Sergeant Sam MORRIS
Bedfordshire Regiment 98845
Sam1 Morris was born on 22nd December 1892 in Woodnewton, to parents Samuel and Priscilla Sophie Morris (nee Landin). His parents had ten children and Sam was the only boy.
Sam went to the village Church of England Primary school in 1896 and another village boy, named Percy Compton, started school at the same time. They both left school in 1906 at the age of 14 years and went to work (we can only presume that as Sam was recorded as being a farm labourer in the 1911 census alongside his father, that this is the same work as when he left school). Sam’s mother died two years after he left school and on 2nd October 1911, Sam enlisted for the regular army with the Bedfordshire Regiment. Percy Compton, his friend, would join the Bedfordshire Regiment three years later at the outbreak of war.
Unfortunately, the only military paperwork for Sam that has been found is the Medal and Decorations Awards on Ancestry. These records show that he was awarded the 1914 Star. This medal, also known at the Mons Star, was issued to soldiers who had served in France or Belgium from 5th August 1914 (the declaration of war) to midnight 22 November 1914 (the end of the First Battle of Ypres). Alongside this medal he received the Victory and British War Medals and as he was discharged out of the army in March 1919, due to being wounded, he also received the Star badge.
1914 Star (Mons)
British Allied Victory Medal
British War Medal
Silver War Badge
As Sam’s father had died whilst he had been in the Army, he did not go back to Woodnewton, but moved to Peterborough. The1921 census (taken on 19th June) indicates that he was boarding at 5 Clifton Avenue with Harriet Shrimpton and her two daughters. Later that year he would marry Hilda May Shrimpton. They had two children; Frank in 1922 and Queenie in 1923.
The next record we have of Sam and his family is the 1939 register which specifies them living at 5 Mayors Walk still at Peterborough. His occupation was shown as working as a Lengthman2 on the railway
Sam died in 1955 and his wife the following year.
2022
Footnotes