Private 27647 Richard Hampton
Photograph of Richard Hampton's name on Panel 5 of the Kirkee Memorial before his grave in Deolali was renovated by CWGC.
Died India on Thursday, 12th December 1918, age 30.
Buried in Grave CE. L. 33. at Deolali Government Cemetery, Maharashtra State, India.
4th Bn., South Wales Borderers. 40th Brigade of 13th Division.
Formerly 21956 Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Hampton, of Dudley Port; husband of Sarah Jane Hampton, of 11, Cleton St., Dudley Port, Tipton, Staffs.
Born: Tipton, Enlisted: Tipton, Resident: Dudley Port.
First landed abroad 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/1499202/
Genealogical Data
Birth of Richard Hampton registered September quarter 1888 in Dudley.
1901 Census.
2 Court 1 House, Coneygree Road, Tipton, Staffs.
Thomas Hampton (52, Colliery Labourer, born Tipton), his wife Emma (46, born Tipton), and their 7 children: Polly (17, Brickyard Presser, born Tipton), Nellie (15, born Dudley Port), Richard (12, born Tipton), Rebecca (10, born Tipton), Willie (7, born Tipton), Harriet (4, born Tipton), and Phoebe (2, born Tipton
1911 Census.
42 Cleton Street, Dudley Port, Tipton, Staffs.
Thomas Hampton (62, Labourer, born Tipton), his wife Emma (52, born Brierley Hill), and 3 of their 9 children: Richard (22, Furnaceman, born Dudley Port), Bill (17, Moulder, born Dudley Port), and Harriet (14, born Dudley Port).
Marriage of Richard Hampton and Sarah J. Morris registered December quarter 1911 in Dudley.
Sarah had been in a common-law relationship with William Bradnick who died in 1909; they had a number of children.
Her first child was Annie Morris, born in 1892, Annie's husband, Arthur Pooler, was killed in France in March 1915, and her second husband, Leonard Pooler, was killed in Belgium in August 1917. So, as well as her husband, Sarah had 2 son-in-laws killed during the war.
Richard and Sarah had a daughter, Mary E. Hampton, born in December quarter 1911 but she sadly died in September quarter 1914, aged 2. A son, Richard T. Hampton, was born on 12th November 1913.
Personal Data
Richard Hampton enlisted around November 1914, but did not serve abroad before 1916. The only regiment shown on his Medal Roll entry is the 4th Battalion, South Wales Borderers, and his entry records 'Infantry Base Depot'. The 4th South Wales Borderers were in 40th Brigade of 13th Division which, after evacuating Gallipoli, served in Mesopotamia for the remainder of the war. Due to the lack of surviving records we do not know if Richard served in Mesopotamia, all we positively know is that Richard died, and was buried, in India.
After Richard's death, his outstanding army pay and allowances were paid to his wife Sarah Jane in October 1919; this amounted to £6/4/9d (6 pounds, 4 shillings and 9 pence). His War Gratuity was calculated at £19/0/0d but an unidentified charge of £16/6/6d reduced this to £2/3/6d (2 pounds, 3 shillings and 6 pence); this was also paid to Sarah Jane in October 1919. The amount of War Gratuity and his date of death suggest that Richard enlisted in November 1914.
Richard's widow, Sarah Jane, was awarded one-off Pension Grant of £8/0/0d (8 pounds exactly) paid on 21st January 1919. She was subsequently awarded a Widow's Pension of £1/9/7d (1 pound, 9 shillings and 7 pence) per week for herself and her 3 children, Richard Hampton, and James and Joseph Bradnick who were Richard Hampton's step-sons . Nellie's address was given as 11 Cleton Street. but later amended to 19 Churchyard Road, Tipton.
Action resulting in his death
Deolali was a hill station, about 100 miles north-east of Mumbai (previously Bombay), and was used in WW1 as a transit camp, prisoner of war camp, and hospital facility. Men on their way home from the Mesopotamia front in particular would transit through Deolali, awaiting their call to the troop ship to return them back to England.
Because of the lack of surviving records, we cannot tell if Richard Hampton was in transit from Mesopotamia to England, had been evacuated to one of the hospitals in Deolali (34th Welsh and the 44th General Hospitals), was a permanent member of the Infantry Base Depot, or even a Guard in the Prisoner of War Camp.
Richard's Pension Card records that he died from malaria. If Richard had served in Mesopotamia then malaria was wide-spread; the 4th Bn. South Wales Borderers War Diary in November 1918 says: "Cases of malaria kept on appearing from time to time, otherwise the health of the men is good". However, malaria may also have been contracted in India.
Richard died on the 12th December 1918, and buried on 13th December, in what is now Deolali Government Cemetery. For some considerable time the cemeteries in Maharashtra State were not capable of being maintained by the CWGC and were in effect abandoned. Those buried there were commemorated on the Kirkee Memorial, Richard's name was carved on Panel 5. In the past few years the CWGC has undertaken significant renovation of the cemeteries in Maharashtra State, and they are once again in a fit and proper state..
Newspaper Cuttings
None.