Herbert James Boyer

Private Herbert James Boyer (682579) of the 22nd Battalion of the London Regiment died of his wounds on 3 September 1918. He is buried at Heilly Station Cemetery, Mericourt L’Abbe. He is not listed on the Hampton Wick War Memorial but his Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry refers to him as the son of James and Sarah Boyer of 45 Wick Road, Hampton Wick.

Herbert Boyer was born in Sunninghall, Berkshire with his birth being registered in the second quarter of 1887 in Windsor, Berkshire. Shortly afterwards the family must have moved to Hampton Wick as by 1901 they appear in the Census entry for 2 Clay Villas, Wick Road, Hampton Wick. The 1901 Census records Herbert Boyer as still living at the same address with his parents and siblings, Florence (25) and Alice (21) (both locally born, in Kingston and Twickenham respectively, and working as dressmakers) and Fred (19) (born like Herbert in Sunninghall), together with his two cousins Florence (17) and Kate (12). His father’s occupation was an engine driver on the railway. By the next Census in 1911 they had moved to 45 Wick Road. His father, now 61, had retired and is described as a pensioned LSWR Engine Driver. Herbert’s occupation is given in the 1911 Census as a painter and paper hanger. His sister Florence Ellen (whose age is oddly given as 29) was still at home working as a dressmaker. Two of his siblings (Alice and Fred) had moved out of the family home by this date.

His entry in UK Soldiers who Died in the Great War states that he enlisted in Teddington and had formerly been in the 5th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers (G/25502).