Name
Jesse (aka Jess) Archibald Biggerstaff
1888
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
26/10/1914
26
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
13065
Grenadier Guards
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 (Mons) Star (with Clasp & Roses), British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL
Addenda Panel 59.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
He has no Headstone. He is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial to the fallen in Belgium
UK & Other Memorials
Chipperfield Village Memorial, St Paul's Church Memorial, Chipperfield
Pre War
Jesse Biggerstaff was born in 1888 in Chipperfield, Hertfordshire, son of Henry and Sarah (nee Burgin) Biggerstaff. One of ten children.
Baptised Jesse Archibald Biggerstaff on 2 December 1888, in the Parish Church Chipperfield, Herts.
1891 Census records Jesse aged 2, living with his parents and seven siblings at, The Common, Chipperfield, Herts.
1901 Census records Jesse aged 12, living with his parents and three siblings in, Queens Street, Chipperfield, Herts.
On 8 January 1907, aged 19, Jesse travelled to Watford, Herts, to enlist in the Bedfordshire Militia, posted to the 4th Battalion with the service number 5777, his service record, shows he transferred to the Grenadier Guards the following day 9 January 1907. According to the Grenadier Guards records his service number 13065, was issued between January 1907 and May 1908.
1911 Census records Jesse out of the army, aged 22, single, working as a Roadman, living with his parents, brother Christopher (20) at, Queens Road, Chipperfield, Herts. His cousin Harold Timberlake (12) was living with the family.
In 1912, Jesse married Mary/May Bardrick the daughter of Frederick and Louisa Bardrick of Chipperfield, in Watford, Herts. It is believed they had one son Dennis Frederick Biggerstaff born in 1914.
Wartime Service
At the outbreak of war Jesse was on the army reserve list, returning to his Regiment in September 1914.
The 1st Battalion was stationed at Warley, Essex, at the time, as part of 20th Brigade, 7th Division. Mobilized for war at the beginning of October 1914, landing at Zeebrugge in Belgium on 7th October 1914.
The 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, saw action at the First Battle of Ypres (19 Oct to 22 Nov 1914) by the end of the Battle the Battalion was down to 200 men and 4 Officers. It was during this Battle Jesse was taken a prisoner of war and died while a prisoner.
CWGC, record he died between 26 October and 8 November 1914. He has no known grave and is Commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial to the Fallen in Belgium.
Additional Information
Mary received a widows pension of 15/- a week from 14 June 1915, and his effects of £1-1s-6d, Pay Owing and a War Gratuity of £5. His service record for 1907 can be found on www.findmypast.co.uk
Acknowledgments
Stuart Osborne
