Sidney and William Gordon
Brothers Sidney and William Gordon – St Paul’s Church Memorial
Early Life
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| George Gordon and Sarah Brown marriage certificate St, Mary's church |
William Gordon was born in 1890, and his younger brother Sidney Gordon in 1891. They were the sons of George Gordon and Sarah Brown, who married in 1888 at St Mary’s Church.
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| 1891 Census |
The 1891 Census records the family at Village Lane. George, 38, worked as a domestic gardener, while his wife Sarah, 36, was born in Cornwall. Their children were George (13), an errand boy; Louisa (12); Martin (10); Daisy (8), all schoolchildren; and the younger siblings John H. (6), William (1), and infant Sidney (2 months).
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| 1901 Census |
In 1898, George Gordon died, leaving Sarah a widow. By the 1901 Census, she was living at 18 Roseland Terrace, Sketty, working as a charwoman. At home were William (12), Sidney (11), and Frederick (9).
William Gordon
Military Service
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| 1911 Census |
In 1909, William married Florence Mary Higgins. By the 1911 Census, they were living at 2 Bay View Place, Sketty, with their infant son William G., aged eight months. William, then 22, was employed as a mason’s labourer.
William enlisted at Cambridge into the Monmouthshire
Regiment, 3rd Battalion, a Territorial unit heavily involved in the early
fighting of the war.
Death
William was killed in action on 8th May 1915,
during the Second Battle of Ypres. The Monmouthshire battalions were
thrown into some of the fiercest fighting, tasked with holding the line against
German attacks that used poison gas for the first time on a large scale. The
battalions sustained devastating losses; in places, entire companies were wiped
out as they fought to defend the Ypres Salient.
William was among those who fell that day. He was 25
years old.
Burial
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| William Gordon Menin Gate Memorial credit - findagrave |
Legacy
William left behind his wife Florence and their young son.
His name is remembered in Ypres and on the St Paul’s Church memorial in
Sketty, a lasting reminder of a father and husband taken in the opening
years of the war.
Sidney Gordon
Sidney Gordon
Military Service
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| 1911 Census |
Like his brother, Sidney also married in 1909, to Ida Eugenie Edwards. The 1911 Census records them living at 13 Bathurst Street, Swansea, in the household of John Edwards (54), a nail maker. Also, present were John’s daughters, Ethel Maud (24), a laundress, and Millicent May (18). Sidney, then 20, was working as a domestic gardener, living with Ida (19) and their son Sidney John, aged one.
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| Attestation Papers |
Sidney enlisted on 30 November 1914, joining the Welsh Regiment, 14th Battalion, one of the “Swansea Pals” units raised during the early stages of the war. The he was served with the
Death
Sidney was killed on 11th November 1917,
during the closing stages of the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele).
By then, the battlefield had become a morass of mud and shell holes, with
soldiers struggling through waist-deep water under constant shellfire. The 14th
Welsh were engaged in exhausting and costly actions to consolidate gains on the
Passchendaele Ridge, suffering heavy casualties in some of the worst conditions
of the entire war.
Sidney was 26 years old when he fell.
Burial
Unlike his brother, Sidney has a known grave. He was laid to
rest at Cité Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentières, a cemetery that
received burials throughout the war from hospitals and casualty clearing
stations.
Legacy
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| Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects |
Sidney left behind his wife, Ida, and their young son. The Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects records her as the beneficiary of his estate.
Both brothers are remembered on the St Paul’s Church
memorial in Sketty. Their names, inscribed together, tell the story of a
family doubly bereaved in the space of just over two years—first William in
1915, and then Sidney in 1917—illustrating the heavy price that the war exacted
on Swansea families.
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