JOSEPH ALEXANDER KNOTT
In common with so many other men from Portsmouth, Joseph Alexander Knott owed his presence in the borough entirely to his father's service with the army.
His father, also known as Joseph, was born in Upchurch, Kent in 1868. His mother was Mary Ann, born at Gillingham in Kent, who married Joseph around 1894, possibly in India. Joseph (snr.) probably joined the Royal Artillery at an early age and rose to become a Sergeant Instructor in Gunnery in the 1890s. He was posted to several places around the world and was in Newbridge, Ireland in 1896 when the couple's first child Joseph Alexander was born. By 1900 he was serving at Clarence Barracks in Old Portsmouth where a daughter, Vera, was born.
Joseph Alexander was 17 years old at the outbreak of the Great War and probably joined the 9th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps the following year. The battalion was sent to France in May 1915 and was present at the Battle of the Somme in August 1916 when Joseph lost his life.
FURTHER INFORMATION
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) list Rifleman Joseph Alexander Knott, (A/2846), 9th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps, died 24/08/1916, age 19. Remembered on the Thiepval Memorial (Pier and Face 13 A and 13 B.). Son of Mrs. Knott, of 120, St. Augustine Rd., Southsea, Hants, and the late J. Knott, Serjt. Instructor (R.A.).
Joseph Knott is commemorated on the Trinity Methodist Church WW1 Memorial and the Cenotaph. He is not listed in "The National Roll of the Great War", Section X.
Tim Backhouse
September 2014