Frederick Richard Matthews
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Frederick was born in 1883 at Beckingham and was the son of Thompson a labourer at the local shipyard and his wife Elizabeth Matthews, they lived at Church Street, Beckingham.By the 1901 census he is still living with his parents at Church Street and by this time he has joined his father and is an apprentice in the local shipyard. He eventually became a police constable and moved down to Nottingham where he met Mable Walker a local Nottingham girl who on the 6th march 1909 married at the parish church in Hyson Green.By the 1911 census Frederick and his family are living at 41 Lotus Street he is 28 years of age and a police constable and he has a daughter Elizabeth Irene born 13th August 1909 in Nottingham. They went on to have a further daughter Doris Ada born 17th August 1911 again in Nottingham.The family later moved to 97 Bridlington Street Hyson Green
Frederick's service record shows he enlisted on 28th October 1915 at Nottingham. he gave his age at this time as 32 years and 6 months stated that he was married with 2 daughters and gave as his next of kin, his wife who was living at 'Lilsoe' Duke William Mount, The Park,Nottingham. He was trained at various camps and served at 'home' from 28th October 1915 to 17th March 1917 where upon on the 18th March 1917 he was embarked at Portsmouth to travel to Boulogne. He had original served with the Army service Corps but on 27th September 1917 he was transferred to the West Riding regiment and joined this battalion on 5th October 1917. Five days later on Wednesday 10th October he was killed in action, aged 34, The Duke of Wellingtons Regiment took part in the First Battle of Passchendale in October 1917. The area of fighting was very muddy, with water-filled shell holes, and swept by rifle and machinegun bullets, plus shells exploding both in the ground and in the air. Many soldiers bodies were never recovered, and Frederick Matthews would have been reported firstly as 'missing' and later as 'presumed dead' as he has no known grave. His name appears on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium which is where many of the remains from the battlefields of Passchendale and Lanjemarck were brought and which bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known.
The information on Frederick Matthews was provided courtesy of the Beckingham and Saundby local history group.
