Name
Reginald James Epgrave
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
16/02/1917
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
P.S. 2790
Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment)
21st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
PERONNE COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION
V. A. 21.
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Not on the Bushey memorials
Pre War
Born in Bushey in 1892, Reginald James Epgrave, , was the son of James and Matilda (née Rogers) Epgrave, who were married in the last quarter of 1881. Reginald’s great grandfather, James Epgrave, was a family butcher on Clay Hill in 1828 so Epgrave was an established family name in Bushey.
The butchery business continued and Reginald’s father had premises at 51 High Street, which was also the family home. The Kelly’s Directory for Hertfordshire includes entries in both 1890 and 1895 for ‘James Epgrave, Butcher Chalk Hill’ and ‘James Jnr. Butcher High St Bushey’.
Reginald was one of ten children, three of whom died during childhood.
At the 1901 Census, Reginald was aged eight and living at 47, High Street Bushey. Also present were Henry and Elizabeth Ford, William and Sarah White, together with Reginald’s own family members comprising Matilda (Head age 41), Nellie (age 17), Sallie (age 16), Ethel (age 12) and Margaret (age 3). His father wasn’t present on that date.
By 1911 the family had moved to 64, St Anns Road, Harrow, Middlesex. Reginald was eighteen and working as a butcher (journeyman), working for his father (age 50) James. Alice and Sarah were also working for the business as bookkeepers. Also present were; Matilda (age 51), Alice (age 28), Nellie (age 27), Sarah (age 26), Margaret (age 13), Ivy (age 8) and a servant, Frederick Ellen. Apart from Matilda, who was born in Berkhamsted, the rest of the family were born in Bushey.
Reginald was living at 140 Herga Road, Wealdstone, when he married Annie Louisa Geary at Sunnyside on 8 April 1914. Annie was born in the third quarter of 1892 in Berkhamsted. They had one daughter, Nancy Irene, who was born in Harrow on 30 June 1915.
Wartime Service
Reginald enlisted in Harrow on 4 October 1916 as Private PS/2790 in the Middlesex Regiment. He and his wife were still living at 140 Herga Road, Wealdstone when he enlisted.
He served initially in the 23rd Battalion before being transferred to the 1st Battalion. An incident occurred during his service in France, when he was admitted to hospital suffering from a self-inflicted injury. He had been cleaning his rifle, with the muzzle resting on the toe of his boot, when a shot was fired. The injury was slight but a Field Ambulance was called.
Initially, the circumstances appeared suspicious and a court martial was threatened but cancelled when there was no evidence that the act was deliberate. He was, nevertheless, charged “with an act to the prejudice of order and military discipline” in that “at the trench Les Boeufs on the Somme on 27 November 1916 he negligently injured himself by shooting himself with a rifle through the toes.” He was disciplined “for leaving a round in the breech contrary to orders.”
He continued to serve in France and was killed in action on 6 February 1917 and was buried near to where he fell.
In September 1920, his wife, like many other war widows, received official notification that following “agreement the French and Belgian Governments to remove all the scattered graves” it had been necessary to exhume her husband’s body and remove it to Peronne Communal Cemetery Extension. She was assured that the removal was “much regretted but unavoidable” and that the work of re-burial had been “carefully and reverently carried out” with appropriate religious services taking place.
Annie was granted a widow's pension of 18/9d per week for herself and one child from 10 September 1917,
Additional Information
Information provided with the kind permission of Bushey First World War Commemoration Project – Please visit www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk.
Acknowledgments
Andrew Palmer
Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild
