HARRY ESSERY
1895 - 26th September1917
William Henry (Harry) Essery was born in Barnstaple in Devon in 1895. In the 1901 census he was
living with James Edward Essery, who was his grandfather. They were living at 13 Zion Place:
James, the grandfather, Charles, age 12, his son and William Henry (Harry) who was 5. They had
all been born in Barnstaple and James was a carpenter.
(Barnstaple 1900's)
Also in the 1901 census we see that Mary Grace Essery married James Hookway in Cardiff in 1898,
and then Mary Grace and James and their sons, Edward Charles, age 2 and James Alfred, 3 months,
are living in Lavernock, Penarth. James Hookway is with the Royal Engineers. By the 1911 census
Mary Grace and James are living at 25, Lavernock Road, Penarth with their children Edward
Charles, James Alfred, Irene who is 6, and Leah Grace who is 4, and their stepson Harry Essery,
who is 15 and a farm labourer. James is an engine driver with the local cement works. The traffic
used to be stopped several times a day while the train went across Lavernock Road to deposit waste
in the old Quarry tip, which is now Cosmeston Country Park.
Harry Essery signed up on 3rd September aged 19. When he signed his Attestation Papers, they
showed he was 5ft 3inches tall, weighed 115lbs, chest size 34” when fully extended his
development good and he had a pulse of 60. He gave his occupation as a shop assistant.