William's Story.
EARLY LIFE
William Beaumont was born on 10 April 1990 and baptised at Christ Church, Macclesfield on 9 January 1895, the son of Frances (née Matthews) and Daniel Beaumont, a silk weaver. In 1891, eleven-month-old William was living at 27 Bank Street, Macclesfield with his parents and siblings Samuel (21), Daniel (18), Martha (14), Alice (10), and Joseph (5).
William's father died in 1897 and his mother Frances married John Woods the following year. In 1901 John, Frances and two of her sons, Joseph and William, were living at 23 Bunkers Hill, Macclesfield. In 1911 Frances, Joseph and William were living at 8 Cotton Street, Macclesfield and William was working as a silk spinner.
On 11 May 1913, William married Gertrude May Smith at Christ Church, Macclesfield. The couple had two children, Alfred William and Frances Lillian.
WW1 SERVICE
William Beaumont enlisted in Macclesfield on 23 October 1915. He stated that he was employed as a slipper operative, lived at 1 Palace Terrace, Hibel Road, Macclesfield, and had previously served for four years with the local 7th Cheshire Regiment. He was sent to Seaford for training, arriving there on 29 October 1915 and leaving there for Europe in March 1916.
In March 1917 William returned to England suffering from bronchitis. He spent just over a week in the 1st Western General Hospital, Liverpool, then spent five weeks in the Venice Street Auxiliary Hospital, Fazakerley, Liverpool and finally went to Southport for a month's convalescence. William was then granted ten days' furlough in May 1917. He is wearing "hospital blues" in his photograph, probably taken while he was in hospital or convalescing.
After recovery, William returned to France but was wounded in the leg and taken prisoner on 30 November 1917, and died of his wounds on 23 December. His death was reported in the Macclesfield Times on 22 March 1918:
DIED IN GERMANY - PRISONER OF WAR'S FATE
Mrs Beaumont, Palace Terrace, Hibel Rd, Macclesfield, has been notified that her husband, Rifleman William Beaumont, King's Royal Rifles, died of wounds in Germany on December 23rd. He was taken prisoner on November 30th, and was wounded in the back of the leg, the bullet passing through the thigh and knee and fracturing the limb.
Rifleman Beaumont was twenty-seven years of age and leaves two children. He was educated at Duke Street National Schools and was connected with the Parish Church. The deceased was formerly a foreman in the employ of the Macclesfield Shoe and Slipper Co., and enlisted about three years ago. He was drafted out to France, and after eighteen months' service at the front was invalided to England suffering from pleurisy and rheumatism. Upon recovery, he was again sent to France last October.
Pte Joseph Beaumont, his brother, is serving in Italy with the Cheshire Regt. This is the second bereavement Mrs Beaumont has suffered through the war, her brother, Pte William Smith, Lancashire Fusiliers, being killed in action on September 6th, 1917.
COMMEMORATION
Rifleman William Beaumont is buried in Grave Ref. V. C. 7. of the Le Cateau Military Cemetery, France.
In Macclesfield, Rifleman William Beaumont is commemorated on the Park Green, Town Hall and St Michael's Church war memorials.
NOTES
Brother of Pte Joseph Beaumont, who served in Italy with the Cheshire Regt; brother-in-law of Pte William Smith, Lancashire Fusiliers, who was killed in action on September 6th, 1917.
SOURCES
GRO Indexes: Births, Deaths
Cheshire Parish Registers: Baptisms, Marriages (Find My Past)
England and Wales Census: 1891, 1901, 1911
WWI Army Service Records (Find My Past)
WW1 British Army Service Records 1914-1920
Lives of the First World War website
Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
Macclesfield Times: 22 March 1918, 23 September 1921 (photo supplement)
Research by Rosie Rowley, Congleton.
Research by Rosie Rowley, Congleton.