Wilkins, Arthur William

Arthur was the eldest son of Charles Simon and Mary Jane (nee Winter) Wilkins, born at Ashwell, Hertfordshire on 27 June 1887.  He was a pupil at the Merchant Taylors School in Ashwell.

Nothing is known of Arthur’s military records except that he enlisted in May 1917 and  survived the War.

He is commemorated on the St Mary’s Church Ashwell Roll of Honour.

Arthur left school at 14 and worked as a labourer on a farm.  The 1911 census shows him as a horseman helper at on the Castle Fields estate, Buckingham, Buckinghamshire where his brother Harry also worked.

Arthur married Elizabeth Bullard at Ashwell in the 2^nd quarter 1914.  They had one son, Arthur Charles, who born on 16 August 1916 and christened at Therfield, Hertfordshire (where Elizabeth was born and raised), in October 1916.

The 1939 census shows the family living in the Parts of Lindsey district, North Lincolnshire and Arthur working as a signal and telegraph linesman for the LNER railway.

Arthur died at his home in High Street, Lincoln on 20 June 1977.

Arthur’s brother Prime Frederick died aged 17 in 1908 at Ashwell, Hertfordshire.  Arthur’s brother Percy was killed in action on the Western Front during WWI.  His brothers Harry and Albert Pretoria both saw active service in the War and survived.  Albert emigrated to Australia in 1923.