Harold Edward Simpkin
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Harold Edward was born in 1894 in Nottingham and was the son of Alfred Edward a book keeper in the lace manufacturing industry and Annie Elizabeth Simpkin née Gilbert of Gordon Road, Burton Joyce, Nottingham. His father Albert Edward was born in 1871 in Nottingham and his mother Anne Elizabeth Gilbert was born in 1870 in Nottingham, they were married in 1891 in Nottingham and went on to have 6 children , sadly 2 died in infancy or early childhood. His siblings were Albert Leslie b1892 Nottingham, Harold Edward b1894 Nottingham, Joseph Claude b1897 Nottingham and Clarence Edwin Simpkin b1901 in Burton Joyce. . In 1901 they lived at Slater's Terrace , Burton Joyce Nottingham. In the 1911 census the family are living on Gordon Road, Burton Joyce , and are shown as Albert Edward 40 yrs a lace manufacturer, he is living with his wife Ann Elizabeth 44 yrs and their children , Albert Leslie 19 yrs a lace manufacturer, Harold Edward 16 yrs a lace manufacturer, Joseph Claude 14 yrs a grocery shop assistant, and Clarence Edwin 10 yrs a scholar.
Corporal Harold Edward Simpkin, enlisted at Nottingham and served with the 2/8th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire) Regiment, he was killed in action on 29th September 1917. He is buried in White House Cemetery, St. Jean-les-Ypres, Belgium Grave Reference: I B 24
Article published on 6th October 1917 in the Nottingham Daily Express :- “CORPORAL HAROLD SIMPKIN. “Burton Joyce Scoutmaster Killed by a Bomb from German ’Plane. “News has been received of the death of the son Mr. Albert Simpkin. of Burton Joyce, Corporal E. Simpkin, who was for number of years on the commercial staff of the Nottingham “Daily Express” and “Evening News.” “Joining the Northumberland Fusiliers early in 1916, he was transferred to the Sherwood Foresters, and after a course of trench-mortar work was attached to the Trench-mortar Battery of the battalion, gaining his stripe as lance-corporal. Early this year he went to France, and as a result of satisfactory work with the battery he was soon promoted corporal. “His death took place in France on September 29th. [1917] As the battery was returning from the trenches a bomb dropped by an aeroplane fell among them, causing the deaths of a number of the men, including Simpkin. “As scoutmaster of the Burton Joyce Scouts Corporal Simpkin (who was 23 years of age) was well-known in the surrounding villages. He was an enthusiastic cricketer and footballer, playing as forward with the Burton Joyce team, and later with one of the Nottingham teams. He was also a member of the Wesleyan Bible Class. Two of his brothers are on active service, one in France and the other in Mesopotamia. Corporal Simpkin played in the team representing the Press of Nottingham against the theatrical profession in the charity match on the City Ground in February, 1914.” Above article is courtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918
