FELLOWS FAMILY HISTORY
SAMUEL FELLOWS - 1850-1929
(Brian's Great Grandfather)1850 (Dec) - Born Tipton Staffs
Parents - William Fellows - born 1824 (milkman?) and Betsy Gutteridge
. . . Lived at . . . 32 Reynolds Street, Smethwick
1853 - Birth of sister Mary Ann Fellows
1857 - Birth of brother Thomas Fellows
1859 - Birth of brother William Fellows
1867 - Birth of sister Susannah Fellows
1869 - Death of father William Fellows1872 - Samuel married Agnes also from Tipton
They had 6 children born in Smethwick . . .
1873 - James
1874 - Samuel (my grandfather)
1876 - Hannah
1878 - John
1882 - Lucy
1885 - Ruth1901 Census - Samuel was aged 51 - a labourer
He lived in Frome Somerset at Glebe Cottage Great Elm
with son John aged 22 - a quarryman.1911 Census - Samuel aged 60 - worked as a sexton at the Church of England in Great Elm.
Lived at South View, Great Elm, Somerset
. . . with Agnes (wife) aged 61(married 39 years with 6 children all living).
. . . and Ruth Palmer (daughter) aged 26 (married for 1 year with one child
. . . and Reginald Palmer (grandson) aged 6 months - born Great Elm.Note: Sometime before 1901 Samuel moved from Smethwick to Frome with his son John.
Between 1901 and 1911 he was joined in Frome by Agnes (his wife) and Ruth (his youngest daughter)
Ruth had a baby Reginald of 6 months. Ruth's husband was either living elsewhere or dead.1929 (Dec) - Samuel died aged 79 at Great Elm, Frome, Somerset.
His wife Agnes also died in 1929 at Great Elm aged 79.
Margaret Gilmour the church warden at Great Elm, where he was sexton, confirms that both Samuel and his wife Agnes are in the church registers, so are presumably buried in the churchyard, but there are no gravestones for them.
SAMUEL FELLOWS 1874-1916
(Brian's Grandfather)1874 - born Smethwick, Staffordshire
Parents Samuel Fellows and Agnes1901 Census - aged 26 he was a labourer living at 19 Salisbury Road
. . . with wife Eliza Manders aged 25 (born Woodgate, Worcs).
. . . and son Samuel Frank aged 2 (Brian's father)1911 Census - aged 36 - worked as a sewer man for Birmingham Corporation
. . . still living at 19 Salisbury Road Smethwick
. . . with Eliza Fellows his wife aged 35
. . . and Samuel Frank Fellows (son) aged 12
. . . and Joseph Manders a boarder aged 66 (widower - labourer) - Eliza's father?1914 - July 28 - First World War started
Samuel was 40 and Frank was 15
Samuel joined RAMC (Royal Armed Medical Corps) as Private 378381915 October - Samuel was injured by shell while rescuing injured soldier.
See note about Samuel's injury.
1915 December - Samuel returns to Britain for treatment.1916 - July 16 - Samuel died in Birmingham hospital aged 42.
Samuel's death
The death certificate gives his occupation as Private in Royal Army Medical Corps (corporation sewer man)
Cause of death: epithelioma of the tongue.Samuel was buried in Smethwick Old Churchyard. Grave ref: 2704.
Fellows, Samuel Private 37838, Royal Army Medical Corps. Died 16th July 1916.
Son of Mr. S. Fellows, of Great Elm, Frome and husband of Eliza Fellows, of 19, Salisbury Road, Smethwick.
In October 1915, Private Samuel Fellows was carrying a wounded soldier from the trenches on his back, when a shell burst behind him. The shell blew the wounded soldier's head off, and the shock caused Private Fellows to bite his tongue almost in half. He never reported the injury for two months, and it was found he had developed a growth in his throat. He was treated in hospital, and was transferred to a Birmingham hospital, where he died. He is buried at Smethwick Old Churchyard, Staffordshire. Grave Ref. 2704. His name appears on the Frome War Memorial.Here is Samuel's grave in the Old Church, Smethwick
Angela Sprigg, churchwarden of Smethwick Old Church (built in 1732) says the graves of soldiers killed in the World Wars of the last century are still carefully tended by churchgoers."The majority of the British soldiers who died in World War I and World War II are buried in "a foreign field" and many have no grave at all. The twenty nine buried in the Churchyard at Old Church, Smethwick (three from the Second World War and twenty six from the First) died in Britain, of wounds, mustard gas inhalation or of one of the many diseases stalking the trenches. The oldest appears to have been Private Samuel Fellows of the Royal Army Medical Corps who died on 16th July, 1916 at the age of 42. The majority of our soldiers were in their twenties.
Most of the war graves in the Churchyard are no longer tended by family members, due to the passage of time and the migration of the population. They are, however, tended by the congregation in conjunction with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Trustees of Dorothy Parkes. The Church spends thousands of pounds each year on the maintenance of the Churchyard, which has been in use for 270 years. The stones are cleaned occasionally and have been inspected by the Wars Graves Commission very recently. It should be remembered that they can't be scrubbed too often as cleaning breaks down the stone. The soldiers are remembered by the congregation on Remembrance Sunday when the Church buys wooden poppy crosses - one for each grave. These are placed on the graves, immediately after the service, by members of the Junior Church and are now removed in the Churchyard Spring Clean in late March early April." From . . . The Black Country Bugle 2002
Here is a web site which gives graphic details of the work of the RAMC during the 1914-18 war . . . http://www.1914-1918.net/ramc.htm
Frome Memorial
S. Fellows is on the WW1 War Memorial in Frome Memoria Theatre even though Samuel himself never lived there, though his father did.
Extract from Frome's Fallen Heroes. The Great War by David L Adams
"Private Samuel Fellows was the son of Mr S Fellows of Great Elm, Frome and the husband of Eliza Fellows of 19 Salisbury Road, Smethwick. In October 1915, Private Fellows was carrying a wounded soldier from the trenches on his back when a shell burst behind him. The shell blew the wounded soldier's head off and the shock caused Private Fellows to bite his tongue almost in half. He never reported the injury for two months and it was found he had developed a growth in his throat. He was treated in hospital and transferred to a Birmingham hospital where he died. He is buried in Smethwick Old Churchyard, Staffordshire. Grave ref: 2704. His name appears on the Frome War Memorial."Go to . . Frank Fellows
