Philip Llewellyn Searle

Driver Philip Llewellyn Searle

Royal Engineers, “A” Depot Company, Royal Anglesey Reserve Battalion

With just a week remaining before the Armistice of 1918, Driver Philip Llewellyn Searle became the fifth serviceman to be laid to rest at Bethel Welsh Congregational Chapel. He died on 3^rd November 1918, aged 25.

Family Background

Edwin Searle and Mary Jane Wilmot
Marriage Certificate 
St. James Church

Philip was born in 1893 at Swansea, the son of Edwin Searle and Mary Jane (née Wilmot), who had married at St. James’ Church, Swansea, in February 1888.

1881 Census

Edwin himself had been born in 1867 at Truro, Cornwall. By the time of the 1881 Census, aged 14, he was employed as a working boy in a shop, living at 27 Cwm Road with his parents, Matthew and Catherine Searle, both 56, alongside siblings Clara, Richard, and Frederick.

1891 Census

By the 1891 Census, Edwin, now 24, and Mary Jane, 25, were married and living at 18 Mysydd Terrace, St. John’s, Swansea, where Edwin was employed as a weigher.

1901 Census

The 1901 Census places the family at 17 Carnglas, where Edwin, 36, was working as a market gardener, and Mary Jane, 35, managed the household. They had two children at this time: Philip (8) and Hilda May (5). A servant, Richard Bebell, also lived with them, assisting with the market garden.

1911 Census

By the 1911 Census, the Searles were living at 27 Tycoch Road, Swansea. Edwin, now 44, had become an insurance agent, while Mary Jane, 45, undertook home duties. Philip, then 18, was employed as an undertaker, and his sister Hilda May, 15, was working as a draper’s assistant. Two younger daughters, Phyllis Irene (6) and Gertrude Mary, had since joined the family.

Military Service

Philip was an old Territorial and served actively during the First World War. He saw action in the Dardanelles Campaign, one of the harshest and most costly theatres of the war. At the time of his death, he was serving with the Royal Engineers, “A” Depot Company, Royal Anglesey Reserve Battalion.

Death and Burial

Cambrian Daily Leader

Philip died suddenly at Beaumaris Hospital, Bangor, on 3^rd November 1918, just days before the war ended. Notices of his passing appeared in the Cambrian Daily Leader.

He was buried at Bethel Welsh Congregational Chapel, Sketty, the fifth serviceman from the war to be interred there. His grave does not carry a military headstone, though it remains recorded with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Legacy

Philip Llewellyn Searle
Bethel Welsh Congregational Chapel
credit - findagrave

Philip’s untimely death, so close to the war’s conclusion, was a heavy blow for his family. His resting place at Bethel stands as a reminder that the end of the war brought not only relief but also fresh sorrow for many Swansea families.