Reginald John L Anstey
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Reginald was born about 1889, the son of George and Emma Anstey. George (b. Morden, Dorset) married Emma Down (b. Frome, Somerset), the daughter of Thomas Morgan and Sarah Down, in Warminster in 1874 (Jul/Aug/Sep). They were to have six children of whom five were still living at the time of the 1911 census: Bessie Amelia, Herbert Henry, Sarah Ethel, Charles James and Reginald John L. Apart from Reginald, all the children were born in Bala, Merionethshire. In 1881 George was a kennel man/huntsman, living in Llanfor, Merionethshire, with his wife. They had three children, Bessie Amelia (4), Herbert Henry (2) and Sarah Ethel (6 months). At the time of the census their daughter Bessie was visiting her grandparents, Thomas and Sarah Down, in Corsley, Wiltshire. By 1891 the family was living at the Keeper's Cottage, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, where George was a gamekeeper. He and Emma now had five children: Bessie, Herbert, Sarah, Charles (9) and Reginald (2). George was still working as a gamekeeper in Cranfield ten years later in 1901 although the family's address was given on the census as 'Dodswell'. Only two of their children were at home on the night of the census, Charles (19, carpenter and builder) and Reginald, who was still at school. Also in the household was a boarder, George Harvey (27), who was also a gamekeeper. By 1911 George and Emma were living alone in the Keeper's Lodge, Cranfield Court, Woburn Sands, Bedfordshire. Their daughter, Bessie, has not been traced on the 1911 census but of their other children, Herbert was a gamekeeper in Northamptonshire and boarding at the King's Head Inn, Syresham, Brackley; Sarah was living as a boarder with George and Minnie Driver at 52 Charles Street, Kettering, Northamptonshire, and teaching at an elementary school; Charles was living in Amphill, Bedfordshire, with his wife Edith and their daughter Florence, and Reginald was a gamekeeper on a farm at Greenham, Newbury. At some point after 1911 Reginald moved to Nottinghamshire to work as a gamekeeper on the Duke of Portland's estate at Welbeck, near Worksop, although he later joined Nottinghamshire Constabulary as a policeman. George and Emma later lived on High Street, Cranfield, Bedfordshire (CWGC).
1/7th Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment) His Army Service Record has not survived. He is believed to have been killed by artillery fire while serving in the trenches near Givenchy with the 17th (Welbeck Rangers) Battalion. According to the entries in the war diary, fatalities/casualties in the battalion were low during the first few days of June and Reginald is not mentioned by name in the diary as a casualty. He was killed on 2 June 1916 and is buried in the Le Touret Military Cemetery, Richebourg-L'Avoue, France (grave ref. III.G.5). He qualified for the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
CWGC: 'Son of George and Emma Anstey, of High St., Cranfield, Bletchley, Beds.' CWGC headstone personal inscription: 'No evil can befall a true man either in life or in death' Probate: Anstey Reginald of Biddlesden Buckinghamshire sergeant-major 17th battalion Nottingham and Derbyshire regiment died 2 June 1916 in France or Belgium on active service Administration (with Will) Oxford 15 January [1917] to Emma Anstey (wife of George Anstey). Effects £148 19s. 8d. The deaths of two Nottinghamshire County Police officers was reported to the local authority on 15th July 1916 and published in the Nottingham Daily Express on 17th July 1916 :- 'The deaths of two Nottinghamshire County Police officers was reported to the local authority on 15th July 1916. “TWO NOTTS. POLICEMEN SOLDIERS FALL. “It was reported at a meeting of the Notts. Standing Joint Committee held at Nottingham Shire Hall on Saturday, [15th July 1916] Sir Ernest Paget presiding, that two more policemen-soldiers had been killed in action. The men are Company-Sergeant-Major Reginald Anstey, of the Nottingham headquarters, and Sergeant William Lowe, of the Hucknall station, both single men and of the Sherwood Foresters.” Above item is courtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918. Register of Soldiers' Effects: his mother, Emma Anstey, was his sole legatee.
