Name
Frederick (Dabber) Titmuss
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Pirton School Memorial - see text
Biography
There are two Frederick Titmuss' listed on the School War Memorial, which confirms that two went to the school, but evidence seems to suggest that three Frederick Titmusses served.
This Frederick Titmuss was also known as Fred, Freddie and Dabber. He was born on February 15th 1895 to George and Emma Juliana Titmuss (née Cherry), and so he would have been nineteen at the outbreak of war. Baptism and census records list seven children: Mary (bapt 1876), Elizabeth (bapt 1878), Peggy (b 1879, d 1915), Ellen Rose (b 1882), Albert John (b 1884), Sidney (b 1888) and Frederick (b 1895), but it is possible that there was another daughter, Lily (poss-b1893). His brother Albert was killed in the war and is remembered on the Village War Memorial.
The Pirton Football Club photograph, reproduced here, resides in the Sports and Social Club and records that Fred lived at 25 Shillington Road and worked at Walnut Tree Farm. He was a keen and skilled footballer and before the war played for Pirton United (Luton Alliance League) and Hitchin Town. During the war he served with the Lancashire Fusiliers and played football for the army.
By 1911 his mother had died. Fred was still living in the family home on the Church Baulk, with his father, his sister, Lilian and two of his brothers, Sidney and Albert John – who was killed in the war. Fred was sixteen and earning a living as a general labourer.
Following the war, he went on to have a distinguished football career; he joined Southampton in 1918, playing inside left and left-back, debuting in 1919. Southampton won the Third Division (South) Championship in 1922, and he won two caps for England, one in 1922 and the other in 1923, both times playing against Wales in the Home Championship (one won and one drawn). The Southampton FC website describes him as a ‘remarkable player’.
In 1926 he transferred to Plymouth Argyle, playing in the Third Division (South) Championship, making 166 league and seven FA Cup appearances. His playing career ended in 1932 but he later assisted St Austell FC (Cornwall).
After his playing days ended, he ran a newsagents with his wife and then a pub, both in Plymouth. He died in 1966 aged about seventy-one. His sister Rose married Ernie Lake and their grandsons (Fred’s great nephews) Mick and Peter played for Pirton FC. Peter still lives in Pirton.
Additional Information
Text from the book ‘The Pride of Pirton’ by Jonty Wild, Tony French & Chris Ryan used with author's permission
Acknowledgments
Text from the book ‘The Pride of Pirton’ by Jonty Wild, Tony French & Chris Ryan used with author's permission
