War memorial (WW1) to employees at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew

[Birtle]

I thought this list of Kew employees who died in WW1 might be of interest to rootschatters: I was certainly delighted to find evidence in it of a family connection with Kew which I knew nothing about.
The memorial was erected at Kew in 1921 and is described in the 4th issue for 1921 of the Bulletin of miscellaneous information (Royal Gardens, Kew).The names of 37 men are recorded, 'some of whom left Kew direct to join the Forces, whilst others returned home from abroad or joined up in their adopted countries'.

"The men belonged to all ranks from the scientific to the labourer staff, but the percentage of the advanced Student Gardener is singularly heavy. Of this class, ten were Subforemen; all joined the Colours but five only lived to return"

L. Cpl Charles Henry Anderson, A.M. London Scottish [he died saving others from an ignited bomb which had landed in the dugout he and other men were occupying]
Private Arthur Edwin Baggs. Canadian Seaforth Highlanders
Private Charles Frederick Ball. Royal Dublin Fusiliers
2nd Lt. John Charles Berwick. Royal Lancaster Regiment
Private Charles Hubert Brown. Royal Garrison Artillery
Private John Mackenzie Campbell. Canadian Beavers Battalion
Gunner James William Clark. Royal Marine Artillery
Sergt Sidney George Cobbold. Rifle Brigade
L. Cpl. Harry Sydney Cockcroft. Military Foot Police
Private Ernest Richard Collins. Middlesex Regiment
Private Sidney George Comer. Tank Corps, USA
Sergt John Dear. East Surrey Regiment
Capt Charles Leopold Digoy, Ch. Leg. Hon., Rus. Cross, St Ann. French Infantry
Rifl. John Divers. Queen Victoria Rifles
Sergt George Douglas. Tank Corps
L. Cpl. Arnold Edmund Duley, M.M. Somerset Light Infantry
Private Gordon Farries. Argyll & Suth. Highlanders
Private James Garnett. Wiltshire Regiment
Sergt John Giles. Canadian Victoria Fusiliers
Private Joseph Hayhurst. Border Regiment
Sergt Frederick Honey. East Surrey Regiment
Seaman John Knowles Jackson. Royal Navy
Private William Lorimer Joyce. South Wales Borderers
Private Henry James Longhurst. Kings Royal Rifles
Pioneer Percy Thomas Martin. Royal Engineers
Rifl. Arthur John Meads. Queen's Westminsters
Private Walter Henry Morland. Royal Scots
Gunner Frederick T Purssell. Royal Field Artillery
2nd Lt. Munro Briggs Scott. Royal Scots
Gunner Robert Service. Canadian French Mortar Brigade
Sergt Henry James Smith. East Surrey Regiment
Sergt Herbert William L Southgate. Norfolk Regiment
Major John Leonard Veitch, M.C. Devon Regiment
L. Cpl. Frank Windebank. East Surrey Regiment
Sign. John Nicholls Winn. Civil Service Rifles
Cpl Herbert Martin Woolley. Essex Regiment
Private Albert Wright. Warwickshire Regiment

Apologies for any typos.

Birtle

[DeeBoneham]

Its a long while since I went to the gardens at Kew and dont remember seeing this.  Interesting that some are in French and Canadian regiments. 

Did you take a picture as I would love to see that if there is one and I am sure others would be too.

Was there anything for the WW2 people?

Dee

[Birtle]

I didn't actually go to Kew, alas, but instead found a reference to the published list and a description of the bronze tablet of 1921 commemorating the WW1 dead during a google for Sidney Cobbold, one of those who died. The journal's difficult to get hold of so I thought I'd put the list on rootschat (it's way out of copyright). The war memorial is in the Temple of Arethusa http://www.kew.org/visit-kew-gardens/garden-attractions-A-Z/arethusa.htm but it's unclear from the webpage if those who died in WW2 and other conflicts are also recorded. Perhaps another chatter can say??

Birtle
P.S. I've looked further through the Bulletin (it later changed its name to the 'Kew Bulletin') and can't find any mention of a WW2 memorial - though that's not to say there isn't one.

[ainslie]

A quick search on the website of the National Inventory of War Memorials shows that 14 WW2 names are on the memorial,  but they are not listed on that site.
These are given as other sources of information:
   BOOK: DESMOND, RAY "KEW, THIS HISTORY OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS" (1996) THE HARVILL PR4ESS, LONDON, P377
NEWS: "RICHMOND AND TWICKENHAM TIMES" 28 MAY 1921

A

[Birtle]

Thanks for that v. useful pointer to the UKNIWM. Good news: it looks possible that an index of names(WW1 only at this point??) on UK memorials might be made available online later this year - see http://www.ukniwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.002006.
Birtle

[Birtle]

I've been truly excited today to find an In memoriam notice for 'my' Sydney Cobbold in the Kew Guild Journal which seems now to be available online http://www.kewguild.org.uk/pages/journal . (I don't think I missed it previously... ) It looks like there are similar notices for other Kew employees who died in WW1, and if SC's is anything to go by they might be well worth looking at. That for SC listed his earlier positions, many of which I was unaware of and probably would never have found out about.
Birtle

[Worldwarzoogardener1939]

Dear Birtle & co.
I've been following up your list of Kew WW1 casualties as part of my research for the World War Zoo Gardens project at Newquay Zoo, looking at how zoos, botanic gardens like Kew and aquariums were affected by wartime challenges.

Your list of Kew WW1 casualties was really really helpful and I am now working my way through the Kew Guild Journal online further researching the casualty names for WW1 and WW2.

I've found 13 of the 14 World War Two names for Kew staff casualties through the Kew journal and blog posted them on my project blog at http://worldwarzoogardener1939.wordpress.com  blog site

I am now going through the list for Kew WW1 casualties and updating information using Kew journal obituaries, CWGC details, militray service records, census records and the like but this is taking some time. It will eventually appear on the blog. Some of the war memorial info such as regimants is a bit sketchy but I'll double check it when I next visit.

There are pictures of the memorial on the Kew website and also on geograph website but difficult to read the names, a very oddly set out memorial plaque and font script.

I've already done this for the London Zoo ZSL staff war memorial and that of Belle Vue zoo Manchester -  see my blog post for November 2010 and 2011 - but more material coming online all the time.

Thanks for setting me on the trail ...

Mark Norris, Newquay Zoo, Cornwall - World War Zoo Gardens Research project

[Birtle]

Thanks for the thanks, Mark! I'll be following your blog with great interest.
Btw, if I remember rightly the online version of the Kew journal omits photographs. The archivists and illustrations people at Kew were most helpful in supplying me with the one of Sydney Cobbold which accompanied his obituary in the journal. I think they may also have annual group photographs of the Kew gardeners + names; certainly they were able to confirm that a photo passed down through the family was taken abt 1910 in front of the Temperate House and included Sydney C.

[newburychap]

Thanks for that v. useful pointer to the UKNIWM. Good news: it looks possible that an index of names(WW1 only at this point??) on UK memorials might be made available online later this year - see http://www.ukniwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.002006.
Birtle

I spoke to an IWN representative at the GWF Conference - she told me they have 850,000 names in their war memorial database, but have another 100-200,000 (IIRC) on paper.  Their aim is to put all of these online before long.