Pte 44402 John Griffin Viner

John Griffin Viner was born in Islington, London in 1894,  the son of Alexander Viner and his wife Emily (née Griffin). He was known as Jack by the family. His parents married in 1884 and had 13 children, three of whom died young;  ten are found on censuses.   Jack had older siblings Emily Elizabeth, born in 1885, Mary Ann 1886, Ellen 1888, and Alexander 1890, and younger siblings Ada 1895, Ethel 1900, Alice 1901, Maud 1902, and Harry 1905.

In 1901 the family is living at 42 York Road, Islington, with eight children. His father is 40, a coachman, his mother is 33, sister Mary Ann is 14, working as a firewood chopper, and Jack is 7.

His eldest sister Emily died in 1903 at the age of 18.

By 1911 the family have moved to 29 Rodney Street, Pentonville Road, and are living in two rooms.  His father is 49, a carman/driver, his mother is 43.  Eight of the children are still at home.  Ellen is 22, no occupation listed, Alexander is 20, a general laborer, Jack (listed as John) is 16, employed as a clerk, Ada, 15, does millinery beading, Ethel is 11,  Alice 10, Maud 8, and Harry 5.

The amount of the War Gratuity suggests that Jack enlisted in London in the middle of 1915, and likely went overseas in early 1916.

 

He was serving in the 17^th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 44402 when he died of wounds on the 24th May 1918, aged 24, during the German Spring Offensive.

 

He would have seen action at the Somme in 1916,  Arras and Passchendaele in 1917, and was wounded in action during the German Spring Offensive in 1918. 

 

He was evacuated to the U.K. and died of his wounds at the War Hospital, Epsom, on 24th May 1918 

He was laid to rest in Islington Cemetery on 01st June 1918. 

 

There are 624 First World War burials in the Cemetery.

He is now commemorated on the Screen Wall in Islington Cemetery, Finchley.

Screen Walls are a type of memorial for Commonwealth War Dead, they are predominantly used to record the names of individuals who have a known grave but where it is not possible to erect a CWGC headstone or the exact location of the grave is no longer known.

His Army effects and a War Gratuity of £15-10s went to his mother Emily.   

Three pension records to Emily and Alexander (on Ancestry).

His mother died in 1933, aged 78. 

 

In 1939 his father, 78 and retired, is still living at 29 Rodney Street, with Alice, Maud, and Harry.  He died a few months later.

Both his parents rest, like Jack, in Islington Cemetery.

Sadly, Jack has not been found on any other memorial.

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