Name
George Stephen Macmillan
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
30/12/1917
35
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
48057
Bedfordshire Regiment
5th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
CHATBY MEMORIAL
Egypt
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Bushey Town Memorial, St James’ Church Memorial, Bushey
Pre War
Born in Islington in 1882 and baptised on 14 May 1882 at St Mary, Islington, George Stephen Macmillan was the son of Duncan and Emily Macmillan. The civil registration record shows his surname as McMillan.
At the 1901 Census the George was aged 19 and living with his parents at Highbury Station Road in Islington, London. Duncan and Emily were 47 and 43 years old respectively. His father was employed as a butcher and George was employed as a shirt cutter. The birthplaces are given as Glasgow for Duncan, Chingford in Essex for Emily and Islington for George.
George married Lydia Mary Windus on 10 October 1903 at St John, Upper Holloway in Islington. The marriage record shows they were both aged 21, George was employed as a shirt cutter and they were both living at 39 Cornwallis Road, Islington.
At the 1911 Census George and Lydia were living in a two-room dwelling at 131 Forest Road in South West Hackney. They had a daughter, aged 7 years, named Elsie and George was working as a blouse cutter. Islington is given as the birthplaces for all three. George later took divorce proceedings in the High Court of Justice, naming Lydia and a Charles Cooker. The court minutes state that the Petition was filed on 8 October 1914, with Cause Set Down on 28 January 1915, the Decree Nisi on 18 May 1915 and the Final Decree granted on 29 November 1915.
George was re-married to Mabel Blake on 25 December 1915 at Christ Church, Clapton in Hackney and the record shows George as a Widower. It also gives the ages for George and Mabel as 34 and 29 respectively and the address for both as 42, London Road in Hackney. George was working as a tailor’s cutter. It is likely he would have declared himself as a widower to enable the marriage to Mable to take place in church.
Wartime Service
George enlisted in Bedford and served as Private 48057 in the 5th Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment. He was living Bushey at the time of enlistment. He died at sea, aged 35, on 30 December 1917 and is remembered with honour on the Chatby Memorial in Alexandria, Egypt. He is also commemorated on the Bushey Memorial and at St James’ Parish Church. After his death, Mabel lived at 42 London Road, Clapton.
The Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects gives his widow, Mabel, as the beneficiary. It also indicates that George was on the troopship Aragon when he died. The Aragon was built as a transatlantic Royal Mail ship and was converted to a defensively armed merchant ship in 1913. She later served as a troopship and took part in the Gallipoli campaign. In late 1917, she received orders to sail for Egypt, taking about 2,200 troops to reinforce the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. Whilst about 8 to 10 miles outside the port of Alexandria, awaiting permission to enter, she was torpedoed by a German U-Boat at about 11.00am and sank in about 20 minutes. Six hundred and ten of those aboard were killed, including 25 new recruits from the 5th Battalion of the Bedfordshire regiment.
Additional Information
Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild
Acknowledgments
Andrew Palmer
Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild
