Name
Daniel James Christopher Veresmith
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
14/04/1917
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Captain
Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Field Artillery
1st (Lowland) Brigade
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
AUBIGNY COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION
VI. B. 12.
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Not on the Bushey memorials
Pre War
Born in Bushey on 25 March 1894 and baptised on 5 May 1894, Daniel James Christopher Veresmith (baptised as Wehrschmidt) was the son of Daniel (Snr) Albert and Marie Louise Isobel (nee Norie) Wehrschmidt.
Daniel (Snr) was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of a German tailor who had emigrated to America. Daniel (Snr) later came to England where, as an artist and engraver, he became a tutor at the Herkomer Art School in Bushey. He became a naturalised British subject on 9th July 1890, at which time he was living at in Bushey High Street at ‘Cleveland’, named after his father’s homeland and which is now part of St Hilda’s school.
At the 1891 census, Daniel (Snr) and Marie were still living at Cleveland in Bushey. They were 29 and 25 years old respectively and employed two domestic servants; a cook and parlour maid. The birthplace for Marie was given as Kilmarnock in Scotland. It is believed that Daniel and Marie moved later to Rose Cottage in Elstree Road, Bushey Heath.
At the 1901 census, Daniel (using his last given name of Christopher) was 7 years old and living with his mother and four siblings at 289 High Road in Lee, London (Kent). His father was not present. The names of Christopher’s siblings were Evelyn, Noel, Celia and Henrietta, who were aged 9, 8, 5 and 1 respectively. The birthplace for all of the children is given as Bushey. Two domestic servants were also present.
At the 1911 census, Daniel (Snr) and Marie were living at 67 Burnt Ash Hill in Lee, Kent. Daniel (Snr) was working ‘on his own account’ as an artist and painter. Also present were four of their children; Evelyn Henry, Marie Louise Cecilia, Henrietta Moira and William John Edward. The youngest, William, was nine years old and had been born in Lee, Kent. Daniel James Christopher was not present.
Daniel James was educated at Blackheath Proprietary School and Edinburgh Academy, where he was a member of the Officer Training Corps and shot twice in the School Eight at Bisley in the Public Schools Challenge Cup.
The Wehrschmidt family changed their name to Veresmith before the war because of anti- German sentiments.
Wartime Service
Daniel James Christopher Veresmith joined the Lothian and Border Yeomanry as a Trooper in 1911. He obtained a commission as 2nd Lieutenant in the Lowland Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery on 29th April 1914 and was promoted to Lieutenant on 25 January 1915. He volunteered for foreign service (optional for members of the territorial force) on the outbreak of war in August 1914 and served in France and Flanders with the Expeditionary Force from October 1915.
He died of wounds at No 30 Casualty Clearing Station on 14th April 1917, having been wounded in action at Vimy Ridge on 11th April, and was buried at Aubigny-en-Artois cemetery. He was entitled to the British, Victory and 15 Star medals, his qualifying date being 24 October 1915. The address for correspondence for his father on the medal card is given as D A Veresmith, Saffron Hill, Doneraile, County Cork, Ireland.
Daniel’s commanding officer wrote: “His battery was one of the first to move forward into the territory captured during the big attack of the 9th April. His commanding officer had been wounded in the evening, and your son had been placed in command of the guns. We had the greatest confidence and admiration for your son, who was immensely popular with all ranks, and an artillery subaltern of the highest rank”. A brother officer wrote: “He was always so cheery, so good-natured and so willing and anxious to help anyone, that no matter how trying the circumstances were, one couldn’t help seeing the silver lining in every cloud”.
There is an entry for Daniel in De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour.
The Registers of Soldiers Effects identifies his executors as Mrs Constance Emily Gordon Landers and The Public Trustee (jointly) with a legacy of £127 10s 5d.
There is an entry for Daniel in the National Probate Calendar for 1918 which reads: “VERESMITH Daniel James Christopher of Abbotsbury, Mottingham Kent second-lieutenant 1st Lowland brigade R.F.A. died 14 April 1917 in France Administration London 29 May to Daniel Albert Veresmith artist. Effects £389 16s".
Daniel is one of 31 names commemorated on the Murrayfield Golf Club memorial in Edinburgh. He is not named on the Bushey memorial. Daniel’s brother, Evelyn Veresmith, also served and died of wounds at No. 5 Casualty Clearing Station on 9th July 1916.
Daniel’s brother Evelyn Henry Veresmith also served in France and Flanders and died on 9 July 1916 of wounds received in action on 7 July 1916 between Albert and Pozieres in the battle of the Somme.
Additional Information
Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild
Acknowledgments
Andrew Palmer
Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild
