Reeves, Charles Spencer

Summary

Father: Charles REEVES
Mother: Rose SPENCER

Birth: 1894, Upton Grey in Hampshire
Birth Source: FreeBMD and Census

Death: 25 April 1918, Belgium
Death Source: CGWC

Spouse1:

Narrative

Charles Spencer Reeves is the third of six known children (all boys) of Charles Reeves and his wife Rose (nee SPENCER). He was born at Upton Grey in Hampshire. The birth of Charles Spencer Reeves is noted by FreeBMD in the Basingstoke Registration District during the fourth quarter of 1894.

On the 1901 census, Charles is found in the parental home, in the Parish of Herriard, Hampshire. The place name is indistinctly written, perhaps Narker Green. (See Research Note 1.) He is six years old, the third of five children in the household.

At the time of the 1911 census, Charles was still living in his parents home at Bydean Cottage, Froxfield, Hampshire. At 16 years of age he is working as a Shepherd.

Charles's place of birth is consistenty recorded on both census returns as Upton Grey, Hampshire.

Charles's WW1 Service Record (WO363) indicates he enlisted on 1 Septemer 1914 at Portsmouth and the next day joined up at Newport, Monmouthshire and was initially assigned to the 3rd Battalion West Riding Regiment (WRR). He served on the Home front until September 1915, them in the Mediterranean theatre of war between September 1915 and December 1916, followed by a second period in the UK between December 1916 and July 1917 before being sent to France in July 1917. His medical records indicate Charles was present in Sulva Bay in November 1915 and subsequently in Gozo/Malta in January/February 1916. He seems to have served with the 2nd, 3rd & 8th Battalions WRR and his last recorded posting was to the 1st/7th Battalion WRR in February 1918.

Charles's death is that recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's website.  He was serving as Private 16738 of the 1st/7th Battalion of the Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) and died in April 1918. He has no known grave and is commorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial near Zonnebeke in the modern day province of West-Vlaanderen (West Flanders), Belgium (ISO 3166-2 BE-VWV). The CWGC site has no further identifying information for this individual.

Charles's scarifice, along with that of his eldest brother Henry is recorded on the War Memorial at Froxfield Green outside the church of St Peter-on-the-Green and also on the Great War Memorial within the Parish Church of St Peter, High Cross, Froxfield, where he is noted as serving with the "3rd West Riding".

Research Notes

(1)Although the place name on the 1901 census is not easily discernable, the next but one schedule is for Lea Farm. A Lee Farm (sic) can be seen on a contemporary map from the National Library of Scotland's collection http://maps.nls.uk/view/101168795
and zoomed in http://maps.nls.uk/view/101168795#zoom=5&lat=3282&lon=7767&layers=BT

Sources

Birth:        FreeBMD, 1894, December quarter, Basingstoke Registration District
Baptism:  
Marriage:
Death:     GRO Index to War Deaths 1914-1921 Army (Other Ranks) page 3012
                 CWGC http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/830422/REEVES,%20CHARLES

1901 Census: RG13, Piece 1111, Folio 54r, Page 10
1911 Census: RG14, Piece 06188, Reg.Dist. 106 (Petersfield), Sub Dist. 2 (East Meon), Enum.Dist. 06, Schedule 49

Froxfield Green War Memorial, Hampshire - photograph -http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3359507
St Peter' Church memorial, High Cross, Froxfield, Hampshire - photograph - http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1183466