Reginald Henry Shipley

Lance Corporal Reginald Henry Shipley (470458) of the 12th (County of London) Battalion of the London Regiment (The Rangers) died of his wounds on 25 April 1918 (although his entry in UK Soldiers who Died in the Great War gives his date of death as 24 April). He is buried at St Pierre Cemetery, Amiens. He is not listed on the Hampton Wick War Memorial but his Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry refers to him as the only son of Henry William and Susan Shipley of 9 The Terrace, Hampton Wick (on the site of what is now Kingston Bridge House, opposite the Hampton Wick War Memorial).

Reginald Shipley was born in Hackney, his parents having been married on 23 September 1893 at St John’s, Bethnal Green. His father was aged 21 and employed as a brewer’s servant. Reginald was born sometime in 1895 and by 1901 the family was living at 29?Brick Road, Hackney. Ten years later the family were still living in Hackney but had moved to 10 Banbury Road, South Hackney. Reginald was working as a junior clerk and now had a younger sister, Dorothy May Shipley, aged 7. From his Medal Roll at the National Archives it would appear that Reginald Shipley served from 6 February 1917 until 24 April 1918.

It is not clear when the family moved to the area but his parents remained in Hampton Wick at least until the 1940s. Susana (otherwise Susan) Shipley of 9 The Terrace, Hampton Wick, died on 7 March 1940. Administration of her estate was granted to her husband, Henry William Shipley, retired laundryman. Henry William Shipley apparently died in the North Surrey area in March 1952.