Cheshire Regiment
William Ewart Jacques was born on 19 January 1899 and was the eldest son of George and Alice Jacques who were living in Bowbridge, Stroud. Neither were local, George having been born in Banbury, Oxfordshire in 1870, and Alice in Denbigh, North Wales in 1867. George was a boot/shoe maker.
William had a brother, Harold born in 1900 and a sister, Myrtle born in 1908.
There are no service records for William apart from an entry on the Register of Soldier’s Effects. This states that he died whilst on demobilisation following an accident. His mother received a payment of £34 4s 4d which included a War Gratuity of £13 10s.
According to the Service Medal and Awards Rolls 1914-20 Williams’s initial service was as a Private (number 71980) with the Devonshire Regiment.
William died on 14 April 1920 following a bicycle accident on Monday 12 April and details of the accident and subsequent inquest were reported in the Stroud Journal on 16 April and the 23rd respectively.
According to the Coroner’s report held at Stroud General Hospital, William ‘was serving with the army of occupation’ and ‘was home from the Cheshire Regiment on demobilisation leave’. He was cycling from his home to Stroud when he collided with a pony and cart, being unable to avoid the collision. It transpired that a 14 year old lad, Edward Bathe, was driving the cart and pulled out to overtake a hay trap. Edward was reprimanded by the Coroner, for not checking that the road was clear before pulling out. Due to his young age, he was not punished but general comments were made as to giving children training with regard to road safety and the rules of the road.
William was initially thought not to have been seriously injured and walked home but the doctor was summonsed in the evening and again the following day, when William was admitted to Stroud Hospital. An operation was performed but William died the following day; he was 21 years of age. He had ‘sustained extensive bruising of the large intestines’.
One Sunday morning an ‘In Memoriam’ service was held at the Stroud Primitive Methodist Chapel.
William Jacques is buried in Stroud Old Cemetery, where a CWGC headstone marks the grave.
William’s brother, Harold, enlisted towards the end of the war on 12 June 1918 with the 52nd Battalion, Hampshire Regiment. There are some records for him. He was mobilised on 27 October 1918 and discharged as ‘physically unfit’ on 14 March 1919. ‘Weak bladder: Family complaint since childhood. Aggravated by service in Army’. He lived to be 85.
William’s uncle, Archibald Jacques also served in the war. He was a serving soldier prior to 1914. He was killed in France on 8 May 1918 aged approximately 31 and is remembered at the Tyne Cot Memorial.
William on the left in uniform, with brother Harold, father George, sister Myrtle and mother Alice (from Ancestry.co.uk)
Researched by Helen Wollington 14 March 2015