9th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
Edward Davies was the eighth of 12 children born to Samuel and Sarah Davies of Bisley near Stroud.
Both his parents were born in Bisley as was Edward. I cannot find a baptism record for Edward.
Samuel gives his occupation as carpenter on the 1871 and 1881 census. According to his obituary in the Gloucester Journal of 24 July 1915, Edward commenced his military career in 1890 when he joined the Gloucestershire Regiment.
He served in the 1st and 2nd battalions, seeing action in the South African war. Later he became a drill inspector based in Dursley, then a recruiting sergeant in Stroud. There are some documents on Ancestry relating to this early period in his career. There are some badly damaged/hard to decipher ‘Short Service Attestation’ papers which show Edward attested on 22 August 1890. They show his promotion to sergeant and that he re-engaged at Bloemfontein in 1902 for 21 years’ service and this timescale ties in with the newspaper report of his ‘retiring’ in around 1911.
There is a family tree on Ancestry which places Edward at Eastney Barracks, Portsea at the census of 1891. The place of birth is not the same so with such a common name, may not be the same Edward Davies. The family tree states that Edward married Annie E(a)ves during the second quarter of 1904 at Barton Regis, Gloucester. Annie was born in Dublin. Their only child, Eileen was born the following December in Bristol where she was baptised.
At the time of the 1911 Census, the family were living in Dursley with Edward giving his occupation as soldier. According to the newspaper report, Edward retired sometime later that year having achieved the rank of colour sergeant and took his pension.
At some time, he became the licensee of the Lamb Inn, Ebley Stroud where he died.
Details of Edward’s involvement in WW1 were given in his obituary although there are no service records surviving. The report states that on 2 September 1914, Edward re-joined his regiment at Horfield barracks as an instructor. He was then attached to the 9th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment and went into training with them at Codford. Whilst there he contracted a ‘violent’ cold which, after the battalion had moved to Cheltenham, developed in January to pneumonia. ‘He received every care and attention and recovered sufficiently to return home. He became worse and died at Stroud.’
The Gloucester Journal noted that Edward was the fifth son of Samuel Davies who lived at Victoria Villas in Brimscombe.
The funeral at Cainscross was attended by his parents and six siblings and a large contingent of military comrades. An obituary also appeared in the Gloucestershire Echo which referred to Mary Eves, his sister in law and ‘devoted nurse’, and in the Gloucestershire Chronicle which having reported his death, adds the following. ‘Dapper’ as he was popularly known in the Army and among civilians was held in much esteem by all who knew him. ‘Much sympathy is felt for the widow and little daughter.’
Some documents give a date of death, aged 43, as the 18th. There is an entry on the UK Register of Soldier’s Effects which shows a date of death of 18 July 1915 and a payment of £32 2s.
Researched by Helen Wollington October 2020