This group photo shows my great-great grandmother, Ann Western, with her family, circa 1886. In back (L-R) "Polly", William, and Sarah Jane. In front, Elizabeth Ann, with her daughter "Lily" on her lap, Ann, and Emma.
My great-grandfather, William Davie Western, standing in the back, was soon to leave the family and try making a living as a bricklayer and mason.
My great-great grandfather, Walter Western (on left), was about 80 when this picture was taken in 1920. His wife, Ann Western (Davie), passed away on May 10, 1921 , at about 86 years of age, and Walter passed away a few years later, on October 23, 1923 , a few days after reaching his 83rd birthday.
Ann's father, Richard Davie, was a relatively wealthy man and contributed a great deal to the financial well-being of his children and grand-children. He was the landlord of a few cottages in Ide, Devon, and several other houses and fields around Exeter. Perhaps in recognition of his generosity, the name Davie has appeared as a middle name in many of the children and grand-children.
Altogether Walter and Ann had ten children. The first boy and third child was my great-grandfather, William Davie Western, born in 1865 in Shaldon, Devon.
William Davie Western left home at an early age and eventually joined the Royal Engineers. He's seen here in the picture on the right with his older sister, Jennie, proudly posing in his new uniform.
W.D. rose through the ranks of the 11th Field Company of the Royal Engineers, and in 1891, Corporal W.D. Western married Bessie Annie Coleman. W.D. still continued to serve in the R.E. and eventually saw service in South Africa in the Boer War.
The Boer War (1899-1902)
In April of 1900, "acting Company Sergeant Major" W.D. Western finds himself constructing railway bridges to support the troops fighting the Boers further north. He writes in a letter home to his cousin:
We are [the] only 2 Sergeants left of 6 C.S.M., but one is a little better and up here with us. I have not had a day's illness since I have been out here but it is a beastly climate. I cannot imagine how people call it healthy and especially how we are situated, sometimes wet through and in damp things. There is no place to dry your things before the sun comes out the next day and very cold at night and flies by the thousand will not let you alone for a minute. It is not all beer and skittles out here. I do not say half of what we have to put up with; I have not had any beer since I left here before 10 weeks ago. I am contented, but all or nearly all, want me to ask the Capt to get a barrel for the [Company], but I am not for the present; it is 2/- qt here.
He was awarded the South African medal with clasps for "Cape Colony" and "Orange Free State" and the King's medal with clasps for 1901 and 1902.
About 3 years after their marriage, they had the first of their three daughters, Beatrice Anne Louise Western (1894). She is the older child, on the left, adjacent to her younger sister, Florence Blanche Western, born in 1897.
The two daughters can be seen again, below, with their new sister, Hilda May Western, born in 1900.
