Rifleman Maurice Henry Gower

Maurice who was born during January of 1884 was the eldest son of Elizabeth Bradley and Henry Gower. His father Henry had met and married Elizabeth Bradley on the 26th of May 1883 in Dorking. According to the 1880 Census, 20-year-old Henry was employed as a bricklayer living with his parents at Frederick Street in Stockwell which was part of Lambeth.

The 1891 Census reveals that 7-year-old Maurice was attending school while he lived with his parents and his 3 sisters at 12 Wingfield Road. His father, Henry was employed as a bricklayer.

According to the 1901 Census, while 40-year-old Henry was still employed as a brick layer, his 17-year-old son Maurice was employed as a telegraph messenger. The Gower family had continued to reside at Wingford Road in Wandsworth.

In 1906, Maurice met and married 25-year-old Mabel Edith Joiner in Amersham, Mabel had been employed as a nurse maid to a family in Balham.

The 1911 Census reveals that Maurice and Mabel had been married for 4 years and that the couple had 2 children. Twenty-seven-year-old Maurice was employed as a civil servant as a GPO letter sorter. The Gower family resided at 16 Wingford Road in Brixton.
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School admissions register for the 29th of March 1915 reveals that Mabel and Maurice’s eldest son Geoffrey was born was born on the 30th of 0ctober 1907. Geoffrey left Mitcham Lane school on the 18th of May 1916 when the family moved to Mitcham. His father Maurice was still employed as a GPO sorter.

Maurice Gower’s service record is not available through Ancestry. Maurice enlisted in London as a Rifleman in the London Brigade and died of his wounds on the 28th of April 1918 at the time of his death, the family now resided in Chesham Buckinghamshire.

Probate of Maurice Henry Gower’s will reveal that Maurice left an estate of £714 to his widow Mabel Edith Gower at 185 Bellingdon Road in Cheshire.