Contents |
Henry was born in 1886, in Aston. [1] He was the first son of Henry Walter Deeley and Anna Maria Cleaton his wife. In 1891 he was living with them at 69 Wheeler Street Lozells. This street contained 'good quality artisan housing'[2]but the census shows that the address was shared between 4 households.[3]
By 1901, Henry Walter and his family had moved to Nechells again in Birmingham. He was living with his family and aged fourteen .He working as a post office messenger. [4]
His army service is detailed in many documents contained in his service records[5]
On 27-9-1902, Henry Walter joined the British Army, his age at enlistment is given as 18 years 2 months . (HIs birth appears to have been registered in the 3rd quarter of 1886 and his age at the 1891 and 1901 censuses agree with this so it seems that he added on two years to his age). He continued in the army for the rest of his life and this possible fiction was maintained) He initially enlisted in the South Staffordshire regiment but within in short time transferred to the Kings Royal Rifle Corps. At enlistment he was described as being:
His religion was noted as Anglican (yes in the box) but later changed to Wesleyan. He signed up for a short service engagement with 3 years in active service and 9 in the reserve.
His early service took him to Malta. The climate seems not to have suited him as he spent 135 days from mid March to the end of July 1904 in hospital with 'Mediterranean Fever" . Nevertheless, he must have enjoyed the life and in October 1904, he extended his service for 8 years in the colours. Did he celebrate by sowing his wild oats? Perhaps , by November of the same year was back in hospital for another 96 days with an STD. His ill health continued and he spent another 16 days in hospital with fever in 1905 In 1906, he spent time in Dungra, India and was appointed as a Bugler in December of that year. In 1907 his ill health returned and he spent another28 days in hospital with a fever.
A return to England had him stationed in Gosport,Hampshire . He met Elinor Bennet , originally from Galway in Ireland whom he asked to marry. Elinor though was a Roman Catholic and Henry decided to change his religion to hers. He had to request permission to do this and was visited by Rev G Harland to discuss the matter. Rev Harland in a (very damaged so not all legible) note to Walter's commanding officer appears to have said that it wasn't really in his remit to answer one way or the other and that he left it to the man's conscience. However it was to his regret that such a necessity should have arisen. The permission to change is dated a month after the wedding actually took place. He married Elinor on 16th April 1909 (marriage cert forms part of service records) at St Marys RC chapel in Alverstoke.
On 25 April 1910, Henry was promoted to Lance Corporal and 'reverted from being a bugler' in the following month In July his daughter Eileen Patricia was born. The records don't show where Henry was posted during the next few years, he was though living in barracks at Gosport at the time of the 1911 census (his wife was living in Army quarters elsewhere in Gosport at the same census) [6]
Having spent eleven years in the Army , Henry prepared for discharge.His commanding officer wrote on the 3 June
His discharge date was set for 28th September 1914; the UK declared war on Germany in August 1914 and Henry's discharge date was crossed out. He remained in the army.
As Henry was already in the army at the commencement of the war .He was one of the first to be sent to France landing in Rouen on 13th August 1914, part of the 1st division of the British Expeditionary Force. The expeditionary force, fought their way through France and into Belgium. Family stories have said that Henry was so short that he rode a motorcycle, that he rode with Prince Maurice of Battenberg in a side car beside him and that they died together. It transpires that this battalion was indeed a motor cycle regiment but the Prince died on the 27th October 1914, the day before Henry was killed. Henry's death is recorded in the war diary
Although his place of death is recorded, he has no known grave. His name is one of the over 54,000 inscribed on the Menin Gate Memorial. [8]
In his memory, on Sun 26 October, 2014, a quarter peal was rung at the Church of St Peter's Harborne to commemorate the centenary of his death.
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Henry is 26 degrees from Herbert Adair, 26 degrees from Richard Adams, 27 degrees from Mel Blanc, 28 degrees from Dick Bruna, 28 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 35 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 27 degrees from Sam Edwards, 25 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 27 degrees from Marty Krofft, 23 degrees from Junius Matthews, 24 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 28 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
D > Deeley > Henry Walter Deeley
Categories: King's Royal Rifle Corps | British Army in World War I | Killed in Action, United Kingdom, World War I