Private SAMUEL SHEARS
12, Ashley Terrace, Winchester (no longer stands)
Service numbers 1449, 144683 and 37762 4th Battalion, The Hampshire Regiment and Labour Corps
Died in Winchester, 5 February 1919
Life Summary
Samuel Shears was born in Wallop, near Andover, in the summer of 1866, the youngest child of George and Eliza Shears. Samuel joined the Hampshire Regiment as a professional soldier in his teens and later re-enlisted as a Territorial. He was 48 years old when the Great War broke out and never saw active service, almost certainly due to poor health. Instead, Samuel served on the home front, latterly with the Labour Corps, before being discharged on health grounds in August 1918. He died shortly afterwards.
Family Background
Samuel’s father George was also born in Wallop, in 1832, and worked as an agricultural labourer. In the 1851 Census George was recorded living with his parents and two sisters at Waterloo House in Broughton, near Stockbridge. His father Thomas, a woodman, had been born in Wallop in 1809 and his mother, Dinah, in 1808 in Houghton, near Stockbridge.
George married Eliza Wake in Winchester in 1851. Eliza had been born in Hursley, near Winchester, in 1829. As well as Samuel, the couple had six other children: Sarah, born in 1857, Thomas (1858), Josiah (1859), Eliza (1862), George (1863) and James (1864). In 1861 the family were living at Berry Court Cottage, Nether Wallop. Ten years later the Shears family had moved to Saxley Cottage, Upper Clatford, near Andover.
George Shears died in Andover in 1874. The years immediately following his death must have been difficult for his widow and their four children although, except for Samuel, all were old enough to work and bring in money to the household.
Early Military Career
On 26 May 1884 Samuel enlisted with the 1st Battalion, The Hampshire Regiment in Winchester. At the time he signed up he was living at 10, George Yard, Andover, and his attestation papers reveal he was working as a chimney sweep. Still a few weeks short of his 18th birthday, Samuel was technically under-age when he enlisted, although on the attestation papers he stated that he was 19. He was issued with the service number 1449.
Samuel Shears spent ten years with the 1st Hampshires, serving in Malta, India and Burma. In 1887 he was serving overseas when his mother died in Andover, aged 59. Samuel was discharged from the Army on 30 January 1894 because he was suffering from epilepsy. His discharge papers reveal that he intended to live at 11, Terrace Row, Winchester.
In the summer of 1896 Samuel married Mary Laming in Winchester. His wife, a widow, had been born Mary Ward in Winchester in 1862. She married Henry Laming in Portsmouth in April 1882 and the couple had five children: Priscilla (1882-1968), Frances (1884-1925), Lily (1885-1980), Leonard (1888-1962) and Jessie (1893-1953). Henry Laming died in Portsmouth in October 1892, a few months before his daughter Jessie’s birth.
Two years after they married, Samuel and Mary Shears had their first child, a daughter, Mabel, who was born in Winchester. A son, Samuel George (referred to here as Samuel Jnr), was born in 1900. By the time of the 1901 Census the family – which also included three of Samuel’s stepchildren – were living at 12, Ashley Terrace (next to Gladstone Street but no longer standing today) in Winchester. Samuel was working as a railway carrier’s carman. This involved driving a horsedrawn vehicle to transport goods; carmen were often employed by railway companies for local deliveries and collections. Samuel and his two children were still at Ashley Terrace in 1911, the year that Mary Shears died, aged 49.
Three years earlier, in July 1908, Samuel Shears had enlisted for four years with the 4th Battalion, The Hampshire Regiment, part of the new Territorial Force. His Army papers reveal that he was working as a carter for Chaplains & Co. Samuel gave his age as 33 when he was 42. It is unclear why he should do so. In 1912 he re-enlisted for a further four years.
Great War Record
When war broke out in August 1914 Samuel immediately became liable for military service but, unlike many of the younger men in his battalion, he chose not to volunteer to serve overseas. This may have been because of his age – he was 48 years old – or his fragile health.
While both 4th Hampshire battalions (the 1/4th and 2/4th) served abroad, Samuel – service number 144683 - remained at home in a non-combat role. Army records suggest that before transferring to the Labour Corps in 1917 he may have served with the 13th (Works) Battalion, The Devonshire Regiment (service number 58596). This unit was one of several labour companies set up by individual Army regiments to carry out the various non-combatant tasks involved in keeping the war effort running smoothly. These companies were transferred to the Labour Corps in February 1917.
The Labour Corps was made up of men who had been in the front line but who were unfit to return because of wounds or illness. They also included men who, on enlistment, were found to be too old or not fit enough to be sent to the front. Samuel Shears appears to have fallen into this second category. His duties on the home front would have included helping in stores, transporting equipment, repairing roads and possibly even manning theatres and cinemas. By November 1918, some 400,000 men served in the Labour Corps.
In April 1917 Samuel was transferred to the 3rd Battalion the Labour Corps. Less than two months later, on 7 June, he was assigned to 303 Reserve Labour Company and then on 18 July to 380 Home Service Labour Company with the service number 37762.
In August 1918 Samuel was discharged from the Army on health grounds for a second time, on this occasion for chronic bronchitis. On 2 September he was issued with the Silver War Badge, to distinguish him in civilian life as someone who had served in the military. He died in Winchester, aged 52, on 5 February 1919, possibly from Spanish flu exacerbated by his chest problems. It is not known whether Samuel was buried or cremated after his death. Interestingly, despite official records showing that Samuel died in Winchester, no trace can be found of him living in the city after 1916.
Family after the Great War
Samuel Shears Jnr also served in the Great War. In 1915 he enlisted twice in Winchester to serve with the Hampshire Carabiniers Yeomanry. His first attestation papers are dated 14 June 1915 when he was just 15 years old. His service number was 1764. Samuel Jnr enlisted again on 6 November and his second attestation papers state that he had previously served with the Carabiniers but been discharged. Samuel gave his age as 16 years and 9 days which, even if true, meant he was still underage for military service. However, he appears to have been accepted by the Army and was given the service number 45495 (later 210305). Despite his father’s health problems, his physical condition was described as ‘good’ – he was 5ft 7ins tall, weighed 9st and had a 34in chest. His employment was given as vanman.
Samuel Jnr went on to serve in France with the Hampshire Carabiniers before being transferred to the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Worcestershire Regiment (service number 207339), possibly when the Carabiniers were disbanded in 1917. He also appears to have served with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Both Samuel Jnr and his father are listed in the Winchester War Service Register.
Samuel Jnr survived the war and went on to marry Bessie Price in Winchester in 1925. In 1939 the couple were living at 59a Colebrook Street. Samuel Jnr died at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital Winchester in 1949, aged 48 or 49. He is buried at Magdalen Hill Cemetery (grave No.6 12/66 p.75 in register).
Of Samuel Shears Snr’s other close family members, only two can be traced to Winchester after the Great War. His daughter Mabel died there in June 1975, aged 77. His sister Sarah had married Edward Spencer in 1874 and after his death in 1886 she lived at 52, Water Road, Winchester, with her five children. Sarah died of congestion of the lungs on 19 October 1934, aged 67.
Medals and Memorials for Samuel Shears
Private Samuel Shears was not entitled to any military medals because he never served in a theatre of war. He is mentioned on the memorials at St Matthew’s and St Paul’s churches, Winchester.