1885 - 1916
CPL David Wallace Crawford
1887 - 1916
Lce-Corpl John Joseph Nickle
1894 - 1916
Pte 17911 Morton Neill
1897 - 1916
Lieut Edward Stanley Ashcroft
1883 - 1918
Pte 300038 John Wilson
- Age: 25
- From: Penrith, Cumberland
- Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
- K.I.A Monday 8th October 1917
- Commemorated at: Tyne Cot Memorial
Panel Ref: Panel 31-34
John was born in the December quarter of 1892 in Penrith the son of Moses Ostle Wilson and his wife Agnes (née Borrowdale). They married at Newcastle upon Tyne in the second quarter of 1890.
The 1901 Census shows the family are living at 46 Stickland Gate, Penrith.His father Moses Ostle Wilson who is shown as a stonemason born in Penrith in 1871 whilst his mother Agnes, is shown also as born in Penrith in 1873. John is the eldest of four children, his siblings are shown as; William Wilfrid b. 1895, George b.1898 and Elizabeth b.1901.
His father died in the first quarter of 1904.
His mother Agnes had remarried to widower Benjamin Bolt in 1906 in Cockermouth and they are found at 5 Manor Street, Nelson. Benjamin is aged 38, a boiler stoker at the cotton mill, born Cumberland, Agnes is aged 37, her two stepchildren are Elizabeth 10, and Joseph 8.
The 1911 Census shows John living with his grandparents at 45 Strickland Gate, Penrith. His grandfather Moses Borrowdale is aged 76, having been born in Penrith in 1835. He is retired from them the railways. His wife Agnes is aged 74, born 1837 in Belfast is assisting in the butcher business. Their son Robert aged 46, born 1865 is a butcher. John is aged 18, born 1893 is a mason and his brother George aged 14, born 1897 is assisting the butchery business.
John married Emily May Mitchell on the 06th September 1914 in Penrith. Emily May was born on the 02nd June 1894 (1939 Register) and she was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Mitchell of Bents Cottage, Plumpton Wall, Cumberland.
He enlisted in Penrith and was formerly Private 316510 Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry. Following a transfer he was serving in the 18th Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No. 300038 when he was killed in action on the 08th October, 1917, aged 25, during the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele).
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium.
Those United Kingdom and New Zealand servicemen who died after August 16th 1917 are named on the Tyne Cot Memorial, a site which marks the furthest point reached by Commonwealth forces in Belgium until nearly the end of the war.
The Tyne Cot Memorial now bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. The memorial, designed by Sir Herbert Baker with sculpture by Joseph Armitage and F.V. Blundstone, was unveiled by Sir Gilbert Dyett on 20 June 1927.
The memorial forms the north-eastern boundary of Tyne Cot Cemetery, which was established around a captured German blockhouse or pill-box used as an advanced dressing station.
Private J. Wilson, Penrith.
News was received on Saturday of the death in action of Private John Wilson, son of the late Mr. Moses Wilson, Scotland-road, Penrith, a former bandmaster of the Penrith Town's Band. Private Wilson joined the Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry soon after the outbreak of war, and was later transferred to the Liverpool Regiment. Before the war he was a mason with Mr. Grisenthwaite. His wife is a daughter of Mrs. Mitchell, Bents, Plumpton. He was 25 years of age on the day he was killed (8th October).
Mrs. Wilson received the sad news in a letter from Captain Sheard, of the Liverpool Regiment, who wrote:
It is with deep sympathy that I write to tell you of the death in action of your husband, Private J. Wilson, of my company. He was killed instantly by a bullet through the head while taking rations up to his pals in the front line. We buried him behind our lines, and a cross has been put over his grave.
A local newspaper in Nelson covered his death with a similar paragraph to the Observer but added photographs of John and his two serving brothers.
Also in the Liverpool Daily Post on the 08th November 1917;
King's (Liverpool Regt.). - Aird, 331166, J. M.; Hadwin, 240386, Cpl. J. N.; Lowe, 300306, Sgt. W. J. (Rainhill); Robins, 332655, M.; Wilson, 300038, J. (Penrith).
His widow Emily, by then living at 5 Manor Street, Nelson, Lancs, received his Army effects, Army Pay £6 3s 6d, War Gratuity of £8-10s, and was awarded a pension of 13/9d a week from April 1918.
On the 1921 Census at 5 Manor Street, Agnes is aged 47 and once again widowed, She is living with married son George Wilson 24, stepson Joseph Bolt 18, and married stepdaughter Elizabeth Brooks 20.
Emily remarried to railway porter Harry Wilford just before the Census and is living at Row Cottage, Calthwaite, Carlisle. On the 1939 Register they are living at 2 Petteril Terrace, Carlisle with two children. She died aged 62 in 1958 in Fulham.
John is also commemorated on the following Memorials:
St Andrew's Church, Penrith.
Town of Penrith
We currently have no further information on John Wilson, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.
Killed On This Day.
(108 Years this day)Sunday 16th June 1918.
Pte 57615 Fred William Preddy
23 years old
(105 Years this day)
Thursday 16th June 1921.
Captain Leonard George Duncan
43 years old