Perkins family members who served in World War 1
Perkins family members who served in the Great War
Four members of the family lost their lives while serving in the armed forces and a further four saw active service in World War 1.
The dates shown are often birth or baptism dates from our database, not necessarily those shown on service records, and parishes shown are parish of birth, where known, not the parish in which individuals were living when they joined up.
Notes on our list, abbreviations used etc
Father and two sons
- Thomas T Perkins (1854-1915) husband of Lucy Mary, Colour Sergeant, Royal Berkshire Regiment, died of pneumonia, not in official Roll of Honour
- Thomas Alfred Perkins MC (1883-1916) husband of Agnes Millicent, CSM Royal Berkshire Regiment, killed in action, in official Roll of Honour
- Walter Charles Perkins (1885-1915), in official Roll of Honour
Jersey connections
The Jersey connections of this family are somewhat tenuous. None of the three family members who died while in service during the war was born in Jersey, although the father of Thomas T Perkins was a Jerseyman, and his son was living in Pier Road, St Helier, when war broke out.
According to the 1891 census, when the family was living in the Royal Berkshire Regiment Military Barracks in Reading, Thomas T Perkins, a Colour Sergeant in the Royal Berkshire Regiment, was born in Portsmouth in 1853. His wife Lucy, who was three years younger, was born in Arlesford, Hampshire. They had six children, Thomas (1884- ), Walter (1885- ), (William (1886- ) and Beatrice, Florence and Lucy, all younger.
By the next census, when the family was living in Maidenhead, Berks, there were four more sons and one more daughter. The family was living at 21 York Road, and father Thomas was still serving in the Royal Berkshire Regiment as a Colour Sergeant Instructor.
By 1911 Thomas had left the Army and moved to Jersey with Lucy and ten of their children. They were living at 34 Pier Road. The two eldest boys, Thomas and Walter, were not part of the household and it is believed that both of them had already joined their father's former regiment.
Outbreak of war
When war broke out Thomas snr decided to re-enlist, but in 1915, at the age of 61, when he was involved in recruiting duties, he caught a chill and died of pneumonia a few days later. It appears that his wife and younger children had returned from Jersey to England by the time of his death.
Walter was serving with the regiment in the Pas de Calais area of northern France when he was killed in action at the age of 30, a few weeks later, on 17 May. He was a Private, and had already served in India with his regiment.
Thomas reached the rank of Company Sergeant Major and was awarded the Military Cross in September 1916 for conspicuous gallantry. The London Gazette announcement read:
- "When his Company officers had been disabled he carried on with great coolness and courage during three days of intense bombardment. He moved freely about to keep the men at work."
He was expected to return to England to receive the Military Cross but was killed in action just a week later.
The Evening Post report of his death referred to two more of his brothers still serving in the Army, but they do not appear in the official 1919 Roll of Service, nor in the updated CIGWSG digital version.
Official records
Ironically, the 1919 Roll of Honour does not mention Thomas snr, whose connections with the island were strongest, having a father, and possibly both parents born in the island, but it does list Thomas jnr and Walter, who only had a Jersey grandfather and appear never to have lived in Jersey.
Other family members
Sons of Mark John Perkins and Jane Elizabeth Amy
- Ernest Alfred Perkins (1890- ) (St H) , Musician, Royal Marines, HMS Lord Nelson
- George Frederick Perkins (1879- ) (St H) , Private, RJGB
- Frederick Archibald Perkins, Colour Sergeant, Tank Corps, no local connection found
- George Arthur Perkins (St H), Private, RJGB, no local records found
