Sidney Ackland - Private - Royal Welsh Fusiliers – 17th (Service) Battalion (2nd North Wales)
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| Thomas Ackland and Ann Harris marriage certificate St. Mary's Church, Swansea |
Sidney Ackland was born in Swansea in 1885, the youngest son of Thomas Ackland and Ann Harris, who had married at St. Mary’s Church, Swansea, on 14th December 1865.
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| 1891 Census |
At the time of the 1891 Census, the Ackland family were living at 21 Vincent Street, Swansea, at premises known as the Vincent Inn. Sidney’s father, Thomas, aged 45, was employed as an innkeeper and provender dealer and had been born in West Down, Devon. His mother, Ann, was 48 years old.
The census recorded a large family living at the property. The eldest daughter, Mary Ann, aged 24, was employed as a dressmaker, while John, 21, worked as a plumber. Elizabeth, 19, was a general domestic servant, and James, 18, and William, 16, were both apprentices. Rose, also recorded as 18, was employed in domestic service, while Sarah, 13, was an apprentice dressmaker.
The younger children were Alfred, aged 10, George, 8, Sidney, 6, and Edith, 4, all of whom were attending school.
Tragedy struck the family in 1893 when Sidney’s mother, Ann, died. She was laid to rest in the churchyard of St. Peter’s Church, Cockett, Swansea. Sidney would have been only about eight years old when he lost his mother.
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| 1901 Census |
By the time of the 1901 Census, the family had moved to 91 Lower Oxford Street, Swansea. Thomas, now aged 55, was employed as a brewer’s traveller.
Several of his children were still living at home. His widowed daughter, Mary A., aged 34, was working as a dressmaker, while Elizabeth, 29, was employed as a domestic housekeeper. Thomas A., aged 20, worked as a plumber, and Sidney, now 15, had begun an apprenticeship as a mason. His younger sister, Edith, aged 14, was a dressmaker’s apprentice.
Also living in the household was Thomas’s eight-year-old granddaughter, Annie, who was attending school.
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| Sidney Ackland and Agnes Ann Westwood marriage certificate Christ Church, Swansea |
In 1908, Sidney married Agnes Ann Westwood at Christ Church, Swansea. The couple began their married life together, and by the time of the 1911 Census they were living at 148 Rodney Street, Swansea.
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| 1911 Census |
Sidney, now aged 26, was employed as a monumental mason, a skilled occupation involving the cutting, shaping and carving of stone, particularly for gravestones and memorials. His wife, Agnes Ann, was 25 years old, and the couple had a young son, Sidney George, who was just ten months old.
With the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Sidney was among the many Swansea men who entered military service. He joined the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and served as a Private with the 17th (Service) Battalion (2nd North Wales).
The battalion formed part of the 115th Brigade, 38th (Welsh) Division, which served on the Western Front and took part in some of the major operations of the war.
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| The Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects |
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| Sidney Ackland Bouzincourt Ridge Cemetery, near Albert, in the Somme credit - findagrave |
His death came just over three months before the Armistice of 11th November 1918 brought the fighting on the Western Front to an end.
Sidney was buried at Bouzincourt Ridge Cemetery, near Albert, in the Somme region of France, where he rests alongside other servicemen who lost their lives during the fighting in the area.
For his wife, Agnes Ann, and their young son, Sidney George, his death meant the loss of a husband and father who would never return to his home in Swansea. His son, who had been just ten months old at the time of the 1911 Census, would have been approximately eight years old when his father was killed.
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