Edward Cartwright and Charles George Cartwright
A local history and genealogy page for the Parish of Wimpole.
Just outside the main door to St Andrew's Parish Church, there is a grave for the Reverend George Dawson Cartwright (Rector at Wimpole and Arrington from 1897 until his death in 1913) and his wife Maria Cartwright who died in 1911.
Two of their children are also interred in the grave. Private Edward Cartwright of the Canadian Infantry, who died from wounds suffered in the First World War and the Rev Cuthbert Cartwright (1925) who was his father's curate at Wimpole between 1906 and 1913.
A third son, Private Charles George Cartwright, who also died during the First World War, is commemorated on the grave.
Although the Cartwright brothers did not qualify for inclusion on the Wimpole and Arrington War Memorial, the burial of Private Cartwright meant the family grave was designated as an official War Grave and it continues to be scheduled as such by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission today.
Wimpole Parish Council arrange for a poppy wreath to be laid on the grave on Armistice Day every November.
Private 180598 Edward Cartwright,
7th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (British Columbia Regiment)
Private 180598 Edward Cartwright,
7th Battalion, Canadian Infantry.
(Photo: Frank Burrell c1915)
(Image courtesy of the District of Oak Bay website)
Private 180598 Edward Cartwright, 7th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (British Columbia Regiment), died of his wounds, aged 34, on 11 October 1916 at the 2nd Northern General Hospital, Leeds.
Edward is buried in the family grave in Wimpole Churchyard (an official CWGC war grave). Brother of Charles George Cartwright [entry below], son of George Dawson Cartwright (Rector at Wimpole and Arrington) and Maria Cartwright.
In 1897, the Rev George Dawson Cartwright was invited by Lord Robates/Viscount Clifden to move from Cornwall to take up the position of Rector of Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, where he served for nearly 16 years until his death in 1913.
1901 UK Census
The Rectory, Wimpole, Cambridgeshire.
George Dawson Cartwright [1]
Head
M
67
Clergyman
(C of England)
Norwich, Norfolk
Maria Cartwright [1]
Wife
F
59
Leytonstone, Essex
Hilda Cartwright
Daughter
F
20
Callington, Cornwall
Edward Cartwright
Son
M
18
Student
Callington, Cornwall
[1] George and Maria had fourteen children, See Wimpole Rectors for details
The following is adapted from an entry on the District of Oak Bay (Canada) website (www.oakbay.ca) with additional information from CWGC, Ancestry, plus parish and Jesus College records:
Private Edward Cartwright was the husband of Mary Margaret Cartwright (Royal), 1526 Beach Drive, Oak Bay. (CWGC).
One of fourteen children, Edward was born in Callington in Cornwall on 29 June 1882. He was educated at Truro Grammar School and Denstone College before entering Jesus College, Cambridge in October 1904.
"The Lent Term 1905 edition of 'Chanticlere', mentions Edward being drafted into the association football team. 'The College Football team was not faring as well as it had previously, playing in the second division, and apparently struggling to attract players, particularly strikers. The JCAFC eagerly looked round among the freshmen for help in this division, but were disappointed in our search. Ultimately two Rugby forwards J.E. Maller and E. Cartwright were drafted in… and they did their best for us.'"
Edward only stayed in College for one year, leaving in June 1905 to emigrate to British Columbia in Canada and to began farming on Salt Spring Island, Vancouver [where elder brother Arthur and his family were living]. It was there that he met and married Mary Margaret Royal (1870-1960) at St Mark's Church, Salt Spring Island on 12 May 1908. Miss Royal was the nanny to the children of the Burrell family of Oak Bay, Canada.
Edward and Mary had three children: daughters Mary Margaret Cartwright (1909- ), Lettice Sophia Cartright (1910-2004) and son Charles Edward Cartwright (1915-1932).
Edward Cartwright enlisted with the 88th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 8 December 1915 and was kept for some months on guard duty on the Pacific coast. He was at Willows Camp in Oak Bay in April 1916 and sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia on the 'SS Olympic' on 31 May 1916, arriving in England in June.
He was promoted to Acting Lance Corporal in June but returned to the ranks at his own request in August 1916, shortly before he was transferred to the 7th Battalion. He was posted to France in September and suffered shrapnel injuries to his spine three weeks later. After initial treatment at the No 1 Canadian General Hospital in Etaples, he was transferred to Leeds Military Hospital in England where he died of his wounds on 11 October 1916. He was attached to the 7th Battalion, British Columbia Regiment, at the time of his death.
Edward Cartwright was buried in his parents' grave in Wimpole Churchyard on the 13 October 1916 (below).
Second Lieutenant 61418 Charles George Cartwright,
8th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment.
Second Lieutenant
12370/61418 Charles George Cartwright
8th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment.
Second Lieutenant 61418 Charles George Cartwright, 8th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. Killed in Action on 19 April 1916. No known grave. Brother of Edward [above], son of the Reverend George Dawson Cartwright (Rector at Wimpole and Arrington from 1897 to 1913) and Maria Cartwright.
Charles George is commemorated on the family grave in Wimpole Churchyard and on Panels 31 and 33, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial.
["At Ijser Canal Bank in trenches... On the 19th April 1916 Germans artillery bombarded the battalions trenches constantly all day, causing many casualties. A particularly effective German raid on the heels of the barrage that night saw the battalion lose a section of trench and suffer the level of casualties only usually seen in a full scale assault, in what turned into a protracted brawl under cover of darkness. The "minor battle" saw the battalion lose almost 250 men with almost half of those being killed, which was a notably high percentage even in terms of the Great War. Charles George Cartwright lost his life in the fighting that developed that night."]
"One of fourteen children, Charles was born on the 25 November 1894, in Callington, Cornwall, the son of the Reverend G.D. Cartwright, later the rector of Wimpole in Cambridgeshire, and Mrs M. Cartwright. He was educated at Dunston College, Cambridge. He was in their Cadet Corps during his schooling.
"When war broke out Charles was a schoolmaster and he enlisted on the 27th August 1914, becoming Private 12370 in the 6th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. On the 2nd September he became a Lance Corporal and ten days later a Corporal. The 1st November saw him promoted to Sergeant and he was discharged to a commission as a Temporary Second Lieutenant in the 9th (Reserve) battalion on the 28th January 1915. At the time he was 5 feet 9 ¼ inches tall, of dark complexion, with brown eyes and dark brown hair. His brothers were recorded as being the Reverend Cuthbert Cartwright of the Gamlingay Vicarage near Sandy in Bedfordshire and Edward of New Wimpole.
"He was married on the 3rd March 1915 at Christ Church, Dore in Derby to Louise Hozland, the marriage being witnessed by Charles Haywood Hozland and Isabel Hozland.
"Charles was later attached to the 8th battalion and served with them on the Western Front from his arrival in early January 1916 until his death in April. He was initially buried north of La Brique, 1½ miles north of Ypres, but his grave was later lost. He has no known grave but is commemorated on the on Panels 31 and 33, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial.
"The inventory of personal effects returned to his widow was extremely small and included just his damaged binoculars, 2 books, a letter and a pipe. Charles did not leave a will and his wife Louise (of Thornfield, Totley Brook in Sheffield) had to complete the forms to release his assets. On them they reveal his eldest sister was the 52 year old Agnes Parker of the Vicarage in Falmouth and his eldest brother was the 48 year old George Cartwright. He had 11 further siblings but no children himself."
The servicemen and women are listed under the Parishes of Arrington or Wimpole
as shown on the Cambridgeshire County War Memorial in Ely Cathedral.
War Memorial research by Steve Odell.
The War Memorial Project would welcome any additional information, research,
photographs or memories of those named on the Wimpole and Arrington War Memorial.
The Wimpole and Arrington War Memorial.
