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ECTON WAR MEMORIALS

World War 1 - Roll of Honour with detailed information
Compiled and copyright © Cindy Crooks 2008

The Ecton War Memorial is to be found at the junction of Wellingborough Road and Northampton Road, Ecton. It takes the form of a shrine style shelter with six steps leading up to a roofed shelter with wrought iron gate at the entrance. There are dedicatory wooden boards placed within the shelter, with inscription in gold painted lettering. There are 18 names listed for World War 1.

In 1914 eighty-four Ecton men went to war. They did not go together - they were scattered amongst the services and a variety of Regiments. Harry Johnson even served with the Canadian forces. He was one of the eighteen men who did not come home.

The shrine to their memory, provided by Mrs Sotheby, the widow of Major-General Sotheby, is an unusual memorial. It was erected in 1917, before the end of the war, and may have originally been intended as a memorial to Lionel Sotheby, who had been killed two years earlier, but eventually the names of all the Ecton men were rightly enshrined.

It has a suitably prominent position at the top of High Street with the old walnut tree behind and this eventually contributed to the shrine’s deterioration in the 1970s, when children collecting walnuts and some mindless vandalism left it in a sorry state. Fortunately the village’s collective conscience, and hard work by some willing helpers, repaired the damage and underlined the validity of the shrine’s inscription - ‘ECTON NOT UNMINDFUL’

Illustration by Rodney Ingram
- Copyright
© 2005

1917

ECTON NOT UNMINDFUL OF YOUR CHARITY FOR THE SOULS
OF THESE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR YOU
REST ETERNAL
GRANT THEM O LORD AND LET LIGHT PERPETUAL SHINE ON THEM

1914-1918

BROWN
Francis ‘Frank’ [William]
Private 18605, 13th Division Cyclist Company, Army Cyclist Corps. Died 10th December 1917. Aged 21. Enlisted Northampton, resident Ecton. Son of Mr. J. and Mrs. A. Brown, of Harrowich Rd., Earls Barton, Northants. Formerly 2901, Northamptonshire Regiment. Buried in BAGHDAD (NORTH GATE) WAR CEMETERY, Iraq. Plot XX. Row B. Grave 8.
BROWN
Sidney George Albert
Private 14271, 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment. Killed in action 9th May 1915. Aged 19. Born Ecton, enlisted Kettering. Son of Mrs. Sarah Ann Wood, of 14, Grafton Underwood, Kettering. No known grave. Commemorated on PLOEGSTEERT MEMORIAL, Comines-Warneton, Hainaut, Belgium. Panel 7.
DEXTER
Samuel
Private 27208, 6th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment. Killed in action 20th March 1917. Aged 26. Born Ecton, enlisted Northampton. Son of the late George and Rebecca Dexter, of Ecton, Northants.; husband of Maud Olive Dexter, of 16, King St., Earls Barton, Northants. No known grave. Commemorated on ARRAS MEMORIAL, Pas de Calais, France. Bay 7.
ELSON
Ralph Edwin
Private 33938, 10th Battalion, Essex Regiment. Killed in action 12th August 1917. Born Brafield (sic), enlisted Earls Barton, resident Ecton. No known grave. Commemorated on YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Panel 39.
GARLEY
John Thomas
Sergeant 304459, Royal Engineers. Died 28th January 1919. Aged 40. Buried in DAGENHAM (SS. PETER AND PAUL) CHURCHYARD, Essex.
HENSMAN
Edgar Herbert
[Listed as Edgar Herbert HEMMAN on SDGW] Lance Sergeant G/1195, 16th Battalion, Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment). Died of wounds 31st January 1916. Born Ecton, enlisted Kempton Park, Middlesex. Buried in CAMBRIN CHURCHYARD EXTENSION, Pas de Calais, France. Plot/Row/Section L. Grave 3.
HENSMAN
Horace Alfred
Private 13015, 7th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. Killed in action 1st July 1916. Born Northampton, enlisted Bedford, resident Shersby, Leicetser. Buried in DANTZIG ALLEY BRITISH CEMETERY, MAMETZ, Somme, France. Plot III. Row D. Grave 5.
JOHNSON
Harry Lionel
Private 690362, 75th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (Central Ontario Regiment). Died 2nd September 1918. Aged 35. Born in Ecton 14th August 1883. Son of Challes and Rachel Johnson, of Ecton; husband of Lillian Johnson, of 5, Robins Avenue, Hamilton, Ontario. Conductor by trade. Passed fit 25th February 1916, enllisted 1st March 1916 at Hamilton, Ontario, aged 32 years 6 months, height 5 feet 4 inches, girth 36 inches, complexion ruddy, eyes hazel, hair dark brown; religion Non_conformist. Buried in VIS-EN-ARTOIS BRITISH CEMETERY, HAUCOURT, Pas de Calais, France. Plot II. Row B. Grave 26. National Archives Accession Reference: RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 4874 - 4
JOLLEY
Ernest James
Lance Corporal 33345, 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. Died of wounds 16th July 1918. Aged 24. Born and resident Ecton, enlisted Northampton. Formerly 23684, Norfolk Regiment. Son of Thomas K. and Sarah B. Jolley, of Ecton, nr. Northampton. Buried in MONT HUON MILITARY CEMETERY, LE TREPORT, Seine-Maritime, France. Plot V. Row M. Grave 4B.
JOLLEY
Frederick William
Private 718059, 1st/23rd (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment. Died of wounds 8th April 1918. Aged 26. Born and resident Ecton, enlisted Northampton. Grandson of George Jolley, of Ecton, Northampton. Formerly 23024, Northamptonshire Regiment. Buried in BOULOGNE EASTERN CEMETERY, Pas de Calais, France. Plot VIII. Row I. Grave 183.
KNIGHT
Herbert
Private G/13735, 10th Battalion, Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment). Killed in action 22nd September 1917. Born Little Billing, enlisted Abingdon, Berkshire, resident Ecton. Buried in TYNE COT CEMETERY, Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Plot LV. Row A. Grave 6.
MABBUTT
William
Acting Corporal 33265, 8th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment. Killed in action 2nd October 1917. Born Mears Ashby, enlisted Northampton, resident Ecton. Formerly 4292, Northamptonshire Regiment. Buried in HOOGE CRATER CEMETERY, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Plot XI. Row L. Grave 8.
PARK
Thomas Gordon
Able Seaman R/5654, Hawke Battalion, Royal Naval Division, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. Missing, assumed killed in action 25th August 1918. Entered Navy 31st July 1917 ; Draft for BEF 2nd April 1918, joined Hawke Bn. 7th April 1918-25th August 1918 DD. Born St. Edmonds, Northampton 20th July 1899. Stepmother, Mrs. S. Timms, Rectory Farm, Ecton, Northampton; guardian, Mr. E. Chapman, 20 Lightwoode Hill, Warley, Birmingham. No known grave. Commemorated on VIS-EN-ARTOIS MEMORIAL, Pas de Calais, France. Panel 1 and 2.
SOTHEBY
Lionel Frederick Southwell
Second Lieutenant, Princess Louise’s (Argyll & Sutherland Highalnders) attached 2nd Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highlanders). Killed in action 25th September 1915. No known grave. Commemorated on LOOS MEMORIAL, Pas de Calais, France. Addenda Panel.
STOPFORD-SACKVILLE
Geoffrey William
Lieutenant, H.M.S. Ribble, Royal Navy. Died 20th May 1915. Aged 22. Son of Evelyn Stopford-Sackville, of 33, Brunswick Gardens, Kensington, London, and the late Col. L. Stopford-Sackville (The Rifle Brigade). Buried in ALEXANDRIA (CHATBY) MILITARY AND WAR MEMORIAL CEMETERY, Egypt. Plot/Row/Section Q. Grave 470.
TIMMS
Bertie
Private F/3222, 23rd Battalion, Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment). Died of wounds 26th September 1916. Aged 23. Born Northampton, enlisted Mill Hill, Middlesex, resident Harlesden, Middlesex. Son of William and Frances Harriet Timms, of Rectory Farm, Ecton, Northampton. Native of Luddington, Oundle. Buried in ST. SEVER CEMETERY, ROUEN, Seine-Maritime, France. Plot B. Row 23. Grave 58.
TIPLER
Harry Edward
Sapper 55357, 11th Railway Company, Royal Engineer. Died 8th July 1916. Aged 31. Enlisted London, resident Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Son of Edward and Lucy Tipler, of Lower End, Ecton, Northants. Buried in BOIS GUILLAUME COMMUNAL CEMETERY, Seine-Maritime, France. Plot II. Row A. Grave 4.
WOOD
Andrew
No further information currently available

TO COMMEMORATE THE GIFT OF
£400
BY THE PEOPLE OF ECTON
TO THE WAR MEMORIAL APPEAL OF
THE NORTHAMPTON GENERAL HOSPITAL
WORLD WAR 1939 - 1945
"SWEET MERCY IS NOBILITY'STRUE BADGE"

Last updated 22 January, 2019

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