Joseph Mellor Charlton
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Joseph Mellor was the son of Samuel and Kate Charlton (née Burton). His father Samuel was born in Mansfield in January 1860. His mother Kate was born in 1867, also in Mansfield, and was the daughter of George Burton and his wife Amelia (née Mellor). In 1871 George, his wife and their seven children, including Kate, were living in Meadow Square, Mansfield. Samuel and Kate were married in 1891 (J/F/M Mansfield) and their son Joseph Mellor was born in 1893 (reg. J/F/M). Kate died in 1896 aged about 28. Samuel and Joseph have not yet been traced on the 1901 Census, but in 1911 Samuel, a shoe repairer, was living at Padley Hill, Mansfield, a boarder in the household of Arthur Slack, a shoe repairer, and his family. Joseph (Joe), a coal miner, was living at 40 Mount Street, Mansfield, one of three boarders in the household of John and Eliza Hicken. In 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled, Samuel, a retired shoe hand, was recorded living at 40 Mount Street with John Hicken, a retired coal miner, and his wife Eliza. Samuel died in 1942.
17th (Service) Battalion (Welbeck Rangers) Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment). The 17th Battalion was one of the battalions of the New Armies. It was raised in Nottingham on 1 June 1915 and served with the BEF France from 6 March 1916. There is a 2nd Battalion Sherwood Foresters Medal Rolls record which refers to the issue of the 1914 Star and lists 'individuals entitled to the Decoration under Army Order 11 of 24 November 1917.' The names included that of 12143 Private Joseph Charlton who disembarked France on 8 September 1914 ('KIA 22 October 1916'). The 2nd Battalion, which was mobilized on 14 August 1914, landed at St Nazaire on 11 September 1914 to join the BEF. The date that Joseph served in France suggests that he was either serving in the Territorial Force before the outbreak of war and volunteered for mobilisation or had already joined the regular army and transferred later to the 17th Battalion. A casualty report published in a Mansfield newspaper on 13 October 1916 included Joseph's name in the list of the wounded (see 'Extra information). It is unlikely to have been a serious injury as military records confirm that his death on 22 October occurred in action. Two days earlier on 20 October the 17th Battalion, as part of 117th Brigade, took part in the Battle of the Ancre Heights when British forces repulsed a German attack on the Schwaben Redoubt. Joseph has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France (Pier and Face 10 C 10 D and 11 A). He qualified for the 1914 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.
Military records: served in the name of Joseph Charlton. Mansfield Reporter, 13 October 1916: ‘Local Casualties … Wounded … Sherwood Foresters. J Charlton 12143, Mansfield.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Registers of Soldiers' Effects: his father Samuel was his legatee. WW1 Pension Ledgers Index Cards: named his father, Samuel, residence Mansfield.
