10th Battalion (Alberta), Canadian Infantry
Frank Trevor Webster was born on 20 September 1885 at Tirionfa, Chalford Hill, near Stroud. He was the eldest of five sons born to Frank Applin and Mary Webster, neither of which were local. Frank was born in Lymington, Hampshire, his father being a Master Mariner, and Mary was born in Llangollen to a shoe maker.
On the 1881 Census Frank A Webster and Mary Williams appear in Rose Cottage, Chalford as boarders. Frank was a certificated elementary teacher and Mary an elementary teacher. They married at St Collen’s, Corwen, Merionethshire on 10 May 1883.
By 1891, Frank the elder, was living at Copse House, Chalford and was now head teacher at the local school.
Frank, his mother and brother Douglas (born 3 October 1890) appear on the 1891 Census living with Mary’s family in Genfron, Llangollen.
Robert Cyril Webster was born on 15 June 1892 and Gerald Heber followed in 1896. A fifth son, Edward was born in 1897 and died three months later in February 1898.
On the 1901 Census, Frank, now 15, is said to be a ‘candidate for pupil teachership’. He was appointed Pupil Teacher at his father’s school in November 1901 but ended this arrangement in March 1902. He was presented with a leaving gift of a portmanteau by the teachers and scholars. Frank appears to have emigrated to Canada in 1906. He does not appear in the 1911 Census.
An Attestation Paper shows that Frank joined the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force at Winnipeg on 14 December 1914. He gave his occupation as ‘switchman’. Webster’s military records are now available courtesy of the Library and Archive Canada website. He sailed with the 32nd Battalion on SS Vaderland from Halifax on 23 February 1915. Webster’s record shows he was in France from 26 April 1915 until 18 June 1916.
He was in Ypres in June of 1916 where he suffered a gun shot wound to the left ankle on 13 June. He underwent surgery to remove shrapnel being admitted to the 2nd Western General Hospital in Manchester on 21 June 1916. On the 27th of June the wound was clean and healing making him fit for transfer to the Red Cross Hospital at Didsbury. A medical board of 18 August 1916 stated that the pain in his left ankle extended up his leg so much so that he cannot stand for marching. He was passed ‘fit for permanent base duty’. The Medical Board passed him C3 on 30 July 1917 and B2 on 16 January 1918 and again on 22 January 1919. The records show that Webster died following a cycling accident on 8 August 1919.
Staff Sergeant Frank Trevor Webster died on 8 August 1919; the cause of death according to the CWGC was ‘from effects of a motor accident’ at Epsom.
I have obtained a copy of how the inquest was reported in the Epsom Advertiser on 15 August 1919, from a local history group through contact with Surrey County Council’s library service. (I have a transcribed copy.)
It appears that Frank had been based at Woodcote Camp* for almost three years and was sadly due to return to Canada and demobilisation just two weeks after his fatal accident.
It was said that he enlisted with 32nd Canadian Infantry in Winnipeg, later transferring to the Canadian Army Medical Corps.
On 8 August 1919, Frank, who was cycling, was killed following a collision with a Royal Army Service Corps motor car at a notorious crossroads; he was 33 years old. He was ‘out on an evening’s ride to Croydon’, a route he knew well having ‘ridden that way 8 or 9 times a month’. He was stated to have been cycling at about 20 mph which was said to have been too fast — a witness saying that he ‘flashed’ past. He was taken unconscious to Horton hospital where surgery was felt not to be ‘of any avail’. He was thought to have had a ‘fracture of the base of the skull’. He died the same evening. The driver was absolved of any blame. There is nothing in the report about any pre-existing health issues**
The coroner returned a verdict of ‘accidental death’ and expressed sympathy with Frank’s family.
Frank is buried at Chalford Tabernacle, the headstone remembering both his parents and his brothers Gerald and Edward.
Robert Cyril Webster, Frank’s brother, emigrated to Canada sailing from Bristol and arriving in Halifax on 23 March 1912. He gave his occupation as ‘shop assistant’. I believe that his brother, Douglas Griffiths Williams Webster went at the same time. There is a D Webster on the passenger list although he does not have a separate entry on Ancestry. The brothers did not appear to have joined Frank — Regina and Winnipeg being approximately 350 miles apart. Both brothers attested at Regina, Saskatchewan — Robert on 23 October 1914 and Douglas the following day. There are only 16 numbers between their regimental numbers — 73710 and 73726.
Robert was diagnosed with shell shock following an explosion at Hooge in which he was buried. He was admitted to hospital in Etaples on 3 July 1916 and returned to England for treatment. He was discharged from hospital on 21 November that year.
Douglas Griffiths appears to have survived the war without injury. He was promoted to Corporal, Acting Sergeant and Temporary Lieutenant during his service. He was awarded the Military Cross on 2 December 1918 for gallantry. During an attack he captured a tank, ‘breaking the enemy’s resistance and enabling the advance to continue’.
Both Robert and Douglas survived the war.
Gerald Heber Webster, the youngest brother, enlisted in 8th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment at Stroud. His medal card states a date of entry as 18 July 1915. He died on 3 July 1916 and is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial. He was awarded the 1914/15 Star and the British War and Victory medal. Interestingly he is also listed on the Llangollen war memorial. There is a photo of Gerald on the internet.
Mary Webster appears to have had strong roots with her childhood home. Her sons all have Welsh connections in their names and ‘Tirionfa’ was the name of Mary’s family’s home in Llangollen which she chose to name her home in Chalford.
Robert decided to make Canada his home. There is a ‘Declaration of Passenger to Canada’ document on Ancestry showing a date of sailing of 22 August 1924. He states he was returning from a visit to his family. His home address was in Regina and he was employed as a civil servant. Robert died on 21 April 1960 aged 67 in Saskatchewan. He has a military style headstone which gives his regimental details and the sentence: ‘Their name liveth forever’. There was no mention of a wife.
Douglas Webster moved to London – he was in Hendon by 1929, and died at Golders Green on 6 June 1954. He left a widow.
Mary Webster died aged 60 on 2 December 1916 — just five months after her youngest son was killed on the Somme.
Frank Applin Webster died in a nursing home in Bournemouth on 26 June 1933. Probate was granted to Douglas, who was by then a grain importer.
Frank is buried at Chalford Tabernacle, the headstone remembering both his parents and his brothers Gerald and Edward.
Researched by Helen L Wollington 12 December 2014 (revised 4 November 2018)
*In August 1916 a large military establishment at Woodcote Camp, Epsom was given over to the Canadian Army as their main convalescent hospital. This was in response to the substantial injuries sustained by the Canadians during the intense fighting of the 1916 Somme Offensive.
** A report in the Stroud Journal of 15 August 1919 states that Frank Webster ‘rendered gallant service in France, where he was badly wounded in the ankle. On his recovery, he was given an important post at Epsom’.