Name
Hubert John Stapleton
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Biography
There are a number of possibilities for this man, as there are several Herbert Johns and Hubert Johns appearing in the records. It is obvious that Herbert/Hubert could easily be transcription or spelling errors. Separating the men’s information was difficult, but hopefully the following records are correct:
The three possibilities are Herbert John, son of John and Ann, baptised in 1891, Hubert John born in 1890 to Herbert Charles (recorded as Charles in some census records) and Ellen (née Parkins) – this man is recorded as John in the 1911 census and then Herbert John, son of Charles and Mary born May 13th 1880. However, the latter man appears as Hubert in the 1881 census and Hubert John in the 1911 census. For this reason it is believed that the baptism record is incorrectly transcribed as Herbert.
The weight of evidence is that it is one of the Hubert Johns who served. One was born in 1880 and the other in 1890, so both could have served. Evidence from various sources helps identify which is the right man. The Hertfordshire Express of March 23rd 1918 reports that H J Stapleton was on leave from the Naval Air Service and that he played the ‘Dead March’ at the memorial service for those Pirton soldiers who had already given their lives. A monumental inscription inside St. Mary’s Church informs us that from 1902 to 1910 Hubert was the organist at St. Mary’s Church and took a leading part in the construction of this transept, which was completed and opened in 1913. In fact more recently the Registers of Seamen's Services provided a record which confirms that the man that served was born May 13th 1880, so definitely confirming that its was the older man who served.
The Hubert who served appears on the School War Memorial, confirming that he attended the school. His parents were Charles and Mary Stapleton (née Hodson). The children of the family were Hubert John (b 1880), and Charles (bapt 1883).
Hubert Stapleton married Emma Stapleton (sic) on November 28th 1903, by which time his father had died. Her father is recorded as William Stapleton. In 1911, he was thirty and had been married to Emma for seven years but they had no children. Hubert was a carpenter and joiner in the building trade and so he was married when he went to war.
The Parish Magazine of February 1917 records him as serving in the Royal Naval Air Service and that is confirmed in the Hertfordshire Express of March 23rd 1918. The skills learned in his work would have been essential to keep these fragile machines repaired and in the air. In fact he joined the Royal Navy in August 1916 signing for the duration of the war. He was 5’ 9” tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.
He first went to H.M.S. President which was a training ship or establishment before going to Crystal Palace and then to Killingholme, Lincolnshire in 1917. There was aerodrome in Killingholme which was opened in July 1914 and a WW1 seaplane base at NAS Killingholme; they were about a mile apart, whichever Hubert went to, it must have been then that he transferred to the Royal Naval Air Service Reserve.
Acknowledgments
Text from the book ‘The Pride of Pirton’ by Jonty Wild, Tony French & Chris Ryan used with author's permission
