Charles Radbone

CHARLES RADBONE

Private 42848, 4th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment

Died 16th April 1918 aged 28

Buried Hedauville Communal Cemetery Extension, France

Son of William and Alice Radbone

Lived 5, Bottoms, Heckmondwike

Charles was born in 1889 in South Leigh, Witney in Oxfordshire. His parents were William (Radburn) an Agricultural Labourer and Alice (formerly Robinson) who had married in 1880. They had five children Frances Annie, William, John, Charles and Frank Thomas.

Sometime between 1901 and 1911 Charles and his elder brother William moved to Heckmondwike. On the 1911 census they were both living with their grandfather Charles Radbone at New Street, Flush, Liversedge, but their parents remained in Witney.

On August 5th 1911 a double wedding took place at Birstall Parish Church when Charles Radbone of 44, New Street, Liversedge married Catherine Ann Cooper who was born in Barnsley but living in Liversedge. At the same time his elder brother William also married a local girl Charlotte Martin and they settled in Listing Lane, Littletown. A third member of the family, their widowed grandfather Charles, also married in 1911 just before Christmas at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Heckmondwike.

Charles was a Firelighter Maker at Gill's Firelighters for eleven years before enlisting in the army. His uncle, Thomas Peter Radbone, was also living in Heckmondwike, as a lodger with the Weaver family whose son, Charles Weaver, also a Firelight Maker from Witney, was later killed in France on the Somme on July 1st 1916.

Charles enlisted in 1917 in the Lincolnshire Regiment as Private 33067 and embarked at Folkstone for Boulogne on 12th March 1917, where he then served in Etaples for several weeks. On 4th March 1918 he was transferred to the North Staffordshire Regiment. The regiment was involved in the First Battle of Bapaume and the final push on Flanders. Charles was reported as wounded in action on April 16th and then died of his injuries on the same day.

Catherine and Charles had had no children. His widow Catherine remarried and moved to Hillsdown, Chesterfield. His brother William remained in Liversedge, whilst his parents and sister, Annie, remained in South Leigh, Whitney.

Commemorated: St Saviour’s War Memorial, now within St James’ Parish Church, Heckmondwike and on the Parish Church of St James Great Mar Memorial in South Leigh, Oxfordshire.{PL/KH-110}

Medals: Victory and British

Further information can be found by using the following links

http://coggesparish.com/southleigh/inscrip/c/c021.htm

http://www.southleigh.info/war_memorials/ww1/index.php

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