Sidney Lambert (1899-1917)
Darlington ironworks labourer served as an able seaman in the Royal Naval Division
Sidney Lambert was born in 1891 in Darlington. His father was John Thomas Lambert (1858-1896), a driller originally from York, Yorkshire. His mother was Caroline Lambert nee Taylor (1863-1956), a brickmaker’s daughter. Sidney is known to have had five brothers and two sisters before his father died in 1896. His mother later married Thomas Noble (1862), a builder’s labourer from Bishop Auckland. Their marriage gave Sidney two half-sisters and a half-brother.
In 1901 Sidney was recorded as a boy under detention in the Boys’ Industrial School, Thomas Street, Sunderland. In 1911 he was a boarder at 30 Lowson Street, Darlington where he was working as an ironworks labourer.
Sidney enlisted as a private in the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) on 2 September 1914. He transferred to the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) on 7 September 1914 and joined the Nelson Battalion, Royal Naval Division (RND) on 9 September 1914 at the Crystal Palace Depot. At some time he was at the RND camp at Blandford, Dorset and married Winifred Beazely Coole in local village Tarrant Gunville on Christmas Day 1915.
Sidney was drafted to the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on 11 September 1917 and joined Drake Battalion, RND in the field on 27 September 1917. He was killed in action on 30 December 1917 during the action of Welsh Ridge. He has no known grave and is honoured on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. He is remembered in Darlington on the War Memorial Hospital 1914-18.
Sidney Lambert was awarded the 1914 Star, the Victory Medal and the British War Medal for his service in World War One.
Civil Parish: Darlington
Birth date: 1891
Death date: 30-Dec-1917
Armed force/civilian: Navy
Residence: Boys’ Industrial School, Thomas Street, Sunderland (1901 census)
30 Lowson Street, Darlington (1911 census)
Employment: Ironworks labourer (1911 census)
Family: Parents: John Thomas Lambert (1858-1896), Caroline Lambert nee Taylor later Noble (1863-1956)
Siblings: John T Lambert (1880), Alice Lambert (1882), Charles Lambert (1884), David Lambert (1886), Annie Lambert (1889), Arthur Lambert (1892), Robert Lambert (1895)
Half-siblings: Kate Noble (1901), Amelia Noble (1903), Thomas Noble (1906)
Spouse: Winifred Beazeley Lambert nee Coole
Military service:
Enlisted private Durham Light Infantry, 2 September 1914
Transferred to Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, 7 September 1914
KX99
Ordinary seaman, able seaman
Nelson Battalion, Royal Naval Division, 9 September 1914
Drake Battalion, Royal Naval Division, 27 September 1917
Memorial(s): Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
War Memorial Hospital 1914-18, Darlington
Gender: Male
Contributed by David D, Stanley, Co Durham