William Henry HAMPTON
Regimental No. 65390
26 May 1875 – 13 September 1918
William Henry HAMPTON was 42 years old, a married man with five children when he signed up for military service on 6th November 1917. William was born in 1875 in Tinwald, Ashburton, a small town in Canterbury. In 1896 he married Eliza(beth) Annie FREE, and they had six children in 10 years:
Henry Roy 1897
Douglas Beaumont 1898
Irene Joyce 1900
Eileen Muriel 1902
Doreen Mavis 1905
John 1907
Initially the family lived in Boston Terrace, a small lane leading uphill southwards from Aro Street. By the time the 1905-06 Electoral Roll was compiled the family was living in Adelaide Road, Newtown, but they had moved again by 1911 to 116 Holloway Road. House number 116 was at the top end of Holloway Road.
The Hampton children went to Mitchelltown School, which was sited above Holloway and Aro Street intersection. William was a member of the School Committee for five years, three of them as Chairman. He was also active elsewhere in the local community, serving as chairman of the Te Aro-Mitchelltown committee for two years. William worked as a carpenter and was an active member of the Amalgamated Society of Joiners and Carpenters. He was very active in the wider trade union movement and was instrumental in forming several new unions. He served one term as President of the Trades and Labour Council and was delegate at various NZ Labour conferences. His younger brother Richard was President of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants.
William went into partnership with Angus Clyne Sutherland FRENCH in a building and contracting business. However, this business had financial difficulties and the partners were deemed bankrupt on 6 August 1917. Perhaps it was these financial difficulties which resulted in William signing up three months later, as military service would at least have secured a small income for his family. During his time in training for military service in November the Official Assignee in Bankruptcy requested William be given leave to attend a meeting at his office in Wellington to discuss “certain matters concerning his bankruptcy”.
William had been passed as medically fit on 10 August 1910, and his medical examination described him as being just over 5 ft. 8 inches tall, of sallow complexion and with brown eyes and dark hair. He attested at Trentham on 6 November 1917, and a short training period followed. By 19 December he had been promoted to Lance Corporal. William was despatched with the 33rd Reinforcements as a member of the Wellington Infantry on the last day of 1917, on the Athenic. The voyage took nearly two months, docking in Glasgow on 25 February 1918. From there the men were taken to Larkhill Camp on the edge of the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. On arrival William reverted to the ranks, becoming Private Hampton once again. Three months were spent in camp receiving further training, until on 26 May the Wellington Infantry were despatched to France. Two months later William was posted to the 17th Company, and less than two months later again, he was dead, killed in action somewhere in the area of Havrincourt, a small village about 15kms west of Bapaume. He had served a total of 311 days, so had been a soldier for less than one year. His death presumably occurred during the Battle of Havrincourt launched on the 12th September 1918 which was a successful attack by the British Third Army with three divisions against four German Army divisions holding the fortified town of Havrincourt. William died on the same day as Charles Huntly ROSE.
William has no known burial place, but his name is one of the almost 450 officers and men of the New Zealand Division who died in the defensive fighting in the area from March to August 1918, and in the Advance to Victory between 8 August and 11 November 1918 and who are commemorated on the Grevillers (New Zealand) Memorial within the Grevillers British Cemetery. This cemetery is less than three kilometres west of Bapaume. Amongst the names on the Memorial are Frank Cassidy and Charles Makeham.
Word of William’s death obviously reached New Zealand quite rapidly as an extensive obituary titled “A Unionist Patriot – Death of Private William H Hampton” ” appeared in the Dominion newspaper on 28 September 1918. The family seem not to have inserted any notices in the Birth, Death and Marriages columns.
Two days after William’s death notification of his son Henry’s award of the Military Medal for an act of gallantry in the field was published in NZEF Orders. Henry had signed up in 1915 and his name features also on the Aro Valley War Memorial. His story is published here.
Regimental No. 65390
26 May 1875 – 13 September 1918
William Henry HAMPTON was 42 years old, a married man with five children when he signed up for military service on 6th November 1917. William was born in 1875 in Tinwald, Ashburton, a small town in Canterbury. In 1896 he married Eliza(beth) Annie FREE, and they had six children in 10 years:
Henry Roy 1897
Douglas Beaumont 1898
Irene Joyce 1900
Eileen Muriel 1902
Doreen Mavis 1905
John 1907
Initially the family lived in Boston Terrace, a small lane leading uphill southwards from Aro Street. By the time the 1905-06 Electoral Roll was compiled the family was living in Adelaide Road, Newtown, but they had moved again by 1911 to 116 Holloway Road. House number 116 was at the top end of Holloway Road.
The Hampton children went to Mitchelltown School, which was sited above Holloway and Aro Street intersection. William was a member of the School Committee for five years, three of them as Chairman. He was also active elsewhere in the local community, serving as chairman of the Te Aro-Mitchelltown committee for two years. William worked as a carpenter and was an active member of the Amalgamated Society of Joiners and Carpenters. He was very active in the wider trade union movement and was instrumental in forming several new unions. He served one term as President of the Trades and Labour Council and was delegate at various NZ Labour conferences. His younger brother Richard was President of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants.
William went into partnership with Angus Clyne Sutherland FRENCH in a building and contracting business. However, this business had financial difficulties and the partners were deemed bankrupt on 6 August 1917. Perhaps it was these financial difficulties which resulted in William signing up three months later, as military service would at least have secured a small income for his family. During his time in training for military service in November the Official Assignee in Bankruptcy requested William be given leave to attend a meeting at his office in Wellington to discuss “certain matters concerning his bankruptcy”.
William had been passed as medically fit on 10 August 1910, and his medical examination described him as being just over 5 ft. 8 inches tall, of sallow complexion and with brown eyes and dark hair. He attested at Trentham on 6 November 1917, and a short training period followed. By 19 December he had been promoted to Lance Corporal. William was despatched with the 33rd Reinforcements as a member of the Wellington Infantry on the last day of 1917, on the Athenic. The voyage took nearly two months, docking in Glasgow on 25 February 1918. From there the men were taken to Larkhill Camp on the edge of the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. On arrival William reverted to the ranks, becoming Private Hampton once again. Three months were spent in camp receiving further training, until on 26 May the Wellington Infantry were despatched to France. Two months later William was posted to the 17th Company, and less than two months later again, he was dead, killed in action somewhere in the area of Havrincourt, a small village about 15kms west of Bapaume. He had served a total of 311 days, so had been a soldier for less than one year. His death presumably occurred during the Battle of Havrincourt launched on the 12th September 1918 which was a successful attack by the British Third Army with three divisions against four German Army divisions holding the fortified town of Havrincourt. William died on the same day as Charles Huntly ROSE.
William has no known burial place, but his name is one of the almost 450 officers and men of the New Zealand Division who died in the defensive fighting in the area from March to August 1918, and in the Advance to Victory between 8 August and 11 November 1918 and who are commemorated on the Grevillers (New Zealand) Memorial within the Grevillers British Cemetery. This cemetery is less than three kilometres west of Bapaume. Amongst the names on the Memorial are Frank Cassidy and Charles Makeham.
Word of William’s death obviously reached New Zealand quite rapidly as an extensive obituary titled “A Unionist Patriot – Death of Private William H Hampton” ” appeared in the Dominion newspaper on 28 September 1918. The family seem not to have inserted any notices in the Birth, Death and Marriages columns.
Two days after William’s death notification of his son Henry’s award of the Military Medal for an act of gallantry in the field was published in NZEF Orders. Henry had signed up in 1915 and his name features also on the Aro Valley War Memorial. His story is published here.