Private 201827 William Charles Stimpson

Picture courtesy Graeme Clarke.

Died of Wounds on Thursday, 7th November 1918, age 26.
Buried in Grave IV. B. 1. at Romeries Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord, France.

2nd Bn., South Staffordshire Regiment. 6th Brigade of 2nd Division.
Formerly 201827 2nd/5th Bn. South Staffordshire Regiment.

Son of William Charles and Lavina Mary Stimpson; husband of Elsie May Stimpson, of "Lorrain," Harrison St., Marrickville, Sydney, Australia.
Born: Great Bridge, Enlisted: Walsall, Resident: Unknown.

First landed France & Flanders, post 31st December 1915.
Medal entitlement: British War Medal, Victory Medal.
Soldier's Papers at National Archives did not survive.

Not commemorated on any Tipton memorial.
Commemorated here because identified as Tipton on 'Soldiers Died in the Great War'.

Link to Commonwealth War Graves Site: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/176298/

Genealogical Data

Birth of William Charles Stimpson registered September quarter 1892 in Dudley.

1901 Census
209 Stafford Street, Walsall, Staffs.
William C. Stimpson (36, Grocer's Carter, born Abingdon), his wife Lavinia M. (36, born Dudley), and their 2 children: George Henry (11, born Great Bridge), and William C. (8, born Great Bridge).

1911 Census
3 Newland Street, Walsall, Staffs.
William Charles Stimpson (46, Carter, born Abingdon), his second wife Rebecca (37, born Dudley), and William's 2 children: George Henry (21, Grocer's Assistant, born Great Bridge), and William Charles (18, Gas Bracket Maker, born Great Bridge), also William's 2 children from his second marriage: Lavinia Mary (1, born Walsall), and Rebecca (8 months, born Walsall).

Marriage of William C. Stimpson and Elsie M. Broughton registered March quarter 1916 in Walsall.

Personal Data

Although William was born in 1892, in 1891 his parents were living at 82 New Road, Great Bridge, Tipton, Staffs. It is a reasonable assumption, therefore, that William is from the Tipton side of Great Bridge.

He enlisted in the 2/5th Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment at Walsall on Monday 14th February 1916, at that time being employed at Wincer and Sons Limited of Littleton Street, Walsall.

After serving in Ireland during the Irish Rebellion, he was drafted to France. He was transferred to the 2nd Battalion South Staffs after recovering from being wounded.

After William’s death, his outstanding army pay and allowances amounted to £2/3/11d (2 pounds, 3 shillings and 11 pence); this was paid to his widow, Elsie M., in April 1919. His War Gratuity was £15/10/0d (15 pounds and 10 shillings), this was also paid to his widow in April 1919. The value of the War Gratuity suggests that William had enlisted in approximately July 1915.

In September 1922 William's widow, Elsie (née Broughton), emigrated to Sydney, Australia with 12 Broughton family members; they travelled 3rd class on SS Themistocles which had served as a troop ship during WW1. In 1924 she married Henry Archibald Kingsford.

Action resulting in his death

The final action of the 2nd South Staffs was in the Battle of the Selle, from 17th to 25th October 1918. This presents a bit of a mystery as William Stimpson died of wounds on 7th November, some two weeks after the battle, but is buried in the area of the Battle of the Selle. If William had been wounded during this battle I would have expected him to have been in a Casualty Clearing Station or Base Hospital some way further back by the time of his death. From the 3rd to the 7th November, the 2nd South Staffs were in billets at Solesmes and Escarmain, and the War Diary shows them cleaning billets and parading, and on the 7th November repairing roads.

Regardless, William is recorded as dying of wounds on 7th November and was initially buried in St. Python Communal Cemetery Extension, about 11 miles east of Cambrai. William and the other 25 men buried in St. Python were exhumed and reinterred in Romeries Communal Cemetery Extension (2 miles north-east of St. Python) in November 1919.

Newspaper Cuttings

The Walsall Observer and South Staffordshire Chronicle, 30th November 1918
ROLL OF HONOUR
KILLED OR DIED OF WOUNDS
Pte. William Chas. Stimpson, of the South Staffords, Transport Section, died from wounds on November 7. He joined the army in February 1916, and served in France a year and nine months, being previously wounded in May last. For eight months he served in Ireland, and he helped in the suppression of the Sinn Fein Rebellion. A married man, he was 26 years of age, and his home was at 28 Upper Forster Street. One brother and two brothers-in-law are serving, and another brother-in-law has been discharged from the Forces.