The Hope Cove history blog

Tuesday, 4th July, 2023

Bill Jarvis - Unsung Hero

William Thomas Jarvis

1894 – 1969

A long time ago I was having a conversation with an old friend about how all young people these days know all the answers. “However,” she said, “My daughter is so naïve she doesn’t even know the questions.” I am often reminded of that. Daily as a child playing in the garden I would see this old gentleman walk past on his way home. I say “old gentleman” but he was actually around 60 at that time. He walked at a fair turn of speed despite having a stiff leg caused by war injuries. He would always pass the time of day with us and of course we were aware of his disability. However, at that time I didn’t know the questions to ask.

Bill was born at South Huish in 1894. His parents were living at Rugwell so that is probably the actual place – within the parish of South Huish.

His parents were John Henry Jarvis (1866 - 1936) and Eliza nee Brooking (b 1872). John’s mother’s maiden name was Nettle. Yvonne Pike, Bill’s granddaughter has traced Bill’s heritage in the parish to a Thomas Jarvis  in 1727 so Bill was a South Huish boy through and through.

In 1901 Bill is living with his parents and family in one of the cottages at Rugwell. His father was a Farm Labourer probably working at Burleigh farm which is just a few yards up the lane. His brother Albert was also a well-known horseman. He lived at Galmpton in one of the cottages between Ben’s Close and Eliot’s.

The owner of Burleigh farm was a Mary Lindon and her son, some 29 years older than William, was clearly impressed with the young man’s prowess with horses because when he left home to work at Blackdown, Blackawton, he took William with him to work as a horseman on the farm. Below is the census return for 1911.

Unfortunately, his time at the farm was cut short because war with Germany was declared on 4 August 1914. William, or Bill as he came to be known, was of value to the war effort because of his skills with horses and it would seem most likely that this would have been his role in the army. In barely over a month after the declaration of war Bill enlisted with the Devonshire Regiment on 9^th September 1914. A prayer book given to him by the army shows he was in C company, 1st Devon Regiment with the service number 11481.

He was described at the time as fair haired, fair skin and 5’4 inches tall weighing 136 pounds with blue eyes so he was by no means a big man, but he was certainly courageous.

Unfortunately, more than half of the WW1 service records were destroyed in September 1940, when a German bombing raid struck the War Office repository in Arnside Street, London. The records to which I have had access are taken from those that survived but were much damaged. Fortunately, however, his granddaughter Yvonne has original copies of other documents which show the extent of his injuries and the long-term effects.

The importance of heavy horses and their operators can be gauged in this picture taken in Kingsbridge in 1914. Farmers from all over the area brought their horses to sell to the army. Many businesses were also affected and could not make deliveries asking customers to collect their purchases.

Image supplied by the Totnes Image Bank and used with their permission.

In August 1914 the Regiment landed at Le Havre and were straight into the horrors of the Western Front and Bill was involved around the infamous Ypres area. During the first month they had 100 casualties through heavy shelling but in October they had helped to capture the Givenchy Ridge. This advance was costly though with them losing two thirds of their officers and one third of their men.

The carnage amongst men and animals Bill would have encountered can be seen in this picture of an artillery unit.

He sustained his first injury at Zillebeke on the 22 – 4 – 15. He was patched up and sent back within a week – this time to Oosthoek where he was injured again less than a month later. Zillebeke is the area of some the most famous and most bloody battles of the war with huge numbers of casualties on both sides.

His injuries seem to have put an end to the horror for him, and he was discharged from the army on the 18^th May 1916. Presumably he was in a Military Hospital for some time because he didn’t go home until the 8^th August 1916. Up until then he was expected to return for duty on 24^th March 1917 and to go to France the next day.

Bill sustained serious injuries from shrapnel fragments many of which he had to live with for the rest of his life. He also suffered three bullet wounds in his leg.

Back in England and the peace of the South Hams, Bill went back to live with his family who were still living at Rugwell and John Henry was still working at Burleigh Farm.

Bill started working on his own account as a carrier and so was still working with horses.

In 1921 Bill met and fell in love with a young woman by the name of Irene Shillabeer, whose mother was a Kelland. She was the daughter of a laundress called Susan. She appears to have been born and lived at Malborough, but this could well have been Inner Hope as it was in Malborough parish at that time.

They married and the 1939 Census shows them living in the Square, next door to Irene's mother, in The Square, Inner Hope with their son Leonard. The picture below shows the young family.

Their second son Lawrence came along in 1929.

As can be seen below in the doctor's report,  Bill’s injuries gave serious problems for some many years after his discharge. He was also unable to bend his leg although he managed to get enough mobility to obtain work as a gardener. The report gives an insight into the character of the man.

He was well known in the area and in 1925 he took part in The Malborough Exhibition. His horse and trailer are at the end of this procession in the image below.

He kept active despite the shrapnel injuries which caused problems all his life. The picture below from a bye-gone age shows Bill on the left of the group.

When he died in 1969 his friend Peter Maw wrote a tribute in the local newspaper which included these words about “One of Hope Cove’s best known and beloved characters”. He described Bill as a “kindly, good-hearted friend and a likeable character.”

“He had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the area in which he lived, and many had listened for hours to his yarns about the countryside.”

Well Mr Jarvis, – he was never “Bill” to me – you were a true local hero and I know the questions now and wish I had known them then.

Thanks for the information given by William's Granddaughter Yvonne Pike and to the Totnes Image Bank who maintain a wealth of old images of the South Hams.

Colin Trenear Harvey – 15 June 2023

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