Private William John Perry, 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment

Zonnebeke (West-Vlaanderen): Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/52980505482

Private 23664 William John Perry of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment was killed in action in the Ypres Salient on the 1 October 1917, aged 35. He died during the latter stages of Third Battle of Ypres, and is now buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery, between Zonnebeke and Passchendaele (Passendale). Before the war, William had been a bellringer at the Church of All Saints, Wrington (Somerset) and was a member of the Bath and Wells Diocesan Association of Change Ringers.

Zonnebeke (West-Vlaanderen): The grave marker of Private W. J. Perry, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, in Tyne Cot Cemetery; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/52981133715

Earlier this year, I was fortunate to be able to visit Private Perry’s grave marker in Tyne Cot Cemetery. I thought, therefore, that it would be an appropriate time to add a post on him here. This post will provide an outline of the life of William John Perry based on census and the other genealogical records provided via Ancestry (£) and Findmypast (£), with some additional information gleaned from unit War Diaries digitized and made available by the National Archives. The post will also feature William’s younger brother, Lance Corporal Albert Hewer Perry, who died a few weeks afterwards in the same part of the front. It will also mention a few other Wrington bellringers that served in the armed forces during the war.

Wrington (Somerset): the Church of All Saints, the war memorial is the churchyard cross in the foreground; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/23984764645

William John Perry (Bill) was born at Wrington (Somerset) in 1882, the son of Isaac Frederick George Perry and Hester Selina Perry, née Marshall.

Isaac Frederick George Perry had been born at Bristol in 1858, the son of Francis Horatio George and Margaret Perry. He was baptized at Christ Church, Redhill – then a chapelry of Wrington – on the 5 September the same year. He married Hester Selina Marshall at the Church of St. Paul, Bristol on the 2 August 1880. Hester had been born at Wrington in 1855, the daughter of John and Hester Marshall. Their marriage certificate described the profession of Issac as labourer, that of Hester as servant.

The 1881 Census recorded the Perry family living at Wrington. Frederick was twenty-three and working as an agricultural labourer, while Hester was twenty-five. They had a child: Albert E. Perry, aged six months.

By the time of the 1891 Census, the family were living at Old Priory, Woodlands, Wrington. There were by that date five children: Albert E. (aged 10), William J. (9); Louisa A. M. (6), Frederick G. (4), and Frances H. (1). The 1901 Census recorded that the family were still living at Wrington. Isaac was forty-three and working as a butcher. Of the children: William J. was nineteen and working as a house painter and decorator, Frederick G. was fourteen and working as a news agent. The remaining children were Francis H. (aged 11), Alfred H. (7), and Nora M. (4).

Marriage notice for W. J. Perry and S. A. Day of Wrington, published in the Wells Journal, 28 June 1906; via British Newspaper Archive.

William John Perry married Sarah Ann Day at the Church of All Saints, Wrington on the 19 June 1906. Sarah Ann had been born in 1881 at Oldbury upon Severn (Gloucestershire), the daughter of James Day (a haulier) and Fanny Day, née Withers. The 1881 Census recorded the family living at Haw Lane, Thornbury, where the one-month-old Sarah Ann was the youngest of three children. The family were still living at Haw Lane at the time of the 1891 Census, when Sarah was ten years old, and had been joined by three younger siblings. James Day died at Thornbury (registration district) in 1900, aged 45. At the time of the 1901 Census, the widowed Fanny Day was still living at Haw Lane (now described as being in the parish of Oldbury upon Severn) with five children. Sarah was no longer part of the household. Aged 23, she was recorded as one of two servants resident at the household of George and Emily Ashdown at Wrington, working as a house parlour maid (domestic).

The married William John and Sarah Ann Perry feature in the 1911 Census, resident at 2, Baker’s Buildings, Wrington, with a one-year-old daughter, Stella Maud. William John was working as a house painter. The household also included a boarder: Edwin James Andow, aged 25, who was another house painter.

The family of Isaac and Hester Perry were also still living at Wrington in 1911, now at the Gas Yard. Isaac was fifty-two and working as a butcher’s labourer, while Hester was fifty-five. The census return confirmed that Isaac and Hester had been married thirty-one years and had had eight children, all of whom were still alive at the time. Three of the children were still resident: Frederick George (aged 24, a house painter); Alfred Hewer (17, a baker’s boy), and Nora (Norah) Marshall (14).

From the census returns and other records, it is possible to work out that Bill Perry was the second youngest of eight children, all of whom had been born at Wrington:

• Albert Edward Perry: b. 1880; m. Sarah Jane Taylor, Christ Church, Pill, 23 December 1900
• William John Perry: b. 1882; m. Sarah Ann Day, All Saints, Wrington, 19 June 1906; d. 1917
• Louisa Amelia Maud Perry: b. 1884; m. Frederick V. Dolling, Axbridge (district), 1915
• Frederick George Perry: b. 1886; m. Emily G. Parslow, Long Ashton (district), 1928
• Francis Horatio Perry: b. 1889; m. Fanny E. B. Taylor, Long Ashton (district), 1915
• Alfred Hewer Perry: b. 1894; d. 1917
• Nora Marshall Perry: b. 1896; m. Alfred J. Short, Axbridge (district), 1922

[Please note that I have not double-checked all of the marriage information on these lists.]

Details of the six bells at Wrington before 1911. Source: Henry Thomas Ellacombe, The church bells of Somerset, to which is added an olla podrida of bell matters of general interest (Exeter: William Pollard, 1875), p. 95; via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/churchbellsofglo00ella/page/n111

There is not a huge amount of information available about William Perry’s bellringing career, but what we do know is that he was not a novice. The Bell News records that W. Perry (as well as “E. Andon,” presumably the Edwin James Andow that boarded with the Perry family) rang in a touch of 360 changes of Grandsire Doubles at Wrington on the 29 September 1907 [1]. This was at a time when the tower contained a very-heavy ring of six, the tenor weighing over 38 cwt.

Bell News and Ringers’ Record, 26 October 1907, p. 382.

Two months later, on the 30 November 1907, Bill Perry rang in the very first peal that was rung on the bells at Wrington [2]. The peal was 5,040 Grandsire Doubles, rung in three hours and six minutes. It was a first peal for all of the ringers, except for the conductor George H. Gale, who came from Clapton-in-Gordano. W. Perry rang the fourth bell, with E. Andow on the third. Despite it being a five-bell method with a cover bell, the weight of the tenor bell necessitated two people to ring it for the requisite amount of time.

Bell News and Ringers’ Record, 7 December 1907, p. 453.

The bells of All Saints were augmented to ten in 1911 with the addition of four new bells, which were cast by Mears and Stainbank of Whitechapel (the existing bells were retuned and rehung). The new bells were dedicated on All Saints’ Day in 1911. J. H. B. Hesse’s account of the dedication, which was published both in the Bell News and the Ringing World, listed “W. Perry“ as one of the local ringers that “took part in the ringing in a most creditable manner” [3]. The ringing included touches of Grandsire and Stedman Caters, and some Treble Bob Royal (presumably Kent), although it is not recorded whether Perry rang in any of those.

Extract from the report written by J. H. B. Hesse on the dedication of the augmented ring of ten at Wrington on All Saints Day, 1911. Source: Bell News and Ringers’ Record, 18 November 1911, p. 424.

William Perry did not ring in the first peal rung on the augmented ring, which was rung for the Bath and Wells Diocesan Association on the 4 November 1911 [4]. The peal was 5,007 Stedman Caters, rung in three hours and twenty-four minutes, conducted by Fred G. May (who seems to have been a Bristol ringer). A year later, however, on the 2 November 1912, William Perry did ring in the sixth peal rung at Wrington, the fourth on the new ring of ten. The peal was 5,040 Grandsire Triples, rung in three hours and twenty-eight minutes, and was again conducted by Fred G. May [5]. This was the first peal of Triples rung on the bells, all of the previous ones being of Doubles, Caters, or Royal. William J. Perry rang the fifth bell, Edward J. Andow the sixth. It was also a first peal for Dubric Wood.

Ringing World, 8 November 1912, p. 312.

I have not been able to find out whether William John Perry rang peals in any other towers. It does seem, however, that he would have been a reliable member of the band at Wrington before the war.

Information on William John Perry’s military service during the First World War is scanty. His entry in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) database simply tells us that Private 23664 William John Perry of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment died on the 1 October 1917, aged 35 [6]. The Soldiers Died in the Great War database adds that he had enlisted at Bristol, had formerly served with the Royal Engineers (Service No: 179510), and that he was killed in action. It is possible to infer from a piece on “Wrington’s War Record” in the Bristol Times and Mirror of the 6 November 1915 that he was not one of those that had enlisted on the outbreak of war [7].

The 2nd Royal Warwicks formed part of 22nd Infantry Division in the 7th Division for the duration of the war [8]. The battalion served on the Western Front from October 1914 until November 1917, when they were transferred with the rest of the 7th Division to Italy, where they would serve on the Asiago Plateau and the Piave. At the beginning of October 1917, the division had just arrived in the Ypres sector, and were preparing to take part in the attack on the 4 October that became known as the Battle of Broodseinde. The War Diary of the 2nd Royal Warwicks (WO 95/1664/3) records that, on the 1 October, the battalion were in dugouts at Trench Map reference I.17.c&d., i.e., due south of the Menin Road from Birr Cross Roads [9]. That day, “A” Company furnished a carrying party of 2 officers and 100 other ranks to carry ammunition up to 1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers in the “right sub-sector” at J.10.b.3.3. to J.10. b.4.9. (an area that was marked on trench maps as Jetty Wood). The remainder of the battalion moved up to Hooge Crater at midday.

Glencorse Wood and Nonne Bosschen. Detail from Trench Map Sheet 28.NE: Scale: 1:20000; Edition: 8A; Published: October 1917; Trenches corrected to 1 October 1917; via National Library of Scotland (CC-BY): https://maps.nls.uk/view/101464912

The diary merely notes the wounding of a subaltern. By contrast, the CWGC database lists eight members of the 2nd Royal Warwicks that died on the 1 October 1917: Privates 241769 Frederick Charles Anscombe; 23675 Algernon John Ball; 15797 Frederick Collins; 202694 Ernest Govan (“A” Company); 17576 Frank Holland; 23664 William John Perry; 242929 Arthur Shakespeare; and 23926 William Stevenson. Apart from Privates Perry and Stevenson, who are buried respectively in Tyne Cot Cemetery and Hooge Crater Cemetery, the remaining six have no known grave and are commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing.  According to CWGC burial returns, Pte Stevenson’s body was concentrated to Hooge Crater Cemetery from J.14.b.8.3. [10], Pte Perry’s to Tyne Cot Cemetery from J.8.c.8.9. Trench Map reference J.14.b.8.3. can be found south of Glencorse Wood, and J.8.c.8.9. west of Nonne Bosschen. Both sites are (broadly speaking) in the area between Hooge and Polygon Wood that had been captured during earlier phases of the Third Battle of Ypres. It seems likely, on the balance of probabilities, that both Privates Perry and Stevenson were part of that “A” Company party carrying ammunition to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. The CWGC burial return states that Private Perry’s body was identified by his disc, although it seems to have shown his former regimental affiliation, i.e.: “79510 W J Perry RE.”

IWGC Burial Return for Tyne Cot British Cemetery, 24 September 1920; via CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/

On the 2 October, the 2nd Royal Warwicks moved back to dugouts at Zillebeke Lake, and then on to Camp at N.2.b.4.6. (west of Dickebusch / Dikkebus) in the late afternoon. The battalion would be in reserve for the attack of the 4 October, but it would take part in a follow-up attack on Judge Copse on the 9 and 10 October. According to the War Diary, the battalion suffered the following casualties between the 8 and 11 October: officers:  6 killed, 6 wounded; other ranks: 54 killed, 188 wounded, 70 missing, 5 died of wounds, 2 shell shock. Many of the dead are commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing.

One of William John Perry’s younger brothers would die in the Salient just a few weeks later. Lance Corporal 19984 Alfred Hewer Perry of the 43rd Company, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) was killed in action on the 22 October 1917, aged 23 [11]. The Soldiers Died in the Great War database adds that he had enlisted at Taunton and had previously served with the Somerset Light Infantry (Service No: 9895).

Alfred seems to have enlisted before William, as he featured in the piece on “Wrington’s War Record” that was published in the Bristol Times and Mirror in November 1915 [12]. This describes his unit as the 6th Somerset Light Infantry.

Private A. H. Perry, 6th S.L.I. Source: Bristol Times and Mirror, 6 November 1915, p. 21; via British Newspaper Archive.

Both the 6th Somersets and the 43rd Machine Gun Company were part of 43rd Infantry Brigade in the 14th (Light) Division. It seems likely that Lance Corporal Perry was transferred into the Machine Gun Corps (MGC) during a reorganization of the brigade, perhaps at the time when the Machine Gun Companies were first established. The 43rd MG Company was formed at Houtkerque in February 1916. Their main weapon would have been the Vickers machine gun.

According to the War Diary of the 43st Machine Gun Company (WO 95/1910/5), it relieved 95th MG Coy (5th Division) on the 12 October 1917 in the sector facing Polderhoek Chateau [13]. The remains of the chateau were in the Reutelbeek valley south of Polygon Wood, which was very much in the same area where the 7th Division had been operating earlier in October. The 14th Division were part of Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Morland’s X Corps, who were preparing for what would become the final phase of the Third Battle of Ypres, the Second Battle of Passchendaele.

Polderhoek Chateau and Reutelbeek. Detail from Trench Map Sheet 28.NE: Scale: 1:20000; Edition: 8A; Published: October 1917; Trenches corrected to 1 October 1917; via National Library of Scotland (CC-BY): https://maps.nls.uk/view/101464912

The War Diary of the 43rd Machine Gun Company explains what happened on the 22 October 1917:

[W of POLDERHOEK CHATEAU. Oct.] 22. A bombardment of POLDERHOEK CHATEAU was arranged which necessitated a withdrawal from our front line to obviate casualties from splinters. Two extra MGs (making a total of four) were placed in CAMERON COVERT with enfilading fire on the evacuated area in order to prevent its occupation by the enemy. In addition the four guns in Barrage positions in front of NORTHAMPTON FARM were laid on the same ground for the same purpose. Two guns whose normal positions were in front of the CHATEAU were also withdrawn, at the same time as the infantry, to CARLISLE FARM. During these operations a whole team became casualties. The guns & teams returned to their original positions at 5.30 pm. During the day the Company suffered 10 casualties – 1 being killed & 1 subsequently dying of his wounds.

Lance Corporal Perry seems to have been the one that was killed outright. The other seems to have been: Private 60752 Sidney Jackson, who died on the same date, aged 20, and is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, near Poperinghe (XXII. D. 1A.) [14].

Unlike Private Jackson, Lance Corporal Alfred Hewer Perry has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial – not very far from where his older brother ended up being buried.

Wrington (Somerset): The plaque on the War Memorial Cross; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/23902258351

Both William John Perry and Albert Hewer Perry are commemorated on the war memorials at Wrington, which are a churchyard cross and a stone memorial plaque inside the church. The plaque is relatively new, having been dedicated on the 17 July 2007. It was Vera Perry, William John Perry’s younger daughter, who was reportedly the person that proposed the idea for a new memorial to be placed in the church [15].

Wrington (Somerset): The War Memorial plaque inside the Church of All Saints; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/23876555192

William John Perry is also commemorated on the war memorial of the Bath and Wells Diocesan Association of Change Ringers in Bath Abbey. He is not the only bellringer from Wrington that is commemorated on that memorial. Captain Frank Percy Wheeldon was killed in action on the 30 October 1917 while commanding “A” Company of the 2/8th Battalion, London Regiment (Post Office Rifles) in the swamp east of the village of Poelcappelle (Poelkapelle). As with Lance Corporal A. H. Perry, Captain Wheeldon is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial. Before the war, Percy Wheeldon had been organist at All Saints, as well as Assistant Organist at Wells Cathedral. In June 1914, he had been appointed organist and choirmaster of the parish church at Weston-super-Mare.

Pte. W. Nipper, S.M.F. Ambulance. Source: Bristol Times and Mirror, 6 November 1915, p. 21; via British Newspaper Archive.

It is known that several other Wrington bellringers served in the armed forces during the war. Despite being around forty-seven in 1914, it is possible that Francis William Nipper may have served for a time with the Somerset Light Infantry, perhaps only on the home front. A “Pte F. Nipper” from Wrington was recorded ringing at Dagenham several times in 1915 and 1916 when his unit was based at Purfleet in Essex (as was Corporal G. H. Gale of Easton-in-Gordano, the conductor of the 1907 peal) [16]. William George Nipper, who was one of Frank’s sons, served as a Private with the Royal Army Medical Corps (South Midland Field Ambulance). Another of Frank’s sons would die in the final months of the war. Private 42263 Arthur Frank Nipper of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment died on the 13 September 1918, aged 19, and was buried in Glageon Communal Cemetery Extension [17].

Corp. D. Wood, Dispatch Rider. Source: Bristol Times and Mirror, 6 November 1915, p. 21; via British Newspaper Archive.

Dubric Wood, who in civilian life worked as a solicitor, became a despatch rider, serving as a Corporal in the Royal Engineers, later being commissioned Lieutenant. His younger brothers Godric, Leofric, Wilgric, and Yetric also served, e.g., Godric as a Sapper with the Royal Engineers, Wilgric as a Second Lieutenant in the Somerset Light Infantry, Yetric as a Midshipman with the Royal Naval Reserve (there was an even younger brother named Zenric). One of the brothers died. Private 2049 Leofric Wood of the 11th Battalion, Australian Infantry, Australian Imperial Force died at Gallipoli of illness on the 2 August 1915, and is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial [18].

Major J. H. B. Hesse (bottom left), with a band of officers at St. Peter’s, Croydon. Source: Ringing World, 23 May 1919, p. 195.

A bellringer that had a very strong connection with Wrington was John Harley Bridges Hesse, who had been heavily involved in the augmentation of the ring at All Saints in 1911 (as well as in the rehanging of the six bells at nearby Rowberrow in 1907). J. H. B. Hesse has been the subject of an excellent post by David Underdown on the halfmuffled blog, and the following information has mostly been extracted from there, his obituary in the Ringing World, and from occasional snippets found in digitized issues of the Bell News [19]. Hesse had been born in India in 1872, but seems to have moved to Devon or Somerset when he was around six-years old. He attended Sherborne School, leaving in 1890, afterwards studying engineering at University College Bristol. At some point in his youth, Hesse must have learned to ring, possibly at Wrington or Bristol, although this is not made clear in the obituaries (later in life he described Wrington bells as the first that he had ever heard). In 1892, when he would have been around twenty years old, he attended meetings at Yatton and Wells of the Bath and Wells Diocesan Association [20]. On the 6 December the same year, he was one of two ringers of the tenor bell in a quarter peal of Grandsire Triples rung at the Church of St. Nicholas, Bristol [21]. On the 27 February 1893, he rang the tenor in another quarter peal of Grandsire Triples at the Church of St. Matthew, Kingsdown, Bristol [22]. The next reference that I can find to Hesse in the Bell News is him being part of a band from the St. Thomas Hon. Society of Bellringers, Belfast that opened the bells of Bangor, Ireland on the 23 September 1899 [23]. On the 6 May 1900, he rang in a 720 of Bob Minor at St. Thomas’s, a performance described as the first 720 rung by all of the band [24]. This suggests to me that Hesse had not up to that point rung a peal. In his professional life, Hesse worked as mechanical engineer, first with Harland and Wolff in Belfast, and then in London, which included a stint working for Thorneycroft. He joined the Ancient Society of College Youths in 1901, which was the year that he moved from Belfast to London, but he was also a member of multiple territorial guilds and associations (including the Bath and Wells DA). It is not noted as his first, but Hesse did ring an inside bell in a peal of 5,040 Grandsire Triples that was rung for the Middlesex County Association at All Saints, Isleworth on the 17 March 1902 [25]. John H. B. Hesse married Phyllis Winifred Young at All Saints, Kingston-on-Thames on the 24 February 1906, on which occasion peals were rung at Christ Church, Bristol (5,019 Stedman Caters, conducted by F. G. May), All Saints, Fulham (5,020 Stedman Caters), and St. Mary Abbots, Kensington (5,093 Double Norwich Court Bob Caters), then a week-or-so afterwards at the church where they were married (5,057 Grandsire Caters) [26]. Hesse rang in the first peal on the augmented ten at Wrington in November 1911, and in two more there shortly afterwards [27]. On the outbreak of war, Hesse enlisted and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Motor Transport section of the Army Service Corps (ASC). He served with the ASC both at home and on the Western Front, ending the war with the honorary rank of Major. As a Temporary Captain, he was mentioned in the despatch of Field-Marshal French dated the 15 October 1915, issued following the Battle of Loos [28]. After the war, Major Hesse rang in “officers’ peals” at St. Mary’s, Putney (5,121 Kent Treble Bob Major, 15 March 1919) and at St. Peter’s, Croydon (5,039 Grandsire Caters, 9 July 1919) [29]. He later became a ringer at Haslemere and the first Master of the Guildford Diocesan Guild. He died at Wrington on the 18 October 1946, aged 72, and is buried in the churchyard there.

The ringing chamber at Wrington contains a photograph of a bellringers’ outing that took place just before the outbreak of the war [30]. It features an open-topped charabanc, which is parked next to the Yarn Market in Dunster. It features twenty-six men, of all ages, all of whom are wearing some kind of headgear. The ringers (and the driver) are mostly either inside the vehicle or sitting on (or leaning against) its running board. The exceptions are Percy Wheeldon, Dubric Wood, and Harold Lane (Wood’s clerk), who are sitting on a pair of motor cycles that flank the scene. Bill Perry is pictured sitting towards the back of the charabanc, at the far right-hand-side of the photograph.

After the war, the 1921 Census records that William John Perry’s widow and children were still living at 2, Baker’s Buildings, Wrington. Sarah Perry was forty years old; the children were: Stella Maud (aged eleven), and Vera Eileen (seven). Stella Maud Perry married a Metropolitan police officer named F. G. Perry in 1936, thus managing to keep her birth name [31].

Of William and Albert’s parents, Hester Selina Perry died at Axbridge (registration district) in 1933, aged 77; Isaac Frederick George Perry at Weston-super-Mare (registration district) in 1944, aged 85.

References:

[1] Bell News and Ringers’ Record, 26 October 1907, p. 382.

[2] Bell News and Ringers’ Record, 7 December 1907, p. 453.

[3] Ringing World, 14 November 1911, p. 588; Bell News and Ringers’ Record, 18 November 1911, p. 424.

[4] Bell News and Ringers’ Record, 11 November 1911, p. 416.

[5] Ringing World, 8 November 1912, p. 312.

[6] CWGC, Private William John Perry: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/464266/william-john-perry/

[7] Bristol Times and Mirror, 6 November 1915, p. 21; via British Newspaper Archive.

[8] The Long, Long Trail, Royal Warwickshire Regiment: https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/royal-warwickshire-regiment/

[9] WO 95/1664/3, War Diary of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, The National Archives, Kew.

[10] CWGC, Private W. Stevenson: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/459377/w-stevenson/

[11] CWGC, Lance Corporal Alfred Hewer Perry: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1636680/alfred-hewer-perry/

[12] Bristol Times and Mirror, 6 November 1915, p. 21; via British Newspaper Archive.

[13] WO 95/1910/5, War Diary of the 43rd Machine Gun Company, The National Archives, Kew.

[14] CWGC, Private Sidney Jackson: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/145108/sidney-jackson/

[15] “All Saints’, Wrington War Memorial Plaque, Sunday, 17th July, 2007,” Wrington website: https://wringtonsomerset.org.uk/allsaints/2007/plaque.html

[16] Ringing World, 10 September 1915, p. 111; 19 May 1916, p. 231; 11 August 1916, p. 62.

[17] CWGC, Private Arthur Frank Nipper: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/286818/arthur-frank-nipper/

[18] CWGC, Private Leofic Wood: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/719772/leofric-wood/

[19] Ringing World, 15 October 1946, p. 503; David Underdown, “John Harley Bridges Hesse (5 December 1872 – 18 October 1946),” halfmuffled blog, 20 May 2019: https://halfmuffled.wordpress.com/2019/05/20/john-harley-bridges-hesse-5-december-1872-18-october-1946/

[20] Bath Chronicle, 26 May 1892, p. 3; 28 July 1892, p. 7; Bell News and Ringers’ Record, 30 July 1892, p. 211.

[21] Bell News and Ringers’ Record, 17 December 1892, p. 458.

[22] Bell News and Ringers’ Record, 11 March 1893, p. 602.

[23] Bell News and Ringers’ Record, 14 October 1899, p. 243.

[24] Bell News and Ringers’ Record, 12 May 1900, p. 21.

[25] Church Bells and Illustrated Church News, 27 March 1902, p. 368.

[26] Bristol Times and Mirror, 26 Feb 1906, p. 5; Bell News and Ringers’ Record, 3 March 1906, p. 620; Bell News and Ringers’ Record, 10 March 1906, p. 633; Bell News and Ringers’ Record, 24 March 1906, p. 657.

[27] Bell News and Ringers’ Record, 11 November 1911, p. 416; Ringing World, 17 November 1911, p. 575; Ringing World, 5 January 1912, p. 4; Ringing World, 20 September 1912, p. 190.

[28] The despatches of Lord French: Mons, the Marne, the Aisne, Flanders, Neuve Chapelle, the second battle of Ypres, Loos, Hohenzollern redoubt, and a complete list of the officers and men mentioned (London: Chapman & Hall, 1917), p. 559; via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/despatchesoflord00fren/page/558

[29] Ringing World, 21 March 1919, p. 102; 18 July 1919, p. 286.

[30] Philip Kinsman, “All Saints’ Bellringers 1914,” Wrington website, Archive: https://wrington.net/archive/2014/bellringers1914/

[31] Western Daily Press, 24 April 1936, p. 11; via British Newspaper Archive.

Note: The bellringing periodicals were digitized and made available online by the Library of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (CCCBR): https://archive.cccbr.org.uk/services/library/online-publications/