17755 Cpl John Derry Perks, 10th Bn, KOYLI

17755 Corporal John Perks of the 10th Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, was killed in action on the 29th December 1915. He was just eighteen years old.

John Perks was born in Hednesford, Staffordshire, but enlisted at Doncaster. He appears on the 1901 census as the three-year-old son of Thomas Perks (a 37-year-old coal miner) and Ellen Perks (aged 35) living at 5 Rawnsley Road, Cannock in Staffordshire. Five siblings are also recorded on the 1901 census - all brothers - ranging in age from 12 years to nine months. John Perks was the second youngest of the six brothers.

The 1901 census records John as John D Perks, and the birth of John Derry Perks was registered at Cannock in the December quarter of 1897. Both Soldiers Died in The Great War and The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), however, omit his middle name.

John's army number dates to September 1914 which means that he was probably approaching his 17th birthday when he joined the 10th KOYLI, and probably didn't need to do too much to persuade the recruiting sergeant that he was nineteen years old. He arrived in France on 11th September 1915 (still only seventeen years old) and was killed just over three and a half months later. CWGC notes that he was the son of Thomas and Ellen Jane Perks, of 3 Kenyon Street, South Elmsall, Pontefract in Yorkshire. He is buried in Houplines Communal Cemetery Extension in France.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC, 1901 Census, BMD index)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in The Great War

3/1584 Pte Albert Marwood, 9th KOYLI

Doncaster-born, 3/1584 Private Albert Marwood of the 9th Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, was killed in action on the 17th December 1915. He was one of 138 British Army officers and men to die on this date.

The 1901 census yields just one possibility for an Albert Marwood born in Doncaster, and shows him living with his parents and siblings at 196 Cleveland Street, Doncaster. Albert's father - Henry - was a fifty year old saddler; the children's mother is recorded as 41-year-old Annie Marwood, and there are four children: Reuben (aged ten), Chris (aged eight), Albert (aged four) and Ada (aged one). All four children were born in Doncaster.

There were certainly other siblings too. Reuben Marwood appears as a nine-month-old baby on the 1891 census, and also noted (this time at 45 St Thomas Street, Doncaster) are Walter Marwood (aged eighteen) and Anne Marwood (aged two). Henry Marwood's trade is recorded as railway labourer. Going back a further ten years, the 1881 census shows Henry married to Mary Marwood, and one child - Walter - as an eight-year-old. Henry is recorded as a labourer in an iron works.

Mary Marwood would die in 1885 (aged 39) and then Henry would quickly re-marry. His marriage to Annie Tutton is recorded in the June quarter of that year. Thus, Walter Marwood was the half brother to Albert and his siblings. Anne Marwood, the two-year-old who appears on the 1891 census, would die in late 1894 or early 1895. Her death (aged six years) was recorded in the March quarter of 1895.

I can find no evidence that Reuben or Chris Marwood served in the army during the First World War. Walter Marwood though, had joined the 5th KOYLI on the 14th March 1911 and he would serve until March 1916 when his period of engagement terminated. He did not serve overseas.

Albert's army number indicates that he originally joined the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion, probably in August 1914, and he must have subsequently been posted to the 9th Battalion. He arrived in France on the 14th October 1915 and was the battalion's only fatality on the 17th December that year. He is buried in the Houplines Communal Cemetery Extension in France.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC, 1881, 1891 and 1901 census returns, Free BMD, WO 364 army pensions)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in The Great War