Personal Details

Born: 17 April 1883 in Whitchurch, Shropshire and baptised 25 May the same year in St. Alkmund’s Parish Church.

Family: He was the third of four children born to Robert Griffiths, a bricklayer, and his wife Mary Ann. He married Edith Ellen Cutts in 1906 in Liverpool, Lancashire and together they had one child, Mary Frances. He married Lily Drayton in 1915 in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire; no children can be traced for this marriage.

Residence: In 1891 his family were living in Elliot’s Yard, High Street, Whitchurch; by 1901 they had moved to 5 Fraser Mount, Leeds, Yorkshire. Having married, Benjamin was living with his wife and daughter in 1911 at 5 Lime Street, Worsbrough Bridge, Barnsley, Yorkshire. When he enlisted in 1914 he gave his address as 28 Jarrett St. Buildings, Worsbrough Dale, Barnsley with his wife, now living apart, at 75 North Street, South Bank, Eston, Middlesbrough. This was his address in 1939, now living with his second wife, Lily, and her widowed father.

Employment: In 1901 he was a general labourer; in 1911 he was a coal miner and in 1939 a furnace bricklayer.

Died: In 1945 in Cleveland, Yorkshire, aged 62.

Military Details

Regiment: York & Lancaster Regiment

Rank: Acting Sergeant

Service Number: 3/4561

Date of Enlistment: 6 October 1914

Date of Discharge: 31 March 1916

Reason for Discharge: No longer physically fit for war service

Other Information: Served in the York and Lancaster Regiment (service number 9048) from 15 September 1900 to 14 September 1906.