The Midland Counties Express of 11 September 1915 details that the four eldest sons of Mr and Mrs Samuel Barratt, 13 Shepherd Street, Wolverhampton, were serving in the War:
- Charles (22, top photograph), of the 1st South Staffords, was in South Africa when war was declared. He went out to France and was wounded on 26 October, being shot through the left forearm. He was sent home on sick leave but went out to France again in February 1915.
- Harold (21, left photograph), served with the Royal Engineers in France. He had been “slightly gassed and wounded with shrapnel (five wounds) but was now back in the firing line. He had previously worked for Chubb’s lock works and later the Star Engineering Company, having played football for both works
- Ernest (20, right photograph), enlisted in August 1914 in the 4th South Staffords, but then moved to the 1st South Staffords. He fought side by side with his brother Charles in the Battle of Festubert, but later suffered a nervous breakdown and was in hospital in France. He had worked at Sunbeam previously
- George (bottom photograph) was with the Royal Field Artillery and had been training since May.
Samuel Lloyd and Teresa Frances Barratt were living with their children (Teresa, Charles, Harold, Ernest, George and Jeanie) at 13 Aldersley Lane in 1901.
Charles was born in Wolverhampton on 14 November 1892. From 1899 onwards, he attended St Michael’s Church of England Junior School. By 1911, he was an army groom, living on his own at Whittington. He appears to have served first with the South Staffordshire Regiment (number 8753) and later with the Machine Gun Corps (number 19243). He survived the war, and died in 1960 in Bilston at the age of 67.
Harold (in fact christened Thomas Harold) was born in Wolverhampton in 1894. In 1911, he was living with his parents at 32 Ashland Street, Wolverhampton, along with siblings Ernest Spicer, Samuel George, Jeannie Catherine, Jack Clarance, Bertram Lloyd and Veronica Mary. Harold was a lock smith (presumably at Chubb’s, given the information in the newspaper article). He first entered the war with the Royal Engineers (number 25752) on 20 November 1914. He also appears to have survived the war, and married Mary Bristow in 1924, and they had a son, Harold B., born later that year. Harold died in 1927 at the age of 33.
Ernest Spicer Barratt was born in Wolverhampton in 1895. In 1911, he was an errand boy for a sugar boiler. He first served in France with the South Staffordshire Regiment (number 9575) on 23 March 1915. He survived the war and was discharged on 15 March 1918. On 9 March he was awarded the Silver War Badge (number 357624) due to wounds received. He married Ada M. Rogers in Wolverhampton in 1919, and they had a daughter, Dorothy E., in 1925. He died in 1962.
George (christened Samuel George) was born in Wolverhampton in 1899. I have not been able to confirm details of his military service, but he, too, survived the war. He married Edith Alice Page in Wolverhampton in 1922. The couple had four children – Brenda E. (1925), Dorothy J. (1928), William G. (1931) and Kathleen B. (1933). He died at Wolverhampton Royal Hospital on 12 September 1934 (by which date his address was 36 Ashland Street, Wolverhampton), and the value of his effects was £110 8s. 4d.