Peter Davidson

Forename(s):
Peter

Surname:
Davidson

Initial(s):
P

Service Number:
17400

Rank:
Lance-Corporal

Regiment:
Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment), 7th (Service) Battalion

Died:
06/03/1917

Aged:
25

Buried:
St. Sever Cemetery & Extension, Rouen.

Service History:
Enlisted at Alnwick, Northumberland.

Died of wounds received.

Rouen was the location of the Commonwealth camps & hospitals during the majority of the war. There were eight general, five stationary, one British Red Cross & one labour hospital. The majority of the dead were buried in the city cemetery at St. Sever, but in September 1916 it was found necessary to begin an extension. It is in the extension that Davidson was buried in 1917, the last burial taking place there in 1920.

Background:
Born in 1892 at Whittingham, Northumberland, & resident there.

In 1901 Davidson was living with Isabella Lockie (b.1820) & her daughter, also Isabella (b.1852), a Charwoman at Rothill, Whittingham. There is no mention of his parents in the census records.

Isabella Snr. was the widow of William Lockie (b.1814 at Kirknewton). They had two sons older than Isabella Jnr., Peter (b.1843) & Leonard (b.1848). There was also a younger daughter, Margaret (b.1857) who married Robert Davidson in the Glendale district at the end of 1889. They appear to have had three children - William (b. 1892), then Davidson & a daughter Isabella Esthar (or Esther; b.1897).

In 1911 Davidson, then 18, was a Forester on an estate & was still living at Rothill. Isabella Snr. had died & Isabella Jnr., aged 59, was the head of the household. Davidson is listed as her nephew. Living at the same address was his older brother, William, a Shepherd, & his sister Isabella Esthar (Esther), still at school. There were also 2 boarders, Bert Leveridge, a single man, aged 31, & William Forster, married & aged 30. Both were Wood Waggoners, so possibly they worked alongside Davidson. His parents remain a bit of a mystery.

Davidson's sister, Isabella Esther, is recorded as the sole legatee on the UK, Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects, 1901-1929 (available via Ancestry.co.uk).

Local Memorial:
Whittingham, Roll of Honour in St. BartholomewÂ’s Church Whittingham & Callaly 1914-1918 Memorial Stone