William Harold Weston
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
William Harold Weston was born in 1897 at Papplewick and was the son of Henry a farm labourer and Annie Weston née Clayton of Seven Mile House, Papplewick. His father Henry was born in 1859 at Redmile, Leicestershire, his mother Hannah Clayton was born in 1860 at Arnold they were married in 1878 their marriage was recorded in the Basford registration district, they went on to have the following children, Thomas b1879, William b1881, Minnie b1892, John b1894, Harry b1897, Fred b1900 and George Weston b1902, all were born in Paplewick. In the 1911 census the family lived at lived at Seven Mile House, Papplewick, Nottinghamshire and were shown as Henry 52 yrs a farm labourer, he is living with his wife Annie 51 yrs and their children, William 30 yrs a general labourer, Minnie 19 yrs a domestic housekeeper, Harry 14 yrs a farm labourer, Fred 11 yrs a scholar, and George 9 yrs a scholar.
Private William Harold Weston enlisted at Hucknall and initially served with the Duke of Wellington's Regiment, he was serving with the 2/7th battalion Sherwood Foresters Regiment when he was killed in action on 3rd July 1917 and is buried at Noreuil Australian Cemetery (grave ref G.5)
An article appeared in the Hucknall Dispatch of 9 August 1917 about Private William Harold Weston who had been killed in action on 3 July. He was single and prior to enlisting had worked at Forest Farm, Papplewick. Before joining 2/7th Bn Sherwood Foresters he had served in the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment. The article includes extracts from a letter sent by an Army chaplain, WJ Moulton, to Weston’s mother giving details of her son's death - a shell had struck a box of bombs near to where he was working. Source: Nottinghamshire Archives Ref 90.2, ‘A place like Papplewick’ (Vols 1-17), Vol. 16 Chronological and Miscellanea, 1334-1951, CJ Womble, 2002.
