George Herbert WINTERBOURNE (1885–1917)
George Herbert Winterbourne was born in Wootton in 1885, the son of Mark Winterbourne (born at Sunningwell in 1855 and registered with the surname “Winterburn” and baptised at St Leonard’s Church on 1 May 1856) and Louisa Harriet Edgington (born in Hanney, Berkshire in 1857).
His parents were married in the Abingdon district in the second quarter of 1876 and had eight children, including:
- Charles Richard Winterbourne (born at Boars Hill in 1878 and baptised at Wootton on 2 February 1879)
- Oliver George Winterbourne (born at Cumnor in 1881 and baptised at Wootton on 12 June 1881; died aged eleven months at Dean Court, Cumnor and buried at Wootton on 2 February 1882)
- Ellen Gertrude Winterbourne (born at Wootton in 1882 and baptised there on 17 September)
- George Herbert Winterbourne (born at the Pounds, Wootton in 1885 and baptised there on 12 July)
- Alice Elizabeth Winterbourne (born at the Pounds, Wootton in 1886/7 and baptised there on 9 January 1887)
- Olive Winterbourne (born at Wootton in 1892 and baptised there on 4 September)
- Elsie Esther Winterbourne (born at Wootton in 1898/9 and baptised there on 26 February 1899)
George’s parents were living at Boars Hill by 1878, and his father was an agricultural labourer. The 1881 census shows George’s father described as a carter and his mother as a needlewoman living in Wootton with their children Charles and Oliver. When George and his younger sister were baptised in 1885 and 1887, their address was specified as The Pounds.
At the time of the 1891 census, George (5) was at school. Their home is described as being in the village of Wootton, presumably at the Post Office, as George’s mother was now the Wootton postmistress. George’s father was still an agricultural labourer, but by the time George’s next sister was baptised in 1892, he was also parish clerk; and by 1899 he was a postman.
The 1901 census shows the family living at the Post Office at Wootton (below). George’s father was now Sub-Postmaster as well as a gardener, while his mother was Sub-Postmistress. George (15), named by his middle name Herbert, was working as an assistant gardener, and his sister Alice (14) was a general servant.
George does not appear in the 1911 census index, and at that time only his youngest sister Elsie was at home with their parents in Wootton. Although his father was recorded in that census as simply a domestic gardener, in Kelly’s Directory for 1914/15 he was listed as “Tobacconist & post office, and Parish clerk”.
In the First World War George Herbert Winterbourne served as a Private in the Mechanical Transport Unit of the Army Service Corps (Service No. M2/045737), attached to the 58th Ammunition Sub Park. He died at the age of 32 on 26 October 1917 in Poperinge in Belgium. He is buried at the Gwalia Cemetery (Grave II. E. 5), and his parents paid for the words I HAVE FOUGHT A GOOD FIGHT / I HAVE FINISHED MY COURSE to be added to his headstone.
He is remembered on the war memorial outside St Peter’s Church at Wootton, and also has a memorial inside the church reading:
IN EVER LOVING MEMORY OF
GEORGE HERBERT WINTERBOURNE
M.T.–A.S.C, WHO WAS KILLED IN ACTION
NEAR YPRES • OCTOBER 26TH 1917
AGED 32
INTERRED IN MILITARY CEMETERY POPERINGHE
“I HAVE FOUGHT A GOOD FIGHT. I HAVE FINISHED MY COURSE”
POSTSCRIPT
George Herbert Winterbourne’s parents
At the time of the 1921 census Mark Winterbourne (66) was described both as a gardener working for Mr Nurse at Bond's Farm, Wootton and the Sub-Postmaster, and was living at the Post Office with his wife Louisa (65), and their daughter Elsie and her husband and son were living with them.
- Mark Winterbourne died at the age of 68 at the Post Office, Wootton and was buried at St Peter’s churchyard on 26 January 1925.
- Louisa Harriet Winterbourne was still running the tobacconist and post office in Wootton in 1947. She died at the age of 92 on 4 June 1950 and was buried with her husband.
George's siblings
- Charles Richard Winterbourne married Clara Blackborough (who did not know where she was born, but in fact her birth was registered at Islington) in the second quarter of 1907 in the St Pancras district . In 1911 the couple were living at St Pancras, without children: Charles (31) was at 12 Argyle Street and working as a chauffeur/mechanic, while Clara (30) was in St Pancras (Poor Law) Infirmary.
- Ellen Gertrude Winterbourne married Edward James Wiblin in the Abingdon registration district in the third quarter of 1907
- Alice Elizabeth Winterbourne married James Champ of Sunningwell in the Abingdon registration district in the first quarter of 1910 and their daughter Annie Louise was born in Wootton in about May 1910. James also lost a brother in the First World War
- Olive Winterbourne married Herbert E. Thouless, a mechanic, in the Abingdon registration district in the second quarter of 1930, and their son Herbert Martin Thouless was born in Wootton on 16 March 1932 and baptised at St Peter’s Church on 17 July 1932.
- Elsie Esther Winterbourne married Edmund S. Thouless, an engineer, in the Abingdon registration district in the second quarter of 1920, and their son Edmund Richard Salter Thouless was born at Wootton on 6 December 1920 and baptised at St Peter’s Church on 16 January 1921. At the time of the 1921 census Elsie's husband Edmund (23) was described as a motor engineer working for V. Whitehad at The Square, Abingdon and he and Elsie and their first baby were living with Elsie's parents at Wootten Post Office. Their next child José Thouless was born at Wootton on 6 July 1922 and baptised at St Peter’s Church on 23 August.
See also
- CWGC: Winterbourne, G. H.
- Oxford Journal Illustrated, 19 December 1917, p. 6: Photograph of “Pte G. H. Winterbourne, M.T., A.S.C.” in the “Heroes of the War” section (shown above with kind permission of Oxfordshire County Council, Oxfordshire History Centre)
- Wikipedia: Royal Army Service Corps