Devonshire Regiment & Labour Corps (102215)
Robert Thomas Jackson was baptised at Huntley Church on 9 July 1893. The record gives his mother as Alithea (Althea) Jackson who is described as a ‘single woman’; no father’s name is given.
On checking the records, Althea Williams married Richard Jackson in 1869 and appears to have had seven children between 1874 and 1893 with Robert being the youngest. The 1871 Census is the only one where Althea appears living with Richard.
From the 1881 Census onwards, Althea is living with Robert Sterry, initially as a boarder then as a housekeeper. Throughout she gives her status as married with Robert being single. Althea married Robert Thomas Sterry during the second quarter of 1909. I have found a burial for a Richard Jackson at Huntley on 25 May 1909. He was 61.
Robert was an inpatient at Southgate Street Infirmary Gloucester on the night of the 1901 Census aged seven. His mother was living in Huntley with Robert Sterry and four of her children who were listed as Dennis (22), Mabel (14), Oliver (12) and Absy (9).
I have been unable to confirm Robert on the 1911 Census. There is a Robert Jackson(s) from Huntley boarding in Gloucester with an occupation of baker but this may not be the correct one.
Robert married Beatrice Alice Bint from Gloucester on 17 July 1915. Both were 21 and Robert gave his occupation as painter and his Father as Robert Thomas Sterry. Their address was Old Saw Mills Cottage, Longhope.
According to a family tree on Ancestry and confirmed by checking birth registers, the couple had three children. Gladys born in 1915, Gilbert in 1916 and Edith in 1920.
There are no surviving service records for Robert. However, there are pension records. It states that Robert died on 17 July 1920 from septic endocarditis and cardiac failure aged 27 years..
He had been discharged from the Labour Corps on 23 May 1919 although there are no children mentioned on the pension card. Beatrice’s address was given as Little London, Longhope then crossed out and 4 Moor Road, Hunslet Carr, Leeds written with a date of birth of 9 October 1893.
It appears that Robert died on his fifth wedding anniversary.
It appears likely that Robert was conscripted into the Army in late 1916 or early 1917, initially posted to the Devonshire Regiment. In April 1917 the Labour Corps was formed, absorbing the original battalion labour companies and taking in older recruits and men whose fitness was deemed insufficient for front line infantry service.
Endocarditis can be the result of congenital heart disease and possibly Robert was suffering from the early stages of this and as a consequence was despatched to the Labour Corps.
The Corps had many branches and undertook a variety of tasks and there is no evidence as to the branch in which her served.
The Probate record states that Robert died at Gloucester Infirmary aged 27.
His estate was valued at £168 19s 8d and Probate was awarded to Beatrice.
Robert was buried at St John the Baptist Church, Huntley with a private headstone on 22 July 1920.
The CWGC records state he was the son of Robert Sterry and the husband of Beatrice Alice Jackson of the Noakes, Pontshill, Hereford.
I found Beatrice on the 1939 Register living with her son, Gilbert at 4 Moor Road, Hunslet Carr. She had not remarried. There is a death for a Beatrice Alice Jackson listed in West Yorkshire in 1958.
Althea died in 1923 and Robert Sterry in 1932. Both are buried at St John the Baptist Huntley.
Researched by Helen Wollington July 2020