Name
John King
1895
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
19/12/1915
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
9972
West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own)
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 (Mons) Star, British War and Victory Medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
YPRES RESERVOIR CEMETERY
I. A. 1.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
There is no inscription on his Headstone
UK & Other Memorials
Bushey and Oxhey Methodist Church, Oxhey, Bushey War Memorial, St Paul's Church, Bushey, Oxhey War Memorial
Pre War
There is some uncertainty about which soldier is named as J King on the various Bushey memorials, but the following is believed to be the most likely individual.
Born on 11 September 1895 (registered in Headington, Oxfordshire) and baptised in South Hinksey on 14 June 1896, a John Francis King was the son of Thomas Edward and Jane Shattell. His sister, Ada Emma King Shattel, was born in the same location the following year. Thomas Shattell and Mary Jane Waller had been married in 1880 in the Kensington, London registration district and were living at 171, Lavender Road, Battersea at the 1881 Census. The birthplaces for Thomas and Jane are given as Rotherhithe and Paddington respectively and Thomas was employed as a plasterer.
Mary died in Bushey, Herts in January 1900 at the age of 39 and was buried on 22 January at St James’ church, Bushey. Thomas subsequently married Elizabeth Eleanor (nee King) Bowers on 11 February 1901 in Bushey. Elizabeth had previously been married to a Frederick John King in 1885 in the Headington, Oxfordshire registration district. Frederick King died in 1898, his death being registered in the Abingdon district, which included the parish of South Hinksey. Thomas died, aged 87, on 10 May 1941 in Watford and was buried on 14 May, at St James’ church. Elizabeth died on 22 October 1944, aged 80, and was buried on 26 October, also at St James’ church.
At the 1901 Census, Thomas and Elizabeth Shattel are living at 26 Vale Road, Bushey with four children. Their names are Edward King, Frederick King, William King and John Shattel and their ages are given as 15, 14, 9 and 5 respectively.
At the 1911 Census, the family was still living at 26 Vale Road with Frederick G E King (step son), Elizabeth Anne King (step daughter), William Henry King (step son), Maud Alice Shattell and Doris Kathleen Shattell. Their ages are given as 24, 21, 19, 9 and 7 respectively and their birthplaces as Oxfordshire for Frederick, Elizabeth and William and Bushey for Maud and Doris. John Shattell is not present but is recorded (listed as Shuttle) on the Census as a boarder with Joseph and Elizabeth Bunce at 5, Vale Road. He is 16 years old, working as a plasterer’s labourer, and his birthplace is given as Oxfordshire.
Wartime Service
A soldier named John King enlisted in London and served as Private 9972 in the 1st Battalion West Yorkshire (Prince of Wales Own) Regiment. The 1st Battalion landed at St Nazaire, France on 10th September 1914, as part of 18th Brigade, 6th Division.
John died on 19 December 1915 and is buried at Ypres Reservoir Cemetery in Belgium.
The Register of Soldiers’ Effects for John names Elizabeth Shattell as his Stepmother. The value of his effects were £14-8s-11d, Pay Owing of which £12-8s-11d, went to his Stepmother Mrs Elizabeth Shattell, and a Legatee of £2 went to Mrs Elizabeth Bunce. A £7-10s-0d, War Gratuity also went to his Stepmother Mrs Elizabeth Shattell.
There is a death announcement for a John King in the West Herts and Watford Observer dated 8 January 1916, which fits with the date of death for Private 9972.
A possible alternative is Private 2300, who also served in the West Yorkshire Regiment. According to research by others (but not checked as part of this research), there is an article about a John King in the Parish Magazine which states he was a member of the Sunday School at St James’ Parish Church and that he returned home on leave shortly before he was killed by a shell in France on 3 September 1916. He was buried at the Mill Road Cemetery, Thiepval on the Somme.
A fatality named J King is commemorated on the Bushey Memorial, at St James’ Parish Church, at St Paul’s, at St Matthew’s Church and at Bushey & Oxhey Methodist Church.
Acknowledgments
Stuart Osborne, Andrew Palmer
