WW2 75 – April 1941 – Uses of the Census: Private Francis Ernest Newcombe (1910-41), 8th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment
Continued from SECOND LIEUTENANT JOHN FRANCIS BURKINSHAW MARTIN (1921-41), 7 Jan 1941: ‘Their only son’.
51st
(The Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry) Field Regt.
https://budleighpastandpresent.blogspot.com/2020/12/ww2-75-7-january-1941-their-only-son.html
The name F.E. Newcombe on Budleigh Salterton’s War Memorial
The project of writing profiles of all the WW2 casualties
associated with Budleigh Salterton, as recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves
Commission, is drawing to a close. Throughout research for the project it has
been frustrating to find so little information about some of the individuals
concerned.
Sometimes it has been puzzling to discover that a person’s name has been omitted from the list on Budleigh’s War Memorial. Even more puzzling is when a name on the War Memorial is not listed on the website of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), as is the case of Francis Ernest Newcombe. A total of 34 Newcombes who died in WW2 are recorded by the CWGC, but sadly I found no match.
Fortunately there have been relatives of the casualties, sometimes living far from Budleigh, who have provided information, as well as people from our area with an interest in local history or genealogy.
St Peter’s Burial Ground, Moor Lane, Budleigh Salterton.
Image credit: Peter Drysdale; www.findagrave.com
The Newcombe name is not unknown in the area. Three graves
for members of the Newcombe family are recorded on the out of date list that I
have for St Peter’s Burial Ground.
The transcription of the 1891 census for Budleigh and East Budleigh that I have lists only an Elizabeth Newcombe living at 4 Marine Parade, and she was born at Okehampton.
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The 1939 census return for 24 Armytage Road, Budleigh Salterton
A breakthrough in the case of
Francis Ernest Newcombe came when local historian Ken Curran spotted on the 1939
census form an Ernest Newcombe, born on 1 July 1910, and
in 1939 living at 24 Armytage Road, Budleigh with his wife Edna Joan
Newcombe, née Leatt, whose birth date is given as 20 September 1919. I
am most grateful to Kevin for his alert eye and determined research.
Francis Ernest Newcombe’s occupation was recorded on the form as Garage Driver. The note on the census form beside his name read Pte No 5616066 HQ 8th Batt Dev, including the words ‘at home sick leave expiring’.
The 1911 census form completed by William John Newcombe
Kevin traced this Newcombe family
back to find them recorded in the 1911 census as living in Payhembury, a
village near Honiton. Ernest is shown as Francis Ernest Newcombe, aged nine
months old and born in the village on 1 July 1910.
The census showed that Francis Ernest’s father William John, aged 30 at the time, was born on 15 October 1880, and in 1911 was a journeyman blacksmith. Originally from Cornwall, he had settled for a time in Newton Poppleford, a village between Budleigh and Sidmouth where his wife Mary Anne, a few years younger, was born on 2 March 1883. In addition to Francis Ernest the couple had two children: William John, born in 1905 and aged 6, and Charlie, 4, born in 1907. Both boys were born in Newton Poppleford. A fourth, Cecil, would be born on 26 April 1913.
Cap badge of the Devonshire Regiment. Image credit: National Army Museum
Francis Ernest Newcombe is recorded as a member of the 8th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment at the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939. The 8th Battalion was one of four Territorial Army battalions raised by the Regiment, used mainly for serving home defence establishments. Sadly no information has emerged as yet regarding Francis Ernest’s work with the Battalion following the expiry of his sick leave and return to service. Illness may of course have precluded him from active service; records show that he died in April 1941, a year after his father.
The grave of Francis Ernest Newcombe’s eldest brother, William John Newcombe, and his wife Miriam Ethel May Newcombe, in St Peter’s Burial Ground, Moor Lane, Budleigh Salterton. Image credit: Toltecia; www.findagrave.com
As for the rest of the family, records show that his mother Mary Anne Newcombe died in 1964. Of his two elder brothers William John Newcombe married, had children and lived in Knowle, dying on 17 August 1975 at the age of 70. His wife Miriam Ethel May Newcombe died a year later on 25 March 1976, aged 62.
Francis Ernest Newcombe’s brother Charlie lived at Otterton, dying in 1984. His widow, Edna Joan Newcombe, changed her name to Pearman when she remarried in October 1885.
So when war ended in 1945 and the call went out in Budleigh for names to be listed on the War Memorial there would have been more than enough family members to put forward Francis Ernest Newcombe’s name.
The next post is for OBERFELDWEBEL (OFw) WILHELM BURKLE (c.1910-41) who was killed on
2 April 1941 while serving in the German Air Force.
You can read
about him at https://budleighpastandpresent.blogspot.com/2020/12/ww2-75-2-april-1941-no-longer-enemy_15.html
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