ATHOL THOMAS GIBSON
11th March 1878 – 21st October 1914
Athol Thomas Gibson, is the son of Thomas and Mary Gibson. Some documents refer to him as
Athol Thomas and on others Thomas Athol, I have decided to follow the Commonwealth War
Graves Commission, and call him Athol.
In the1881 census, Athol was living with his parents at, 5 Marlborough Terrace, Roath, Cardiff. His
parents were originally from Berwick in Northumberland. Athol had a sister, Gwladys M, born in
1880.
In 1891 he is studying at Warminster Grammar School, and the family are living in Spring Grove,
Rectory Road, Penarth, with his father Thomas, a shipstore merchant, his wife Alice, Athol 23,
Gladys 20, Lucy 18, Lindsay 8 and various servants.
In 1907 Athol married Elizabeth Gibson (nee Pyman). In 1891 Elizabeth’s family were living in
Brierly, Park Road, an affluent area in Penarth. Her father’s profession was coal merchant. By
1901, the family had moved to Goytre House, Goytre in Monmouthshire, and we see that John
Pyman is still a coal merchant but now a shipowner as well. Athol, in 1911 census, is living in Plas
Isa, Nottage, Porthcawl with his mother-in-law. He is a shipstore assistant and an employer. Mrs
Pyman had 11 children, 10 of whom were still living. She also employed four servants.
(Brierly, 7 Park Road, Penarth)
Athol enlisted with the 3rd Battalion, the Prince of Wales’s Volunteers (South Lancashire
Regiment) and rose through the ranks from Lieutenant to Captain. He enlisted quite soon after the
outbreak of War, so would have been part of the British Expeditionary Forces in France & Flanders.