Name
Thomas Wheeler
20/07/1863
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
30/12/1915
45
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
140222
Canadian Infantry
75th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War Medal
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
SHORNCLIFFE MILITARY CEMETERY
O. 332.
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
DIED AS HE WISHED FOR KING AND COUNTRY MARY
UK & Other Memorials
Not on the Gustard Wood Memorial, Not on the Wheathampstead Memorials
Pre War
Thomas Wheeler was born in Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, on 20 Jul 1863, son of Henry Wheeler, an Agricultural Worker and Ann (nee Jeeves). He was baptised on 26 Jul 1863, in the Parish Church, Wheathampstead, Herts. Thomas was the second son of eleven children.
The 1871 Census records Thomas aged 7, living with his parents, George (born 1858), Eliza (born 1861), Emily (born 1866) and Sarah (born 1869) at Marshalls Heath Cottages, Luton Road, Wheathampstead, Herts.
In January 1880, aged 16, Thomas travelled to Woolwich, Lon/Kent and enlisted in the Royal Artillery for 3 years, with the service number 2758. He extended his service to 12 years in September 1883, with the service number 5334, and later 4099.
The 1881 Census records Thomas aged 19, single, a Driver with the Royal Horse Artillery stationed at the Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich, Lon/Kent. Thomas’s parents had moved to Raisins Cottage, Wheathampstead with George, Eliza, Sarah, William (born 1871), Lillian (born 1875), Arthur (born 1876) and Edith (born 1880) on the 1881 Census. His parents had moved to Gustard Wood by the 1891 with Arthur, Edith, Rose (born 1883) and and Nellie (born 1885).
The 1901 Census records Mary as the Head (Wife of T. Wheeler in the Army) living with sons Ernest and Henry at, 68, Main Road, London Colney, Herts. Mary’s nephew Frederick Charles Wickson was living with the family. By the 1911 Census Thomas had been discharged from the army, now 47, he was employed as a Groom, living with wife Mary and son Henry (12) at, Hill End Farm, Sandridge, Herts. About 1912 Thomas and his family migrated to Canada, settling in Todmorden, Toronto, Ontario, where he was employed at the Don Valley Brickworks.
Wartime Service
At the outbreak of war Thomas and the family lived at; 375, Don Mills Road, Todmorden, Toronto, he enlisted at Toronto, on 20 Jul 1915, giving his occupation as horse breaker and using a date of birth of 20 Jul 1871, age presumed to be 44, (actual age 52).and was posted to 75 Battalion (Mississauga) CEF with the service number 140222.
On completion of his initial training, he sailed from Montreal for England on 1 Oct 1915, aboard the S.S. Scandinavia to join the 23rd (Reserve) Battalion, a Reinforcement Unit in the UK. He was admitted to the Canadian Military Hospital, Moore Barracks, Shorncliffe, Kent, on 21 Dec 1915, seriously ill with Pneumonia where he died on 30 December 1915. He is buried in the Shorncliffe Military Cemetery, Folkstone, Kent.
Additional Information
His son Ernest enlisted on 13 Apr 1915 and served with the Canadian Army Veterinary Corps in Canadian Expeditionary Force in France. He survived the war and was discharged as a Sergeant in 1919.
A newspaper cutting from the Toronto Telegraph of Dec 1915, announced Thomas’s death, it also recorded he served with the Colours in England serving with the Engineers, Royal Horse Artillery and Field Artillery in Egypt, Afghanistan, India, and South Africa, and on completing his term with the colours he emigrated from his home in Hertfordshire to Canada a little over two years ago. His service record is available to download at the Canadian National Archives.
Acknowledgments
Stuart Osborne, Neil Cooper
Jonty Wild
