Edwin Henry Woodgate was a Private in the 10th Battalion Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent) Regiment (Regimental Number: G/6351). He had enlisted in Chatham.
The 10th (Service) Battalion (Kent County) was formed at Maidstone on 3 May 1915 by Lord Harris, Vice Lieutenant of Kent, at the request of the Army Council. Attached in July 1915 to 118th Brigade in 39th Division but transferred in October to 123rd Brigade in 41st Division. They moved to Aldershot in January 1916. The battalion landed in France on 4 May 1916. After Edwin’s death the battalion moved with the Division to Italy in November 1917 but returned to France in March 1918.
During the summer and early autumn of 1917, the battalion was engaged in the third battle of the Ypres Salient. At the end of July and early August, they took part in the opening engagement of the battle – the battle of Pilkem Ridge. In September, they took part in the third general offensive – the battle of Menin Road Ridge between 20th and 26th September. War Department records show that Edwin Woodgate died of his wounds on September 23rd 1917 at the age of 20 – it seems likely these wounds were received during the Menin Road Ridge action, less than a month before his 21st birthday.
He is buried in Godewaersvelde British Cemetery France. The creation of the British cemetery dates back to July 1917, between the Battle of Messines and the Battle of Ypres. Edwin’s page on Every Man Remembered can be found here, and includes a photograph of him in his uniform.
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Edwin Henry Woodgate was born in Brenchley near Paddock Wood in October 1896; the registration of his birth is recorded as Tonbridge. Edwin was the fourth son of George and Harriett (nee Taylor) Woodgate, who were recorded as having twelve children between 1873 and 1900. His father George is recorded as an agricultural labourer throughout this period and he and his family are recorded in Brenchley, Marden, Yalding, Pembury and Cuxton between the 1870s and 1900. His mother, Harriett had her first child aged 17 or 18 and her last when she was 44.
The family are recorded as living at Cuxton in 1901 when Edwin was four years old. Ten years later they have crossed to the other side of the Medway Valley and are resident at 52 Sidney Road in Borstal and the now fourteen year old Edwin has joined his father working presumably locally as an agricultural labourer. His father George died in December 1932 at the age of 80.
The table below summarises his family:
| The Family of Edwin Henry Woodgate | ||
| Parents | Born | Died |
| George Woodgate | 1853 | 1932 |
| Harriett Woodgate | 1856 | ? |
| Siblings | Born | Died |
| George Woodgate | 1873 | ? |
| Alice Woodgate | 1875 | ? |
| Harriett Woodgate | 1877 | ? |
| Mary Woodgate | 1879 | ? |
| Stephen Woodgate | 1881 | 1952 |
| Elizabeth Woodgate | 1883 | 1951 |
| Lilly Woodgate | 1885 | ? |
| Frank Woodgate | 1887 | 1975 |
| Beatrice Maud Woodgate | 1890 | 1979 |
| Edith Mary Woodgate | 1896 | 1977 |
| Edwin Henry Woodgate | 1897 | 1917 |
| Ebenezer Ralph Woodgate | 1900 | 1987 |
The 1911 census records only his brothers Ebenezer (aged 10) and Frank (23) as resident with their parents. However, Frank is recorded as a Stoker 1st class in the Royal Navy. Records show that Frank married in 1911 and it is possible he was on home leave on census night preparing for his marriage. The Dartnell family tree suggests he had in total seven sisters and two other brothers, the census records suggest some may have died in infancy whilst six survived into adulthood and most likely moved out of the household as they became of working age and/or married given that the period 1873-1896 saw one of the longest depressions in British agriculture, with falling incomes and many farm workers migrating to the growing urban areas to find employment.
Sources:
Via Ancestry UK:
1911 census records
1901 census records
1891 census records
1881 census records
Births, Deaths & Marriage records
Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919
Dartnell Family Tree
Other:
Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent) Regiment website
Research by:
Andy Brittan, 2016