Fred Sentance
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Fred was born in Shelton (alternative birthplace Cotham) in 1887 (reg. A/M/J Newark). The Registers of Soldiers' Effects record gave the name of Fred's grandfather, John Isaac (Sentance), as one of his legatees. (See 'Extra information') John Isaac Sentance (b. Barrowby Lincolnshire, 1837) was the son of Valentine Sentance, a shepherd, and his wife Frances. John's wife Mary (née Horton) was born in Norwell Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire, in 1839. John and Mary were married in Westborough with Dry Doddington parish church in 1857 and according to the 1911 Census had had 16 children, 13 of whom were still living (two children had died in infancy and one in adulthood in 1910). Sixteen children, including Fred, have been traced on either the census records between 1871 and 1911, birth registrations or baptismal records. However, Fred (b. 1887), who was the youngest of the children, was recorded on the 1891 Census (age 3) as John and Mary's son, but recorded in 1901 (age 13) as their grandson. Fifteen of the couple's children were born between 1858 and 1886 and all were baptised in the parish church where the family was then living, but no baptismal record has yet been traced for Fred. Eleven of the 16 birth registrations included the mother's maiden name, but Fred's was one of the five that did not. The evidence suggests that Fred was the couple's grandchild but was brought up as their son; the youngest of their 15 children was born in 1886, the year before Fred's birth. In 1891 John, a shepherd, and his wife were living on Newark Road, Shelton, with seven of their children and Fred (3). The couple had been recorded on the previous census in Hawton, near Newark, and prior to that in Ossington, Nottinghamshire (1871). Only John has been traced on the 1861 Census when he was working as a shepherd on a farm in Ossington. His wife and their two children have not been traced on the census although the youngest child was baptised in Norwell in the February of that year and they were living in Norwell when their third child was baptised in 1863. John and Mary were recorded on Village Street, Shelton, in 1901; only three of their children and Fred (13) were in the home on the night of the census. Fred had enlisted in the Army by 1911 when he was serving with the Sherwood Foresters in India. (See 'Military history') His grandparents were still living in Shelton but now with only one unmarried son in the household. Mary died later that year (reg. O/N/D). John died in 1915 (reg. O/N/D Newark). He had been named by Fred as one of his legatees as had a Lily Shaw, who has not yet been traced although in 1911 a Lily Shaw (23 b. abt 1888), a dressmaker, was recorded living on Millgate, Newark, in the home of her mother and stepfather.
Fred Sentance enlisted in the Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment) after 1901. Based on his service number, he enlisted on or after 5 February 1905 (9770 onwards) and before 13 January 1906 (9980). Born in 1887 (reg. A/M/J), Fred probably joined on or near his 18th birthday. In 1911 he was serving in India with the 1st Battalion Sherwood Foresters, 'A' and 'D' companies, based at Gough Barracks, Trimulgherry, Deccan, although his name on the census form was annotated 'absent at Kirkee' (now Khadki). Khadki was a cantonment in Pune (formerly Poona) in Maharashtra. Gough Barracks was a cantonment town in the suburb of Secunderabad, Hyderabad State. The 1st Battalion returned to the UK on the outbreak of war, disembarking at Plymouth in October 1914 before its transfer to the BEF France in November 1914 (disembarked Le Havre 5 November). However, Fred served on the Western Front from 10 October 1914 when he joined as a reinforcement to the Regiment's 2nd Battalion which had disembarked at St Nazaire the previous month. The 2nd Battalion came under order of 71st Brigade, 6th Division. Fred was Mentioned in Despatches, news of which was reported in the Nottingham Evening Post on 5 March 1915, three weeks before his death. Fred died of wounds at No. 18 Field Ambulance, Armentieres, on 31 March 1915 and is buried in Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentieres, Nord, France (grave ref. IX.C.25). Mentioned in Despatches and qualified for the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. CWGC - History of Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery (extract): 'Armentieres was occupied by the 4th Division on 17 October 1914 and it remained within the Allied lines until its evacuation ahead of the German advance on 10 April 1918, after a prolonged and heavy bombardment with gas shell. It was occupied by the Germans next day, and was not recovered until 3 October 1918. The Cemetery was begun (Plot IX) in October 1914 and during the winter of 1914-15 it was used for civilian burials (later removed), the town cemetery at Le Bizet being too greatly exposed. The cemetery continued to be used by field ambulances and fighting units (particularly the 4th, 6th, 21st, New Zealand, 17th and 57th (West Lancashire) Divisions and the Australian Corps) until April 1918. Plots V, VI, VII and X were then used by the Germans. The cemetery now contains 2,132 Commonwealth burials of the First World War. In 1925, 455 German graves were removed from Plots V and VI, but more than 500 remain in the cemetery.' (www.cwgc.org)
Two sons of his grandfather's brother, Robert Sentance (b. Barrowby abt. 1852), and his wife Emily, were killed in the war: Walter Sentance 266483 Private, 2/7th Bn Sherwood Foresters, killed in action 21 March 1918 and Harry Sentance 12226 Private 3rd Bn Grenadier Guards, died of wounds 14 August 1918. (See records on this Roll of Honour) Nottingham Evening Post, 5 March 1915, photograph with caption: ‘Sergt. F Sentance, 2nd Sherwood Foresters, of Cotham, near Newark, mentioned in despatches.’ The 'Newark Advertiser' published a weekly 'Newark and District Roll of Honour' in the years 1915 to 1918. Fred's name appeared from April 1915: 'Southwell Rank and File. Sentance. Corporal. Cotham. 2nd Sherwood Foresters.' (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Registers of Soldiers' Effects: 'Will in favour of Miss Shaw and grandfather ['father' deleted and replaced with 'grandfather']'. His legatees were Miss Lily Shaw and John Isaac [Sentance]. A single payment was made in 1920 to Fanny Seward (née Sentance m. Charles Seward 1886). Fanny was the daughter of John Isaac Sentance who had died five years earlier.
