On this day in 1915…Seaward Richard Edmond died from heart failure while on active service in France.
The 49-year-old sapper died just four days before his son, Alfred Thomas Edmond, was killed on the Western Front.
A father of 12, Seaward joined the Royal Engineers a week after war broke out in 1914 and served in the 1st Glamorganshire Fortress Company.
He was previously in the Glamorgan Garrison Artillery Volunteers, serving as a bandsman with the rank of sergeant major.
Seaward, who died on January 25, 1915, was buried at Longuenesse Souvenir Cemetery near St Omer in France.
Paul Roberts
NOTES
Born in Haverfordwest, Wales on July 6, 1865, Seaward married Esther Jane Lewis (1869-1934) in Roath, Cardiff on January 23, 1887. His son, Harry Lewis Edmond (1892-1953) married Florence Louisa Davey (1892- 1961) in Canton Parish Church, Cardiff on August 30, 1914. Florence was the daughter of tanner William Henry Davey (1850-1923) and Mary Jane Singerton (1855-1943). Mary was the sister of William John Singerton (1869-1951), who married Dinah Arscott (1870-1938) on November 4, 1896 in Dulverton. Dinah was the daughter of John Arscott (1838-1897) and Susan Couch (1836-1896). John was the son of John Arscott (1807-1879), my great-great grandfather.
Alfred Thomas Edmond (1895-1915) was a private in the 1st Battalion of the South Wales Borderers when he lost his life in Givenchy on January 29, 1915. He was 19. Four days earlier – on the day of his father’s death – he was involved in a brutal battle in the French village. His battalion, part of the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division of the British Army, repulsed wave after wave of attacks as thousands of German infantry soldiers rampaged through British lines and invaded Givenchy.
Picture below
Longuenesse Souvenir Cemetery near St Omer in France. Photographed by Wernervc on July 21, 2016 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Longuenesse_(St._Omer)_Souvenir_Cemetery_-71.jpg)
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