Hector Harris Penduck

Memorial: Thornbury - St Mary's Church

Regiment: Royal Army Medical Corps

Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal

Rank and number: Private 1946

Parents: William and Elizabeth Penduck

Home address: 2 Castle Street, Thornbury

Pre-war occupation: Cabinet Maker

Date of birth: 1888

Place of birth: Thornbury, Bristol

Date of death: 01/02/1915

Buried/Commemorated at: Thornbury Cemetery (Church. 594.), Bristol

Age: 26

Further information:

Bronze Tablet and Wooden Memorial Board

Hector Harris Penduck was born in Thornbury, his birth being registered in the June quarter of 1888 and he was baptised at St Mary’s Church on 2nd October1889. However in both cases his surname was given as Johnson because his father was born William Johnson, he had been unofficially adopted at the age of ten by Sarah Penduck of Thornbury and was generally known under the surname Penduck. Hector had an older brother and sister, their father was a cabinet maker and furniture dealer. At the time of the 1911 census the whole family were involved in the business and Hector was working as a cabinet maker

Hector joined the Royal Army Medical Corps, using the surname Penduck, and served as a Private at Southmead, one of the sites in the Bristol area used by the 2nd Southern Military Hospital

Hector died of ‘a somewhat severe but short illness’ thought to be pneumonia. He was accorded a full military funeral. His body was conveyed to St Mary’s Church on the parish hand hearse, his coffin covered with a Union Jack. The officiating ministers were the Rev. Canon A.W. Cornwall, Vicar of Thornbury, and the Rev. G.R. Wood, who was possibly connected with the Military Hospital. Reports of the funeral in the local press said that, in addition to family and friends, about 100 members of the Medical Corps attended the funeral procession, including nurses from the Bristol Infirmary and Maudlin Street. He was buried, under the name of Hector Harris Penduck Johnson, in Thornbury Cemetery on 5th February 1915. The grave was covered with floral tributes

Hector’s brother Arthur, known as Archie, served throughout the war, mainly in the R.A.M.C. based at 2nd Southern Military Hospital

By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):

Thornbury Roots Website. Thornbury and District Museum Research Group. Forces War Records and the CWGC