Robert Newton Vowell (1893-1917)
Engine machinist from Sunderland served in 1st/5th DLI commemorated on the Arras Memorial
Robert Newton Vowell, the son of William and Mary Ann Vowell, was born in Sunderland on 11 February 1893. He had two brothers and seven sisters. After his father died in 1906 the family moved to Stockton-on-Tees where he worked in an engine works. He enlisted in the 1st/5th Battalion Durham Light Infantry at Stockton and on 17 April 1915 he landed in France. He was killed on 23 April 1917 at the Battle of Arras and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial and in the Durham Cathedral and Sunderland Books of Remembrance.
Civil Parish: Sunderland
Birth date: 11-Feb-1893
Death date: 23-Apr-1917
Armed force/civilian: Army
Residence: 10 Cecil Street, Sunderland (1901 census & National School Admission Registers & Log-Books 1870-1914)
16 Garibaldi Street, Stockton-on-Tees (1911 census)
Education: Chester Road Board School, Sunderland (National School Admission Registers & Log-Books 1870-1914)
Employment: Planing Machinist in Engine Works (1911 census)
Family: Father: William Vowell
Mother: Mary Ann Vowell (nee Wakefield)
Siblings: Lydia Vowell, Margaret Jane Vowell, William Wakefield Vowell, Mary Alice Vowell, Elsie Swinburn Vowell, Charles Vowell, Carrie Vowell, Isabella Vowell, Lily Vowell
Military service:
1st/5th Battalion Durham Light Infantry
Regimental nos.: 2602 & 200273
Sergeant
Medal(s): 1914-1915 Star
British War Medal
Victory Medal
Memorial(s): Arras Memorial, Bay 8
Durham Cathedral DLI Book of Remembrance
Holy Trinity Church, Sunderland 1914-1918 Book of Remembrance
Gender: Male
Contributed by John Edwards