Peasants to Puddles
My Family History - By Nicky Rowberry

John Edmund Wright - Gunner 151792

This page is dedicated to the memory of John Edmund Wright who died on 23rd September 1917 in Egypt.

John Edmund Wright died on 23rd September 1917 in Egypt. He was unfortunately one of the casualties amongst the millions of men who lost their lives in World War 1. It seemed sad for him to have died and all but these bare facts remembered, so I've tried to find out at least a little about his life before his untimely death aged just 38.

John Edmund Wright was born on 22nd December 1878 at 28 Willow Street, Leicester. He was the 5th of 6 children to Edmund Wright and his wife Elizabeth Cooke. His father Edmund worked mainly as a shoemaker and his mother Elizabeth was a dressmaker. In 1881 the family were still living in Willow Street, with 5 children - the youngest child William Wright wasn't born until 1883.

By 1891 the family were still in Willow Street, although the eldest daughter had moved out by then. The older boys had followed their father into the shoe industry, but John Edmund was still at school aged 13. Chances are he would have left school once he reached 14. By 1899 John Edmund was also working in the shoe industry as a Boot Finisher. He probably met his future wife Alice Smith there as she worked in the warehouse. They were married on Christmas Eve 1899 and their first child Cyril Wright was born the following October. By 1901 John Edmund (at this point going by the name Edmund) and his family were living on Gresham Street, Leicester. He was still a shoe finisher and she was working in the stock room. In 1903 the family were living at 73 Burfield Street when their second child Ernest Wright was born. John Edmund's father died in 1908

By 1911 they had had 2 more children although sadly their second child Ernest had died as an infant. The family were living at 76 Harrington Street, Leicester and John was a shoe hand finisher. His widowed mother was also living on Harrington Street a few doors down with his brother and niece. John and Alice were still in Harrington Street in 1915, when they had 4 of their children baptised together.

War broke out in the summer of 1914. Sadly John Edmund's service records don't seem to have survived, so I don't know when he joined up. But he had children in both 1915 and 1916, suggesting he was still at home at least until then. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website confirms that he was a Gunner in the 423rd Siege Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery and that his regimental number was 151792. I can't reproduce the CWGC photo of the cemetery, but to see his page please click here.

You can now look at the Medal Roll cards from the first world war online. These show a soldier's name, rank and what medals they were entitled to. Due to copyright issues, I don't think I can reproduce the image of the medal card, so instead I've transcribed it:

Sadly his medal card doesn't seem to have been filled in fully as there is no reference to his death nor his service overseas. I think he would have been entitled to 2 medals. The British Medal was awarded to servicemen who served in a theatre of war between 5th August 1914 and 11th November 1918. The Victory Medal (Allied Victory Medal) was awarded for service in any operational theatre over the same time frame. The Star was awarded to all those who served in any theatre of war against Germany between 5th August 1914 and 31st December 1915. So the absence of anything noted against the Star medal also suggests he didn't join the army until at least 1916.

Whenever he signed up, by September 1917 he was in Egypt where he contracted cerebral malaria, a severe and in his case fatal illness. John Edmund Wright died of the disease on 23rd September 1917.

His death was reported in the local newspapers, the Leicester Daily Mercury on 18 October 1917 and Leicester Journal 26 October 1917. Images © Reach PLC. Images created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. Images reproduced with kind permission of The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)

His wife Alice also posted a personal tribute in the Leicester Daily Mercury on 4 October 1917. Image © Reach PLC. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. Image reproduced with kind permission of The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)

John Edmund was buried in Egypt and is commemorated on the Alexandria (Hadra) War Memorial Cemetery. He is probably also commemorated back home on a War Memorial in Leicester although I've yet to find it.

The final piece of documentation I could find for John Edmund Wright was the Army Register of Soldiers' Effects. This showed that at the time of his death he had £2.16s.2d owed him, which along with the £3 standard War Gratuity was paid to his widow Alice. Not much to show for the ultimate sacrifice, especially when Alice was left with several small children, one of which was still only a baby.

It would be lovely to find a photo of John Edmund Wright, so if anyone has one, please do get in touch. He had quite a few siblings and children, so hopefully there are some descendants out there who can help. E-mail: n.rowberry@btinternet.com

In researching John Edmund's final days, several sites have been invaluable, so I've included links to some of them here.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission:

The National Archives at Kew:

The British Newspaper Archive:

If any of the above is of further interest, please feel free to contact me at: n.rowberry@btinternet.com

Nicky Rowberry 2024

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Peasants to Puddles - My Family History. By Nicky Rowberry