Person    | Male  Born 27/10/1898  Died 30/10/1917

Private Sidney Albert Cownden

Countries: Belgium

War dead, WW1 i

Commemorated on a memorial as having died in WW1.

Private Sidney Albert Cownden

Private, number 38910 in the Gloucester Regiment. The handwritten notice to him on the Blackheath War Memorial transcribes it as 'Glouetshire'. Killed in action in France aged 16.

We requested our colleague Andrew Behan to research the Cownden surnames on the war memorial. He states that Sidney Albert Cownden was born on 27 October 1898, one of the fifteen children of Charles Henry Cownden (1860-1953) and Emma Cownden née Sylvester (1863-1923). His birth was registered in the 4th quarter of 1898 in the Greenwich registration district.

In the 1901 census he is shown as living at 41 Idenden Cottages, East Greenwich, with his parents and five siblings: Charles Henry Cownden (1888-1937), William John Cownden (1891-1949), Alexander Sylvester Cownden (1892-1916), Elizabeth Florence May Cownden (1894-1986) and Henry Charles Cownden (1900-1891). His father was described as a River Thames lighterman.

On 15 June 1905 both he and his younger brother, Albert Ernest Cownden (1905-1940), were baptised in the parish church of St Andrew and St Michael, Greenwich, where the baptismal registers show the family still living at 41 Idenden Cottages, East Greenwich and that their father was a lighterman.

His name does not appear on his family's 1911 census return that was taken on the night of 2 April 1911 because on 9 February 1911 he was admitted into the Dreadnaught Seaman's Hospital, Greenwich, suffering from a prepatellar abscess and was not discharged until it was cured on 20 April 1911. The hospital admission records confirm he was still residing at 41 Idenden Cottages.

He enlisted in Greenwich as a Private in the 12th (Service) Battalion, (Bristol's Own), The Gloucestershire Regiment, service number 38910, and was killed in action, aged 19 years, on 30 October 1917 in Belgium. As he has no known grave he is listed on Stone No.73 on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Vijfwegestraat, 8980 Zonnebeke, Belgium. 

On 18 March 1918 his army effects totalling £3-3s-0d were sent to his father who also received his £3-0s-0d war gratuity that was despatched on 4 December 1919. He was posthumously awarded the British War Medal 1914-1918 and the Victory Medal. He is also commemorated in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's website and the London WW1 Memorial website.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Private Sidney Albert Cownden

Commemorated ati

Blackheath war memorial

The separate, temporary, addition can be seen in our photo - the row of 6 sma...

Read More

Other Subjects

Corporal Alfred Lee Hale

Corporal Alfred Lee Hale

Alfred Lee Hale was born on the 13 January 1883 in St Pancras, Middlesex (now Greater London), a son of Joseph Hale (1844-1898) and Ellen Louisa Hale née Gaymer (1849-1899). His birth was registere...

Person, Armed Forces, Belgium

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Harry Mallin

Harry Mallin

Boxer and policeman. Born Henry William Mallin in Hackney. Although primarily a policeman, he took part in the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, winning gold. He also participated in the 1924 Olympics in P...

Person, Armed Forces, Sport / Games, TV & Radio, Belgium, France

1 memorial
Tom V. Scattergood

Tom V. Scattergood

Soldier in the Northumberland Fusiliers killed at Messines Ridge. Andrew Behan has researched Scattergood: Second Lieutenant Tom Victor Scattergood was born on 2 May 1887 in Whittington Moor, Ches...

Person, Belgium

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Bounds Green Station air raid

Bounds Green Station air raid

During the London blitz, people sheltered on the platforms of many underground stations. At Bounds Green, they also slept on the stairs between the escalators. No records were kept of how many peop...

Event, Tragedy, Belgium

1 memorial
Company Sergeant Major Sydney George Ellis Jones, MC

Company Sergeant Major Sydney George Ellis Jones, MC

Sydney George Ellis Jones was born in 1888, one of the five children of Thomas Jones and Mary Ellen Jones. His birth was registered in the 1st quarter of 1888 in the Peckham registration district. ...

Person, Armed Forces, Belgium

War dead, WW1
1 memorial

Previously viewed

South Bank mosaic - Daley Thompson

South Bank mosaic - Daley Thompson

SE1, South Bank Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hall / Purcell Room

These mosaics are laid in the pavement in a rather sad, out the way, corner of the South Bank, at street level, near the non-main entranc...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Marquess of Crewe

Marquess of Crewe

Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe, Liberal politician, statesman and writer. Born 16 Upper Brook Street, Mayfair. Ambassador to France, 1922–8. Aged 41 he was married for ...

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
New River Company

New River Company

See the New River for an explanation of why the New River Company came into being.  Puzzled why the Company should have been so involved in rebuilding after war damage we found the explanation at A...

Group, Industry

6 memorials
Reverend Samuel Bardsley

Reverend Samuel Bardsley

Instituted as Rector of Christ Church Spitalfields in 1857 and still in place in 1877. At some point he was rector of Finchley and Rural Dean of Highgate.  Married to Mary Anne Crofts. A man with t...

Person, Religion

1 memorial