Colour Sergeant Edward James Gibbons

Edward Gibbons, the son of Benjamin & Charlotte Gibbons, was born in Kidderminster on 17th March 1859, and baptised there on 24th April.

The family is mentioned in the book entitled “Hartlebury, Worcestershire” by author R.O. Walker. The Gibbons family lived at Wareseley House in Hartlebury. Rev. Benjamin Gibbons bought the house in 1880. According to R.O.Walker “he was a man of considerable means ….. he and his large family lived in considerable style and the house became a centre of gracious living and generous hospitality”.

Two of Benjamin’s daughters, Margaret & Frances “built The Pleck in Quarry Bank, Hartlebury and dominated the social scene in the village for many years”. Their most notable contribution to the village was to set up and run a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) hospital at Hartlebury Castle during WWI. They even used their home as an annexe for more able soldiers.

But Benjamin’s son Edward James Gibbons also distinguished himself, as a barrister at Lincoln’s Inn, in London. He was captain of the Inns of Court Rifle Volunteers, but resigned his captaincy in order to enlist as a private in the City Imperial Volunteers.

He died at the age of 40 on 23rd January 1900 on board the transport Briton, en route to the South African War.

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Cross

He is remembered with a plaque at the Shire Hall in Worcester and two plaques at St. James, Hartlebury. One plaque is fixed to the base of a stone cross to the left of the main entrance to the church. The other plaque is located just inside the entrance of the church up on the left-hand wall.

The Worcestershire Chronicle dated 23rd February 1901 reported that
“a churchyard cross is about to be erected at Hartlebury by his family and friends to the memory of Mr Edward James Gibbons barrister of Lincoln’s Inn who died as a colour-sergeant of the City Imperial Volunteers …. “ The cross was to be 20ft high. Only the lower part of the cross remains today. It is believed that the top blew off in a gale!

On 13th February 1902 the Banbury Guardian reported that “The barristers of the Oxford Circuit have placed in the Shirehall, Worcester a marble and brass tablet to perpetuate the memory of the late E J Gibbons, a popular and influential member of the bar, whose death while on his way to serve his country as a volunteer in South Africa occasioned keen regret among his brother barristers.”

Plaque at base of cross
Plaque in St James Church
The inscription on the memorial reads:
IN MEMORY OF
EDWARD JAMES GIBBONS M.A.
A COLOUR SERGEANT IN THIS REGIMENT AND CAPTAIN IN
THE 14TH MIDDLESEX (INNS OF COURT) V.R. SON OF THE
REVD BENJAMIN AND CHARLOTTE JANE GIBBONS OF THIS
PARISH HE DIED AT SEA ON JANUARY 23ES 1900 DURING
THE SOUTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN AGED 40 YEARS