#Ashford #Buckland #Chilham #Death #Dover #England #Faversham #France #Kent #KIA #Military #WWI
John Henry ABBOTT was the eldest boy and fifth of nine children born to Henry ABBOTT (1844 – 1908), an Agricultural Labourer, and Sarah ANDREWS (1857 – 1943).
Henry was born in Buckland, part of Dover, Kent, England but seems to have headed towards Faversham by the time of his marriage.
Sarah was born in Elmsted (east of Ashford) and has moved to the Chilham area which is just a few miles north towards Canterbury. They married on Christmas Day 1875. Henry was in his 30s but Sarah only just 18.
John had five sisters – Ellen Mary ABBOTT (1876 – 1921), Emma ABBOTT (1878 – 1943), Ada Lilly ABBOTT (1881 – 1940), Alice Elizabeth ABBOTT (1884 – 1950) and Frances ABBOTT (1888 – 1916). All five married and I know that at least three had offspring and one seems to have moved to Canada.
He also had three brothers – Frederick George ABBOTT (1891 – 1966), William Charles ABBOTT (1894 – 1973) and Ernest Walter ABBOTT (1896 – 1917). At least two of them married but not sure if any had children. Most of the family appears to have stayed around Kent.
In the 1881 Census John’s parents and the eldest two girls are living in Old Wives Lees which is a hamlet in the parish of Chilham.
John’s birth was registered Q1 1886 in East Ashford District. Can’t find a more precise date without making purchase it seems nor have I found a baptism record for him.
They seem to be around the same place (detail given as Chilham Lees) for the 1891 Census but now with six children listed. Age given as five and he is a scholar born in Chilham.
In the 1901 Census the family are still in Chilham with the youngest five children. Location given as Park House next to Woods Hill. Age given as 15, born in Chilham and think it is implying he is an Agricultural Labourer like his father.
Sadly, in 1908, John’s father passes away in his early 60s leaving Sarah a widow. John seems to then become man of the house and in 1911 Census it is him, mother Sarah and youngest brother Ernest.
They are living at Yellow Cabbage, Luddenham in Faversham. He is aged 25 and still single. Working as a Farm Labourer. All of his sisters have married but sadly Frances also died in 1916.
Regarding John’s military career military career and much more detail of his family’s life I am just going to link to the details given by the Lynsted with Kingsdown Society1 and Commonwealth War Graves Commission [CWGC] 2.
His service number apparently G/9033 and served with Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), 10th Battalion before died on 17 September 1916. He is buried or commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, France.
Also, there were details about him noted on the Kent Fallen project 3 which unfortunately does not appear to exist anymore but has been somewhat captured by the Internet Archive.
I had taken this excerpt from the following weblink when originally available in September 2019 but no longer functional –http://www.kentfallen.com/PDF%20REPORTS/LUDDENHAM.pdf
As you see a memorial plaque to him and others lost can be found in St Mary’s Church, Luddenham. Sadly, for the family although all nine survived childhood by the time their mother Sarah passed away at 85 so had five or six (depending on date) of her offspring.
He was a 4C 2R to me.
Footnotes –
Most research undertaken using Ancestry, FreeBMD and Google Maps. Additional resources listed below if utilised.
- Lynsted Society – http://lynsted-society.co.uk/research_ww1_casualties_abbott_j_h.html ↩︎
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission [CWGC] https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/772528/john-abbott/ ↩︎
- Kent Fallen – https://web.archive.org/web/20210411224956/http://kentfallen.com/Kent%20Fallen%20homepage.html ↩︎
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