Henry William Colton
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Henry William Colton was born in Radford in 1884, the son of Mary Colton (b. 1866). Henry and his mother, a lace mender, were living with her parents, William and Eliza Colton (née Garratt m. 1861) at 7 Spring Terrace, Selkirk Street, Basford, in 1891. Also in the household were Mary's sister-in-law, Harriet Colton, the wife of her brother Arthur, their son, Percival C Colton, and another grandson William H Colton. Mary Colton married David Dessaur, a widower, in 1894 (reg. Basford). The likelihood is that they had two sons, Samuel (b.1896) and David (b.1898), but both died before their first birthday. David Dessaur [Daria Dessauer] had married Amelia De Koning in 1876 (reg. London). In 1881 David, a cigar maker, his wife and their two daughters were living in Spitalfields, Whitechapel, with his father-in-law, Myer De Koning (b. Ireland), a cigar maker, and Amelia's younger siblings Mark, also a cigar maker, and Kate. David, now working as a hawker, Amelia, their seven children and Amelia's unmarried sister Kate (using the surname King), were still living in Spitalfields in 1891. The family later moved to Nottingham where Amelia died in 1893 (reg. Dessaur). On the 1901 Census the Dessaur family, using the surname King, was recorded at 18&20 Montfort Street, Nottingham: David, a cigar maker, his wife Mary, a lace mender (at home), six of David's children including a married daughter, her husband and their three children, and Mary's son, Harry Colton (17), a bricklayers' labourer. David Dessaur died aged 44 in 1902 (reg. Dessaur). An undated document in Henry William’s army record, which was probably completed in February 1903 when he enlisted, gave his next of kin as his mother Mary Dessaur and his brother-in-law (probably stepbrother) John Dessaur, both of 50 Bovill Street, Radford. By 1911 Mary (surname Towle) was living with Frank Towle and his son Frederick, an errand boy, at Pleasant Row, Hyson Green. The census recorded both as married (five years, no children) but they did not marry until 1915 (reg. O/N/D Nottingham). Frank Towle had married Mary Baguley in 1881 and they had had at least 10 children between 1881 and 1901, two of whom died in infancy, the youngest in 1901. Henry William Colton had married Emma Elizabeth Hulme (b. 1884) at Radford St Peter on 12 April 1909 and they had one son, Harry (b. May 1912). At the time of the 1911 census the couple were living with his mother-in-law, Harriet Holmes [sic], and her son Joseph Percy at 15 Wyville Street, Radford. Henry's widow Emma Colton completed a form for the army in May 1920 listing her late husband's surviving relatives and named herself and her son, both of 15 Wyville Street, his mother Mary Towle, 17 Powis Street, Bulwell, and an aunt Ann Evans and an uncle Herbert Colton both living at separate addresses on Cornhill Street. Nottingham. His mother Mary's second husband, Frank Towle, died in May 1937; the notice of his death in the local newspaper gave his address as 17 Powis Street Bulwell. Mary died four years later in 1941. Henry's widow Emma and their son Harry, a wholesale dairy worker, were still living with her mother Harriet at 15 Wyville Street in 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled. Also in the household was Edna Mary Wetton (b. 1916), a lace finisher, whom Harry married in 1941 (reg. Cardiganshire). Harry and Edna had a son, Anthony in 1944. Emma Colton never remarried and died in March 1946 aged 61. Her son Harry survived her.
2nd Bn. Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment) . Henry William Colton enlisted in Nottingham on 23 February 1903 age 19 years 3 months, occupation whipthong maker. Following home service from 23 February, he served with the 2nd Battalion in Hong Kong from 6 March 1904 and in Singapore from December 1904 to January 1906. He was admitted to hospital in Singapore on 8 June 1905 suffering from myalgia (a general term for muscle pain) and was not discharged until 3 August. Henry returned to the UK on 30 January 1906 and transferred to the Army Reserve on 22 February that year after three years service with the regular army. The surviving documents in his service record do not give his service engagement, which would generally be, for an infantry regiment, 12 years including Army Reserve. He transferred to the Army Reserve after three years, so would have been required to complete nine years in the Army Reserve which, but for the war, would have expired in February 1915. Henry was mobilised at Derby on 5 August 1914 and posted to the 3rd Bn. Sherwood Foresters the same day, transferring to the 2nd Battalion when he joined the Battalion in France on 10 October 1914. The Battalion had landed at St Nazaire a month earlier on 11 September 1914, under order of 18th Brigade 6th Division. Henry was killed in action ten months later on 9 August 1915. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West Vlaanderen, Belgium. He qualified for the 1914/1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. Service record: Home 23 February 1903-5 March 1904 (1y 11d). Hong Kong 6 March 1904-6 December 1904 (277d). (-) Settlements [Singapore] 17 December 1904-29 January 1906 (1y 54d). Home 30 January 1906-9 October 1914 (8y 253d). BEF 10 October 1914-9 August 1915 (304d). Total 12 years 169 days. CWGC - History of the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (extract): 'The Menin Gate 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. This was the first time gas had been used by either side and the violence of the attack forced an Allied withdrawal and a shortening of the line of defence. There was little more significant activity on this front until 1917 [Third Battle of Ypres].' (www.cwgc.org)
William Henry's cousin, Percival Charles Colton, the son of his mother's brother Arthur and his wife Harriet, served with the 9th Bn. Sherwood Foresters (23089 Private) and was killed in action in France on 26 September 1916. (See record on this Roll of Honour) CWGC Additional information: 'Husband of Emma E. Colton, of 15, Wyville St., Radford, Nottingham.' Nottingham Evening Post, 9 November 1915, photograph with caption: 'Pte. HW Colton, 2nd Sherwood Foresters, 15, Wyville- St., Radford, ex-postman, killed in action Aug. 9.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, ‘In Memoriam,’ 9 August 1916: ‘Colton. Killed in action, August 9th, 1915, Private Henry William Colton, late postman. Peace perfect peace. Wife and baby.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, ‘In Memoriam,’ 9 August 1917: ‘Colton. In loving memory of Henry William Colton, late postman, of 15, Wyville-street, killed August 9th, 1915. Fondly remembered. Wife and little Harry.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Notices also placed by wife and son, 9 August 1919 and 1920. Registers of Soldiers' Effects: his widow Emma was his legatee and payments were made for herself and child. WW1 Pension Ledgers index cards: named his widow Emma b. 1884 and son Henry (sic) b. 1912. Emma Colton was awarded a pension of 15 shillings a week for herself and her child with effect from 10 April 1916. Henry William Colton's personal effects were returned to his widow at 15 Wyville Street, in February 1916. The army record has the date the effects were returned but a list of the items has not survived. Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Deaths,’ 23 March 1946: ‘Colton. March 22nd, suddenly, Emma (Pem) – Mother, son Harry, Edna, grandson Tony.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
