Biography of Private Henry Gay, (40669)
9th battalion Essex Regiment
Formerly 24909 Lincolnshire Regiment
Died 11th October 1917

Soldier

  • Name: Henry Gay
  • Date of birth: 1887
  • Place of Birth: Langtoft, Lincolnshire, England
  • Date of Birth registration: October – December 1887
  • Place of Birth Registration: Bourne, Lincolnshire, England
Father

  • Name: Daniel Gay
  • DOB: 1846
  • Place of Birth: Upwell, Cambridgeshire, England
  • Occupation: Farm labourer
Mother

  • Name: Jane Smith
  • DOB: 1846
  • Place Of Birth: Langtoft, Lincolnshire, England
  • Marriage: 1866 Bourne District

Siblings: (Name), (DOB), (POB)

  • Daniel Gay, 1868, Langtoft
  • John Gay, 1870, Tipsend
  • Isaac Gay, 1872, Langtoft
  • William Edward Gay, 1874, Langtoft
  • George Gay, 1880, Langtoft
  • Jane Gay, 1882, Newthorpe Common
  • Henry Gay, 1887, Langtoft
Census

  • 1891: Henry is living with his mother in Langtoft, Lincolnshire
  • 1901: Henry is living with his parents in Village Street, Langtoft, Lincolnshire
  • 1911: Henry is living with his wife and child in starker family wife’s parents in North Fen, Bourne, Lincolnshire. The census gives him an age of 23 and he is listed as a farm labourer on farm.

Relatives in services

Wife

  • Name: Elizabeth Starker
  • Date of birth: 1887
  • Place of Birth: Spalding, Lincolnshire, England

Marriage

  • Date of Marriage: 1909
  • Place of Marriage: Bourne District

Children

  • Ernest Gay, 1910, Bourne District
  • Phyllis Gay, 1911, Bourne District
  • Violet Gay, 1912, Bourne Distirct
  • Ada Gay, 1915, Stamford District (Died 1916)
  • Julia Lily Gay, 1916, Spalding District
Wife’s parents

  • Father: John Starker
  • Mother:Sarah Jane Sanders

Newspaper Mentions

  • War Office Weekly Casualty List November 13th 1917
    DIED OF WOUNDS
    ESSEX REGIMENT – Gay 40669 H. (Spalding)

Military Records

Attestation Papers

  • None found

Soldier’s Died In The Great War

  • These records show that Private Henry Gay, 40669, 9th Battalion Essex Regiment was died of wounds on 11th October 1917 in the Western European Theatre in France and Flanders.

Pension Records

  • Available

Effects Left Too

  • Widow Elizabeth

Medals

  • The British Medal
  • The Victory Medal

Memorials

  • UK:
  • Langtoft, Stone cross outside St Michael and All Angels Church

 

  • Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
  • In memory of Private Henry Gay, 40669, 9th Bn, Essex Regiment who died on 11 October 1917.Age 30
  • Son of Dan and Jane Gay, of Langtoft, Lincs; husband of Elizabeth Gay, of 19 Double St., Spalding, Lincs.
  • Remembered with honour, Duisans British Cemetery, Etrun.
  • Grave V. C. 9.

© Picture taken by South Lincolnshire War Memorials

© Picture taken by South Lincolnshire War Memorials

Military Service Timeline:

  • Died of wounds
  • Enlisted in Spalding

Sources

  • WW1 Soldier’s Records (www.ancestry.co.uk)
  • British Newspaper Archive.
  • Fold 3
  • Find My Past
  • Genealogist
  • Forces War Records
  • British Army Service Numbers
  • War Gratuity Calculator
  • Commonwealth War Graves Commission
  • National Archives – Battalion War Diaries
  • General Registry Office