Person Page - 73

      Stephen was baptised on 28 November 1830 in Yarwell, NTH, ENG.² He was the son of William Starsmore and Elizabeth Stephens.^2,1 Stephen died in 1831 in Yarwell, NTH.¹

      Stephen was baptised on 16 September 1832 in Yarwell, NTH, ENG.² He was the son of William Starsmore and Elizabeth Stephens.^2,1
     Stephen married, at age 33, Ann Wheatley on Friday, 10 November 1865 in Thorney, CAM, ENG.³

     Born circa November 1885 in Fleet, LIN, ENG.³ Annie Maria Copeland was the daughter of William Copeland and Betsey Bee Whitelam.^1,2
The birth of Annie Maria Copeland was registered in the December quarter of 1885 in the Holbeach Registration District.⁴ Annie Maria was baptised on 3 January 1886 in Fleet, LIN, LIN; "of William and Betsy Bee COPELAND, Abode: Fleet, Labourer.⁵ Annie died before 20 November 1886 in Fleet, LIN, LIN. Annie was buried on 20 November 1886 in Fleet, LIN, ENG. 12 months.³
Annie Maria Copeland's death was registered in the December quarter of 1886 in the Holbeach Registration District.⁶

      Ann was baptised on 23 December 1827 in Caythorpe, LIN, ENG.¹ She was the daughter of Richard Hayto and Catherine Dalby.¹

     Born in September 1880 in Wareham, DOR, ENG.^2,1 Frederick Morris Bridle was the son of Frederick Bridle.²
     Frederick married E (-?-).² Frederick died on 14 September 1914 in Seine-et-Marne, FRA; In Memory of Frederick Bridle Private 5857 "B" Coy. 1st Bn., Dorsetshire Regiment who died on Monday, 14th September 1914. Age 35.
Additional Information: Son of Mr. and Mrs. F. Bridle, of Mill Lane, Wareham, Dorset; husband of Mrs. E. Bridle, of 24, Cow Lane, Wareham, Dorset.

Commemorative Information
Memorial: LA FERTE-SOUS-JOUARRE MEMORIAL, Seine-et-Marne, France
Location: La Ferte-sous-Jouarre is a small town 66 kilometres to the east of Paris, and the Memorial is situated in a small park on the south bank of the River Marne, just off the main road to Paris. The Memorial Register is kept at the Town Hall. The La Ferte-sous-Jouarre Memorial commemorates nearly 4,000 officers and men of the British Expeditionary Force who died in August, September and the early part of October 1914 and who have no known grave. The monument consists of a rectangular block of stone, 62 feet by 30 feet and 24 feet high, with the names of the dead engraved on stone panels on all sides of the monument. The monument is surmounted by a sarcophagus and a trophy carved in stone. At the four corners of the pavement are stone piers with urns, carved with the coats of arms of the Empire.

Historical Information: THE LA FERTE-SOUS-JOUARRE MEMORIAL. LA FERTE-SOUS-JOUARRE is a small town in the Department of the Seine-et-Marne, with a railway station on the line from Paris to Epernay and Chalons. It stands on the North (or right) bank of the Marne, nearly opposite the confluence of the Petit-Morin. The main street rises steeply Northward, leading to Chateau-Thierry, and the slopes of the valley on this side seem to form a great amphitheatre half enclosing the town; but on the South side of the river the slopes stand back, and a strip of level country lies between the stream and the road from Meaux to Chalons. The neighborhood is fertile, well wooded, and intersected by many streams; Paris is 35 miles to the West, and about as far to the East are the vineyards of Epernay. On the left (or South) bank of the river, in a suburb of La Ferte, a monument has been placed which has a two-fold purpose. It is intended at once to commemorate the operations of the British Expeditionary Force in August, September, and the early part of October, 1914, and to record the names of the Officers and men who fell in those operations and whose graves are not known. The place was selected by the National Battlefields Memorial Committee in 1921, and the actual site has been chosen by the Imperial War Graves Commission. The following paragraphs describe briefly the events to which the Memorial is due and the nature of the Memorial itself. I.-THE LANDING IN FRANCE. The British Expeditionary Force, as it landed in France between the 7th and the 16th August, 1914, was composed of General Headquarters, one Cavalry Division, with an extra Brigade, four Infantry Divisions, and Lines of Communication troops-about 85,000 Officers and men.* It disembarked at Le Havre, Rouen and Boulogne. By the 20th August it was concentrated between Maubeuge and Le Cateau, on the left of the French Armies, and on the 21st it began to advance Northwards. On the 22nd, the 4th Dragoon Guards fired the first shots, and by the night of the 22nd-23rd the force was in position behind the Mons Canal: the II Corps (3rd and 5th Divisions) on the left, from Conde to Mons, and the I Corps (1st and 2nd Divisions) South-Eastwards from Mons. Sir John French's Army had on its right, but slightly in rear, the French Fifth Army, and on the left, between it and the sea, three French Territorial Divisions spread out. Approaching it, at an angle of 45 degrees, was the German First Army. On the 22nd August the French Fifth Army, defeated at Charleroi, began to fall back from the Sambre before the German Second Army, while the German Third Army threatened its right flank along the Meuse. The French First and Second Armies, in Alsace, and their Third and Fourth Armies, in the Ardennes, after an abortive offensive, were also retiring. Liege had fallen; Namur was on the point of falling; the Belgian Field Army had taken refuge in the fortress of Antwerp. At the far North-Western end of the line, where the British Army and the French Cavalry Corps and Territorials were posted, the original intention of pushing forward North and East to envelop the German right wing had to be abandoned; but Sir John French agreed to stand for twenty-four hours on the line of the Conde-Mons Canal, in order to protect the flank of the main French line. On Sunday, the 23rd, the German First Army, after moving Westwards towards Tournai, where it imagined the British were, discovered their position and wheeled South towards them; and the Battle of Mons began. 2.-THE BATTLE OF MONS. On the morning of the 23rd August contact on the right with the enemy was established at an early hour, and by 9 o'clock the British salient before the town of Mons (the right of the II Corps) was attacked by artillery and infantry. The German force opposite the two Divisions of this Corps comprised eight Divisions. The attack developed from East to West; it was pressed until nightfall, and then broken off by the enemy, who had not engaged the British 1 Corps. Superiority in Artillery forced back the troops of the 3rd Division holding the salient, and after them the remainder of the Corps, to a line two to three miles back, with the loss of 1,600 Officers and men and two guns; but the loss was in part repaired by the arrival on the left, early in the afternoon, of the 19th Infantry Brigade. The intention at nightfall was to stand on the new line before Dour and Frameries. But during the night information arrived that the Fifth French Army, following the Fourth, had begun a general retirement; and, in accordance with the wishes of General Joffre, the British Commander decided to retire slowly on the line Valenciennes-Maubeuge. 3.-THE RETREAT FROM MONS; THE BATTLE OF LE CATEAU. The I Corps, on the East, retired during the 24th, practically unmolested, to a line from Bavai to near the Sambre at Maubsuge. The II Corps retreated through the coalfields of Frameries and Elouges to a line reaching from Bavai Westward nearly to Valenciennes; its rearguard was hotly engaged all day, and the successful flank-guard Action of Elouges cost the 5th Division 1,650 losses (including the greater part of the 1st Cheshires). The total losses of the day were 2,590; but by the evening the bulk of the 4th Division from England had arrived and was detraining at Le Cateau and stations near. It was ordered forward to cover the retirement of the II Corps. The French Armies on the East continued to retire, and the Territorials on the West were making for Cambrai. The general retreat continued on the 25th, on either side of the Forest of Mormal. The I Corps, still almost unmolested, marched East of the Sambre, reaching Marbaix, Maroilles and Landrecies; but at night the 4th (Guards) Brigade had to defend Landrecies against an advancing column of the German 7th Division, and the 6th Brigade had a fight near Maroilles. The II Corps retreated down, and West of, the Roman road to Le Cateau, the 3rd Division fighting the Rearguard Action of Solesmes. On the 25th and 26th the Belgian Field Army, to assist the French and British operations, made a sortie Southward from Antwerp towards Malines. General Joffre, after the ill success of the "Battles of the Frontier", decided to retire to the line Laon-La Fere-St. Quentin, to obtain space for a fresh effort; and the British conformed. The 1 Corps retired on the 26th on Etreux, unmolested except for a detachment cut off in Le Grand Fayt. But the II Corps was pressed by the enemy so closely that it was a question of fighting (leaving a rearguard to sacrifice itself) or being shot down in column of route; and General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien decided to fight before retreating further. He called on the 4th Division to help him. The three Infantry Divisions (5th, 3rd and 4th) were formed up, at daybreak, on a line from the hills behind Le Cateau to Caudry and Esnes, with the Cavalry behind them, and were attacked by Kluck's First Army and the II Cavalry Corps. Le Cateau itself fell to the Germans very early in the day, and the advanced British left centre was driven in on Ligny a little later. The general line was held until 2 P.M., when Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, having accomplished his purpose, and finding his right under very heavy artillery fire, ordered a retirement in succession from right to left. His orders did not reach all his units, and a battalion near the right of the line was overwhelmed. Isolated parties, too, were left, who kept up a defence until dark and entirely deceived the enemy. Thus the three Divisions drew off, in a rapidly failing light, with little interference, enveloping attacks on both flanks being held off, on the right by gun fire and on the left by French Cavalry, and completely failing to achieve their purpose. The British losses in the Battle were 7,812 Officers and men and 38 guns. 4.-THE RETREAT FROM MONS: LE CATEAU TO THE MARNE. The I Corps had meantime continued its retreat, and the two Corps remained separated for several days




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------.² He was awarded the following medals: 1914 Star, War & Victory in 1919.³

     Born in 1859 in Wareham, DOR, ENG.² Frederick Bridle was the son of Alice (-?-). Frederick Bridle was residing circa 1914 in Wareham, DOR, ENG.¹

     E (-?-) was residing circa 1914 in Wareham, DOR, ENG.¹
     E married Frederick Morris Bridle, son of Frederick Bridle.¹

      The birth of Alice E Copeland was registered in the June quarter of 1914 in the an unknown place Registration District.¹ She was the daughter of Thomas Henry Copeland and Florence Selina Whitelam.¹

     Born circa July 1880 in Long Sutton, Holbeach, LIN, ENG.³ Florence Selina Whitelam was the daughter of Robert Ward Whitelam and Hannah Maria Woodhouse.²
The birth of Florence Selina Whitelam was registered in the September quarter of 1880 in the Holbeach Registration District.⁴
The marriage of Florence and Thomas Henry Copeland was registered in the December quarter of 1905 in the Holbeach Registration District.¹

     Born in 1880 in Whaplode, LIN, ENG.² Eliza Ann Walton was the daughter of William Walton and Eliza Ann (-?-).^1,2
     Eliza married George Fred Coupland, aged 21 , son of William Coupland and Mary Ann Rossington, on Wednesday, 4 April 1900 in Whaplode, LIN, LIN.³
The marriage of Eliza and George Fred Coupland was registered in the Jun quarter of 1900 in the Holbeach Registration District.⁴

      The birth of Rosie E Copeland was registered in the December quarter of 1913 in the Holbeach Registration District.² She was the daughter of Florence Stimson.¹

     Born circa 1882 in Tilney Fen End, Wisbech, Wisbech, ENG.¹
The marriage of Florence and John H Copeland was registered in the September quarter of 1902 in the Wisbech Registration District.^2,1

     Sidney Coupland's death was registered in the June quarter of 1914 in the Holbeach Registration District.²
The birth of Sidney Coupland was registered in the June quarter of 1914 in the Holbeach Registration District.³ He was the son of Daniel Coupland and Margaret Halgarth.

      The birth of Gertrude Catherine Paine was registered in the December quarter of 1872 in the Thingoe Registration District.²
The marriage of Gertrude and Charles Smith Gough was registered in the September quarter of 1898 in the Newmarket Registration District.³

      The birth of Duncan Smith Gough was registered in the September quarter of 1901 in the Bury St Edmunds Registration District.¹ He was the son of Charles Smith Gough and Gertrude Catherine Paine.¹ Duncan died in 1949 in Great Barton, SFK, ENG.²

      The birth of Anne Maria Cawton was registered in the December quarter of 1871 in the an unknown place Registration District.³ As of December 1871, Annie Sophia Cawton was also known as Anne Maria.³ She was the daughter of William Cawton and Ann Maria Smtih.²
     Annie married John Ayto, aged 27 , son of William Ayto and Mary Ann Adcock, on Saturday, 26 December 1896 in Grantham, LIN, ENG.⁴ Annie died on 9 June 1942 in Hough-on-the-hill, LIN, ENG, at age 70; In Memory of ANNIE SOPHIA AYTO who died on Tuesday, 9th June 1942. Age 70.
Additional Information: of Hough-on-the-Hill. Daughter of the late William Cawton; wife of John Ayto. at Hough-on-the-Hill.

Commemorative Information
Cemetery: RURAL DISTRICT OF WEST KESTEVEN, Section of the Civilian War Dead Register.^1,5

     Born circa 1862 in Bassingbourn, Royston, CAM, ENG.¹ Simeon Chamberlain was the son of William Chamberlain and Eunice Chapman.¹

     Born on Saturday, 7 October 1899 in Bury St Edmunds, SFK, ENG.³ Kenneth Jack Smith Gough was the son of Charles Smith Gough and Gertrude Catherine Paine.²
The birth of Kenneth Jack Smith Gough was registered in the December quarter of 1899 in the Bury St Edmunds Registration District.¹ Kenneth died in 1979 in Manchester, GTM, ENG.³

      The birth of William E Coupland was registered in the June quarter of 1916 in the Holbeach Registration District.³ He was the son of Arthur Joseph Coupland and Eliza Jessie Plummer.^2,1 William died in March 1917 in Holbeach, LIN, ENG; March.⁴

      Rebecca was baptised on 23 November 1834 in Yarwell, NTH, ENG.² She was the daughter of William Starsmore and Elizabeth Stephens.^2,1

      Sarah Ann was baptised on 18 December 1836 in Yarwell, NTH, ENG.² She was the daughter of William Starsmore and Elizabeth Stephens.^2,1 Sarah was buried on 17 March 1838 in Yarwell, NTH.¹

     Sarah married John Bridle on Tuesday, 27 February 1827 in Blandford Forum, DOR, ENG.¹

     Born circa 1833 in Blandford Forum, DOR, ENG.²
     Susannah married Robert Bridle, son of John Bridle and Sarah Nichols, in 1853 in Blandford Forum, DOR, ENG.¹

     Born in 1826 in Blandford Forum, DOR, ENG.² William was baptised in 1829.¹ He was the son of John Bridle and Sarah Nichols.¹

     Elizabeth died in 1832.¹ Elizabeth was baptised in 1832.¹ She was the daughter of John Bridle and Sarah Nichols.¹

      Eliza was baptised in 1839.¹ She was the daughter of John Bridle and Sarah Nichols.¹

      Mary Ann was baptised in 1840.¹ She was the daughter of John Bridle and Sarah Nichols.¹

      Elizabeth Ann was baptised on 25 June 1841 in Yarwell, NTH, ENG.² She was the daughter of William Starsmore and Elizabeth Stephens.^2,1

      Elijah was baptised on 19 November 1843 in Yarwell, NTH, ENG.² He was the son of William Starsmore and Elizabeth Stephens.^2,1
     Elijah married Jane (-?-) before 1877.³