Name
Fenton Weiss Graham
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
14/10/1915
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Lieutenant
Durham Light Infantry
4th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
CABARET-ROUGE BRITISH CEMETERY, SOUCHEZ
XXXI. H. 42.
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Bushey Town Memorial, St James’ Church Memorial, Bushey
Pre War
Born in the third quarter of 1872 in Marylebone, London (part of the Pancras registration district), Fenton Weiss Small was the elder son of Frederick Thomas and Georgina Angelique (née Weiss) Small. However, he was subsequently baptised on 5 March 1873 at Christ Church, St Pancras as Fenton Weiss, the son of Selwyn and Angelique Graham. They were living at 4 Park Village West, Campden and his father’s occupation was given as a musical artist.
At the 1871 Census, Georgina is 24 and her mother’s occupation is given as a vocalist. They were living at Samuel Villas, Finchley and a Frederick Small is recorded a visitor. His occupation is also given as a vocalist. Frederick Small and Georgina Angelique Weiss were married later that year on 10 June 1871, at Holy Trinity, Finchley.
Georgina’s father was Willoughby Hunter Weiss, an oratorio and opera singer and composer. He became one of the most celebrated bass singers of the 19th century, and sang in the premieres of many English works. He was born in Liverpool, the son of Willoughby Gaspard Weiss Esq., a professor of flute and a music publisher. Her mother was a soprano and often sang with her husband.
It is not known why Fenton Weiss was registered with the surname Small and then later baptised as Graham. However, a Freemason Membership Register entry for 1880 shows a Frederick Thomas Small Selwyn Graham, aged 30, and it appears that Small and Graham are actually the same person. This supposition is supported by the fact there is no recorded death for a Frederick Small, nor a subsequent marriage between a Selwyn Graham and a Georgina Weiss (or Small).
At the 1881 Census, Selwyn and Georgina had two sons; Fenton Weiss, aged eight and a scholar under home tuition, and Frederick Willoughby Weiss aged four. The family was living at 2 Regent’s Park Gardens, St Pancras and the family had two servants. Selwyn’s occupation is given as a ‘public vocalist professor singing’. At the 1891 Census, the family were living at Freshwater, Isle of Wight.
Selwyn died in 1896 in the Paddington registration district, aged 50, and by the 1901 Census his widow (Angelique) and the two sons had moved to 8, St John’s Road, Watford. Fenton (aged 28) and Willoughby were stock exchange clerks and their mother was living by her own means.
They remained at this address for at least the next 10 years and both sons were still stock exchange clerks. Georgina died in 1920, aged 73, in Bushey.
Wartime Service
Fenton was gazetted on 11 March 1892 with the 3rd Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry. He gained a commission as Lieutenant with the 4th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry and was attached to the 1st Battalion, King's Own (Yorkshire Light Infantry) was killed in action, aged 42, on 14 October 1915.
He was buried at Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez, just north of Arras, and commemorated on the Bushey memorial, and at St James’ Parish Church and St Paul’s Church.
The probate record for his estate gives the beneficiary as Frederick Willoughby Weiss Graham, a stockbroker living at 30, Bushey Rd, Bushey.
There is a Death announcement for Fenton in the West Herts and Watford Observer, dated 18 December 1915.
Additional Information
Information provided with kind permission of Bushey First World War Commemoration Project – Please visit www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk. Information also drawn from the Our Watford History website - please visit www.ourwatfordhistory.org.uk and the Roll of Honour website - please visit www.roll-of-honour.com/London/StockExchange
Acknowledgments
Andrew Palmer
Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild
