Lance Corporal Robert Joseph Gear
| Date of Birth | c1891 |
|---|---|
| Age at Death | 26 |
| Date of Death | 07/11/1917 |
| Service Number | 701453 4310 |
| Military Service | 2nd/23rd Bn London Regiment |
| Merton Address | 10a Heaton Road, Mitcham |
| Local Memorial | St. Barnabas' Church, Mitcham |
Additional Information
Robert Joseph who was born in July of 1891 was the second son of Georgina Cox and William James Gear. His parents had married in 1890. His father William was employed as a porter at Peckham Rye station on the railways since April 1885 until he resigned on the 22nd of July 1887.
The 1891 Census reveals the Gear family resided in Camberwell and that that William was employed as a brewer’s draftsman carman.
Georgina’s and William James eldest son William who was born on September the 29th 1890 died on the 7th of May 1900; he was buried at Camberwell 0ld Cemetery.
According to the 1901 Census, the Gear family resided at 16 Reedham Street.
By 1911, The Gear family resided at 16a Glasford Street in Tooting. William was employed as a labourer on the LCC Tramways. His eldest surviving 19-year-old son Robert was employed as a warehouse packer while his younger 18-year-old brother Herbert was employed as a chain house boy. Their 9-year-old sister Dorothy Etta was still at school.
Robert Joseph enlisted in the army at Clapham Junction on the 31st of May 1915, according to the front page of his service record which reveals that he resided at 10a Heaton Road in Mitcham. His service record reveals that he was 5 foot 7 inches tall and weighed a 146lbs, he was considered to have good physical development for a 23-year-old male.
By the 3rd of December 1916, Robert was serving in Salonica. According to Robert’s service record, he was reported missing on the 7th-November 1917 and presumed dead.
His mother wrote to the army on the 5th of December 1917 enquiring whether there was any news of her son, who had been reported as missing in action.
After a period of 4 months without any news of her son, on the 5th of March 1918, Mrs Cox, again wrote to the army enquiring if there had been news about his whereabouts.
0n the 12th of April 1919, Lance Corporal Robert Joseph Gear was officially presumed dead on the 7th of November 1917. Robert was commemorated at the Jerusalem War Memorial and on the Mitcham War Memorial.
Robert left an estate of £21.1.1. to his father William.