VESEY, George Ernest. PM. WW1. CWGC.

Died 14/12/1915 Age 27. Lance Corporal, Grenadier Guards, King's Coy. 1st Bn. Service Number 18150. Son of John and Caroline Vesey, of Derby.

George Ernest Vesey was born in Derby early in 1887 and was baptised on 17 April 1887 at All Saints Church, Derby. He was the youngest of six children and in 1891 the family lived at 68 St Thomas Road, Litchurch, Derby. By 1901 the family had moved to 79 Crewe Street, Derby, where they remained living until after 1921. Prior to joining the army George was employed in the costs department at Rolls-Royce.

By 1915 George was serving in France and was awarded the 1914-15 Star, however he contracted influenza and was admitted to the 4th Stationary Hospital on 31 May 1915, being discharged back to duty on 10 September 1915. His funeral notice states that he had been invalided from France on 24 September 1915 suffering from pleurisy, and the Derby and Chesterfield Reporter of 1 October 1915 noted that this was to a hospital in Newcastle, probably the Northumberland War Hospital mentioned in his funeral report, where he died on 14 December 1915.

The Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects states that he died of wounds; his funeral report gives the cause as diseases contracted whilst serving in France.

Sources: Derby Census of 1891, 1901, 1911 and 1921. Derby Electoral Registers. Baptism Record. Military Hospital and Soldiers’ Effects Records. Newspaper articles and announcements.