Seymour Taylor was born in Barkingside in 1889. His parents moved to London from Suffolk and Kent and were married in Romford in 1872. By 1891, they had eight children and were living at Redbridge Cottages, Roding Lane, Barkingside, where Seymour’s dad worked as an agricultural labourer.
In 1910, Seymour married Frances Holliday, who was born in Canning Town. They moved to ‘Lily Cottage’, New Road, Beehive Lane, Barkingside. Seymour was employed as a horse-drawn farm wagon driver. They had three daughters.
Seymour enlisted early on in the war into 3rd Battalion Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort’s Own). After training, he landed in France on 1st May 1915. The following year, his battalion took part in the battle of the Somme, Northern France. On 18th August 1916, whilst defending themselves from a German attack, thirty-nine men of Seymour’s battalion were killed, including Seymour.
Seymour’s wife later heard that he was killed when a grenade detonated in his hand. He was 27 years old. His body was not recovered and so he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.
In 1919, Frances remarried a British man who had served with the Australian army. She led a full life and died in Yorkshire in 1975, aged 84 years old. By 2014, Frances and Seymour had 24 surviving great grandchildren.
Research by Wanstead United Reformed Church
Sources:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Ancestry.com