Private Jack Sidney Waters
| Date of Birth | 27 September 1893 |
|---|---|
| Age at Death | 23 |
| Date of Death | 18 October 1916 |
| Service Number | 29613 |
| Military Service | 2nd Battalion Hampshire Regiment |
| Merton Address | 181 Kingston Road, Wimbledon |
| Local Memorial | Rutlish School, Merton |
Additional Information
Jack was born on 27 September 1893 in Wimbledon to John and Alice Waters.
His father, John, had been married previously, but was widowed in the 1880s, and got re-married to Alice Freeman in 1890. Jack was the second child of five children born to John and Alice, and also had at least five half-siblings from his father’s first marriage. His full siblings were Alice, Geoffrey, Albert, and Irene, and his half-siblings included Richard and Louisa, who were the only two half-siblings still living at home at the time of the 1901 and 1911 censuses.
Jack was baptised fairly late in life, in 1910 at the age of 16, in St. Mary’s Church, Merton, along with all four of his younger siblings.
His father worked as a general dealer and his mother was a wardrobe dealer. The family lived at 192 Hartfield Road, with only six rooms for nine people. Before the war, Jack attended Rutlish School, and was employed as a junior clerk at a solicitor’s office. His parents moved to Bournemouth at some point between 1911 and 1915, and Jack appears to have gone with them, as that is where he enlisted in the Hampshire Regiment.
He was killed in action on 18 October 1916, and is buried in Bancourt British Cemetery. His younger brother Geoffrey was also killed in the war, in May 1915.