Ewart Herbert Widdowson
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
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Ewart Herbert Widdowson was the son of James and Emma Widdowson (née Marshall). His father James was born in December 1864 at Bobbersmill, Nottingham, and his mother Emma Marshall was born in December 1873 at Willoughby, Lincolnshire. They were married at Sneinton St Stephen in September 1894 and had four children, including twins, who were born in Nottingham: Lewis James b. 1896, Hettie Flora and Ewart Herbert b. 30 August 1898 and Gladys b. 1900. All the children were baptised at Nottingham St Ann on 21 October 1900. Lewis and James and their four children were living at 19 Ford Street, St Ann's Well Road, Nottingham, in October 1900 when the children were baptised. The family had moved to 1 Turner Street, Nottingham, by 1901 where James was a grocer/beer off-licence on his own account. James and Emma employed a general domestic servant. James and Emma had returned to 19 Ford Street by 1911 where James still had a grocers/beer off-licence. Their four children, Lewis (15), Hettie and Ewart (12) and Gladys (10) were of school age. In 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled, James, a shopkeeper (beer, wine, spirits), and Emma were living at 24 Wiverton Road, Nottingham. This continued to be their home until their deaths, James in 1943 and Emma in 1945.
12/13th Bn. Northumberland Fusiliers. Ewart Herbert Widdowson enlisted at Nottingham. He served with the BEF France after 1915 and was was killed in action in March 1918, probably in the fighting around Peronne during the German spring offensive. One military record noted that his death was presumed 12/28 March, but his death was later accepted as having occurred on 28 March 1918. Ewart is buried in Peronne Communal Cemetery Extension, France (Mem. 6). His grave was brought in from Aizecourt-le-Haut Churchyard Extension after the Armistice. He qualified for the British War Medal and Victory Medal. CWGC - History of Peronne Communal Cemetery Extension (extract): 'Peronne was taken by the Germans on 24 September 1914. On 18 March 1917, the 40th and 48th Divisions captured the town, but it was recovered by the Germans on the 23rd March 1918. It changed hands for the last time on 1 September 1918, when it was taken by the 2nd Australian Division. The cemetery extension was begun by the 48th (South Midland) Division in March 1917, used by the Germans in 1918, and resumed by Australian units in September 1918. At the Armistice it contained 177 graves, now in Plots I and II. It was then enlarged when graves were brought in from the battlefields north and east of Peronne and from the following small cemeteries in the area [list includes]: Auzecourt-le-Haut Churchyard Extension, which contained the graves of 18 soldiers from the United Kingdom and two from South Africa who fell in March 1918.' (www.cwgc.org)
Registers of Soldiers' Effects: his father James was his legatee. WW1 Pension Ledgers Index Cards: named Norah Rosling, residence Sneinton Dale. There is a 1911 Census record of a Norah Rosling (14, b. 1897), working at a lace warehouse, living with her parents Leonard and Keziah on Sneinton Road, Sneinton.
