Roberts, Harold Richard (1891-1916)

Harold was born in 1891 in the parish of St Peter’s, Rochester, when his family were living in Burritt Street, Rochester. Harold was the youngest son of Samuel and Fanny E.H. Roberts, who at the time of his death were living at 142 Rochester Avenue.  At some point between the 1891 and 1901 Censuses, Samuel appears to have left working as a joiner at the Chatham Dockyard in favour of moving the family to Caterham in Surrey, where he worked as an engine fitter. In the 1911 Census Harold was already registered as living at the guards’ depot in Caterham Barracks, having enlisted in March that year, whilst his family had returned to Rochester. In 1911, Samuel and Fanny were recorded as having 8 children together, one of whom was still living with them – Percy Godfrey, who was 21 and working as a boiler maker at the Chatham Dockyard. Samuel was also back at the Dockyard, working as a ship’s joiner.  Harold appears to have had an older brother, also called Harold.

Harold was a Sergeant in the Grenadier Guards regiment. 2^nd Battalion. His regiment number was 15166. Harold was killed in battle in the France and Flanders battle on 29^th April 1916. He is buried in the Guards Cemetery, Windy Corner, France. His page on Every Man Remembered can be found here.

Sources

Research

Samantha Stevens, 2016