Pte 202164 Herbert Jowett

Herbert Jowett was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, on 8th October 1895, the fifth son of Walter Jowett and his wife Mary Ellen (née Knapton). His parents, both born in Leeds, married in 1883 and had eight children.  Herbert had older siblings William Ernest, born in 1884, Albert 1886, Walter 1888, Lily 1891, and Arthur 1893, all born in Leeds, and younger siblings Violet 1900 and Harold 1902, both born in Liverpool.

 

Herbert was baptised in St. Jude, Hunslet, Leeds, on 29th December, his parents’ residence 3 Sayner Lane, and his father’s occupation storekeeper.

 

The family moved from Leeds to Liverpool between 1895 and 1900.  In 1901 the family, with seven children, is living at 127 Fonthill Road, Kirkdale. His father is an electrical storekeeper, William, 16, is an engineer’s clerk, Albert, 14, is an errand boy.  Walter is 12, Lily 9, Arthur 7, Herbert is 5 and Violet 1.

 

Herbert attended St. Athanasius School, then Arnott Street School from 1909 to 1910 (school record shows birthdate as 8/10/1896).

 

They are at the same address in 1911. His father, 50, is a storekeeper for Liverpool Corporation Tramways, his mother is 47, Lily, 19, is a tailoress, Arthur, 17, and Herbert, 15, are both grocer’s shop assistants, Violet is 11 and Harold 8.

 

As his service record has not survived, the full details are not known, but the War Gratuity, based on rank and length of service, suggests that Herbert enlisted in about January 1915, when he would have been 19 years old. Herbert enlisted in Liverpool in the 2/5th Bn, King’s (Liverpool) Regiment.  

 

His mother died a few months later, in the summer of 1915, aged 51. 

 

Herbert was one of those killed in action on 10th October 1918.  He had just turned 23 years old two days before.  He was buried close to where he fell and his grave marked with a cross.  After the war when graves were concentrated, his body, identified by the cross and his clothes, was removed and reburied in Highland British Cemetery, Le Cateau, Nord, where he now rests.

After the Battle of Le Cateau (26 August 1914), the town remained in German hands until the middle of October 1918. The original cemetery (Plot III) was made by the 50th (Northumbrian) Division after the fighting of 17 October; the name of Highland Cemetery is suggestive at once of the comparatively high ground on which it stands and of the 32 graves of the 13th (Scottish Horse) Battalion, Black Watch, found in this plot. The cemetery was greatly enlarged after the Armistice when graves of October and November 1918 were brought in from isolated positions on all sides of Le Cateau. Highland Cemetery now contains 624 First World War burials. The cemetery was designed by Charles Holden.

 

His father placed a notice in the Liverpool Echo on 28th October 1918:  

“October 10, killed in action, aged 23 years, Private Herbert Jowett, K.L.R., the dearly-beloved son of Walter and the late Mrs. M. E. Jowett.”

 

Herbert was the second son his father lost in the war.  His brother Arthur served with the R.F.A. as Gnr 2623, and died of wounds on 23rd October 1916, also aged 23. He rests at Etretat Churchyard, Seine-Maritime. 

 

His father was entitled to Herbert’s effects of £26-19-9d and a War Gratuity of £15-10s, although there is no record of these payments being made. 

 

His brother Walter served in France for two and a half years in the Royal Engineers and was discharged in 1919 with a partial disability.

 

His brother Albert joined the the Army Service Corps in 1914, served in France and was demobbed in 1919.

 

In 1939 his father Walter, 78, was living with married daughter Violet and youngest son Harold in Woodfield Road.  His father died in 1944, aged 83.

 

Sadly, neither Herbert nor Arthur have been found on any memorials, however, both brothers are commemorated on the family headstone.

 

We currently have no further information on Herbert Jowett. If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.