3/4th Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment
Richard John Churchill was born at St Sepulchre Barracks Northampton where his father who was also named Richard John, was serving as an NCO, on 23 September 1892 (date given on his parents’ divorce papers). Richard (senior) had enlisted in 1874. His mother was Alice, formerly Murphy.
I can find no baptism record. Richard (junior) was one of eight children of whom only three had survived by the 1911 census. His parents had married in Wexford in July 1885 when Alice was 17. Both were from military families.
At the 1891 census, Richard (senior) and Alice were 31 and 22 respectively. They were living in Leicester Road, Northampton at the Barracks .
Richard was born in Kensington and Alice in Sydney Australia. At that time they had two children, William, aged 4, who was born in Preston and dumb’, and Ada, who was born in Northampton and aged under 1.
At the 1901 Census, Richard was living with his mother in Staines and three more siblings — Herbert aged six who was born in Northampton, Cyril, two, born in Buckinghamshire who died later that year and Frederick who was born in Staines and was three months old.
Richard(senior) was working at Kingswood Reformatory School near Thornbury as a bandmaster. He appears on the Electoral Roll at the school for the next four years. Fourteen year old William was living in a Deaf and Dumb institution in Wetherby, Yorkshire.
In May 1909 Richard joined the Territorials (4th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment) as number 1109. This was not a full-time role more ‘weekend’ or ‘one night a week’ soldier, who went to an annual two-week training camp. He gave his age as 18 years six months and his address as 11 Cooksley Road, Redfield, Bristol. He continued in his civilian occupation as a conductor with the Bristol Tram Company. At this time the Territorials were more or less a Militia. According to the records, Richard had been with the tram company for three years, resigning to enlist.
A year later, he made the decision to step up his Army involvement and joined the Special Reserve (SR), signing on for a period of six years. The SR provided six months basic training and three/four weeks annual training and otherwise the individual usually went back into civilian life. The SR was supposed to provide a pool of trained men available in the event of hostilities but it was always under-manned. Churchill was part of the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion of the Glosters.
In December 1910 he switched to the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment and was allocated the number 10037. He may have wanted to be part of the Regular Army. His older brother, Herbert, was already serving with the West Riding Regiment. There are papers for him on Ancestry with the service number 9900 for his period of service during WW1.
In December 1912, Richard purchased his discharge from the army with a payment of £18.
As recorded below, there appears to have been a lot happening with his mother so maybe he felt he should return home to help her.
The 1911 Census shows Richard with the 2nd Battalion, Duke of Wellington Regiment at Candahar Military Barracks at Tidworth with his older brother, Herbert. His mother, Alice, was living with 10-year-old Frederick in Redfield Bristol working as a housekeeper to a tram driver and his children. I have not been able to place Richard senior at the 1911 census.
Richard married Dorothy May Pillinger (born 30 April 1892) during the first quarter of 1913 at Stroud. Dorothy was born in the Bristol area but by 1911 was living with her family in Slad Road, Stroud. In 1915, Richard is shown on the Electoral Roll as lodging at the Swan Hotel, Stroud the landlady being Mrs Churchill. Brother Frederick’s military records for the same year gives his parents address as the Swan Hotel, Union Street, Stroud.
There are scanned documents on Ancestry showing that Richard and Alice divorced in 1916. It appears that Richard remarried and appears on the 1939 register living in Raleigh, Essex with his wife Florence. He gives his occupation as retired band master and previously Colour Sergeant 1591 Northamptonshire Regiment. He died in October of the same year.
I researched the British Newspaper Archive and found a newspaper report of the divorce which stated that the couple had married in 1885 in Wexford and that at that time, Richard was a band master with the 2nd Battalion, Nottinghamshire Regiment. He was found to have been guilty of desertion and misconduct, fathering a stillborn child with a woman whilst at the Reformatory.
According to the report, Alice moved to Stroud in 1904/5. Richard (senior) lived with her periodically but did not support her. In 1911, Alice took on the licence at the Swan Hotel. In 1914, Richard (senior) was living in Redhill. Alice was granted a decree nisi on 10 April 1916.
A second newspaper report in the Gloucester Journal of 2 March 1918 includes a report of Alice’s divorce from the man she married two weeks after her divorce from Richard. It implicated a third party living at the hotel and her husband was duly granted a divorce on the grounds of adultery. There is a lengthy report with daughter-in-law Dorothy being called as a witness — just over a month after losing her husband and being four months pregnant. A third report from 4 November 1912 covers the theft of various items from the Swan Hotel including a dog collar. Richard is mentioned as having been there at the time, whilst furloughed as a Private with the West Riding Regiment. Another report from 1913 reports on one of Alice’s sons stealing a nightdress whilst they were living at the Reformatory.
The couple had two daughters, Dorothy May born 12 December 1914 and Pearlwho was born after her father had died, on 6 July 1918.
The Pension Ledgers state that Richard died from cerebrospinal fever that had been contracted whilst on active service. He died at Lucknow Isolation Hospital Tidworth, aged 25, on 29 January 1918 and was buried at Holy Trinity Church, Slad, where his grave has a standard CWGC headstone.
Widow Dorothy’s address was initially 3 Corn Exchange Buildings which had been crossed out and later replaced by 5 Glen View, Slad Road, Stroud – her parents’ home. She received a pension of 25s 5d per week awarded on 27 July 1918 — sadly just three weeks after the birth of her daughter, Pearl.
The UK Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects shows that Dorothy received two payments of £2 8s 8d and £3 15s.
Dorothy did not re-marry and appears to have remained at 5 Glen View, Slad Road until 1973 when she died. in 1973. I have been unable to follow what happened to Alice.
Richard’s younger brother, Frederick enlisted with the 11th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment in August 1915 giving his age as 19. He was three months old at the 1901 census. His date of birth was actually 2 December 1900 so he was discharged in March 1916 as being under age.
Researched by Helen Wollington December 2020