Person:Benjamin Carwardine (1)

Benjamin John Carwardine was born on 4th August 1898 at Rochester in Kent, son of Mary Elizabeth (known as Lizzie) Carwardine, formerly King, and her husband Benjamin Carwardine, a dockyard labourer. The 1901 census finds young Benjamin living with his parents at 6 Pelican Yard in the Strood area of Rochester. Benjamin has not been found in the 1911 census, but his parents and younger sisters had moved to nearby Chatham, where they were living at 57 Best Street.

Benjamin turned sixteen on the day on which Britain declared war on Germany in the First World War. It seems that Benjamin joined the army, serving as a private in the 16th Lancers.

After the war Benjamin worked as a labourer and moved to Sutton at Hone in Kent. He was married there on 4th June 1921, aged 22, to Margaret Meekins, who was just sixteen.

Benjamin and Margaret went on to have four daughters between 1922 and 1927. Three of the four were born in Kent, but the third child was born on the Isle of Wight, where two of Margaret’s older siblings lived.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Benjamin and Margaret were living at Gildenhill Farm Cottages in Swanley (at the time still part of the civil parish of Sutton at Hone). Benjamin was working as a horseman on the farm and was also a part time Air Raid Precautions officer. Margaret was a farm worker.

Benjamin died in 1983, aged 85. Margaret survived him by nearly eleven years.

1. ↑ Births index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   b. Benjamin John CARWARDINE, September Quarter 1898, Medway Registration District, Volume 2a, page 654, mother’s maiden name King

2. ↑ England. England. 1901 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG13; Piece 720; Folio 118; Page 14, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 6 Pelican Yard, Strood Intra (civil parish), Rochester (city), Kent
   3 rooms occupied
   Benjamin Carwardine, head, married, male, 31 [1869/70], Dockyard Labourer, worker, b. Rochester, Kent
   Lizzie Carwardine, wife, married, female, 25 [1875/6], b. Rochester, Kent
   Benjamin Carwardine, son, male, 3 [1897/8], b. Rochester, Kent

3.   UK World War I Service Medal & Award Rolls (The National Archives, Kew).

   Corps of Lancers
   Regimental No. L/11441
   Rank: Pte.
   Name: CARWARDINE, Benjamin
   GS/23259.16”Lcrs.Pte
   Class “Z” A. Res. 7-3-19.
   Place: Canterbury

   The coded details here do not definitely prove that this is the same Benjamin, but there does not appear to have been another Benjamin Carwardine in England of an age to fight in this war.

4. ↑ General Register Office. 1939 Register
   Dartford Rural District, 29 Sep 1939.

   Address: Gilden Hill Farm Cottages, Swanley, Sutton at Hone, Kent
   Carwardine, Benjamin J. / male / b. 4 Aug 1898 / married / Horseman on Farm / A.R.P. Part Time
   Carwardine, Margaret / female / b. 23 Feb 1905 / married / Farm Worker
   [one record closed]
   Carwardine [later crossed out and replaced with “Cornwall”], Hannah M. / female / b. 10 Aug 1924 / single / Farm Worker

5. ↑ Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. Benjamin John CARWARDINE, September Quarter 1983, Gravesend Registration District, Volume 16, page 0736, b. 4 Aug 1898

   A public member tree on Ancestry gives Benjamin’s date of death as 27th August 1983, apparently being taken from his gravestone at Swanley churchyard.

6. ↑ 1921 Census of England and Wales.

   Address: Homefield Farm, Sutton at Hone, Kent
   Carwardine, Benj[amin] J. / head / 22y 10m [1898] / male / married / b. Rochester, Kent / Horse Driver / J. Langlands, Farmer, Homefield Farm, Sutton at Hone
   Carwardine, Mar[garet] / wife / 17y 4m [1904] / female / married / b. Woolwich, Kent / Field Worker / J. Langlands, Farmer, Homefield Farm, Sutton at Hone