Stanley Wilson Armitage
- Family History
- Military History
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Stanley Wilson was the son of Wilson and Mary Ellen Armitage (née Robinson). His father Wilson was born in Nottingham in 1855, the son of Samuel Fox Armitage and his wife Joanna (née Jarratt b. 10 September 1836 Shipston on Stour) who were both Quakers. Samuel Fox was a wholesale grocer and provision merchant and Wilson also joined the family business. In 1881 the family, including Wilson (4), was living on Shakespeare Street, Nottingham. His mother Mary Ellen was born in London in 1860, the daughter of Robert and Mary Ann Robinson. However, by 1861 Robert, Mary Ann and Mary Ellen (10m) were living in Burton upon Trent. Mary Ellen's younger sister, Margaret, married Wilson Armitage's younger brother, Stephen, and they too had a son who was killed in the war. Wilson and Mary Ellen were married at St Paul, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, on 16 April 1890; Both were living in Burton upon Trent at the time of their marriage, Wilson, profession grocer, on Needwood Street, and Mary at 150 Station Street, presumably in her parent's home. Wilson and Mary had three children, all born in Nottingham, the first of whom died in infancy: Leonard b. 1891 (J/F/M) bap. Nottingham St Matthew 30 January d. 1891 (J/F/M); Stanley Wilson b. 31 December 1894 bap. St Matthew 27 May 1894 and Kathleen Mary b. 1 March 1895 bap. St Matthew 1 April 1895. Wilson and his wife were living at 4 Waterloo Road, Nottingham, when their son Leonard was baptised in January 1891. Leonard died the same year and their next two children were born in 1894 and 1895. By 1901 Wilson and Mary were living at 2 Park Valley, Nottingham, with their two children Stanley and Kathleen. Also in the household were three domestic servants, a cook, housemaid and nurse domestic. The family had moved to 'Riseholme, Alexandra Park, Nottingham by 1911. Both his parents and his sister were in the home on the night of the census as well as their cook and housemaid. Stanley attended Gresham's School, Norfolk, from 1906 to 1911 and he was a boarderat the school's Westward House on the night of the census. Wilson Armitage died at his home in Alexandra Park on 6 August 1913 aged 58. His father, Samuel Fox, died the following year and Wilson's brother, also a partner in the family business, died on 15 February 1915. Stanley's mother Mary Ellen died on 22 July 1938; she was then living at 'Westfield', Alexandra Park. Her unmarried daughter Kathleen was one of her executors. In 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled, Kathleen was living at 25 Richmond Drive, Nottingham. Described of 'private means' she was a part-time 'ARP woman ambulance driver.' Also in the household was a domestic servant. Kathleen married Herbert R Stone in 1954 and died in 1994 (reg. Rushcliffe Nottingham); the probate record gave her address as Derbyshire House, East Leake, Nottinghamshire.
9th Bn King's Royal Rifle Corps. Stanley served in France from 21 May 1915 and was killed at Ypres on 25 September the same year. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial. He qualified for the 1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. CWGC - History of the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (extract): 'The Menin Gate is one of four memorials to the missing in Belgian Flanders which cover the area known as the Ypres Salient. Broadly speaking, the Salient stretched from Langemarck in the north to the northern edge in Ploegsteert Wood in the south, but it varied in area and shape throughout the war. The Salient was formed during the First Battle of Ypres in October and November 1914, when a small British Expeditionary Force succeeded in securing the town before the onset of winter, pushing the German forces back to the Passchendaele Ridge. The Second Battle of Ypres began in April 1915 when the Germans released poison gas into the Allied lines north of Ypres. This was the first time gas had been used by either side and the violence of the attack forced an Allied withdrawal and a shortening of the line of defence. There was little more significant activity on this front until 1917 ... The site of the Menin Gate was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields. It commemorates casualties from the forces of Australia, Canada, India, South Africa and United Kingdom who died in the Salient, in the case of United Kingdom casualties, only those prior 16 August 1917 (with some exceptions).' (www.cwgc.org) over 54000 casualties
His cousin, Sidney Robert Armitage, the son of his father's younger brother, Stephen, served as a lieutenant in the North Midland Divisional Train, Army Service Corps, and was killed on 11 May 1917. He was buried in Mazingarbe Communal Cemetery Extension, France. (See record on this Roll of Honour). Sidney's brother, Stephen Cecil, a solicitor, served as a captain in the Army Service Corps and survived the war. Nottingham Evening Post, 7 August 1913: ’Mr Wilson Armitage, senior director of Messrs. Armitage Brothers, Limited, wholesale grocers and provision merchants, of High-street and Castle-gate, Nottingham, passed away yesterday at his residence, Riseholme, Alexandra Park. Mr Armitage who had attained the age of 58, was a native of this city, and was at one time chairman of the Nottingham and Notts. Convalescent Homes. He was educated as a Friend [Society of Friends].’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Probate: Armitage Wilson of Riseholme Alexandra Park Nottingham wholesale grocer died 6 August 1913 Probate Nottingham 5 September to Mary Ellen Armitage widow Edward Armitage lace manufacturer and Stephen Cecil Armitage [nephew] solicitor. Effects £22526 13s. 5d. Nottingham Evening Post, 18 March 1914: published a report of the death of Samuel Fox Armitage on 18 March at his home, Claremont, Waverley Street. He was a member of the Society of Friends and was buried in the Friends' Burial Ground, Nottingham. Nottingham Evening Post, 1 October 1915: ‘Sergt. SW Armitage Killed in Action. The friends of Sergt. Stanley Wilson Armitage only son of the late Mr Wilson Armitage, a former director of Armitage Bros. Ltd. have received through official sources the sad news of his death in action on September 24th. The deceased, who was a non-commissioned officer of bright promise, and only 21 years of age, was associated with the 9th King’s Royal Rifles.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Probate: Armitage Stanley Wilson of Nottingham sergeant 9th battalion KRRC died 25 September 1915 at Ypres in Belgium on active service. Probate London 26 February to Mary Ellen Armitage widow. Effects £2815. Stanley is also commemorated on the Gresham's School war memorial: WMA 20085 - SW Armitage. The memorial, which is in the school chapel, comprises a stained glass window and six carved panels listing the names by year of death.
