Introduction
George Delamont served in the Somerset Light Infantry from 1914 to 1919, during which time he was deployed to both the Western Front and Mesopotamia. After the war, he became a carpenter, initially working in Somerset and later in Southampton and Esher.
Early life
George was born on 21 October 1894 at Hardington Mandeville, the sixth of eight children of Edwin Delamont and his wife, Georgina (née Abbott).[1] The family lived at Hardington Moor, and his father worked as a carter. By the age of sixteen, George was employed as a labourer for a market gardener.
Military
George enlisted in the 1st Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry early in the war. His service number was 12561. He was serving with them by November 1914 and was included in Hardington’s Roll of Honour of January 1915.[2] He was later transferred to the 7th (Service) Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry, which was deployed to the Western Front. George landed at Boulogne, France, with his battalion on 24 July 1915.[3] Later, he transferred to the 1/4th Battalion, a territorial force, and was posted to Mesopotamia.[4] Throughout the war, he held the rank of private. On 1 April 1919, he was transferred to Z Reserve, which allowed him to return home.[5] He was awarded the Victory medal, British War medal and the 1915 Star. After the war, he was assessed as disabled due to nephritis: 50% in April 1920, 40% in April 1921, 30% in October 1921, less than 20% in July 1922 and 0% in October 1922.
A Glastonbury romance
Despite his disability, George entered the building trade and became a carpenter at Glastonbury. He was living there in August 1920, when he first met Alice Mary Childs, a domestic servant in the town.[6] They began courting, and he wrote several passionate love letters to her, including one in December 1920, which contained the line, “I am longing to kiss your sweet lips, to see your rosebud face, and to gaze into your eyes divine.”
The 1921 census recorded George as a carpenter working for Merrick & Son, a building firm in Glastonbury, where he was boarding at 9 Northload Terrace. He later moved to Gillingham and Brent Knoll, but continued to visit Alice at Glastonbury.
At Whitsuntide 1923, Alice visited Hardington at George’s invitation, and around this time she became pregnant. She informed George, and in October 1923, he saw Alice’s mother and gave her a pound. By this time, George was looking for a way out. In November 1923, he said he would not marry Alice, and on 26 November she served him with a summons to pay maintenance. She gave birth to a son on 18 March 1924, and the hearing was held at Glastonbury Borough Petty Sessions the following month. Alice’s solicitor cited the case of Gaskell v Gaskell to argue that the gestation period could have been as long as 331 days, pushing conception back to late April. However, this was unnecessary, since George did not contest the case. He acknowledged writing the love letters and accepted paternity of the child. The magistrates ordered him to pay 10s per week for sixteen years and £5 6s 6d in costs.
It remains unclear why George changed his mind about marrying Alice. By November 1923 he had clearly decided against the marriage, although he subsequently accepted paternity of her child without contesting the case. Alice’s trip to Hardington appears to have been pivotal, raising the possibility that his parents did not approve of her. Additionally, George’s outlook on life may have been changed by his full recovery from nephritis or the terminal illness of his brother, Henry John, who died in Yeovil Hospital on 17 November 1923 from tongue cancer at the age of thirty-six.[7] It may be simply that he had fallen in love with someone else.
Marriage and later life
At the time of this court case, George was living at Malmesbury Park Road, Bournemouth. While living there, he met Winifred Rosina Pack who, in June 1921, worked as a parlourmaid at 12 St Anthony Road, Bournemouth, where George’s older sister, Frances, worked as a cook. In late 1924, George married Winifred at Southampton.
Initially, George and Winifred lived in Southampton, where their only child, Anne Georgina, was born on 26 June 1927. In about 1930, they moved to Esher, where they lived in a succession of properties close to Sandown Race Course. They lived at Bijou Cottage, Wolsey Road, for a few years before moving to Grove Cottage, Lower Green Road.[8] In about 1937, they moved to 34 Lower Green Road, which became their permanent home.[9] The 1939 Register recorded George as a joiner. As it has been established that he worked as a carpenter for Sandown Race Course at the end of his life, he may therefore have worked at the racecourse for much of his time at Esher.
After his mother’s death in 1951, George inherited the one-sixth share of his father’s estate provided for him under Edwin’s will. The estate had been valued at £180 7s 6d when probate was granted in 1931.[10]
On 13 August 1957, while pushing his bicycle across a yard at Sandown Race Course, where he worked as a carpenter, George collapsed and died at the age of sixty-two.[11] He left an estate valued at £1,845 15s 4d.[12] Winifred died eight years later, on 1 July 1965 at Kingston-upon-Thames Hospital at the age of seventy, leaving an estate valued at £4,332.[13]
Conclusion
George’s adult life can be divided into two distinct parts. His early adulthood was dominated by military service, serious illness and the breakdown of his relationship with Alice Childs. After marrying Winifred, his life became much more settled, and he spent the greater part of his later life working as a carpenter and joiner at Esher.
References
[1] Civil registration birth index; 1939 Register; family reconstitution.
[2] Western Chronicle, 6 November 1914, p. 6; 5 February 1915, p.6.
[3] British Army World War I Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920.
[4] World War I Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920.
[5] British Army World War I Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920.
[6] Central Somerset Gazette, 25 April 1924, p.5.
[7] Death certificate of Henry John Delamont.
[8] Esher Voters’ lists.
[9] Esher Voters’ lists.
[10] The will of Edwin Delamont, dated 24 December 1923, proved at London on 9 February 1931.
[11] Esher News and Mail, 16 August 1957, p. 5.
[12] National probate calendar.
[13] National probate calendar.
