John Henry Gray
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
John Henry was the son of William Gray and his wife Mary Ellen/Mary Eleanor (née Godson). His father William was born in Ropsley, Lincolnshire, in 1874 (bap. Ropsley December 1874) the son of Maria Reynolds and Frederick Gray (m. 1876). William's birth was registered as William Reynolds, but subsequent records gave his surname as Gray. (For additional family details see the record for William's brother, Harry/Henry Gray, on this Roll of Honour). His mother Mary Ellen (name as recorded on the registration of birth) was born in Skegby in 1875, the daughter of William and Ann Godson. John Henry's parents were married at Mansfield Register Office in June 1896; his mother's name was recorded as Eleanor Godson. The couple had nine children: Maria Ann G. (Annie) b. Skegby 1896 and William b. 1897, John Henry b. 1899 bap. All Saints 7 May, Albert Ernest b. 1900 (reg. 1901), Alice Elizabeth b. 1903, Frederick b. 1905, Emma b. 1908, George Edward b. 1910 and Doris Eleanor b. 1917 who were born in Hawton. William, a brewer's labourer, and his wife had moved to Hawton by October 1897 when their second child, William was born and they were recorded on the 1901 Census at 7 Scarles Row, Farndon Road, Hawton. William's parents, who had previously lived in Newark, had also moved to Hawton by 1901 and were living at 6 Scarles Row. The family was still at the same address in 1911: William, now working as a carter for a general carrier, his wife and their eight children: Annie, a domestic servant, William, John, Albert, Alice, Frederick, Emma and George. Their youngest child, Doris, was born in 1917. William snr. also served in the war from July 1918 to April 1919 (see 'Extra information'). In 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled, William, now retired from work, Mary Ellen and their youngest child, Doris, a dressing gown machinist, were still living at 7 Scarles Row. William died in December 1941. His widow Mary Ellen probably died in 1967 (reg. Newark). The third son, Albert Ernest, a farm waggoner, attested in the Royal Artillery on 5 November 1921 (1053469). He was taken prisoner of war on 17 May 1940. (See 'Extra information') He was discharged from the Royal Artillery on 22 April 1946 and was awarded a pension from 23 April. He and his wife Hilda Beatrice (née Burns m. 1937 reg. Chelmsford Essex) returned to live in Newark where Albert died in 1976.
1st Bn East Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of York's Own) The 1st Battalion landed at St Nazaire in September 1914. The battalion was with 18th Brigade 6th Division but transferred to 64th Brigade 21st Division (V Corps) in November 1915. John Henry Gray enlisted on 29 May 1917 at Newark and then trained at Brockton Camp and Aldershot. John Henry was drafted to France at the end of March 1918 and was killed in action on 26th August 1918. He is buried in Regina Trench Cemetery, Grandcourt, Somme, France (grave ref. IX. G. 30). The majority of those buried in this cemetery died in the period from 1 July 1916 to February 1917. He qualified for the British War Medal and Victory Medal. CWGC - History of Regina Trench Cemetery (extract): 'On 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, Grandcourt village was reached by part of the 36th (Ulster) Division, but it was not until the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line, early in February 1917, that it was occupied by patrols of the Howe Battalion, Royal Naval Division. To the south-east of it is Courcelette, taken by the 2nd Canadian Division on 15 September 1916. Regina Trench was a German earthwork, captured for a time by the 5th Canadian Brigade on 1 October 1916, attacked again by the 1st and 3rd Canadian Divisions on 8 October, taken in part by the 18th and 4th Canadian Divisions on 21 October, and finally cleared by the 4th Canadian Division on 11 November 1916. The original part of the cemetery (now Plot II, Rows A to D) was made in the winter of 1916-1917. The cemetery was completed after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefields of Courcelette, Grandcourt and Miraumont; most date from October 1916 to February 1917. Two considerable groups of scattered graves, classed as cemeteries, were concentrated in to Regina Trench Cemetery:- Courcelette Road Cemetery, Miraumont, was on the West side of West Miraumont Road, between Courcelette and Miraumont, and in it were buried soldiers from Canada and from the United Kingdom, who fell in September-November 1916. Mirauumont British Cemetery on the East side of the same road, contained the graves of soldiers from Canada and from the United Kingdom, who fell in September-December 1916.'
John Henry's uncle, Harry (Henry) Gray, his father William's brother, served with the 10th Bn Lincolnshire Regiment (203367 Private) and was killed in action on 28 April 1917. (See record on this Roll of Honour) Another uncle, Frederick Gray, also served in the war but survived. His father William Gray was called up on 6th July 1918. He was 44 yrs and 8 months old, a carter and living at 7 Scales Row, Farndon Road, Newark. He was allocated service number 342173 and posted to the Army Service Corps for home service only. On 9th November 1918 he was posted to the 53rd Remount Squadron at Leicester then posted to the Army Reserve for demobilisation on 26th April 1919. Newark Herald, 5 October 1918: ‘Our Honoured Dead. Pte JH Gray, Newark. Official intimation has ben received from the War Office by Mrs Gray, of Scales’-row, Newark, that their second son, Pte, John Henry Gray, East Yorks., was killed in action on August 26th. As a boy, Pte Gray attended Hawton School and the Primitive Methodist Sunday School. Upon leaving school he was employed by Mr Abraham, Hawton, and later by Mr Baker, of Kneeton. He enlisted on May 29th, 1917, was in training at Brockton Camp and Aldershot, and was drafted out to France at the end of March [1918] before he was 19 years old [b. 1899 reg. A/M/J]. The fallen soldier’s father, Pte W Gray, was called up on July 5th, and is in training at Bradford. The bereaved parents desire to thank all kind friends for their messages of sympathy in their sorrow.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchives.co.uk) Registers of Soldiers' Effects: his mother, Mary Eleanor (sic) was his sole legatee. Newark Herald, 14 September 1940. ;Good News for Newark Families. Two more Newark families have been relieved of anxiety. They have received news that relatives who served in the British Army in France, and have been missing since May, are prisoners of war in Germany … (Pte Sidney Armitage, Sherwood Foresters) … Similiar good news has also been received by Mrs Gray, 7, Scales Row, Farndon Road, whose son, Albert Ernest Gray was in the Anti-Tank Regt. Royal Artillery. He, likewise, was in France, and was taken prisoner on May 17th. Until August 31st not a word was heard from him. He then wrote to say he was a prisoner of war in Germany. He formerly worked at Hawton, but on his marriage went to live at Brighton, where his wife still remains. A younger brother is also serving in the Army.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Newark Herald, ‘Deaths’, 20 December 1941: 'Gray. On Dec. 11th, 1941, at his home 7 Scales Row, Farndon Road, Newark, William, the beloved husband of Mary E Gray, passed peacefully away after long suffering, age 67 years. ‘Peace after pain’.' (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
