Jesse Moorey was one of two brothers who served and died for the King’s Royal Rifle Corps – the other was Henry Moorey. More of the Moorey family background can be found in Henry’s biographical entry.
Jesse Moorey enlisted for the 1st Battalion of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC) as a Rifleman on 15 May 1915, when he was 21 years old. His older brother, Henry Moorey, had joined the 2nd Battalion of the KRRC, and died of his wounds in January 2015. Up to this point, Moorey had been working as a general labourer. His service number was R/12896
At a medical examination around the time of his enlistment, Jesse was 21 years and 5 months old when he enlisted, and he was 5 foot 10.5 inches tall. Jesse had married Bertha Banks on 4 July 1915 in Strood; presumably just before he was shipped to France with the Rifles. Bertha was from Snodland, further south down the Medway Valley on its western side, and in 1911, was working in the local paper mill. Tragically, the Mooreys’ marriage would barely last a month before Jesse was involved in the Battle of the Somme. He listed as missing on 27 July 1916. Moorey was one of the 73,367 soldiers who died during this Battle, and he has no known grave. His name is on the Thiepval Memorial.
After the war, Bertha would marry Frederick A. Burney, a carpenter in the cement works, who was also from Snodland, in 1919. Burney was also a Rifleman, but in the 12th Battalion of the KRRC (service number R/3392). Burney was transferred to AR Class Z 19 2 19. Burney is listed on the Snodland Roll of Honour.
References:
Moorey:
Class: RG13; Piece: 720; Folio: 22; Page: 33
Ancestry.com. 1901 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
Banks:
Class: RG14; Piece: 3974; Schedule Number: 27
Source Information
Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA), 1911.
Burney:
Class: RG14; Piece: 3973; Schedule Number: 172
Source Information
Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA), 1911.
The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls; Class: WO 329; Piece Number: 2771
Ancestry.com. UK, WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
Ancestry.com. British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.Original data: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO).
War Office: Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ (Microfilm Copies); (The National Archives Microfilm Publication WO363); Records created or inherited by the War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies; The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surrey, England.