Private, 7145, George Mundin ORTON 2nd Battalion, East Surrey Regiment Died, 4th October 1918
George Mundin Orton was one of just two Raunds men who died while being held prisoner in the Great War, the other being Charles Archibald Vorley.
He was a shoehand by trade and was born in Wellingborough in 1874, the son of Charles and Mary Orton. He married Eliza Smith in the autumn of 1897 and at the outbreak of war lived in Brook Street with his wife, two sons and a daughter. His eldest son Arthur also served with the Colours and survived the war.
George Orton is buried in Cologne Southern Cemetery, Germany, grave reference XV.B.42 and was awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War and Victory medals.
Private, 7207, Ernest PARKER 2nd Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment Killed in Action, 10th May 1915
Ernest Parker was born in Raunds in 1881, the son of John and Mary Ann Parker of Marshall’s Road. A shoeworker by trade, he enlisted at Raunds during the early years of the war.
He was one of eight ‘brothers’ from the composite family of John Parker and Elizabeth Coles to serve their country during the Great War, his widower father having remarried in the spring of 1903.
Ernest Parker has no known grave so is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium, panels 22 and 34. He was subsequently awarded the 1914 Star with Clasp, British War and Victory medals.
Private, 26635 Wallace PAYNE 7th Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) Died, 9th November 1918
Wallace Payne was born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire in 1885, the son of John and Mary Anne Payne. By the early 1900’s he had moved to Raunds where he was working as a shoemaker.
In October 1908 he married Florence Susannah Tomlin and they set up home in Bridge Street where they brought up their two sons, Wilfred and Ernest. An active member of the Primitive Methodist Church in Marshall’s Road, at various times he held the posts of Church Trustee, Sunday School Superintendant and Local (Lay) Preacher.
He is buried in Busigny Communal Cemetery Extension, France, grave reference II.B.3 and is also remembered on a family grave in Raunds Cemetery. He was awarded the British War and Victory medals.
In February 1921 a memorial plaque to him was unveiled in the Marshall’s Road Chapel by Mr Jesse Brown of Wellingborough. Sadly, the memorial was removed when the church closed in 1966 and recent investigations have failed to discover either its fate or current whereabouts.
Private, 13/2886, Frank PENTELOW 2nd Battalion, Auckland Regiment, New Zealand Expeditionary Force Died, 21st February 1917
Frank Pentelow was born in Raunds on the 6th May 1880, the youngest son of John and Sarah Pentelow of The Manor House. However, we believe that Frank’s real name was Percy as recorded in the census and register of births. His parents farmed in Raunds during the 1870’s but in 1881 his father died and the family moved away from the area, it is therefore understandable that he is not named on the Town War Memorial.
After working for a number of years as a farm labourer he emigrated to New Zealand in December 1908, leaving London aboard the SS Ionic. He set up home in Tauranga and worked as a butcher also serving for three years as a Special Auxiliary Constable.
Thirty six year old Frank (or Percy) Pentelow is buried in Pont-du-Hem Cemetery, France, grave reference IV.E.18 and was awarded the British War and Victory medals.
Private, 32154, Jack PENTELOW 8th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment Killed in Action, 31st March 1918
Jack Pentelow was born in Raunds in the spring of 1890, one of at least ten children of James Thomas and Sarah Pentelow living at the Mill, where James was the miller. By the time of Jack’s death in 1918, Sarah was a widow living in Beech Hill.
Prior to enlisting Jack had been employed as a machine welt sewer at Adams Brothers.
Jack Pentelow has no known grave and is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial, France, panels 44 and 45. He was awarded the British War and Victory medals.
Driver, 95973, Jack PENTELOW Royal Field Artillery Died, 24th September 1920
The second Jack Pentelow named on the town War Memorial was born in Raunds in 1890, the youngest son of George and Elizabeth Pentelow of New Cottages, 65, Marshall’s Road. Prior to enlisting he was employed as a journeyman boot and shoemaker, his musical talents being fully displayed as solo cornet player in the Raunds Temperance Silver Prize Band.
The funeral service at the Wesleyan Chapel, Raunds was conducted by the Rev. J Wells. Jack’s beloved Temperance Band first played “O God our help in ages past” outside his home, then “Lead kindly light” while proceeding to the burial ground, followed by “Days and moments quickly flying” at the graveside.
Not named on the St. Peter’s Church Roll of Honour, Driver Pentelow was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War and Victory medals.
Private, 42471, Ralph PENTELOW 12th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment Killed in Action, 12th April 1918
Ralph Pentelow, the son of Thomas and Sarah Pentelow, was born in Raunds in 1879. In late 1898 he married Polly Skinner and at the time of his call up they were living in High Street with their four children and Ralph was working as a shoehand for John Horrell and Son.
The news of her husband’s death reached Polly Pentelow via a letter from an army chaplain. Ralph’s last letter home distressingly did not arrive until after his death, a similar occurrence no doubt repeated elsewhere many times during the Great War.
Private Pentelow is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial, Belgium, panel 3 and was awarded the British War and Victory medals. For several years after his death his family paid tribute to him in the “In Memoriam” column of the local newspaper.
Private, 30904, George PETTITT 6th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment Killed in Action, 3rd May 1917
George Pettitt is not named on any War Memorial in Raunds but he was born in the town in late 1897 before his family moved to Rushden. He was one of the youngest of the children of Ewan and Mary Pettitt, having at least nine brothers and sisters.
He has no known grave but is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, France, bay 7, the Rushden War Memorial and Church Roll of Honour. He was awarded the British War and Victory medals.
Gunner, 102138, Henry PRICE 217th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery Killed in Action, 30th August 1917
Henry Price was born in Tring, Hertfordshire in 1886, the youngest son of James and Jane Price. The couple had at least nine children but by the time the family moved to Wellington Road, Raunds during the early 1900’s, only Henry and his sister Amy were still living with their parents.
He was employed in the boot and shoe trade having started work as an “odd job boy” in a boot factory while the family were living in Chesham. He also attended St. Peter’s Church Vestry Class in the years leading up to the war.
Gunner Price is buried in Vlamertinghe New Military Cemetery, Belgium, grave reference V.E.33 and was awarded the British War and Victory medals.
Rifleman, R/4098, Arthur REVITT 13th Battalion, Kings Royal Rifle Corps Killed in Action, 28th April 1917
Arthur Revitt is not named on the Raunds War Memorial but was born in the town on the 21st January 1894, the son of Arthur and Sarah Jane Revitt. Nothing is known of his childhood but by the outbreak of war the family had moved to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire where Arthur was working as a coal miner.
He has no known grave so is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, France, bay 7. He was awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War and Victory medals.
Gunner, 182441, Charles Bradlaugh REYNOLDS ‘D’ Battery, 156th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery Died of Wounds, 6th November 1917
Charles Bradlaugh Reynolds was born in Raunds in 1888, the second youngest son of Charles and Sarah Reynolds. A shoe worker by trade, he was for many years a keen member of the Church Vestry Class being recorded as joint 4th best attendee with Arthur Fairy in 1911.
He is buried in Wimereux Communal Cemetery, France, grave reference VI.G.8 and was awarded the British War and Victory medals.
Private, G/14940, Harry RICE 7th Battalion, Queens (Royal West Surrey Regiment) Killed in Action, 24th February 1917
Harry Rice was born in Raunds in 1897, the youngest son on John and Rebecca Rice of Marshall’s Road. He was baptised at St. Peter’s Church on the same day, 15th August 1897, as two other future victims of the Great War, Dick Cobley and Arthur Knighton.
He went to France in November 1916 and like many other Raunds men serving overseas, received at Christmas a five shilling postal order from the Raunds Wesleyan Church “as a small token of our appreciation and regard”.
Harry, aged 19, was awarded the British War and Victory medals. He has no known grave but is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France, pier and face 5D & 6D. He is also remembered on a family grave in Raunds Cemetery alongside his nephew, also Harry Rice, a casualty of World War 2.
Private, 20180, Robert William RICHARDS 1st Battalion, Norfolk Regiment Killed in Action, 4th August 1917
Robert William Richards appears on both the Town War Memorial and St. Peter’s Church Roll of Honour as “W Richards”. He was born in Raunds in 1895, the son of James W and Rhoda Richards of 29, Marshall’s Road. Before joining the colours he was employed as a shoeworker by the St. Crispin Productive Society.
He has no known grave but is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, France, bay 3 and was awarded the British War and Victory medals.
Private, 9581, William Ernest RICHARDS 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment Killed in Action, 9th May 1915
William Ernest Richards was born in Raunds in 1894, the eldest son of John and Sarah Anne Richards of 11, Hill Street. By a strange coincidence, he was baptised at St. Peter’s Church, Raunds on the same day, 13th May 1894, as Stanley Frederick Nunley, Herbert Leonard Robinson (see below) and three daughters of Cornelius Robins (see also below). By the end of the Great War, these three other Raunds men were destined to join William as names on the Town War Memorial.
He is buried in Ration Farm Military Cemetery, France, grave reference VII.C.3. He is also remembered on a family memorial in Raunds Cemetery and was awarded the 1914 Star with Clasp, British War and Victory medals.
Private, 375553, Herbert RICHARDSON 60th Battalion, Canadian Infantry Died of Wounds, 14th April 1917
Herbert Richardson was the youngest of the four sons of William and Mary Hannah Richardson of Midland Road. They also had three daughters. He was born in Raunds on the 9th April 1891 and, as a young man, was a member of the Church Vestry Class.
He emigrated to Canada in March 1914, leaving Bristol aboard the SS Royal George bound for St. John’s, Newfoundland to join two of his older brothers, George and Walter. He was living in John Street, Brampton, Ontario and employed as a brickmaker when the hostilities began.
Herbert Richardson is buried in Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, France, grave reference III.D.10. He is also commemorated on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial and on page 315 of their National Roll of Honour of the Great War.
Private, 4081, Cornelius ROBINS 1st/4th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment Died, 1st February 1917
The oldest of the town’s Great War victims at 49, Cornelius Robins also appears to have been one of the more colourful characters too. He was born in Raunds in 1867 or 1868, the son of Samuel and Sophia Robins.
In 1887 he married Rose Laurence and together they had four daughters. Curiously, the three eldest girls were baptised at St. Peter’s Church on the same day, 13th May 1894, as three boys destined to join their father as Raunds Great War casualties; Stanley Nunley, William Richards (see above) and Herbert Robinson (see below). A shoehand by trade, he took part in the famous 1905 Raunds Bootmakers March to London and by the start of the war the family were living in Grove Street.
He is buried in an unmarked grave in St. Peter’s Churchyard, Raunds. His wife’s grave in Raunds Cemetery also bears a memorial to him. Cornelius was awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War and Victory medals.
Private, 6548, Herbert Leonard ROBINSON 6th Victoria Battalion, Australian Infantry, Australian Imperial Forces Killed in Action, 4th October 1917
On the 13th May 1894, Herbert Leonard Robinson, Stanley Nunley, William Richards (see above) and three daughters of Cornelius Robins (see also above) were baptised at St. Peter’s Church. On that day the families were unaware that, little over 20 years later, they would all suffer tragic losses at the hands of the Great War.
Herbert Robinson was born in Raunds in 1893, the son of Edward and Ellen Robinson of Grove Street. Herbert’s father died in 1910 and in March 1912 he and his mother sailed on the SS Irishman for Victoria, Australia, where he became a farmhand.
He has no known grave but is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium, and is also remembered on his father’s headstone in St. Peter’s Churchyard. His service records show that he was awarded the British War and Victory medals and confusingly, also the 1914/15 Star.
Corporal, 8662, John Henry Laurance ROBINSON 5th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment Died, 20th October 1918
The name of John Henry Laurance Robinson does not appear on the Raunds War Memorial but he is included in this book as he was a resident of the town at the time of his death; the family home being at 9, Hill Street.
“Jack” Robinson was born in Irthlingborough in the summer of 1892, the son of Henry and Rosa Robinson. In the spring of 1915 he married Emily Chapman and together they had one child. A career soldier, he had served in the Army for nearly eleven years by the time of his death in 1918.
He is buried in Ste Marie Cemetery, France, grave reference I.D.8 and is also remembered on the Kettering War Memorial. He was awarded the 1914 Star with Clasp, British War and Victory medals.
