A SEARCH has been launched after a memorial was discovered in a Droitwich cemetery to mark the life and death of a soldier killed in the First World War.
The terracotta headstone to Pte Edgar Francis Talbot was one of three discovered during the extensive restoration of St Mary’s Churchyard which is currently taking place.
All three were all in a bad state of disrepair and cracked in a number of places. His was inscribed on the edging stones, which surrounds the grave of his mother Marianne Talbot. Alongside are the two graves of Pte Talbot’s sisters. It was when his mother Marianne Talbot died in Droitwich in 1927, that the details of his death were inscribed to remember the ultimate sacrifice he made for his country.
Research shows Pte Talbot was killed on September 18, 1916, meaning in just over a fortnight’s time it will be the centenary of his death.
He was a member of the 26th Battalion Royal Fusiliers and was 35 when he died at the Battle of Flers Courcelette on the Somme.
The battle he was killed in was the ‘Somme Offensive’ which began on July 1, 1916 and ended on November 18, 1916. It was the first ever battle when a tank was used.
He is not commemorated on any Worcestershire war memorial and it is unclear why that is.
His body was never recovered after the battle but, although with no known grave, he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in France.
Sandra Taylor, from Remember the Fallen, has been given the task of restoring Edgar Talbot’s Droitwich memorial and has been helped with her research by local historian Peter Kennedy.
Sandra told The Standard, not only was it in such a poor state, there was a very real danger it could be lost forever.
The law states that nothing can be done to a memorial like this without the permission of any surviving relatives of the Talbot family.
Now a search has been launched to find any surviving members of his family so permission can be gained to restore it.
Edgar Francis Talbot was born on December 12, 1880, in Aston, Birmingham.
He was one of eight children of George Ogden and Marianne Talbot.
In 1881, the family lived at 80 Trinity Road, Handsworth, Birmingham.
By 1891 the older children had left home, George and Marianne had two more children. Then they lived at 157 Victoria Road, Aston, Birmingham. Edgar was not at home and to date he has not been located on the 1891 census.
On March 14, 1899, at the age of 18, Edgar was baptised at Shipston on Stour.
By 1901 Edgar, aged 20, is listed as being a boarder at Grange Farm, Tutnall and Cobley, Bromsgrove.
His dad George owned a ‘bank safe’ factory in Birmingham and in his civilian life it is believed he worked as a bank clerk in Droitwich.
George died in Burton-on-Trent in 1910 and Edgar was at his widowed mother’s house – 182 Ashby Road, Burton on Trent – on the night of the 1911 census.
After Edgar’s death, probate for his Great Western Railway Shareholding was granted on March 16 ,1917, to his two brothers – John William Talbot the manager of Lloyds Bank House in Droitwich and George Reginald Talbot, a solicitor who lived at 13 Queen Street, Great Yarmouth.
In a final rather sad twist to Edgar’s story, the British War Medal and Victory Medal his family were entitled to receive after the war were never claimed.
A note on his medal index card has a request dated March 29, 1922, from the Officer in Charge of Records for authority to dispose of the medals.
Sandra added: “We would very much like to hear as a matter of urgency from any family related to Edgar Talbot or anyone who has any information relating to the current whereabouts of his family.”
Anyone with any information on Pte Edgar Talbot’s life can contact Sandra at [email protected] or local historian Peter Kennedy.
Alternatively, e-mail [email protected] or call 01527 588657 and we will pass on the details.
