Name
Ralph Beeson
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
15/02/1918
29
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Second Lieutenant
Indian Army
1st King Georges Own Sappers and Miners (India)
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Searched but not found
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
ROORKEE CEMETERY
Plot C. Grave 1
India
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Rickmansworth Urban District Memorial, St Mary's Church Roll of Honour, Rickmansworth, Watford Grammar School Memorial, Watford Grammar School Book of Remembrance
Pre War
Ralph was born in Rickmansworth in 1889 and baptised on the 26th of March that year. His parents were Stephen and Mary Beeson and in 1891 they were living at their Ironmongers Shop in Church Street, Rickmansworth along with their ten children.
In 1901 they were at “The Brambles” in Talbot Road with nine children, including Ralph age 12. Ralph attended Watford Boys Grammar School from September 1899 to July 1905. The 1911 census found him boarding with Thomas Clinton, a retired Farmer, and family at 5 Crescent Road, Luton, described as an Apprentice.
His father died in 1914 age 69 and his mother in 1926 age 77.
Wartime Service
Accidentally drowned in the Ganges Canal at Roorkee.
Nothing is known of Ralph’s service but the sappers built obstacles, drained marshes, dug wells, and constructed roads and defences in coastal areas.
Additional Information
The published Watford Grammar School Book of Remembrance entry reads:
“BEESON, RALPH. School period: September, 1899, to July, 1905. Second Lieutenant, Indian Army Reserve of Officers. Accidentally drowned in the Ganges Canal at Roorkee, 16th February, 1918."
Acknowledgments
Malcolm Lennox, Tanya Britton, Mike Collins
