Harold Godwin Williamson
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Harold Godwin was the second son of Arthur William and Kate Williamson (née Clarke).His father Arthur William was born in Oxford on 2 March 1861, the son of William Williamson. His mother Kate Clarke, the daughter of Joseph Clarke, a clothier and master tailor, and his wife Anne, was born in Coventry in 1860.Arthur and Kate were married at Coventry Holy Trinity on 18 September 1887 and had five children, one of whom died in infancy. All the children were born between 1888 and 1898 in New Romney, Kent, and baptised at New Romney St Nicholas: Cyril Arthur, Annie Holder, Herbert or Hubert Clarke bap. St Nicholas 1 November 1891 d. 1897 buried St Nicholas 7 April 1897, Harold Godwin b. 17 February 1896 bap. St Nicholas 13 March 1896 and Pattie Frederica.In 1891 Arthur William and Kate were living in New Romney with their two children Cyril (2) and Annie (1); both parents were teachers at the local school. They employed one general domestic servant.The 1901 Census gives their address as the National Schools House & Buildings at New Romney; Arthur and Kate were both still teacheres. Their four surviving children were in the home on the night of the census: Cyril, Annie, Harold (5) and Pattie (2). Arthur and Kate employed a general domestic servant.By 1911, although both Arthur and Kate were still school master and school mistress for the Kent Education Committee, they were living at 'Southlands', New Romney. Only Pattie was in the home on the night of the census. Her parents continued to employ a general domestic servant.Their two eldest children, Cyril and Annie, have not yet been traced on the 1911 Census, but Harold was a pupil at St Edward's School, Oxford, which he had attended since 1910.Arthur and Kate later moved to Oxfordshire, possibly after they retired, where Kate died in 1938.In 1939 the widowed Arthur, a retired school master, was living at 'Wayside', Crown Road, Bullingdon, Oxfordshire, with two of his three surviving children, Cyril, who was widowed, and Annie, a retired nurse. His second daughter, Pattie Frederica, a nurse, was in the order of the Sisters of Charity and at St Peter's Convent, Mortimor Place, Kilburn, Hampstead.Arthur William died in 1941 (reg. Ploughley Oxon).
Harold Godwin enlisted on 3 September 1914 in the 9th London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles), 3039 Rifleman. He served in France from 20 January 1915 in the Machine Gun section of his regiment. Harold was commissioned on 13 November 1915 in the North Staffordshire Regiment.Harold was killed on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France (Pier and Face 14 B and 14 C).He qualified for the 1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.
Harold Godwin is also commemorated on: WMR31829. St Edward’s School WW1 OxfordWMR65972. New Romney WW1 and WW2, St Nicholas Church, Church Lane, New Romney, Kent WMR11572. Choristers of All Saints WW1, All Saints Church, Margaret Street, City of Westminster W1W 8JGwww.easyliveauction.com: 29 January 2019, ‘A WW1 casualty first day of the Somme medal group. Awarded to 2nd Lieutenant Harold Godwin Williamson of the North Staffordshire.’ ‘A Lack of Offensive Spirit? The 46th (North Midland) Division at Gommecourt 1st July 1916’, Alan MacDonald: ‘2nd Lt Harold Godwin Williams, 1/6th North Staffordshire Regt. Was born on 17th February 1896, the son of Arthur William Williamson of Oxenford, New Romney, Kent. He was educated at St Edward’s School, Oxford, where he was in the OTC, and he was a student in Holy Orders, before enlisting on 3rd September, 1914 as Rifleman 3039 in the 9th London Regt. (Queen Victoria’s Rifles). He went to France on 20th January 1915 as part of the Machine Gun section of the QVR. He was commissioned on 13th November 1915 into the 3/6th North Staffordshire. His body was never found and his name is inscribed on the Thiepval Memorial, Pier and Face 14B and 14C.’‘Wisden on the Great War. The Lives of Cricket’s Fallen 1914-1918’: ‘2nd Lt Harold Godwin Williamson (North Staffs Regt), born in 1896, fell in action on July 1, aged 20. He was in the Eleven whilst at St Edward’s School, Oxford.’Staffordshire Advertiser: 15 July 1916: ‘County Intelligence. A solemn requiem for 2nd-Lieut. Harold Godwin Williamson, of the North Staffordshire regiment, and 2nd-Lieut. Harold Linklater Colville, of the Somerset Light Infantry, who fell in the recent fighting in France, was sung at All Saints’, Margaret-street, London, on Tuesday. In addition to relatives, there were present in the large congregation the Duke of Newcastle, Lady Mildred Allsopp, Sir Edgar Sebright, the Hon. Mary Trefusis, Mr Ian Malcolm, MP., and Mr D Malcolm Scott.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)All Saints, Margaret Street, London. Extract from a sermon preached on 11 November 2018 in which Father Julian Browning referred to a predecessor, Father Mackay, the vicar of the parish in 1918, who knew many of those who died: Fr Browning included Harold’s story in his sermon: ‘Harold Godwin Williamson, born 1896, was a chorister at the choir school we had then, and he sang up there with his friends. As Father Mackay said, Harold was more of an adopted son really because he spent some of his holidays and leaves here at the church. Harold went on from here to public school, to St Edward’s, Oxford, a school in the High Anglican tradition, and he thrived there from 1910 to the Lent term of 1914. I’ve seen a photograph of Harold in the 1913 Cricket Eleven. Harold was accepted for training to be a priest in the Church of England, and in June 1914 he went from St Edwards to be a student at the Society of the Sacred Mission at Kelham in Nottinghamshire, a theological college which trained for priesthood those who were not going forward for a university degree. At the outbreak of war that year, the College was closed and young Harold, aged 18, joined the Queen Victoria Rifles as a private soldier and endured a freezing winter in France. In 1915 Harold was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the North Staffordshire Regiment. On his leaves from the officer training course he used to come back here, in high spirits, much as many past worshippers turn up here today. On 1st July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, Harold Williamson was killed in action, blown up by an enemy shell. His body was never found, like 73,000 others in that long battle. Harold was twenty years old. You can find his name on the memorial plaque for former choristers in the floor of the sanctuary, to the left. We will remember him. He would have made a fine priest. One hundred years on, I find that little story devastating still.’ (www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk)
