Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Ernest John Osborne (x602)

1898 –09/03/1924

Served in WWI, Cambs. Regiment, Kings Own Yorkshire & Kings Royal Rifles

Relatives

Archibald Ernest Osborne — father

• Janice Boakes

Cambridgeshire Regiment as Private 330918,
24th Battalion, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, Private 36964
Rifleman, King’s Royal Rifles 56772

If you are lucky enough to be born after the first half of the 20th Century it’s sometimes difficult to understand just how war impacted so many families and cut short the lives of so many young men.

Ernest was born in 1898 and baptised in Berkhamsted on 29 May 1898. He was the only child of Archibald Ernest and Lily nee Duncombe who had married the previous December. When Ernest was still very young his father went to South Africa as a volunteer with the Bedfordshire Regiment, to fight in the second Boer War. Ernest and his mother are listed as living at 7 Highfield Road in 1901. A few months later, on 29th July that year, Ernest’s father died of disease at Bloemfontein aged just 24.

By 1911 Ernest’s mother had married Edward George Gray. The family, including a half brother for Ernest, lived at 7 Bank Mill Lane. There are very few records to help build Ernest’s story from here. We know that he served in three separate regiments during the Great War, firstly the Cambridgeshire as Private 330918, then 24th Battalion, Kings Own York as Private 36964 and finally as a rifleman with the Kings Royal rifles 56772. The number of different regiments possibly suggests illness or wounds but it cannot be proven without his military records. We know from the absent voters roll hat he was still serving in the autumn of 1919. By this time the family address was given as 1 Gossoms End. After the war he belonged to the Territorial Artillery.

Ernest died of TB on 9 March 1924 he was just 25 years old. His remains were borne to the cemetery on a gun carriage provided by the Watford Battery of the Royal Field Artillery. His father is also remembered on his headstone, “Ernest John Osborne died 9th March 1924 through serving in the Great war. Archibald Ernest Osborne, his father, died South African War 29th July 1901”. According to the report in the Gazette he had been unwell for a considerable time but his mother clearly believed this was due to his war service, she applied for his pension after his death but was refused.

Archibald Ernest Osborne

d.27/07/1901

Fought in the second Boer War, Bedfordshire Regiment

Relatives

Ernest John Osborne (x602) — son

Lance Corporal Archibald Ernest Osborne 7926 Bedfordshire Regiment

Archibald Ernest married Lily Duncombe in December 1897. Their only child, Ernest, was born in 1898 and baptised in Berkhamsted on 29 May 1898.

Archibald went to South Africa as a volunteer with the Bedfordshire Regiment, to fight in the second Boer War. Archibald died on 29th July 1901 of disease at Bloemfontein, South Africa, aged just 24.

In 1901, Ernest and his mother are listed as living at 7 Highfield Road.

Ernest went on to follow in his father’s military footsteps. He served in several regiments in the Great War (WWI), and died of TB on 9 March 1924 aged just 25 years old.

Archibald lies buried in South Africa but he is remembered on his headstone:

“Ernest John Osborne died 9th March 1924 through serving in the Great war.
Archibald Ernest Osborne, his father, died South African War 29th July 1901”.

A memorial in St Peter’s Church also commemorates Archibald’s death in service. The plaque in the north aisle features a relief of wounded soldiers being taken from the battlefields by covered wagon, and is an early work by the English sculptor Gilbert Bayes (1872–1953).

“This tablet is erected by the inhabitants of Berkhamsted as a tribute to the memory of George William Joseph Pocock and Archibald Ernest Osborne privates in the Berkhamsted Company 2nd (Herts) V.B. Bedfordshire Regiment who volunteered for Active Service and gave their lives for the Empire in the war in South Africa 1899-1902.”