Philip Beckwith
Private M2/076383 Philip Beanham Beckwith, 338 Company, ASC(MT)
The origins of Philip Beckwith are shrouded in a mystery – there is no record of a child of that name being born in Britain. The surname is unusual, perhaps it has been mistranscribed in the official records, but this would have to be done multiple times to avoid leaving any trace in birth registers and census returns!
The Army recorded him as born in Upton-cum-Chalvey (Slough) in Buckinghamshire (as it was before the boundary changes of 1974), but he then managed to avoid being recorded on any record available online until 1902 when, at the age of 25, he was initiated into the Mechanic’s Lodge of the Freemasons on Jersey in the Channel Islands. The lodge was an appropriate one as he was working in the motor trade.
The solution to the mystery of his name can be
found in a marriage that took place on 24 May 1902 between Philip
Beanham Phillips and Catherine Swayne Beckwith – Philip took his
wife’s surname! The most common reason for this
unusual step was financial, the man changing his name to satisfy his
new wife’s wealthy parents that their name would continue and ensure
their support for the happy couple. Of course,
someone named Philip Phillips may have been happier than most to
change.
The ages of this couple were often obfuscated,
presumably to mask the large difference, Catherine, born in 1858,
was twenty years older than Philip, but the marriage register
records him as 26 (he was 24) and her as 35 (she was 44).
With this little mystery resolved it is
possible to catch some glimpses of his early life. Born on 19
November 1878 in Upton-cum-Chalvey to Henry and Susannah Frances
(née Beanham) Phillips, the 1881 census found him living with his
parents and four siblings (Susannah, William, Arthur and Alfred) in
his maternal grandfather’s home in Paddington,
London. His widowed grandfather, William Beanham, was an oil and
colourman (a painter) and his father was working as a clerk.
In the next census, ten years later, the family
had moved to Clerkenwell where his father had become landlord of
pub, the Old Jerusalem Gate in St John’s Square. The pub was
alongside the mediaeval gateway that once gave entry to the London
citadel of the Knights of St John, the military order of
hospitallers formed in Jerusalem during the Crusades. Although no
longer a pub the building is still there. [pic]
On his eighteenth birthday, 19 November 1896,
Philip signed up for a 12-year enlistment into the Royal Navy. He
was described as 5ft 5ins tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a
fresh complexion – not exactly a photograph, but the only guide we
have to his appearance. This was the earliest date at which he could
sign up as an adult seaman, but his service record shows that he was
already very familiar with the Navy life. His first posting (to HMS
Impregnable) was on 21 July 1894. This was an old three-deck, three
masted ship of the line with supplementary steam engines, formerly
known as HMS Howe. Since 1886 it had been moored at Devonport as the
Navy’s training centre for boy sailors. He was 15 years old and was
working as a porter prior to going to sea. After a year in the
training, he was posted to HMS Sans Pareil – confusingly both the
Sans Pareil and Howe/Impregnable are described as ‘Victoria’ class
ships though very different. Both had a single sister ship named HMS
Victoria which gave the name to each class, one in 1859 and the
other in 1887. So, Sans Pareil was a fairly new
battleship when Philip joined the crew on 24 September 1895. A few
months later he moved again, this time to HMS Charybdis, a brand-new
Astraea-class cruiser. After a little more than a
year he was posted to HMS Pembroke, a shore-station in Sheerness and
it was there that he turned eighteen and signed on for 12 more
years. However, his service lasted little more than 12 weeks!
On 8 January 1897 he was invalided out of the service while
being treated in Chatham Naval Hospital with what appears to be (the
handwriting is far from clear) a fractured pelvis.
Back in civvy street Philip disappears from
records until his marriage in 1902 and transformation into Philip
Beckworth. It appears that Philip took a step or two up the social
ladder though his marriage, membership of the Freemasons is one
indicator, as are the substantial homes they lived in, and the
middle-class status exhibited through involvement with local
politics.
In 1903 the couple moved from the Channel
Islands to Millbrook, a suburb of Southampton, and Philip moved his
membership of the Freemasons to the Shirley Lodge in the
neighbouring suburb of that name. He lived in a substantial
middle-class house Elmbrook in Millbrook Road – now
demolished and the site of a motor parts retailer. [pic]
He became a leading citizen of his new home
representing the parish on the South Stoneham Board of Guardians,
responsible for the local workhouse, served on the parish council
and chaired the local Conservative Association. He also served as
chairman of the cricket club.
In 1910 they moved again, to East Bridgford in
Nottinghamshire; again, he lived in a substantial property, this
time called Inglenook. He had become the proprietor of a
motor garage business in Canal Street, Nottingham.
This was very early in the development of the
motor trade and there were few cars were on the road (the law
requiring that a man with a red flag must lead a car had only been
repealed in 1896). However, the courts were already hearing cases of
poor or dangerous driving and, in 1913, Philip was convicted of
dangerous driving for speeding - witnesses declared
that “the car was travelling at a speed of 30 miles an hour, and
swaying from side to side on a 20ft road, to the great danger of
numerous pedestrians, both adult and juvenile. He was fined the
not inconsiderable sum of £5 5s.
On 3 May 1913 his wife, Catherine, died age 54
she was buried in St Mary’s churchyard in Homington, Wiltshire,
where she had grown up. It was not very long before he remarried, to
Annie Maryan Clark, on 2 January 1914 at Nottingham Registry Office,
their residence being Philip’s house, Inglenook, in East
Bridgford. Annie was also older than Philip, by five years.
The motoring conviction came back on him the
following year during a dispute with his insurance company when he
claimed for damage to his car – caused by an accident while his
chauffeur was driving. The insurers won judgement as the dangerous
driving conviction had voided his policy. Another
conviction in February 1914, following an accident where he ran into
a cart (possibly after drinking) led to the suspension of his
licence for the remainder of the year.
Remarkedly he took another action against his
insurers in November that year and a rather desperate picture of his
driving style came to light, payments to the owners of some cattle
hit by his car, further accidents in Dumfries (his excuse - a flock
of sheep charged him) and a collision with an omnibus in Oxford
Circus, London (he certainly got about) and with his previous
insurers refusing him cover – details which he withheld from his
current insurer. Needless to say, his case was dismissed – with costs.
Following this Philip decided to sign up for
army service. His relative age (despite his first wife’s death he
was still inflating his age by five years) and experience in the
motor trade made him an ideal fit for the Army Service Corps’ Motor
Transport arm (ASC(MT)), assuming his driving record was not
disclosed!
From the start of the war the Army would rush
men with critical skills from civvy street to where they were
needed, without the normal six-months training and square bashing.
Drivers and mechanics were in great demand; the heroic stories of
the gallant infantry dominate the story of the Western Front, but
the war was won as much by the men who laboured to keep the men at
the front supplied with everything they needed, from artillery
shells and trench mortars to a change of socks and a cup of tea. In
1914 the horse was still at the heart of this effort, millions were
used in France, but the Army had already recognised the usefulness
of motor transport and prioritised men, especially mechanics, who
could do their bit to keep the huge logistics effort going.
Private Beckworth was soon sent to Newbury and
338 Company ASC(MT) where he was billeted in the home of Mr A
Rawlins at 14 Craven Street. His unit was
preparing to go overseas as a part of the ‘divisional train’ for the
10th Irish Division. The 10th Division
infantry was based in Hackwood Park just outside Basingstoke. A
route march from Basingstoke to Newbury led to one of the towns more
notable incidents during the war – a few thousand footsore Irishmen
let loose on Newbury’s pubs was not a good idea.
Sadly, Philip was not to see much of the war,
on 15 October 1915 he died as a result of heart failure brought on
by a brain haemorrhage. His wife could have arranged for his body to
be transported to East Bridgford for burial but opted to have him
buried in Newbury travelling down from Nottinghamshire to attend the
funeral. Several accounts of his funeral
appeared in the local press.
The Wilts, Berks & Hants County Paper &
Marlborough Times - 22 October 1915
A military funeral took place in Newbury on
Monday last, being that of Private Philip Beckwith, of the 338th
Company, ASC, billeted in the town, who died on Friday, after a
short illness. Before joining the army, he was the proprietor of a
motor garage, in Nottingham, which he gave up in order to serve his
country. The Company accorded full military honours to the deceased.
who was a very popular man. First came the firing party with arms
reversed, then the Company band under the leadership of Mr. J. Davey
playing the solemn strains of the "Dead March." The body was
conveyed on an ammunition wagon, horsed and manned by the Berkshire
Royal Horse Artillery, from Aldermaston, Lieut. Tindell being in
command. The coffin was covered with the Union Jack, and on it were
placed the dead soldier’s cap, belt and bayonet. The mourners
followed. and the members of the Company completed the procession.
The officers in attendance were Lieutenants Brown, Wheelhouse. and
Paget. The route was lined by sympathetic spectators. At the Parish
Church, there was a large attendance. The Rector (Rev, Lionel R.
Majendie) conducted the service, and Mr. Ernest Watson played the
"Dead March." The procession returned to Newbury Cemetery, the band
playing a funeral march. The body was lowered into the grave by the
comrades, who had borne it, and then, at the command of
Co.-Sergt.-Major Allen, three volleys were fired, followed by the
sounding of the "Last Post." by the bugler. The coffin was of
polished elm. with brass fittings, the plate inscribed: "Private
Philip Beckwith, 338th Co. M.T. A.S.C., died October 15th, 1915,
aged 42 years." A singular coincidence has to be noted, Pte.
Beckwith was so pleased with a recent performance by the Company's
band that he made a donation of £1 to purchase new music, the gift
was used to obtain copies of the "Dead March," which was played for
the first time by the hand at Monday's funeral.
This was the only obituary to mention the
deceased coincidental donation of the funds to purchase the music
played at his funeral – it also called him Percy (corrected here).
His headstone in Newtown Road Cemetery is the only monument to his passing, as far as can be ascertained he is not remembered on any war memorial.
