John Austin Chapman was the son of Hurrell George and Margaret Lester Chapman (nee Austin), and was born in Wheatley in 1916. He attended Lord Williams’s Grammar School in Thame between 1927 and 1932, leaving to become an apprentice at the Oxford Bus Company. John enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1938, and was serving on the […]
Fortunately Thame records only one Merchant Navy seaman who lost his life in wartime, though it is a particularly poignant story. Albert Isaac Cumming was born in Newton Abbott, Devon, in 1869, the second youngest of eight children. The family moved to London in the 1880’s and Albert married in Chelsea in 1899 and went […]
Charles Frederick Bristow was born in Sleaford, Lincolnshire on 10th October 1898, one of three children of Fred Bristow, a joiner, and his wife Rose (née Topps). After serving during World War One with the Army Service Corps (Regt No T290003) he married Elsie Lomas at St Mary’s Church, Thame on 26th December 1924. She […]
George Henry Sherwin was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire on 10th September 1883 to Henry Hayles and Emma Sherwin (nee Webb), of the High Street, Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire. He had an older sister, Agnes and three younger sisters, Eleanor, Kathleen and Nora. He attended Lord Williams’s School in Thame leaving in the late 1890’s. When his father […]
Norman Kenneth Millard was born in the Marylebone area of London in the summer of 1920 to parents Walter Douglas and Lily Evlyn Millard (nee Jones). Norman’s family later moved to Thame and live at 92 High Street. Norman joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in 1940 in London and trained as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner. […]
Henry Bennett Cook was the son of Henry B and Lily Cook (nee Hardern), and was born near Ashton, Lancashire in 1921. At the beginning of the second world war Henry was with the County Courts branch of the Lord Chancellor’s Department which had been evacuated from London to be based in Thame. He was a keen footballer […]
William was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad. His father John ran the long established Hoadley and Co business, the foremost gentlemen’s tailors and military outfitters in Trinidad. He attended Lord Williams’s Grammar School from 1908-1912. William joined the Royal Navy in May 1916 as a Cadet, undergoing training at HMS Conway. Subsequently he served […]
Bertram’s father was a District Judge in the Ceylon Civil Service and after retiring he and his family lived in London. Bertram came to LWGS as a boarder and stayed until 1911. Sometime after leaving school he joined Mr Philip E Farr FSAA as an articled clerk and began his training to become an accountant. […]
Bernard Howe was the son of Frank and Ellen Matilda Howe, born in Melksham, Wiltshire on 10th April 1919. His father was a career soldier with the RAMC, being discharged in 1920 after 26 years of service. Bernard went to school at Shirburn, near Watlington, where his mother had, at one time, been lady’s maid […]
James Lawrence Castle was born in Thame in 1878 and baptised at St Mary’s Church on 2nd September 1880. He was one of ten children of veterinary surgeon James Lawrence Castle and his wife Adelaide Clara (née Lambourne) who lived in Priestend, Thame. On 10th April 1900, at nearly 23 years of age, James joined the Imperial […]