Great Packington's military service before the Great War

Men from Great Packington served in many military in conflicts preceding the Great War. Their lives and service are commemorated on this page.

Private Edward Brown was born in 1774 to Mark Brown and Mary Brown née unknown of Great Packington. He was baptised in St. James Church in Great Packington parish.

Edward served during the early 19th century with the 2nd Regiment Dragoon Guards (also known as the Royal Scots Greys) and received a military out pension from 18 March 1818. After his military career, Edward worked as a blacksmith and moved to Daventry, Northamptonshire, as can be seen on the 1851 census. He was enumerated as a widower but his marriage record and 1841 census entry have yet to be located.

Edward died on 15 July 1854, at a good age for the time of about 80-years-old. He was buried in the local parish church at Daventry on 20 July 1854.

Private Edwin Keatley was born in 1866, to John Keatley of Great Packington and Anne Keatley née Masters of Coleshill, with his birth registered in Meriden, Warwickshire. He was baptised in St. James Church in Great Packington parish.

Edwin enlisted in on 31 December 1883 at Warwick, Warwickshire, joining as a Private with the 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots. He was promoted through the ranks, becoming Lieutenant Sergeant on 10 September 1889 and Sergeant on 30 May 1890. His regimental number was 2671. After being stationed in Edinburgh, Scotland, then Aldershot, Hampshire, Edwin and the 2nd Battalion were posted to Malta on 11 December 1890 until 6 March 1892. They arrived in Malta from Aldershot via Portsmouth on 19 December 1890.

From 7 March 1892, the 2nd Battalion were posted to the British Raj, and were initially stationed at the Isola District for 3 months. They then embarked on the Wellington for Bombay on 7 March 1892, arriving on 24 March 1892. On 31 October 1892, Edwin was awarded a lower standard certificate of education whilst in ‘Hindustan’ (British India). He passed training instruction with the ‘School of Musketry’ on 1 October 1894 and also attended training in Engineering. He was discharged from the Royal Scots on 22 May 1897, whilst the 2nd Battalion remained in India until 1909.

After leaving the Royal Scots, he joined the Royal Reserve Regiment on 22 May 1900, enlisting at Warwick, Warwickshire.

On 22 May 1901, he enlisted with the newly raised 2nd Battalion, Royal Garrison Regiment, as a colour sergeant (a rank of non-commissioned officer, later called staff sergeant). His regimental number was 1821. His father, who was still living in Great Packington, was listed as his next of kin on the attestation paper for his Royal Garrison Regiment service. The Royal Garrison Regiment was an infantry corps of the British Army raised in 1901 for garrison duty in the Mediterranean. It was common for men from the Reserves to join up with them.

The 2nd Battalion were posted to Gibraltar from 15 May 1901 to 11 April 1904, travelling from Southampton on the SS Dilwara. They were then posted to the Transvaal, South Africa from 4 May 1904 to 11 July 1905, travelling on the SS Dunera for Durban.
The 2nd Battalion returned home and was disbanded on 15 September 1905, and after another 4 years and 118 days military service, Edwin was discharged on his own request. He was granted a pension on 6 October 1905.

Edwin did not marry and died just a few years later on 27 December 1908 in Stockingford, Warwickshire. Probate was granted to his elder brother George Keatley (1853-1935).

Credit: Ancestry.

William Shuttleworth was born about 1764 in Great Packington, Warwickshire. He was a carpenter by trade.

William served with briefly with the Coldstream Guards from 22 November 1790 to 3 May 1791. On 29 December 1795, at the age of 32, he enlisted with the Grenadier 1st Regiment of Foot Guards (the regiments name wasn’t officially changed to the Grenadier Guards until 1877) and served with them until his discharge from the army on 17 February 1816. By this point, he was in his 50s and had served over 20 years in the British Army. He was discharged 'in consequence of asthma and being worn out.'

During his time with the Guards, Britain was at war with Revolutionary France and soldiers from the 1st Guards also served in Egypt.

Short-tailed coatee for the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards c. 1815.

Credit: National Army Museum.

Walter William Shuttleworth was born on 16 January 1871 in Great Packington, Warwickshire, to parents Oliver Shuttleworth and Sarah Shuttleworth née Nicholds. Both families were well established and longstanding in the parish.

After leaving the family home, he worked as a Labourer in the nearby area of Coundon, Coventry, Warwickshire. He received a notice to enlist with the British Army and attempted to enlist on 3 August 1891 with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He would have been 19 years old and his attestation papers recorded that he had grey eyes and dark brown hair. He was declared unfit for service as both of his hands were 'deformed'.

Walter went on to work as a boiler stoker, and married his paternal first cousin Mary Shuttleworth on 28 September 1911 at Kings Norton, Warwickshire. At the time of the marriage, Walter was 40 years old and Mary was 38 years old, and they had both been living in the household of Mary's father Alfred Shuttleworth for at least a decade. They had no children. Walter lived a long life, dying in 1957. Mary passed away a few years later in 1961.

Private Albert Woodhouse Taylor was born in 1864 in Great Packington, Warwickshire, to John Taylor and his wife Hannah. By when the 1871 census was enumerated, the family had moved south to Chatley, Essex.

Albert enlisted as a Private with the 3rd (The Kings Own) Hussars on 21st April 1883 for a term of 12 years, service number 1783. He recorded his birth as being in 1865 in the parish of Great Packington and enlisted at Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk. At the time of his enlistment, Albert was 18 years old with blue eyes, light brown hair and a fresh complexion. He was occupied as a Confectioner and had also been a volunteer with the 6th West Suffolk Rifle Volunteer Corps.

Albert’s service included a posting to British India between 21st November 1885 and 6th November 1889, gaining 2nd and 3rd class certificates in education, a transfer to the 2nd Dragoons, and some fluctuations in his army rank. He was promoted to Lance Corporal on 24 April 1894 and to Corporal on 30 July 1894, but then was subject to a trial and reduced to Private on 11 September 1895,

He was discharged from army service on 19th April 1896, with his service records indicating that he had ‘very good’ and 'temperate' character, despite his reduction in rank during 1895.

When the 1901 census was enumerated, Albert was now living in Sculcoates, Hull, East Yorkshire and was employed as a Railway and Port Goods Checker. He had married a local lass called Elizabeth Butler in 1900 in Hull, East Yorkshire. The couple had a young son.

Albert died in 1934 in Hull, East Yorkshire.

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Sources:

Ancestry: 1939 England and Wales Register; Birmingham, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1939; England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975; England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915; England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007; England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915; England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995; Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1912; UK, Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Soldier Service Records, 1760-1920; Warwickshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1910.
British Army Medical Services and the Malta Garrison 1799 - 1979 website.
Burnside, F. R. (1927) Historical Record of 3rd, the King's Own Hussars, Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1685, and its Subsequent Services to 1927. Aldershot: Gale & Polden.
FindMyPast: British Newspapers Collection, 1710-1965.
Fold3.
Forces War Records.
Metcalfe, Nick. The Royal Reserve Regiments and The Royal Garrison Regiment blog.
National Archives (Great Britain): British Army Service Records.
National Army Museum.
Regiments.org.