Add New Content


Please log in or register to add new content.

Login

Report Inaccuracies


George Thomas Pearson (1892-1916)


Miner from South Moor who died at the Battle of the Somme


George Thomas Pearson was born in Annfield Plain, the third son of George Thomas and Margaret Ann Pearson. By 1911 the Pearson family was living at 16 Pine Street in South Moor, and George was working as a putter underground for the South Moor Coal Company (a putter pushed or dragged the coal in small waggons from the workings to the passages where horses could be used). His father and two older brothers also worked as miners for the same colliery company.

George enlisted as a soldier soon after war was declared, when he was 22 years old. He passed a medical examination at Stanley on 8 September 1914 and was posted as Private 18640 to the 12th Battalion Durham Light Infantry, one of the New Army Service battalions established at the start of the war.

After almost a year of training and preparation in England, George’s battalion landed in France on 26 August 1915 and within days was sent into the trenches.

George Pearson died in the fighting south of La Boisselle on the Somme on 8 July 1916. His body was never found and he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

His name is recorded on three memorials in South Moor, including the plaque to the right of the Memorial Park gates. You can find more details on the North East War Memorials Project website.

North East War Memorials Project: South Moor Memorial Park
http://www.newmp.org.uk/detail.php?contentId=8629

North East War Memorials Project: South Moor St. George’s Church crucifix and plaques 1914-18
http://www.newmp.org.uk/detail.php?contentId=8630

North East War Memorials Project: South Moor Wesleyan Methodist Church plaque 1914-18
http://www.newmp.org.uk/detail.php?contentId=9753

South Moor Heritage Trail website, Pine Street:
http://www.southmoorheritage.org.uk/the-soldiers-pine-street/

Civil Parish: South Moor

Birth date: 1892

Death date: 8-Jul-1916

Armed force/civilian: Army

Residence: Born Annfield Plain (1911 census)
16 Pine Street, South Moor, Stanley (1911 census)

Education: South Moor

Religion: Church of England

Employment: Putter Underground, South Moor Coal Company

Family: Father: George Thomas Pearson, age 48 (1911 census)
Mother: Margaret Ann Pearson, age 52 (1911 census)
Brother: Richard Watson Pearson, age 26 (1911 census)
Brother: John Joseph Pearson, age 24 (1911 census)
Sister: Mary Elizabeth Pearson, age 23 (1911 census)
Brother: Ernest Pearson, age 13 (1911 census)
Brother: Hector MacDonald Pearson, age 8 (1911 census)

Military service:

Enlisted at Stanley, 8-Sep-1914
Service no. 18640
Private in The Durham Light Infantry, 12th Battalion
Embarked for France on 25-Aug-1915

Medal(s): Victory Medal
British War Medal
1915 Star

Memorial(s): Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme

Gender: Male

Contributed by Sarah, Shakira, Elise and Gael from North Durham Academy, Stanley, and College Jean Moulin, Moreuil, France

Comments on this story


Comment

There are no comments on this story yet.