Roberts, Vernon Harcourt
Lance Bombardier
No. 157567, 1st Company, Essex and Suffolk, Royal Garrison Artillery
Died of disease on Tuesday 12 November 1918 (aged 34)
Buried:
Croydon (Mitcham Road) Cemetery, Surrey, England (Grave N2. 10356)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
BIOGRAPHY
In the Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914 – 1919 database it is recorded that Vernon Harcourt Roberts was born in Bangor.
In the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Debt of Honour Website it is recorded that he was a son of John Owen Roberts and Lucy Emma Roberts.
Vernon Harcourt Roberts was born on 8 August 1884 at Main Street, Bangor and he was a son of John Owen Roberts and Lucy Emma Roberts (nee Crabtree) who were married on 27 April 1882 in St Philip’s Church of England Church, Liverpool. John Owens Roberts was a tea merchant (later an enquiry agent) and he and Lucy had eleven children including:
Herbert Gladstone (born 5 April 1883 at 13 Botanic Avenue, Belfast; baptised in Bangor Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Comgall’s)
Vernon Harcourt (born 8 August 1884 at Main Street, Bangor)
Florence Beatrice (born around 1888 at Dublin)
Ellie Hawthorne (born around 1889 at London)
Reginald Tempest (born around 1893 at London)
Phyllis Margot (born around 1895 at London)
Olive Gwendoline (born around 1897 at London)
Dudley Lamont (born around 1901 at London)
In 1911 the family was living at 43 Whitworth Road, London.
In civilian life Vernon Harcourt Roberts worked as a commercial traveller in the linen trade. He began career in 1898 with Messrs Robert Owtram & Co and in 1909 was appointed their representative for Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. In February 1910 he left that firm to join Messrs Audley, Sparrow and Read.
Lance Bombardier Vernon Harcourt Roberts served with the 1st Company Essex and Suffolk Royal Garrison Artillery, and he died of influenza and broncho pneumonia in the Military Hospital Harwich on 12 November 1918 (aged 34). He was buried in Croydon (Mitcham Road) Cemetery, Surrey and when his headstone (personal design, not standard CWGC design) was being erected the point of contact was Mr C.H. Roberts, 8 Ardfern Avenue, Norbury SW16. His mother, Lucy Emma Roberts, died on 17 February 1926 (aged 65) and was buried alongside her son.
Vernon Harcourt Roberts and Violet Leslie Green were married on 19 March 1917 at Spurgeon’s Tabernacle, Croydon; Violet was the youngest daughter of Henry and Annie Green (nee Robinson) of Thornton Heath.
The widowed Violet Roberts travelled to Canada in June 1922 to live with her married sister, Mrs McIntosh, at 4673 West 7th Avenue, Point Clay, Vancouver. On 25 October 1952 Violet Roberts married Robert Crewe (sometimes Crum) Ewing Glegg. He was born in the British West Indies on 10 January 1892 and worked as a bank clerk before he enlisted at Valcartier on 23 September 1914 and served with the Canadian Forces (No. 28861).
Violet Leslie Glegg (formerly Roberts, nee Green) died in Sonoma, California on 3 March 1989.