John William Hooper Labbett
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
John was born in 1894 in Belize, British s Honduras and was the son of Frederick Henry Hooper (a Wesleyan Preacher) and Ines Bertha Labbett (who died 1st Feb 1917 aged 46, a week after her son).His father Frederick was born in 1860 in New Brompton in Kent and his mother Iren Bertha was born in 1870 in Belize, British Honduras according to the 1911 census they had been married for 18 years (C 1893) and had 4 children , sadly one of whom had died in infancy, their three surviving children were John William Hooper b1894 in Belize, Bertha Evelyn b 1898 in Cornwall and Sydney Bevan b1899 in Llanelly, Camarthenshire. In the 1911 census the family are living at 169 Dudley Road , Grantham and is shown as Frederick 51 yrs head of the family a Weslyan Methodist minister, he is living with his wife Iren Bertha 41 yrs and their 3 children , John William Hooper 17 yrs an apprentice furniture upholstery, Bertha Evelyn 13 yrs a scholar and Sydney Bevan 13 yrs a scholar.
John William Hooper Labbett was commissioned to the rank of Second Lieutenant on 10th March 1915 into the 9th battalion Lincolnshire Regiment. He went out to Mesopotamia on 4th August 1916 and was attached to the Worcestershire Regiment when he was killed in action. His name is commemorated on the Basra Memorial in Iraq.
His brother Sydney Bevan Labbett served during the Great War, he served in the Royal Navy he was born on 4th March 1899 and joined the Navy as a boy entrant on 31st December 1916, he enlisted for 12 yrs service on his 18th birthday 4th March 1917. He served throughout the war and was discharged on 2oth March 1920Article published 2nd February 1917 in the Nottingham Evening Post :- “SOUTHWELL MINISTER'S DOUBLE BEREAVEMENT.“The Rev. F. H. H. Labbett, Wesleyan minister at Southwell, has sustained a poignantly sad double bereavement. “He received the news on Thursday morning [1st February 1917] that his son, Lieut. Labbett, had been killed in action on the Tigris. At the time the young officer's mother was seriously ill, and the news was kept from her. Although she had only been ill since Monday pneumonia set in and death took place on Thursday night following a seizure.” Above is courtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918
No Photos