Pte 73794 Thomas Morgan

• Age: 32
• From: Llanwrthwl
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• Died Wednesday 4th April 1917
• Commemorated at: Varennes Mill Cem
  Panel Ref: I.J.68

Thomas was born on 04th January 1885 in Llanwrthwl, Breconshire, the son of William Morgan and his wife Elizabeth (nee Evans). 

Prior to his birth the 1881 Census shows the family are living in Llanwrthwl, Breconshire, his father William 27 a farm labourer, and mother Elizabeth 26 are living with their children William 4, Elizabeth 2 and Margaret 1.

Thomas was baptised on 23rd December 1887 at Llanwrthwl, Breconshire alongside his elder siblings Elizabeth, Margaret and John.

His mother Elizabeth died before the 1891 census.

On the 1891 census Thomas is aged 6, a farmers son, living at "Bethen"? He lives with his widowed father, William, a 36 year old farmer, and his siblings William 14 and John 7.

His father William remarried to Jane Jones. They have two children Charles Percy born in 1891 and Lilian born in 1895.

On the 1901 census Thomas is aged 16, a farmers son, new home "Lllechwalto"?, Llangynog. His father, William is now 66 and a farmer, his step-mother Jane is 50, brother John is 18, half-brother Percy is 9 and half-sister Lilian is 6.

The only possible 1911 census record is for a Thomas Morgan aged 24(?) b.Llanwrthwl, a waggoner on a farm. He is boarding with the Powell family at "Penhoel"(?) Farm, Llanynis, Builth. 

He married Margaret Davies (born 08th August 1888) in about 1912. Their daughter Gwyneth Margaret was born on 21st December 1914, followed by a son Cyril George born on 08th June 1916.

Thomas was serving with the 18th Battalion of the King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 73794 when he died on 04th April 1917.

Although his Pension card shows that he died of acute lobar pneumonia, contracted while on active service. The amount of the War Gratuity suggests that he had not been at the front very long when he died.

He now rests at Varennes Military Cemetery.

The cemetery was laid out by the 39th Casualty Clearing Station in August 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, but the first burials were made during August and September by more mobile divisional Field Ambulances. The 4th and 11th Casualty Clearing Stations then used the cemetery from October 1916, joined by the 47th from December 1916, but by May 1917 Varennes was deserted and remained so until the Germans launched their offensive in this quarter in April 1918. The cemetery was then extended by the 17th and 38th (Welsh) Divisions by the addition of plots II and III, and at the beginning of September 1918, the 3rd Canadian and 59th Casualty Clearing Stations arrived at Varennes. The cemetery contains 1,219 burials of the First World War, two of which were brought in from Varennes Communal Cemetery in 1934. The cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield.

The Brecon County Times reported on 03rd May 1917:  

His daughter was 2, and his son 10 months old when Thomas died.

Margaret, living at 9 Oaklands, Builth Wells, received his Army effects, including a War Gratuity of £3.  She was awarded a pension of £1-2s-11d for herself and two children.

In 1939 Margaret, 50, is still living at 9 Oaklands, with son Cyril, 23, a railway shunter. His daughter Gwyneth was married and lived in Builth.