ironworks, where his younger brother, Walter, also worked. Alfred and Gladys had three children: Percival Alfred William, born 1920; Violet Mary, born 1921; and Edward Charles, born 1926.
In November 1924, Alfred appeared at Yeovil County Sessions accused of assaulting his next-door neighbour, Mrs Minnie Worner, on the day of the general election. An altercation apparently began after Mrs Worner threatened to smack Gladys’s face. The magistrates bound Alfred to keep the peace for six months.[9]
By September 1939, the family had moved to Hill View, Little Norton. Alfred was then employed as a labourer at a tent works, possibly Paull & Co at Martock, while Percy and Violet worked there as machinists.
Alfred died in late 1974 or early 1975 at the age of eighty-four, while Gladys died in 1986 at the age of ninety-two.
Conclusion
After nine years in the army, which took him to India and Mesopotamia, Alfred spent the rest of his life within a relatively small area of South Somerset. His marriage to Gladys strengthened the existing connection between the Abbott and Beck families, and he settled into a working life as a sawyer and labourer around Martock.
References
[1] Civil registration birth certificate; 1939 Register; family reconstitution.
[2] Death certificate of Edward Abbott.
[3] Western Chronicle, 13 June 1919, p.11; World War I Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920.
[4] World War I Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920 (Alfred’s regimental number was 9079); Western Chronicle, 5 February 1915, p.6.
[5] Western Chronicle, 25 June 1915, p. 6.
[6] Western Chronicle, 13 June 1919, p.11.
[7] World War I Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920.
[8] Western Chronicle, 13 June 1919, p.11.
[9] Western Chronicle, 7 November 1924, p.1.