Information provided by Marion Moverley. Robert Thackwray Moverley was born on the 3rd March 1896 at Woodside Farm Sessay near Thirsk in North Yorkshire to Butler and Fanny Margaret Moverley. Robert’s father Butler was a farmer. The 1911 census shows a family of 5 children with Robert having brothers Edward and Harold, and sisters Dora Fanny and Florence Lotta. Robert worked as a railway clerk for the L.N.E.R. at Bennington Station and then at Boroughbridge. He would also work in the railway offices at York and Selby.
On the outbreak of war Robert enlisted as a Private with the Yorkshire Regiment and would rise through the ranks to Sergeant. Little information is available regarding his time in the Military, even in determining the Battalion he was with. We do know that in September 1916 he was at Mulgrave Castle Hospital near Whitby so he must have received wounds of some description while at the Front. Also, from October 1917 to April 1918 he was seconded as an Adjutant to the 51st Battalion Leicestershire Regiment. It would appear that this was a home based appointment. Letters of commendation from that period indicate he was a proficient and diligent soldier. On the 1st March 1919 he was transferred to the reserve on the completion of his service.
Robert married Mary Blunsom on the 5th May 1923. They would have two children, Joan Margaret and Alan. His wife Mary died in 1959. Robert remarried on the 5th May 1961 to Dulcie Elizabeth Frankish Found.
Robert died in 1975. At the time he was living at 3 Peaseholme Drive Scarborough. He was 79 years of age.
Robert Moverley is clearly indicated in this photograph of Mulgrave Castle
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John MacKenzie
Elspeth De Montes told us about her grandad John MacKenzie, a carpenter, who was called up in August 1914. “John had been working as a carpenter for James Bryce in Clephanton since April 1910 when he was called up on 4th August 1914. He enlisted with the Highland Mounted Brigade at Nairn eventually being posted to to Egypt in 1916. He worked chiefly on the wagons, greasing and making slight repairs but he also saw action throughout his time in Egypt. During an air raid at Ramleh on 27th November 1917 5 men were killed along with approximately 100 horses.” John survived his time in Egypt, returning home on 4th April 1919. He kept some of his equipment in the Princess Mary Tin he received during his service. Elspeth still has his Princess Mary tin. He passed away in 1980.
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Mary Devas Marshall MM
Mary Wilkinson (née Marshall and usually known as Molly) died in Winchester in 1983 at the age of 90. Mary had originally enlisted in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry in 1912. On the outbreak of the First World War she was initially refused permission by the British Authorities to go to Belgium and so it was under the jurisdiction of the Belgian Government that she made her way across the Channel. Her medals, testament to her work during the war, are displayed in the museum’s Medal Room alongside those of her husband, Captain Wilkinson. Few FANYs, let alone women, were decorated with the Military Medal, an award earned while she was based at the hospital at Marquise in the grounds of the 1st Aeroplane Supply Depot. This location saw the most devastating German aerial attack of the war on an aviation facility. The citation for her Military Medal states “For gallantry and coolness during a bombing raid by hostile aircraft….she displayed the utmost disregard of danger, attending many serious wound cases which required skilful and immediate assistance.”
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William Billam
Submitted by Pam Reed – William was her first cousin once removed. William Billam was born Robert William Beckwith Earsdon in Jarrow on 17 September 1893. By 1906 his mother and stepfather Elizabeth and George Billam had moved to Hinderwell, 8 miles north of Whitby. In 1911 William was living with them and had taken his stepfather’s surname of Billam. In 1913 William married Ada Simpson and continued to live in the same village. On the outbreak of the First World War he enlisted on 15 August 1914 at Whitby as 12122 Private Billam in the 11th Reserve Cavalry Regiment. However on 1 November 1914 he was discharged as ‘being unlikely to make an efficient soldier’. Having failed to make the grade in the cavalry, he promptly volunteered for the infantry . At the end of 1914 he enlisted again at Whitby as 18687 Private Billam in the 2nd Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment. William was killed on 1st July 1916, first day of the Battle of the Somme. He was buried in the Dantzig Alley British Cemetary in Mametz along with 2052 other British soldiers. His name is on the Hinderwell War Memorial. He left a widow and 2 year old daughter. Extract from the Whitby Gazette Friday 18 August 1916 as follows:- Killed in action on July 1st. Private William Billam, aged 22 years. He was the first to enlist from Hinderwell on August 15th 1914. “His country called and he answered”