John Evans

King's Shropshire Light Infantry

Personal Details

Born: October 1876 in Platt Lane, Whitchurch, Shropshire.

Family: He was the youngest of six surviving children born to William Evans, a canal boatman, and his wife Elizabeth. He married Sarah Ann Sparrow on 14 September 1892 in Acton Parish Church, Cheshire and together they had seven children – Sarah A, Mary Jane, John, Elizabeth, Rose Ellen, Edith May and Lilly.

Residence: In 1881 the family lived at Brick Wall, Tilstock, Whitchurch; in 1891 he was with a relative at Canal Road, Whixall, Shropshire. In 1911 he was on his canal boat, ‘Vulcan’ on the Shropshire Union canal at Welshpool. In 1915 when he was discharged he gave a forwarding address for the Boat ‘Gay’ at the General Post Office in Wolverhampton. As a canal boatman he travelled around as evidenced by the birth places of his children.

Employment: He was a canal boatman until at least 1911.

Died: Not known

Military Details

Regiment: King’s Shropshire Light Infantry 

Rank: Private

Service Number: 18787

Date of Enlistment: 12 August 1915

Date of Discharge: 26 January 1916

Reason for Discharge: Unlikely to become an efficient soldier.

Other information: John appears to have been illiterate.

Medals and Awards

Not known


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

We want to make sure you're human! * Time limit is exhausted. Please reload the CAPTCHA.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.