George Carter
George Carter was born in Welwyn in 1893, being baptised in St. Mary’s Church on the 8th November. He was the second but eldest son of George Carter and Hannah Carter nee Holton, the first son George Edward having died in infancy two years previously.
His father, George, from Aldershot, had married Welwyn girl Hannah in 1889 and the family lived in one of the cottages next to the Steamer, now demolished. Both George senior and Hannah died in 1904, leaving George, his one surviving brother, and four sisters orphaned.
George also had a half sister, ten years older, Emily Elizabeth Holton. She had been born in the Union Workhouse, the illegitimate daughter of Hannah.
Emily was clearly accepted by her step father George and her half siblings and lived with them in Welwyn Hill until her marriage to Albert Brunton in 1900.
Together with her half sister Rose, she was responsible for raising the orphaned family as best as they could.
However by the time of the 1911 Census Emily and Albert already had four children of their own and living in a small cottage in Moors Walk could only accommodate George as a boarder. He was then working as a farm labourer.
Of the remaining children of George senior and Hannah, the four youngest, still being of school age are to be found in the Union Workhouse. Rose, as the eldest, has entered service and left the village.
Soon after he was employed by Mr John Davis, a coal merchant.
George is recorded by the CWGC as the brother of Emily, but is in fact a
half-brother.
George enlisted at the outbreak of war and joined the 2nd Battalion,
Bedfordshire Regiment. He was in France around fifteen months before being killed in action in one of the phases (Maltz Horn Ridge) of the Battle of the Somme on the 30th July 1916. On this one day the 2nd Battalion lost 192 men, including 6 officers with 9 wounded.
On the next day Major General Shea, Commanding Officer of the 30th Division spoke to the Battalion -
"I have come here this morning to thank you all for the way that you fought yesterday. It may seem to most of you that after doing all you could, you were only successful in capturing a small amount of ground. This however does not in any way represent the results of your hard fighting. It came to my knowledge only this morning, that eleven of the freshest German Battalions (The 12th Bavarian reserve) had just been brought up on the front which you attacked. There were only 8 Battalions actually fighting for the Division, and judging from the number of prisoners taken, and the number of casualties known to have been inflicted on the enemy, it is clear that you were instrumental in completely preventing what would have been a very strong counter attack on the Bantams in Trones Wood. The Army Commander has told me to thank you for him, and to his thanks I add mine and my hearty congratulations.”
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George Carter please contact us
Much of the above information is compiled from information supplied by
The late Mr. Frederick Brunton, youngest son of Albert and Emily Brunton
