Richard Ward Wealthall 1895-1918

Richard's baptism at St John's Church, Cudworth (from Ancestry)

Born:
Q3 1895 in Great Houghton (9c 167 Hemsworth RD), baptised 5 April 1896 at St John's, Cudworth

Son of:
James Wealthall  b.1873? Carlton, Nottinghamshire d.16 August 1937 in Cudworth
1911: 236 Kings Terrace, Cudworth, a Locomotive Engine Driver on the Hull and Barnsley Railway (previously a Locomotive Fireman)
married at Barnsley in Q1 1897 (9c 260) to
Kate Wealthall (maiden name Ward) b.1877 Littleworth, Monk Bretton, Yorkshire d.6 June 1936 in Cudworth

Position in family: The eldest of 9 children - 4 died young
1. Richard Ward Wealthall, b.1895 WW1 KILLED
2. James Wealthall b.Q2 1897 d.Q2 1897
3. Ada Wealthall bap.15 Jan 1899 Cudworth d.Q1 1900
4. Mary Wealthall b.Q2 1900 d.Q2 1901
5. Harry Wealthall d.Q4 1902
6. Annie Wealthall b.Q4 1902 m Albert W Clare Q3 1925 (9c 581)
7. Betsy Wealthall b.Q2 1908 m Harry Maw 9 Dec 1931 in Cudworth
8. Laurence Wealthall b.Q1 1911
9. Arthur Wealthall b.Q3 1913

Home address, age and occupation:
1901: High Cudworth
1911: 236 Kings Terrace, Cudworth aged 15, Monk Bretton Colliery
1916: 236 Pontefract Road, Cudworth aged 20 years 8 months  Hanger on Pit Bottom

Marriage: Richard was unmarried.

Military Service:
Enlisted: 8 February 1916 at the age of 20 years 8 months
Regiment and Battalion: 2nd battalion West Riding Regiment (previously 4th reserve battalion York & Lancaster Regiment)
Service number and rank:  35400  Private
Awards: British War Medal, Victory Medal

Personal information:   5' 5" tall, 36.5" chest, weight 130.5lbs, brown hair, blue eyes, pale complexion, good physical development, scars on the corner of his left eye and back of his left hand.

Death:     24 October 1918 aged 23
Buried at: Verchain British Cemetery, Verchain-Maugre, France.
Grave Reference: B 11

Information from Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
Son of James and Kate Wealthall, of 236, Pontefract Rd., Cudworth, Barnsley.

Remembered:
Cudworth War Memorial, St John's Church, Cudworth
Wealthall Family Gravestone in Cudworth Cemetery

Next of Kin form from Army Service Records (from Ancestry)

Notes:
Richard was born (1895) and baptised (1896) as Richard Ward, before his mother Kate married James Wealthall (1897).  However there is never any suggestion in the census or the army records or on James and Kate's gravestone that Richard was not James' son.  On the next of kin form (see right) sent out after Richard's death James states before a Justice of the Peace that Richard is his son.

Although Richard enlisted in February 1916 he was put in the Army Reserve at that point and he was not mobilised until April 1918.  This was probably because he was a miner and then by 1918, during the German advance we needed all the men we could get so he was called up.  His records state that he was transferred to the West Riding Regiment in September 1918 and Killed in Action in October, just seven weeks later.  

His letters and a testament (? bible) were returned to his family in May 1919.