Alfred William Ogilvy (1899-1916)
South Shields youth enlisted in the Canadian Army and died of pneumonia on his return to England
Despite his service record giving his year of birth as 1897, records show that Alfred William Ogilvy was born in South Shields on 6 March 1899 and baptised a month later at St Michael and All Angels Church, Westoe. He was the only child of Windsor-born electrical engineer Thomas William, who had his own business in South Shields, and his wife Elizabeth Jane Sinclair whom he had married in 1898. In April 1911 father Thomas left for Canada and a job as an electrician in New Westminster, British Columbia; Elizabeth and Alfred were to follow after him.
Alfred joined the local militia group the 104th Westminster Fusiliers shortly after his fifteenth birthday and, in August 1916, travelled to Vancouver, British Columbia to enlist for overseas service in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF). He gave his year of birth as 1897 on his attestation paper and became Private 1048544 in the 242nd Battalion. The battalion embarked for England on 23 November 1916 on board the SS Mauretania, arriving six days later. From Liverpool the battalion made their way to camp at Bramshott in Hampshire and it was in the Military Hospital there that 17-year-old Alfred Ogilvy died from pneumonia on 4 December 1916. He is buried in St Mary the Virgin Churchyard, Bramshott.
Alfred’s father Thomas enlisted in the CEF in October 1918.
Civil Parish: South Shields
Birth date: 06-Mar-1899
Death date: 04-Dec-1916
Armed force/civilian: Army
Residence: 10 Roseberry Avenue, Westoe, South Shields (1901 census)
15 St Michaels Avenue, South Shields (1911 census)
908 Edinburgh Avenue, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada (1916 enlistment papers)
Religion: Church of England
Employment:
Carpenter (1916 enlistment papers)
Family: Parents: Thomas William Ogilvy, Elizabeth Jane Ogilvy nee Sinclair
Military service:
104th Westminster Fusiliers (pre-war militia)
1048544
Private
242nd Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force
Medal(s): British War Medal
Memorial(s): St Mary the Virgin Churchyard, Bramshott, Hampshire
Gender: Male
Contributed by Jean Longstaff, Durham