Claude Cope
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Claude was the son of William and Isabella Cope (née Hurt). His father William was born in Lenton in 1864 and his mother Isabella in Eakring, Nottinghamshire, in 1865. They were married at Mansfield register office in 1894 and had nine children, eight of whom survived infancy: Alfred b. abt 1894; Ida Dorothy b. 1895 bap. Lenton St Anthony 1895; Claud b. 4 October 1896 bap. St Anthony 12 January 1897; William Edward b. 1897 bap. St Anthony 1898; Archie b. 1900; Isabella b. 1902; Stanley b. 1905 and Dennis b. 1909. According to the 1911 Census, all the children were born in Lenton although the 1901 Census gave Alfred's place of birth as Eakring. At the time their daughter Ida was baptised in 1895, William and Isabella were living at 47 Chain Row, Nottingham, and they were still at the same address at the time of the 1901 Census. William was a gas stoker for the Borough Corporation. By 1911 the family had moved to 21 Warwick Street, Lenton. All eight children were in the home on the night of the census: Alfred (17) a shop assistant (ironmongers), Ida (15) a pattern girl, Claude an greengrocer's errand boy, William (13), Archie (10), Isabella (9), Stanley (5) and Dennis (2). Their parents were still living at 21 Warwick Street in 1939 when the England and Wales Register was compiled. Only their youngest son, Dennis, was still living with them. William snr. was killed in a road accident in Lenton on 15 March 1941; he and his wife were still living at 21 Warwick Street. Isabella died six years later on 17 January 1947. According to a notice of Claude's death in the local paper in 1917, his brother Alfred was serving in Salonika; no military records have yet been traced. Their brother Archie enlisted in the Royal Marine Artillery, 20294 Stoker (S), on 17 June 1918 aged 17 years 9 months 6 days (b. 11 Octrober 1900, under-age by 116 days). He served at RM Depot, Deal, until 12 February 1919 then on 13 February transferred to the Plymouth Division. However, on 22 March 1919 Archie transferred to the Royal Navy as a Stoker 1st Class on a 12 year engagement. He was Discharged Shore, invalided (pulmonary tuberculosis), on 5 May 1926 and died at his parents' home on 23 November the same year.
1/7th Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment). Formerly 4662 Private. The 1/7th (Robin Hood) Battalion and the 2/7th were formed at Nottingham on 4 August 1914 as part of the Notts & Derby Brigade of the 46th (North Midlands) Division. The two battalions first served in France in February 1915 although Claude did not serve in France until 1916. Claude was killed on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, when the Battalion, attached to the 139th Bde, 46th (North Midland) Division, took part in the diversionary attack at Gommecourt, approximately 8 miles north of Albert, to draw German troops away from the main British offensive. The Division's objective was the Gommercourt Salient, centred on an area known as Gommercourt Wood. In appalling weather, and with assembly trenches shelled by German artillery, the Robin Hoods suffered severe losses during an engagement which achieved little. Claude, whose death was not confirmed until April the following year, has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France (Pier and Face 10 C 10 D and 11 A). He qualified for the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Roll of Honour’, 18 April 1917: ‘Cope. Missing since July 1st, now reported killed, Private Claude Cope, Sherwood Foresters, 21, Warwick-street, Lenton. He bade no one his last farewell, he waved his hand to none; his spirit fled before we knew that from us he was gone. But the unknown grave is the bitterest blow, none but aching hearts can know. From his sorrowing mother, father, sisters, brothers, and Alf (in Salonika).’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.oc.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, ‘In Memoriam’, 2 July 1917: ‘Cope. In loving memory of our dear son, Private Claude Cope, 21, Warwick-street, Lenton, who fell in action on July 1st, 1916. One year has passed, our hearts still sore, as day by day we miss him more. From mother, sisters and brothers.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Registers of Soldiers' Effects: his mother Isabella Cope was his sole legatee. Nottingham Evening Post, 15 March 1941: ‘Old Lenton Bus Fatality. A 77 year-old Dunkirk man, William Cope, of 21, Warwick-street, was knocked down by a motor bus in Old Lenton a week ago.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Deaths’, 17 March 1941: ‘Cope. On March 15th, following accident, William Cope, aged 77, beloved husband of Isabella, 21 Warwick-street, Lenton. From mother, sons and daughters.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Deaths’, 22 January 1947: ’Cope. On the 17th, Isabella, at Vale Brook Lodge. From family.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
