Introduction and Family History
The following biography was written by Mandy Green, who has done a very good job of tracing the family history of a man whose name appears on the Grange Hill War Memorial, but whose associations with the area are not immediately apparent. In common with Ernest Herschell, Charles Paraviso Lindner, William Denys Samuelson and many more soldiers from Wirral, Robert had German ancestors. This accounts for his unusual middle name. Before the Great War, German settlers in England were numerous and largely respected by the native population. Two world wars changed people’s attitudes, such that many people of German ancestry later felt compelled to anglicise their names. As Mandy explains below, this was done by Robert’s surviving relations in the years following the Second World War.
Robert was born in Wrexham on 8th June 1898. His parents were Robert Owen Jones (b.1867) and Lina Isabel Moesch (b.1867). Robert died from his wounds in hospital in France on 13th November 1916, aged just 18. He was a 2nd Lieutenant in 3/South Wales Borderers, attached to the 5th Battalion. He is buried in the Puchevillers British Cemetery, a small cemetery in the countryside in the Somme region of France. The CWGC incorrectly describes him as the brother of Lina, rather than her son. At the time of his death, his mother was living in London – her address given as 133 Blythe Road, West Kensington, W14, an address she didn’t actually live in until at least 1920.
At first glance, it is difficult to establish why he is commemorated on the West Kirby Memorial, given this limited information. The answer seems to lie in the fact that his aunt Amy Nina Moesch was living in Hoylake at the time of Robert’s death, and in fact, his grandmother, Isabella Moesch had died in Hoylake, at 13 Manor Road, on 26th February 1916:-
Robert’s mother, Lina Isabel Moesch was born on 15th September 1867, in Egremont, Wallasey to Charles Louis Henry Moesch (b. 1834 in Bavaria, Germany) and Isabella Wilson (b. 1835 in Liverpool). Lina was actually registered and baptised as Isabel Lina, but was subsequently listed as Lina Isabel in all other records. This was perhaps to avoid confusion with her mother. Isabella’s parents were Joseph Wilson, a mariner, and Betsey Woodburn, who married in 1925 at St Anne’s, Liverpool. Betsey was widowed sometime between 1841 and 1851, and had also lost two of her sons, Joseph (aged 10) and John (aged two) in 1840. Betsey remarried in 1851 to Robert Davison Kay, at St Hilary’s, Wallasey. She died in 1865. By this time, Isabella had met Charles Moesch, and they married at St Hilary’s in 1862. They were to have ten children, Lina being the fourth oldest. The family were living at 3 Church Street, Egremont in 1871. By 1881, the family were split between Charles, living at 19 Vronhill Street, Toxteth Park, and Isabella, living in Onchan on the Isle of Man. Charles was variously described as a stationer, a translator and foreign correspondent. He died on 19th June 1889, aged just 55, and was buried in the same grave as his wife’s two brothers in St James Cemetery, Liverpool.
By this time, the family was back together, living at 2 Eversley Street, Toxteth Park, and were here in 1891, with Lina working as a typist in the family business with her sisters Ada and Amy. By 1894, Lina had moved to Wrexham, and was working as the head dressmaker for Evan Richards at 10 Hope Street. Whilst in Wrexham, she met Robert Owen Jones, who she married at St Luke’s, Liverpool on 13th September 1897, two days before her 30th birthday:-
Robert Carl Moesch Jones was born in Wrexham some 9 months after the marriage, on 8th June 1898. Sadly his father died on 3rd February 1899, and by 1901, Lina had moved in with her in-laws at 3 Percy Road, Wrexham, where she was described as a hospital nurse. By this time, her mother and 4 youngest siblings were living in a lovely three-storey house at 21 Park Way, Toxteth Park, which still stands. Sometime in the next couple of years, Lina, with son Robert, came to live with her mother in Park Way, and qualified as a midwife, gaining the London Obstetrical Society Diploma in 1905. Interestingly, the entry above Lina’s in the Midwives Roll of 1905, is of a young lady living in West Kirby:-
By the time of the 1911 census, Lina had moved to London, leaving Robert living with his aunt Amy and his grandmother, Isabella at 16 Hartington Road, Toxteth Park:-
By 1916 Isabella and Amy were living at 13 Manor Road, Hoylake, which is where Isabella died. She was buried in the same grave as her two brothers, and her husband:-
Unable to find Lina on the 1911 census, she appears in London electoral registers repeatedly over the next 20 years. From 1910 to 1915, she is listed as living at 11 Yarrell Mansions, Queens Club Gardens – a set of beautiful properties in West Kensington which are again still standing. From there, she moved to 99 Talgarth Road, with evidence of her living there in 1918-19. This is now the A4 through Hammersmith. From there she moved to 133 Blythe Road, a little further north, still in Hammersmith, where she lived through to 1930. It can be assumed that she was working as a midwife during all this time, being aged 63 by September 1930.
Shortly after this, she took up residence as housekeeper for Herbert William Chambers, a retired civil engineer, whom she was living with in 1939 back at Queens Club Gardens, this time in 12 Chaucer Mansions. Herbert was born in Moseley, Worcestershire, to Charles Chambers, a railway contractor. He had lived in Brunswick Gardens, Kensington as a child and, having lived all over the country, including Wales, he seemingly retired to his childhood district.
Herbert had never married, and died in 1941, leaving some of his estate to Lina, but possibly not enough for her to remain in London:-
She died in 1951 on the Wirral, probably living with her sister Amy at 2 Frankby Road, Meols. Amy died in 1955. An interesting anecdote is that a few of Lina’s siblings changed their surname by 1939 – her older brother Carl’s family from Moesch to Marsh. Her younger brothers Max Ruben Moesch and Douglas St Clair Moesch made more radical changes. Max became Max Wilson, using his mother’s maiden name, and Douglas used his middle names as the surname Sinclair. This is probably due to the anti-German feeling generated by two world wars.
Military History
It is possible that Robert joined 3/South Wales Borderers in 1915 when the battalion was stationed at Hightown near Liverpool, when it was serving as part of the Mersey Garrison. The London Gazette recorded Robert’s commission in April 1916. At the time of his death in November 1916, Robert was serving with 5/South Wales Borderers, who were a pioneer battalion. In other words, they were performing a supportive role, being responsible for ‘hewing wood and drawing water’ – in practice, delivering supplies, laying roads, tracks and lines and digging and maintaining trenches. The battalion had been formed in Brecon in September 1914 and was part of 58th Brigade, 19th (Western) Division. It landed in Le Havre on 25th September 1915. As revealed by his medal card, however, Robert did not arrive in France until nearly a year later on 23rd September 1916:-
By November 1916, 5/South Wales Borderers were in the trenches at Aveluy on the Somme Front. The battalion’s war diaries are unusual in that they record names and numbers of private soldiers as well as officers who were wounded and killed. The following is the diary entry for 10th November 1916 – the day when Robert Moesch Jones was wounded. It shows the type of work which a pioneer battalion was required to carry out and contains evidence of the daily dangers to which the soldiers were exposed:-
‘A’ Coy. Packing and draining a tramline.
‘B’ Coy. carrying up trench boards, widening and cleaning communication trench at STUFF REDOUBT.
‘C’ Coy. Digging communication Trench near Zollern.
‘D’ Coy. Making New Track.
1 officer, 53 men ‘A’ Coy repairing and improving tank track near STUFF REDOUBT, 8440 Cpl. Stowell, 5/14301 Pte. Cocking T, killed in action. 2/Lieutenant R.C.M. Jones wounded to hospital (died of wounds 13-11-16) 5/13792 Pte Jenkins H, 5/14187 Pte Shackleton V, 5/19650 Pte Rowe H, 39391 Pte Taylor G.H., 22996 Pte Pike H, 39876 Pte Roderick J, 5/14081 Pte Brown C, 5/13978 Pte Williams A, 39874 Pte Lawrence S, 35812 Pte Elhall J, 5/13976 Pte Jones B, 5/14706 Pte Paul E Wounded to Hospital.
5/14032 Pte Benyon R, 35653 Pte Buttleton J Wounded (At duty).
Of the above casualties, only Private Vernon Harcourt Shackleton (who died the day after he received his wounds, on 11th November 1916) is also buried in Puchevillers British Cemetery. Corporal John Henty Stowell and Private Thomas Cocking are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing. Their original burial places must have been destroyed by subsequent fighting.
Notes
Birth: 8th June 1898 in Wrexham, Denbighshire, Wales
Death: Died of Wounds, 13th November 1916 on the Western Front, France.
Address: 1901: 3 Percy Road, Wrexham; 1911: 16 Hartington Road, Liverpool.
Occupation: Unknown
Unit: 3 and 5/South Wales Borderers
Number and Rank: Second Lieutenant
Medals: British War and Allied Victory
Commemorated and Buried: Grange Hill, Hoylake Parish Plaques in St. Hildeburgh’s Church and Puchevillers British Cemetery, France III. B. 5.
Sources: West Kirby Book of Remembrance, Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database, Censuses 1871-1911, Newspapers, Directories, 1905 Midwives’ Roll and other Genealogical Sources, Battalion War Diaries, Medal Card, London Gazette.
An Imperishable Record 