John James Armitage (1881-1953), decorated soldier

John James Armitage was a son of William Armitage (1841-1926), who was an elder brother of my great grandfather Robert Melton Armitage (1846-1910). This profile contains information and photos from John’s son, Patrick and his granddaughter Joanna.

William (b 1841 in Leeds) and Kate (b 1847 in Pimlico, Middlesex) Armitage had five sons and one daughter. John James was the fourth son, born on 8 May 1881 in Colchester. William served as a Gunner in the Royal Artillery between 1861 and 1883. He was stationed at Colchester when John was born. John was baptised in the Garrison Church at Shorncliffe (an army base near Dover) on 14 August 1881.

In the 1891 census William Armitage’s age is given as 48 and his occupation as messenger at the Office of Works. He was living at 17 Chatham Street, Battersea with his wife Kate (aged 44) and their children Thomas (19, a tailor’s porter), Ellen (12), John James (9) and Joseph (7).

John followed his father and his elder brother Robert into the army. He joined the Royal Field Artillery on 24 January 1900 when aged 18, in Gosport. His army record is in the National Archives at Kew. His enlistment papers say he had blue eyes, black hair, height 5’9” and his previous occupation was a porter. His next of kin is given as his sister Miss Nellie (ie Ellen) Armitage, North Lodge, Kensington Palace Gardens (where she was living with her parents, William and Kate).

The 1901 census shows John, aged 20, at Shorncliffe Army Camp, Folkestone. In April 1902 John was sent to South Africa. The Boer War ended in May 1902, but there was a need for an army presence to maintain British control. He stayed there until 1907 when he was sent to India, arriving in Bombay November 1907, returning to Britain in March 1909. The 1911 census records John Armitage aged 29 as a Corporal 114^th Battery RFA at Butt Road, Colchester.

John in his army uniform c 1913

John married Clara Margaret Moss on 29 September 1913 at St James Catholic Church in Priory Street, Colchester. He was aged 32 and she was 22.

John's marriage certificate

John’s occupation is given as a Sergeant in the 115^th Battery, Royal Field Artillery and his address as Artillery Barracks, Colchester. Clara was a tailoress, the daughter of the Warden of the Cavalry Barracks in Colchester. They had three children: Clara Margaret (born 25 November 1914), John William (born 19 Jun 1916) and Patrick James (born in 1926). 

Clara Margaret Armitage nee Moss

Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914. John embarked for France, as part of the British Expeditionary Force, on 16 Aug 1914. He was in the 25^th Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery. British forces took a leading role in the First Battle of Ypres (October-November 1914) and sustained heavy casualties. John was promoted to Battery Sergeant Major on 8 December 1914. He was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (an award given to Non Commissioned Officers and other ranks) on 25 May 1915. The London Gazette dated 5^th August 1915 contains the following citation:

“12835 Battery Sergeant Major Armitage J, 458^th Battery, Royal Field Artillery. For conspicuous gallantry, ability and resource throughout the operations from 18^th April to the 16^th May 1915, around Ypres. He invariably showed exceptional courage and coolness under fire. On one or two occasions of unusual emergency he acted with great ability and judgement, and rendered invaluable service.”

John was promoted to 2^nd Lieutenant on 19 May 1915. In March 1916 he came under heavy shell fire at an observation post, which gave rise to what is described in his army record as “neurasthenia”. This term (no longer used) meant a condition of nervous exhaustion in which, although the patient suffers from no definite disease, he becomes incapable of sustained exertion. John was declared unfit for service between May and August 1916 and was treated at a hospital on the Isle of Wight. He later returned to the Western Front and was injured in the left shoulder by a shell fragment on 30 June 1917, which resulted in 3 weeks sick leave from 1 to 21 July 1917 in Colchester. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 1 July 1917. John was sent to Italy on 25 January 1918 to help the Italian army (who were fighting against Austria) with anti aircraft gunnery. He served there until 1 May 1919.

John in his officer's uniform

In addition to his DCM, John was “Mentioned in Despatches” three times. These were announced in London Gazette issues dated May 1915, 7 January 1919 and 6 June 1919. A certificate was awarded to a man mentioned in despatches, which noted his service details along with a reference to the specific despatch in which he was named. In addition, during the First World War an emblem of bronze oak leaves - which signified that the medal recipient had received a 'MiD' - was also worn on the ribbon of the Victory Campaign Medal.

John’s army file contains a disability report dated 20 April 1919. It says that he suffered from tremors of the tongue and fingers, was easily excited and had a rapid heartbeat. It assessed John as 30% disabled. However, a Medical Board on 29 September 1920 stated his heart and lungs were normal and had nil degree of disablement. John was granted the rank of Captain on his retirement from the army on 4 November 1920, when aged 39. 

The 1921 census shows John (aged 40, a Captain in the Royal Field Artillery) his wife Clara (29) and children Clara (6) and John (4) Armitage as visitors at an address in Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex. This is a seaside town, other visitors are listed and the census was taken in June, so it seems likely that John and his family were on holiday, staying in a boarding house. John's address on 8 August 1921 was 68 Roman Road, Colchester.

John's wife Clara and children Clara and John, c 1922

After he left the army, John got a job as a representative of the Colchester Brewing Company. He co-founded the West Mercia Bus Company but this was not successful. He later met Patrick Sandeman, who he had known as a subaltern in World War 1. Patrick, who was part of the family who owned the Sandeman port and sherry company, offered John a job as a sales representative in Worcester. John accepted and worked for the company until he retired.

John and his family moved back to Colchester in about 1935. In 1936, John was acquitted of drunk driving. A newspaper report on the case is shown below.

From Chelmsford Chronicle, 17 July 1936

John is listed in the 1939 national register as a wine shipper's manager living at 8 Old Heath Road, Colchester with his wife Clara and daughter Clara (shown as "incapacitated"). The health of John’s daughter, was damaged by meningitis when she was young. She lived with her parents until 1943 when she died aged 28 of pneumonia.

John retired in 1952, aged 71. He had good health during most of his life but developed throat cancer and died at Essex County Hospital, Colchester on 3 December 1953 aged 72. John was cremated at Ipswich Crematorium on 7 December after a funeral service there. His ashes were scattered in the Garden of Rest. 

Probate records show that administration of John's estate (£1,592 5s 10d) was granted to his widow Clara. She died in 1967 aged 75.

Robert Melton Armitage (1874-1953), career soldier

There are four people called Robert Melton Armitage in my family tree. The subject of this profile was a son of William Armitage (1841-1926), who was an elder brother of my great grandfather Robert Melton Armitage (1846-1910).

William (b 1841 in Leeds) and Kate (b 1847 in Pimlico, Middlesex) Armitage had five sons and one daughter. Robert Melton Armitage was the third son, born on 16 Apr 1874. He was baptized on 19 Jun 1874 at St Mary Magdalene Church, Woolwich. His father was a Gunner in the 17^th Brigade, Royal Artillery.

William served as a soldier between 1861 and 1883. The places of birth of his children show where he was posted at the time. The 1881 census shows William (aged 40) and Kate (33) Armitage living in Artillery Barracks, Colchester St Giles, Essex with their children Robert Henry (aged 9, born Dover). Thomas William (7, b Ireland), Robert Melton (6, b Woolwich) and Ellen (2 b Colchester). William left the army in 1883 and lived, with his family in Battersea.

It is perhaps not surprising that Robert Melton also became a soldier. The National Archives at Kew have his army record. He joined the Royal Artillery at Woolwich on 31 Dec 1890 signing up for 7 years with the colours and 5 years in the reserve. He gave his age as 18 years 2 months although he was actually 16 years 8 months (it was common for men to exaggerate their ages when enlisting). His previous occupation was as a printer’s labourer. He was 5’6”, 8st 5lb with grey eyes and dark brown hair.

Robert’s army record shows that he was located in the UK until 22 Sep 1892, then in India until 3 Nov 1896, then in the UK until 20 Jan 1900, then in South Africa until 23 Feb 1907 and finally in the UK until 21 Nov 1912. He was in South Africa during the Second Boer War (1899-1902). The South Africa Medal Roll (W 100/137 at Kew) shows that was Robert was in the 2^nd Battery, Royal Field Artillery and that he was awarded the South Africa Medal with 3 clasps (for three engagements that he fought in).

Robert was promoted to Bombardier in 1896, to Corporal in 1897, to Sergeant in 1898, to Battery Quarter Master Sergeant in 1900. In 1902 he was re-engaged to complete 21 years with the colours.

On 26 July 1898 Robert married Anne Hutchinson  (b 1875 in Richmond, Yorkshire) at St Mary Abbotts, Kensington. He was 24 and she was 22. They had three children: Henry Maclachlan born 20 June 1899 in Shornecliffe (an army base near Folkestone), Ellena Kathleen Natalia born 12 June 1904 at Mori River, Natal, South Africa and John James William born 29 June 1906 at Middleburg, South Africa.

Anne and Robert Armitage

Robert’s elder brother Thomas married Anne’s elder sister Elizabeth in 1899.

Robert’s first wife died in 1910 aged 35. She is buried in Colchester Cemetery. The 1911 census shows his children Henry (aged 11) and Ellena (6) living at North Lodge, Kensington Palace Gardens with their grandfather William (71) and Robert’s sister Ellen (32). Robert himself was listed as aged 37, a Battery Quarter Master Sergeant 145 Battery at Wellington Lines, Aldershot.

On 28 Feb 1912 Robert (aged 38) married Sarah Chandler (a spinster aged 35) at St Paul’s, Kingston Hill, Surrey. They had two children, Edward b 17 May 1913 in West Derby (a registration district that includes several suburbs of Liverpool) and Mary born 13 Jan 1915, died 27 Nov 1917 aged 2.

Back row: Sarah Armitage (nee Chandler,  Robert's 2nd wife), John Armitage (9), Ellena Armitage (11), Front row: Edward Armitage (2) and baby Mary Armitage in 1915

On 5 Feb 1912, Robert was promoted to Regimental Sergeant Major. He was based at Aldershot at the time of his second marriage and was transferred to the 44^th Brigade at Glasgow in April that year. However, in spite of his numerous promotions he was discharged from the army on 26 Nov 1912 against his wishes. His discharge papers contain this statement from him :

“I protest against being discharged before completing my time to enable me to secure the pension of my rank. On the statement of one man, taken in private, and not in my presence, I am being discharged without an opportunity of justifying myself.

R. M. Armitage.”

Underneath is this comment :

“This Warrant Officer’s discharge was applied for on the grounds of general inefficiency and unfitness for his position owing to his inability to maintain discipline - specific instances being quoted in the letter asking for his discharge. It was not owing to “the statement of one man” as he says above.

W Laidlaw, Lt Col Commanding 44^th Brigade Royal Field Artillery.”
Robert was aged 38 when he was discharged and his height was 5 foot 10.5 inches. His total army service was 21 years and 331 days.

Britain declared war against Germany on 4 Aug 1914 and Robert re-enlisted at Seaforth (near Liverpool) on 19 Sep 1914. He rejoined the Royal Field Artillery and was immediately promoted to his old rank of Regimental Sergeant Major. He served in the UK until 3 July 1915 when he embarked from Devonport as part of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. He disembarked at Port Said in Egypt on 14 July 1915. He embarked from Alexandria on 18 Oct 1915 arriving at Gallipoli on 25 October 1915. He took part in the action at Sulva Bay, where he was wounded. He was invalided out of Sulva on 20 Dec 1915 to a hospital in Port Said. After he recovered he was transferred to the Western Front in January 1916 and took part in the Somme offensive later that year. He was in France until 5 Feb 1917 when he was invalidated back to the UK with rheumatism. He returned to France on 14 Aug 1917 and was transferred to the Labour Corps on 9 Nov 1917. This unit did work such as moving stores, building and maintaining roads, railways, telegraph and telephone systems in support of the war effort. Robert stayed in France until 1 Apr 1918 when he was declared no longer fit for active war service. He returned to the UK and was given a temporary commission as a Second Lieutenant. He was promoted to temporary Lieutenant on 2 Oct 1919 and ended his army career as an acting Captain, being discharged at Ripon on 26 Nov 1919 aged 45.      

A paragraph describing Robert’s war service is in the National Roll of the Great War, a copy of which is in the National Archives Library at Kew.

Robert Melton Armitage c 1919

The 1921 census shows Robert (aged 47) as a boarder in a boarding house in Bootle. He was a ship supervisor and checker working for Swift Beef Co, Church St, Bootle. His wife Sarah (44) and children Ellena (17, a cinema attendant), John (14, a painter's improver) and Edward (8) were living at 1 Wolseley View, Burley, Leeds. Harry Kendall (29), Sarah's nephew is also listed at the address.

In 1926, Robert was a freight clerk living at 33 Johnston Avenue, Bootle. Robert (a retired shipping clerk) and his wife Sarah were still living at this address in 1939 (as shown by the national register compiled that year). 

Robert died on 22 Nov 1953 aged 79. Probate records show that his address was 50 Dumbarton Street, Walton, Liverpool and that he died at Kirkdale Homes, Liverpool. Administration of his estate (£712) was granted to his wife, Sarah, who died in 1955, also aged 79.

Henry Maclachlan Armitage (Robert's eldest son) was a Sergeant in the Royal Signals Regiment in World War 2. He was captured on 29 April 1941 and held as a prisoner of war at the Wolfsburg Camp (Stalag XVIII A, Lienz) in Austria. He died in 1980 aged 80.

Ellena, Robert's daughter, married George Matthews in 1926 in Liverpool. They had four sons and two daughters. She died in 1977 aged 72.

Ellena in later life

Robert’s son, John James William Armitage, a gunner in the Royal Artillery, died in 1941 aged 34. More information about his life is in my article about him on this blog.

Edward Robert Armitage, Robert's son by his second wife, married Vida Florence Cratchley in 1942 in Stroud, Gloucestershire. He died in 1990 aged 77.

Henry Robert Armitage (1870-1946), soldier

Henry Robert Armitage was a son of William Armitage (b1841), who was an elder brother of my great grandfather Robert Melton Armitage (1846-1910).

William (b 1841 in Leeds) and Kate (b 1847 in Pimlico, Middlesex) Armitage had five sons and one daughter. Henry Robert Armitage was their eldest child, born on 21 June 1870 in Dover. He was named Robert Henry Armitage at birth, but all the records of him as an adult give his name as Henry Robert Armitage. William served as a soldier between 1861 and 1883. The places of birth of his children show where he was posted at the time. The 1881 census shows William (aged 40) and Kate (33) Armitage living in Artillery Barracks, Colchester St Giles, Essex with their children Robert Henry (aged 9, born Dover). Thomas William (7, born Ireland), Robert Melton (6, born Woolwich) and Ellen (2, born Colchester). It seems that William’s family moved with him when he was posted to a new location and that Henry grew up in army accommodation.

It is perhaps not surprising that Henry also became a soldier, as did at least two of his brothers. The Ancestry website has his army record. Henry joined the Royal Artillery as a boy soldier on 21^st October 1886 when he was aged 16 years and 3 months. He was promoted to Gunner on 21 June 1888 (his eighteenth birthday) and to Bombardier in September 1889. He served in the UK until 1890 when he was posted to India. In November 1891 was convicted of drunkenness and reduced in rank to Gunner. He was promoted back to Bombardier in 1893. He was posted to Aden in 1894 and to Gibraltar in 1895. Soon after his arrival there he was tried for another offence and reduced in rank to Gunner. He returned to the UK in 1897 where he was discharged on 5 December 1898, having served 12 years.

On 2^nd February 1899 Henry re-enlisted in the Royal Artillery signing on for 7 years with the Colours followed by 5 years in the Army Reserve. His age was given as 28 years 6 months, height 5 feet 10 ¼ inches, weight 167 lbs. He was not married, had blue eyes and black hair. Henry was sent to South Africa in  December 1899, where the Boer War was in progress. He was promoted to Bombardier in April 1900 and was posted to China as part of the China Expeditionary Force in July 1900.

The China Expeditionary Force was sent to deal with the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. China then was militarily weak and various Western countries saw it as a country ripe for exploitation. The Boxers were anti-western Chinese. They murdered Christians and destroyed Western property. The Chinese government sided with the Boxers and declared war on the Western Allies on 21st June 1900. A siege of Westerners in Peking started 20^th June 1900 and continued until 14^th August when an American / British / Russian / Japanese force of 20,000 men arrived. The rebellion was defeated and a peace protocol signed 7^th September 1901.

 Henry was promoted to Corporal in September 1900 and posted to India in August 1901, where he remained for the next 6 years. He was promoted to Sergeant in August 1901. In July 1903 he agreed to extend his service to 12 years with the colours. In February 1904 he was tried by court martial for being absent without leave. He was found guilty and his rank reduced to Corporal. He committed the same offence in October 1904 and was again court martialled, this time his rank being reduced to Bombardier. Henry was posted back to the UK in 1907 and was discharged (at his own request) from the Royal Garrison Artillery on 4^th May 1908 aged 37. His character was described as very good and his intended place of residence was North Lodge, Kensington Gardens (his father’s address). Henry’s total army service to this point was 21 years 139 days.

On 8 November 1910, Henry (aged 40) married Edith Ann Waite (aged 28) at Kensington Register Office. Edith was a widow whose maiden name was Cook and who had married Alfred John Waite (a store keeper) in 1901. They had a daughter, Edith Elsie Rosetta Waite that year. Alfred died in 1908. Henry and Edith had 5 children, all born in Kensington. They were William Henry (b1911), George Charles (b1912), Ellen Kate (b1914) and twins Joan Kathleen and Betty Ellen (b1918). Both the twins died in January 1919, possibly of influenza – an epidemic killed many people at this time.

The 1911 census shows Henry (aged 40, an army pensioner gatekeeper) living at 117 Portobello Road. Also in the household were Henry’s wife Edith (30), his step daughter Edith Waite (9) and son William (not yet 1).

Henry enlisted again on 2^nd September 1914 soon after the outbreak of the First World War. By this time he was 44, rather old for a fighting soldier. All his service during the war was in UK Artillery Depots. He was immediately promoted to the rank of Corporal in 1914 and promoted to Sergeant in 1915. Henry was discharged 21 February 1919 as no longer fit for war service due to emphysema and chest catarrh. His character was stated as very good and he was awarded a pension of 34½d a day (ie £52 9s per year, equivalent to about £8,000 now, estimated in relation to average wages) with increases when he reached the ages of 55 and 65.

After the war, Henry and Edith lived in Peel St, Kensington. Electoral registers show their address as 59 Peel Street from 1918 to 1923 and 63 Peel St from 1924 to 1930.

The 1921 census shows Henry (aged 51), William (10), George (8) and Ellen (6) at 59 Peel Street. Henry was a general clerk in the War Office, Whitehall. Edith is not shown on the census return with her husband.

The family moved to 38 St James Square, Shepherds Bush in 1931. The 1934 Electoral Register shows Henry and Edith living at 38 St James Square with their children William and George. They were still there in 1939 but the road had been renamed St James Gardens. The registered voters at the address were Henry, Edith, George and Ellen Armitage (who would have been too young to be listed in 1934).

Henry died on 15 January 1946 aged 75 at 38 St James Gardens. His occupation on the death certificate is given as retired Commercial Clerk. The cause of death was cardiac failure. Henry’s wife Edith was present.