Name
Percy Walter Wilks
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
10/10/1918
41
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Second Lieutenant
Army Service Corps
2nd Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
GRANGEGORMAN MILITARY CEMETERY
Wes Officers 22.
Republic of Ireland
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Watford Borough Roll of Honour, Oxhey Village Memorial, St Matthew’s Church Roll of Honour, Oxhey, Wesleyan Methodist (now Bushey & Oxhey) Church Memorial, Oxhey, Wesleyan Methodist (now Bushey & Oxhey) Window
Pre War
Born in Dalston, London in May 1877, Percy Walter Wilks was the son of Ezra Tompkins and Emma (nee Nash) Wilks. His parents were married in the first quarter of 5 January 1875 at St Peter’s Church in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire.
At the 1881 census, Percy was four years old and living with his parents and two sisters at 32 Lansdowne Road in Hackney. Ezra and Emma were both 29 years old and Ezra was a coal factor. Percy’s sisters were named Annie and Edith and they were 5 and 2 years old respectively. Birthplaces for the family were given as Stanbridge in Bedfordshire for Ezra, Berkhamsted for Emma and London for the three children. Also present were a visitor named Amelia Smith and a domestic servant named Mary Randall.
At the 1891 census, Percy was a boarding pupil at The Leys School for Boys in Trumpington Road, Cambridge. By the time of the 1901 census, he was 24 years old and back living at home with his parents and four siblings at Ashlyns, Clarendon Road in Watford. Ezra was running his own business as a colliery agent. Annie was no longer present, but Percy W and Edith L were now joined by Frank S, Hilda R and Grace E, who were 18, 15 and 11 years old respectively. The birthplaces for Percy, Edith, Frank and Hilda were given as Dalston in London and that for Grace was Highgate in London. Percy was Clerk to his father’s business and Frank was an articled accountant. Also present was visitor Helen Lawrence, a dressmaker, plus a cook and a domestic housemaid.
Percy was given the Freedom of the City of London in the Company of Wheelwrights on 12 November 1901 at which time he gave his address as 29 Coal Exchange, Lower Thames Street London and carrying on the business as coal factor.
Percy married Edith Catherine Francis in 1905 and at the 1911 census they were living at Aldbury in Granville Road, Barnet. Percy and Edith were aged 34 and 30 years respectively and Percy was still working as a coal merchant. They had two children named Walter Hugh, who was 3 years old, and Enid Louise who was 10 months old. The birthplace for Edith was Dalston and that for both children was Barnet. Also present was 26-year-old visitor, Eva Lillian Francis.
Wartime Service
Percy Walter Wilks enlisted as Private S/330825 with the Royal Army Service Corps. He was discharged as Private to take up a commission as 2nd Lieutenant with R.A.S.C on 28 July 1917. He served in France.
Between 1911 and 1918 Percy and his family moved to 13 Oxhey Road in Watford and in 1918 he was recorded as an Absentee Voter from this address, serving as a Second Lieutenant with the Army Service Corps.
Percy was drowned on 10 October 1918 when the troopship RMS Leinster was torpedoed and sunk in the Irish Sea by UB-123. He was buried at the Grangegorman Military Cemetery at Cabra in County Dublin, Ireland (plot Wes. Officers 22). He was entitled to the Victory and British War medals.
Percy is also commemorated on the St Matthew’s Memorial in Oxhey and at Bushey and Oxhey Methodist Church, where there is a stained-glass window in his memory.
There is an article about and a Death announcement for Percy in the West Herts and Watford Observer dated 19 October 1918, plus an In-Memoriam in the issue dated 11 October 1919.
There is an entry for Percy in the National Probate Calendar for 1919, which read: “WILKS Percy Walter of Beverley Oxhey-road Watford Hertfordshire second-lieutenant A.S.C. died 10 October 1918 at sea Administration (limited) London 13 March to Ezra Tompkins Wilks coal merchant. Effects £1644 12s. 10d.”
Ezra died in 1921 in Watford, aged 68, and was buried 9 April in Vicarage Road Cemetery in Watford. There is an entry for Ezra in the National Probate Calendar for 1921, which read: “WILKS Ezra Tompkins of Ashlyns Watford Hertfordshire and of The Coal Exchange London died 5 April 1921 in Clarendon-road Watford Probate London 13 May to Emma Wilks widow Frank Stanley Wilks chartered accountant and Henry Robert Hart solicitor. Effects £11337 5s. 1d.”
There is a further entry for Percy in the National Probate Calendar for 1922, which reads: “WILKS Percy Walter of Beverley Oxhey-road Watford Hertfordshire second-lieutenant R.A.S.C. died 10 October 1918 at sea Administration (limited) London 4 January to Frank Stanley Wilks chartered accountant. Effects £1710 6s. 6d. Former Grant P.R. March 1919 cessate.”
These were followed by two entries in the National Probate Calendar for 1928, as follows:
“WILKS Edith Catherine of Beverley Oxhey-road Watford Hertfordshire (wife of Percy Walter Wilks) died 10 October 1918 at sea Administration London 23 November to Walter Hugh Wilks clerk Frank Stanley Wilks accountant. Effects £220 8s. 3d. Former Grants P.R. March 1919 cessate.”
and: “WILKS Percy Walter of Beverley Oxhey-road Watford Hertfordshire died 10 October 1918 at sea Administration London 23 November to Walter Hugh Wilks clerk and Frank Stanley Wilks accountant. Effects £1977 5s. 4d. Former Grants P.R. March 1919 and January 1922 cessate.”
Emma Wilks died, aged 87, on 2 September 1939 in Oxhey, Herts and, like Ezra, was buried on 5 September 1939 in Vicarage Road Cemetery.
Additional Information
Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild, Sue Carter (Research) and Watford Museum (ROH on line via www.ourwatfordhistory.org.uk).
Additional information’ provided with kind permission of Bushey First World War Commemoration Project – Please visit www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk.
Acknowledgments
Andrew Palmer
Sue Carter (Research) and Watford Museum (ROH on line via www.ourwatfordhistory.org.uk), Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild
