FREDERICK HENRY WILLIAMSON
In a community where it was common for families to move house every few years Frederick Henry was unusual in living at the same address for the whole of his life up to the point he left the family. The stability he enjoyed must have been created by his parents Henry John Williamson (b. 1862 in Portsea) and Alice Maud May (b. 1864 in Portsea).
Henry John's parents were originally from Emsworth but moved to Portsmouth in the 1870s, probably because his father, also called Henry John was a Master Mariner and would have found more work there. The 1881 census records Henry John senr. (b. 1842) and his wife Maria (b. 1844) at 8 Sackville Street with their six children, the third of which was their only son Henry John jnr.
In 1886 Henry John jnr married Alice Maud Phillips and two years later they had their first child, Ethel Kate. Henry John's occupation at that time was described as Shipwright, but later he rose to become a draughtsman on the construction of ships. By 1891 they had settled into their long-term home at 48 Abingdon Road, off Somers Road, Southsea. Frederick Henry was born in the same year. Nothing is known of his early life but at the age of 13 years he began attending the Higher Grade School at the top of Victoria Road North.
Frederick Henry attended this school for four years, during which it was renamed the Secondary School, and before leaving had passed first the Junior and then the Senior Examinations of the College of Preceptors. During his apprenticeship as a Pupil Teacher in a Portsmouth school he succeeded in Matriculating at London University and then entered in 1909 the University College, Reading, for a two years' course of training.
Becoming qualified as a Certificated Teacher he was appointed an Assistant Master in the Omega Street Council School, where he was still serving in June, 1915, when he voluntarily joined the Army. He probably enlisted in the 3/9th Hampshire Regiment, but was afterwards transferred to the 2nd Hants, in which Battalion he acted as Musketry Instructor with the rank of Sergeant. Whilst serving on the Western Front he died in the "New Zealand" Hospital on the 9th May, 1918, and was buried at Longueness, near St. Omer.
Further Information
The photograph above is taken from a memorial booklet published by Southern Grammar School from which extracts also appear above.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) website lists Lance Sergeant Frederick Henry Williamson, (356105), 2nd Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, date of death, 09/05/1918, age 27, buried in Longuenesse (St. Omer) Souvenir Cemetery, Pas de Calais. Son of Henry John and Alice Maud Mary Williamson; husband of Marie Frances Williamson, of "Crofton," 69, Devonshire Avenue, Southsea, Portsmouth.
Frederick Williamson's name is remembered on the Southern Grammar School WW1 Memorial and on the Cenotaph.