Cpl 57751 Edward Pawson Boustead

• Age: 21
• From: Ryton, Durham
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• K.I.A Thursday 26th April 1917
• Commemorated at: Arras Memorial
  Panel Ref: Bay 3

Edward Pawson Boustead (Ted) was born in Ryton, Durham in 1896. He was the son of Joseph and Georgina Boustead (nee Pawson), of West View, Low Moorsley, Hetton-le-Hole, Co. Durham. They had married in June 1895 at Sunderland. 

The 1901 Census shows the family living at Greenfield Place, Ryton, Gateshead, Durham. His father, Joseph, is aged 37, born 1864 in Trimdon, Durham, he is a certified schoolmaster, his mother, Georgina, is aged 33, born 1868 in Sunderland and has no occupation listed. They have two children at the time of the Census, both born in Ryton, Edward Pawson aged 5, born 1896 and Charles Richardson aged 3, born 1898.  

The 1911 Census shows the family living at 1 Low Moorsley Hetton Le Hole, Durham. His father Joseph aged 47, is a head teacher employed by the County Council, and his mother Georgina is aged 43, has no occupation listed. They state that they have been married for fifteen years and have three children, Edward Pawson aged 15 and Charles Richardson aged 13,are both at school, Dorothy is aged 6 and born in 1905.

Prior to the war he had been employed at the Hetton branch of Barclays Bank.   

He enlisted at Houghton Le Springs, joining the North Midlands Divisional Cyclist Company as Private 328. He was subsequently transferred to the 18th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 57751.

He had reached the rank of Corporal when he was killed in action on 26th April, 1917, aged 21.

The 18th Battalion diary does not feature any casualties on 26th April 1917.

His death was reported in the Newcastle Journal on 22nd May 1917:

ROLL OF HONOUR

BOUSTEAD - Killed in action on April 26th 1917, aged 21 years, Edward Pawson (Ted), elder and beloved son of Joseph and Georgina Boustead, Moorsley, Hetton-le-Hole, late of Ryton-on-Tyne.

Ted's body was not recovered from the battlefield or was subsequently lost as his name is recorded on the Arras Memorial.

The ARRAS MEMORIAL commemorates almost 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918, the eve of the Advance to Victory, and have no known grave. The most conspicuous events of this period were the Arras offensive of April-May 1917, and the German attack in the spring of 1918. Canadian and Australian servicemen killed in these operations are commemorated by memorials at Vimy and Villers-Bretonneux. A separate memorial remembers those killed in the Battle of Cambrai in 1917. Both cemetery and memorial were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, with sculpture by Sir William Reid Dick. The memorial was unveiled by Lord Trenchard, Marshal of the Royal Air Force on the 31 July 1932 (originally it had been scheduled for 15 May, but due to the sudden death of French President Doumer, as a mark of respect, the ceremony was postponed until July).

He is also remembered on the following Memorials:

Journal of the Institute of Bankers - Roll of Honour: 

CORPORAL EDWARD PAWSON BOUSTEAD, King's Liverpool Regiment, of Barclays Bank, Ltd., Hetton-le-Hole. Killed in action.

Barclays Bank Active Service Register: Register entitled Barclay & Company Limited – Staff on Active Service includes, in the section for Newcastle-on-Tyne local head office, the name E P Boustead, with branch given as Hetton. An annotation records him as Killed in Action. 

Bede Collegiate school. 

This was the second loss for his parents to suffer. His younger brother, Charles Richardson, was killed in action on 17th August 1916 whilst serving with the 2nd Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment (27288). He too had worked for Barclays before enlisting. His body was not recovered from the battlefield and his name is recorded on the Loos Memorial in France.

It must have been heartbreaking enough to lose two sons killed in action but how cruel that neither were afforded a burial.

Soldiers Effects to mother Georgina, the pensions of Edward and his brother Charles also went to Georgina.

His father Joseph died in September 1933 aged 69, in Houghton, Durham. His mother Georgina died March 1951, aged 83, in Sunderland.

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