Albert Daniel Gay
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Albert Daniel was the son of George Henry (also Henry George) and Julia Gay (nee Davis). Albert's father was the son of Daniel and Sarah Gay and was born in Bathampton, Somerset, probably in about 1857. He was baptised 'Henry George' in Bathampton in the parish of Batheaston on 28 February 1858. His mother, Julia Davis was born in Bristol, her birth probably registered in 1855 (J/F/M) although the likely entry for Julia on the 1939 England & Wales Register gave her date of birth as 7 January 1854. George and Julia were married in 1878 (reg. Bath) and from information on the census records between 1881 and 1901 had at least seven children who were all born in Bath (some specified as Walcote, Bath). The five oldest were all baptised on 19 May 1887 at Lyncombe St Mark in the parish of St Mark, Bath, and their dates of birth are taken from the baptismal register: Ada Louisa b 19 March 1879, Lily Georgina b. 29 May 1880, Julia Maud b. 10 July 1882, Thomas George (k/a George) b. 12 January 1885 and William Ernest (k/a Ernest) b. 2 April 1887. The two youngest children were Albert Daniel birth registered 1890 (J/F/M Bath) and Eliza Ellen birth registered 1893 (J/F/M Bath). In 1881 George (25) a gardener, and Julia (26) a laundress, were living at 1 Bell Inn Cottages, Bath, with their two daughters, Ada (3) and Lily (1). By 1891 George, now employed as a general labourer, and Julia were living on Avon Street, Bath, with their six children, Ada, Lily, Julia (9), George (6), Ernest (4) and Albert (1). By 1901 the family had moved to Summerfield Cottages, Clifton Road, Bath. George was working as a dustman for Bath Corporation while Julia was a charwoman. Only four of their children were in the home on the night of the census: George a blacksmith's labourer, Ernest , Albert and Eliza (8). Ada has not been traced after 1891, Lily Georgina had married Henry Brain on 2 December 1899 at the Bath Register Office and was living independently (d. 1960 reg. Bath) while Julia, the third daughter, was a laundress and registered at the House of Refuge, Marlboro Hill, Bristol. Julia probably died in 1903 (reg. Bath) at the age of 19. Ernest and Albert have not yet been traced on the 1901 Census. His father George Henry probably died in 1905 (O/N/D Bath) aged 48 and the evidence is that his widow and at least Ernest and Albert then moved to Nottingham. Albert attested on 19 August 1907 in Nottingham and joined the Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment). He had previously been employed as a merchant seaman. By 1911 he was serving with the 1st Battalion at Gough Barracks, Trimulgherry Deccan, India. At the time of his death his home was at Ellis Terrace, Northville Street, Nottingham. His brother Ernest married Sarah Elizabeth Cockayne (also Cokayne) in 1909 (O/N/D Nottingham) and two children; Ethel Julia and Ernest George. Ernest enlisted in the 1st Battalion Somerset Light Infantry (7082 Private) and served with the British Expeditionary Force in France. He was killed 'on or since' 2 November 1914 and is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial. (See record on this ROH) In 1919 Albert's mother provided a form for the Army listing his surviving blood relatives. The document is largely illegible but it shows that Albert had neither wife nor children. His mother, who at one time had lived at 10 Harold Terrace, Pole Street, Nottingham, was then living at 5 Pemberton Place, Leen Side, Nottingham. (The document was signed by Julia with a cross, 'her mark'). Julia was probably a patient in the Public Assistance Institute, 700 Hucknall Road, Nottingham, at the time of the 1939 England & Wales Register. Her date of birth was given as 7 January 1854. She died aged 88 in 1942 (reg. A/M/J Nottingham).
Albert enlisted in Nottingham on 19th August 1907, he gave his age as 18 yrs and 9 months and his occupation as merchant seaman. He served with the 1st battalion Sherwood Foresters and in 1911 was stationed at Gough Barracks, Trimulgherry Deccan, India. The battalion had been in India for 5 years when war broke out and the battalion returned to England. On 5th November the battalion landed at Le Havre joining the British Expeditionary Force. Albert was killed in action on 9th January 1915. His army service record includes a report dated 12 January 1915: 'Killed in action 9 January 1915. Buried west of the Estaires la Bassel Road in an orchard behind a house 250x S of ‘H’ in Neuve Chapelle (ref Lille map Belgium sheet 36). However the grave was subsequently lost and his name is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial, France (Panel Reference: 26 & 27). Albert qualified for the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. CWGC - History of the Le Touret Memorial (extract): The Memorial is located at the east end of Le Touret Military Cemetery. 'The Le Touret Memorial commemorates over 13,400 British soldiers who were killed in this sector of the Western Front from the beginning of October 1914 to the eve of the Battle of Loos in late September 1915 and who have no known grave ... Almost all of the men commemorated on the Memorial served with regular or territorial regiments from across the United Kingdom and were killed in actions that took place along a section of the front line that stretched from Estaires in the north to Grenay in the south. This part of the Western Front was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting of the first year of the war, including the battles of La Bassée (10 October – 2 November 1914) [subsequent battles took place after Albert's death] ... The British Expeditionary Force in French Flanders, 1914 - 1915: In October 1914, II Corps of the British Expeditionary Force moved north from Picardy and took up positions in French Flanders where they were immediately engaged in the series of attacks and counter attacks that would become known as the ‘race to the sea’. Over the course of the next year most of the British activity in this sector focused on attempting to dislodge the German forces from their advantageous position on the Aubers Ridge and capture the city of Lille, a major industrial and transport centre which the Germans had occupied early in the war. The ridge is a slight incline in an otherwise extremely flat landscape from which the Germans were able to observe and bombard the British lines.' (www.cwgc.org)
Albert's brother Ernest served with the 1st Battalion Somerset Light Infantry (7082 Private) on the Western Front and was killed on 2 November 1914. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial. (See record on this ROH) Albert's birth was registered J/F/M/1890 so he may have been born in 1889 and thus 25 years old when he was killed. Nottingham Evening Post report with photograph, 9 February 1915: ‘Pte A Gay, 1st Sherwood Foresters, Ellis Terrace, Northville Street, Nottingham. Killed in action January 9th.’
