Co-partner or employee of the South Suburban Gas Company. Served but did not die in WW1.
Robert William Baggott was born on 14 August 1898, the eldest of the six children of Robert John Baggott (1873-1963) and Elizabeth Baggott née Woolcott (1873-1956). His birth was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1898 in the Pancras registration district. He was baptised on 23 October 1898 in the Church of St James, Clerkenwell, where the baptismal register shows the family were residing at 18 Swinton Street, Clerkenwell and that his father's occupation was a packer.
The 1901 census shows him living in three rooms at 63 Station Road, Willesden, with his parents and sister Elizabeth Annie Baggott (1899-1987). His father was described as a packer in the London & Birmingham Railway store.
When his sister Elizabeth and brother George Arthur Baggott (b.1906) were baptised on 1 March 1906 at St Martin's Church, Kensal Rise, the baptismal register showed that the family were living at 22 Purves Road, Willesden and that their father was a warehouseman. Another sister, Dorothy Nellie Baggott (1909-1972), was also baptised at St Martin's Church on 4 February 1909 and the register confirms that the family were still residing at 22 Purves Road and that their father was a warehouse assistant.
When his father completed the 1911 census return form he was described as a schoolboy living in a six roomed property at 214 Adamsrill Road, Lower Sydenham, together with his parents, his three siblings: Elizabeth, George & Dorothy and his blind, widowed, paternal grandmother Anne Phoebe Baggott née Gill (1846-1922). His father gave his own occupation as a clerk in the South Suburban Gas Company.
Two further siblings were: Bessie Ivy Baggott (1913-1988) whose birth on 13 December 1913 was registered in the 1st quarter of 1914 in the Lewisham registration district and Eva Jessie Baggott (1918-1986) whose birth on 24 December 1918 was registered in the 1st quarter of 1919 also in the Lewisham registration district.
During WW1 he served as a Rifleman in the 5th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade), service number 304653, later becoming a Corporal in the Army Pay Corps, service number 24104. He was awarded the British War Medal (1914-1918) and the Victory Medal.
Electoral registers until 1927 showed that he continued to live at 214 Adamsrill Road, Lower Sydenham. He married Nellie Sibley (1897-1993) in the 2nd quarter of 1928 in the Lewisham registration district and electoral registers show them listed from 1930 to 1932 at 119 Perry Vale, Lewisham.
On 10 November 1932 his wife gave birth to two babies - a stillborn daughter and Robert Albert Baggott (1932-2022). In the 1939 England and Wales Register he is shown as gas company clerk residing with his wife and son at 80 Berwick Crescent, Sidcup, Kent, the home of his wife's parents: Albert George Sibley (1871-1964) and Mary Ann Sibley née Attree (1878-1962).
Probate records confirm that he had lived at 173 Felstead Road, Orpington, Kent and that he died, aged 60 years, on 25 August 1958, his death being recorded in the 3rd quarter of 1958 in the Bromley registration district, Kent. He was cremated on 29 August 1958 in Greenwich and when probate was granted on 17 October 1958 to his widow his effects totalled £3,157-18s-8d.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
