Richard Severn Goulder
- Family History
- Military history
- Extra information
- Photographs
Richard Severn (or Seven) was the only son of Thomas and Sophia Goulder (née Deaball).
His father Thomas was born in Radford in 1862, the son of Richard Severn Goulder (b. 1834) and Eliza Andrews (m. Radford St Peter 14 November 1857) and the eldest of three children. His siblings were Richard Severn b. Wandsworth 1866 and Matilda b. Basford 1873. His parents lived briefly in London and Thomas was baptised at Clapham Christ Church in April 1865 and his brother Richard in the same church in December 1866 (home address Merston Cottages), while their sister was baptised (Matilda Isadora) at St Leodegarious.
Their parents were living at Griffin Row, High Street, Basford, in 1871 and 1881 but by 1891 were recorded at 7 Landseer Street, Radford. Richard snr. was a joiner and both his sons were lace makers. Their mother was not in the home on the night of the census but her daughter Matilda's occupation was given as housekeeper.
Thomas's father died in 1896. His three children were already married, Richard in 1893, Matilda to Walter Lilley in 1894 and Thomas to Sophia Deaball in 1895 (OND).
Thomas and Sophia had three children: Richard Severn b. 1897 (JAS), Olive Gwendoline b. 1902 (JAS) and Edna May b. 1906 (OND). Thomas, a lace maker, his wife and son Richard were living on Easthorpe Street, Ruddington, in 1901, in the home of Thomas's aunt, Isabella Beeson, the widow of Thomas Beeson, a framework knitter. Isabella and her husband had lived on Easthorpe for over forty years, and ten years previously she was described on the census as a shopkeeper, 'grocer's shop and house.'
Thomas and his family had moved to 7 Landseer Street, Radford, by 1911 and Thomas and Sophia were still at the same address in 1921. Both their daughters were now in work, Olive was a cigarette packer (John Player & Sons) and Edna a hosiery finisher (WH Goodliffe, hosiery manufacturer).
Olive married John W Charles in 1928 and in 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled they were living at 55 Pyatt Street, Nottingham. Her sister Edna married Laurence H Gill in 1939 and lived in Leicester. Their parents were still living at 7 Landseer Street,
Sophia died in March 1947 and Thomas in December the following year. Their daughter Olive died in 1994 and her sister in 1998 (reg. Leicester).
Richard Goulder enlisted in Nottingham and served with 'B' Battery 50th Brigade Royal Field Artillery.
50, 51, 52 and 53 (Howitzer) Brigades were part of the New Army K1 (L to LIII). In February 1915, 50 Brigade's three six-gun batteries were reorganised as four four-gun batteries; A, B, C and D. A and B Batteries were joined by sections from B Battery 53 Brigade in September 1916 and increased to six guns. 50th Brigade was part of 9th (Scottish) Division.
War Diary 50th Bde RFA 13-17 October 1917: ‘Batteries working on their positions and getting up ammunition. D/50 moved across the Poelcappelle Road to Artillery House. 15th B/50 moved to D/50s old position. During this period there was very considerable Counter Batteries work on the part of the enemy ... Casualties for October 1917: Officers 11 Total (K/M/W/G), Other Ranks, Killed 30, Missing 4, Wounded 59, Gassed 64.' (TNA/www.greatwarforum.org)
Richard was killed in action on 16 October 1917 in the last months of the Third Battle of Ypres. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, West Vlaanderen, Belgium (Panel 4 to 6).
CWGC History of Tyne Cot Memorial (extract): The memorial forms part of the boundary of Tyne Cot Cemetery; the cemetery is 9km from the town of Ieper [Ypres]. 'The Tyne Cot Memorial is one of four memorials to the missing in Belgian Flanders which cover the area known as the Ypres Salient. Broadly speaking, the Salient stretched from Langemarck in the north to the northern edge in Ploegsteert Wood in the south, but it varied in area and shape throughout the war. The Salient was formed during the First Battle of Ypres in October and November 1914, when a small British Expeditionary Force succeeded in securing the town before the onset of winter, pushing the German forces back to the Passchendaele Ridge. The Second Battle of Ypres began in April 1915 when the Germans released poison gas into the Allied lines north of Ypres ... There was little more significant activity on this front until 1917, when in the Third Battle of Ypres an offensive was mounted by Commonwealth forces to divert German attention from a weakened French front further south. The initial attempt in June to dislodge the Germans from the Messines Ridge was a complete success, but the main assault north-eastward, which began at the end of July, quickly became a dogged struggle against determined opposition and the rapidly deteriorating weather. The campaign finally came to a close in November with the capture of Passchendaele.' (www.cwgc.org)
CWGC Additional information: Son of Thomas and Sophia Goulder, of 7, Landseer St., Radford, Nottingham.
WW1 Pension Ledgers: Named his parents Thomas and Sophia Goulder. Original address, 7 Landseer Street, was amemded to 55 Pyatt Street, Trent Bridge.
Registers of Soldiers' Effects: his father, Thomas was his sole legatee.
Nottingham Evening Post, 'Roll of Honour', 29 October 1917: 'Goulder, killed in action October 17th, Gunner R Goulder RFA, age 20. Father, mother, sisters Olive and Edna and fiancée, Lily.'
Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Deaths’. 2 April 1947: ‘Goulder. March 31st, Sophia, loved wife of Thomas, dear mother of Olive [Charles] and Edna [Gill], mother-in-law of Bill [John Wm Charles] and Lawrence [Gill], grandma to Benita [Gill] and Robert [Gill]. Wilford Hill Saturday 12 o'clock.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Nottingham Evening Post, ‘In Memoriam’, 9 December 1949: ‘Goulder Thomas. Treasured memories of our beloved father, died December 9th, 1948. Also dearest mother, March 31st, 1947. Dearly loved, sadly missed. Daughters Olive and Edna.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Photo of Richard Severn Goulder
Commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium (www.cwgc.org)