Name
Charles Elijah Topham
1899
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
09/01/1918
18
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
G/89534
Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment)
5th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Searched but not found
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
KNEBWORTH (ST. MARTIN) CHURCHYARD
N/A
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
None
UK & Other Memorials
Knebworth Village Memorial, Knebworth (Old), St Martin's Church Memorial, Knebworth (New), St Martin's Church Framed Memorial Knebworth (New), The British Legion -Knebworth & District Branch ROH, St Martin Church, Knebworth (New), St Mary & St Thomas Church Memorial, Knebworth Park, Diocese - Book of Remembrance, St Albans Cathedral, St Albans, Diocese of St Albans - ROH, St Albans Cathedral, St Alban
Pre War
Charles (Charlie) Elijah Topham was born in 1899 in Plaistow, West Ham, London, the son of Elijah and Elizabeth Topham. and one of six children.
On the 1901 Census the family (two children) were living at 146 Markhouse Road, Walthamstow, Essex where his father was working as a belt maker. By 1911 they had moved to 15 Westland Road, Knebworth Station, Herts where his father was working as a boot maker. His father is described as married but his mother was not listed with the family, however also living there were housekeeper Annie Cocking and her two sons. Charlie was then 12 years old and still at school. At the time of enlistment he was working as a pump driver on the railway.
His father married Annie Cocking in Knebworth in 1917. His father and stepmother later lived at Highton, Mardley Hill, Welwyn, Herts.
Wartime Service
He enlisted in Hitchin on 5 January 1917, just before his 18th birthday, and was initially posted to the 28th Training Reserve Battalion on 28 February 1917, later being transferred to the 5th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment.
Charlie did not serve overseas and died from broncho pneumonia at Fort Pitt Hospital, Chatham on 9 January 1918.
Additional Information
His father received a war gratuity of £3 and pay owing of £6 19s 7d. His mother received a pension of 5 shillings a week.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Paul Johnson
