Samuel Needham Lowe
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Samuel Needham was the eldest son of Samuel and Mary Ann Lowe (née Horobin). Both his parents were born in Derbyshire in 1866, Samuel at Darley Dale, the son of Adolphus and Catherine Lowe, and Mary Ann at Ashford-under-Water, the daughter of Thomas and Sarah Horobin. Samuel and Mary were married at Darley St Helen in October 1895 and had four children, one of whom died in childhood: Samuel b. Nottingham 1896 bap. Cromford 15 November 1896; Amy b. Nottingham 1900 bap. Cromford 30 December 1900 d. 1902; Walter b. East Kirkby 1903 bap. Cromford 1903 and Cyril b. East Kirkby 1906. Samuel and Mary were living in Cromford when their children were baptised (1896, 1900 and 1903) but in 1901 Samuel, a railway engine stoker, Mary and their two children Samuel (4) and Amy (5 months) were living at 10 Glen Terrace, Meadows, Nottingham. The only daughter Amy died the following year. By 1911 the family was living at Elveston House, Roseberry Street, East Kirkby: Samuel, an engine driver employed at a locomotive depot, Mary, Samuel, a caddy at golf links, Walter (7) and Cyril (5). According to the later CWGC record, Samuel's parents were living at 13 Roseberry Street , East Kirkby, although the Pension Ledgers record gave his mother's address as Skegby. Samuel snr. died in February 1939 and the probate record gave his address as Mansfield Road, Skegby. Administration of his Will was awarded to his widow Alice and sons Walter, a tea merchant, and Cyril, a van man. His brother Walter, a tea saleman, was recorded on the 1939 England & Wales Register living with his wife in Carlton, Nottingham, and Cyril, who was also married, was living in Kirkby in Ashfield. The register showed that Cyril had joined the Police (War Reserve) on 1 September 1939 having previously been employed as a grocer's carter. Samuel's widow, Mary Ann, has neither been traced on the 1939 Register nor has a registration of death been identified.
15th Bn Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Formerly (106221) Mechanical Transport Army Service Corps The 15th (Service) Bn (2nd Birmingham) Royal Warwickshire Regiment, one of Kitchener's New Army battalions, was formed in Birmingham in September 1914 by the Lord Mayor and a local committee. It was mobilised for the BEF France and landed at Boulogne in November 1915. It took part in the Battle of Passchendaele (Third Battle of Ypres), July-November 1917, with the allies fighting for control of the ridges south and east of Ieper, Belgium. The action was fought in unusually wet weather. The battalion was drafted to Italy in November 1917 but returned to the Western Front in 1918 (disbanded October 1918). Samuel served in France from 27 September 1915, so it is likely that he joined the BEF with the Army Service Corps, later transferring to the 15th Bn Royal Warwickshire Regiment which did not arrive in France until November 1915. He died from pneumonia in France on 2 October 1917; he is buried in Godewaersvelde British Cemetery, France (grave ref: I.H.10). Qualified for the 1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. CWGC - History of Goedwaervelde British Cemetery (extract): the village of Godewaersvelde is close to the Belgian border, about 16 kilometres south-west of Ieper [Ypres], half-way between Poperinge, Belgium, and Hazebrouck, France. 'The cemetery was begun in July 1917 when three casualty clearing stations were moved to Godewaersvelde. The 37th and the 41st buried in it until November 1917, the 11th until April 1918, and from April to August 1918, during the German offensive in Flanders, field ambulance and fighting units carried on the burials. After the Armistice, the graves of five soldiers of the 110th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery were brought in ... and in May 1953, four graves in Godewaersvelde Churchyard were moved into the cemetery.' 972 Commonwealth burials. (www.cwgc.org)
CWGC: 'Son of Samuel and Mary Ann Lowe, of 13, Roseberry St., East Kirkby, Notts.' CWGC headstone personal inscription: 'In loving memory of an hero who died for others' Military records: served as Samuel Lowe WW1 Pension Ledgers Index Cards: named his mother, Mary Ann Lowe, residence Skegby Registers of Soldiers' Effects: mother, Mary Ann Lowe, sole legatee
