Ernest Gascoyne (Sol) was born in 1895 in Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire. He lived and worked around this area all his life, mainly as a farm labourer, apart from when he fought in The Great War.
I was only four years’ old when he died so do not have any real memories of my Granddad, all I have are photographs and family stories.
Mum gave me this photo of him and, it was only at that point, that I realised he would have fought in W.W.I. We think it was taken after he returned, as it has two stripes on his cuff which denote he was injured twice.
Sol was a private in both the Northamptonshire Regiment and the Northumberland Fusiliers between 1914 and 1919, when he was discharged. I have had some research done but am unable to find any information from service records about him. A lot of W.W.I service records were destroyed in W.W.II. I now have the War Diary details of his regiments. I am reading through these to try and piece together his army career. Sadly his service records have been destroyed so I am unable to find any more information about that.
One of my Aunts has a copy of a Field Medical Report regarding a shrapnel wound, that would account for one of his injuries. She also has a letter that was sent to him after being discharged telling him he owed £1,8s (or something like that) to the Paymaster and asking him to repay it. I guess this may have been quite a big sum in 1919 but he had just fought for his country (bureaucracy at work even then).
After returning from the War he worked as a farm labourer for the local Manor House at Grafton Regis and, was involved in setting up a local branch of the Royal British Legion. He was active within the Legion until his death; again I am also trying to obtain any information from them about him.
I believe he met my Grandmother, Pretoria May Adams, whilst working for the Manor. She was a children’s nurse / maid at the Manor House. They married in 1926, and over the following 14 years’ they had 6 children - Patricia, Thelma, William, Pamela, Jean & Ernest.
Sol, Pretoria and the four older children all lived in a small farm workers cottage in Grafton Regis. In the 1940’s they moved from Grafton Regis, across the Northants/Bucks border into New Bradwell where the two younger children were born.
Sol died in November 1969
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