Stuart William PAYNE (1895–1918)
© Images & Voices,
Oxfordshire County Council
See also Stuart’s older brother, Charles Austin Payne
Stuart William Payne was born in Oxford in 1895, the son of Charles Thomas Payne (born in Oxford and baptised at St Aldate’s Church on 7 July 1867) and Stella Austin (born in Ambrosden in 1863). His parents were married in the Headington Registration District (which includes the St Giles’ area) in the fourth quarter of 1889 and had four children:
- Charles Austin Payne (born at 33 Plantation Road, Oxford on 2 July 1890 and baptised at SS Philip & James Church on 7 August)
- Jessie Kate Payne (born at St Giles’ Cottage, Oxford on 19 September 1891 and baptised at SS Philip & James Church on 15 November)
- Stuart William Payne (born in Oxford on 13 April 1895 and baptised at SS Philip & James Church on 2 May)
- Florence Margaret Payne (born in Oxford on 18 July 1899 and baptised at St Margaret’s Church on 27 August).
At the time of the 1891 census his family was living at St Giles Cottage in the Banbury Road (on the corner of Bardwell Road), and his father was working as a gardner. Within a year the family had moved to at 78 Kingston Road (then in SS Philip & James parish, but in St Margaret’s parish from 1896). Stuart’s father was now a self-employed dairyman, as his own father had been before him.
At the time of the 1901 census Stuart (5) was living at 78 Kingston Road with his father Charles (34), his mother Stella (37), and his siblings Charles (10), Jessie (9), and Florence (1), and his grandmother Eliza Payne (73).
At the time of the 1911 census Stuart (15) was working as a college servant (probably at Christ Church), and was living at 78 Kingston Road with hiis father Charles (44), his mother Stella (37), and his siblings Charles (20), who was a dairyman, Jesssie (19), and Florence (10). The family also had a boarder.
In the First World War Stuart William Payne first served in the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (Service No. 14569), and then as as a Lance Corporal in the 7th Battalion of the Duke of Edinburgh’s (Wiltshire Regiment) (Service No. 14010).
He was killed in action in France at the age of 23 on 7 October 1918 and is buried at the Guizancourt Farm Cemetery, Gouy (A.30). He is remembered on the war memorial outside St Margaret’s Church in north Oxford and in the roll of honour of Christ Church, where he worked as a servant.
Left: Photograph of S. W. Payne’s grave in France, kindly supplied by British War Graves. The text reads:
[Emblem of the Wiltshire Regiment]
14010 LANCE CPL.
S. W. PAYNE
WILTSHIRE REGIMENT
7TH OCTOBER 1918 AGE 23
†
IN LOVING MEMORY
OF MY DEAR SON
NEVER FORGOTTEN
This is one of the 40% of war graves that bears a personal message at the end (for which the family had to pay 3½d per letter).
The words “my dear son” on Stuart’s grave shows that Mrs Payne chose the words after the death of her husband near the beginning of 1920.
Right: Stuart William Payne’s name on the First World War Memorial in Christ Church cathedral. It is listed in the section at the end for college servants.
Stuart's older brother Charles Austin Payne died of wounds in France at the age of 28 just thirteen days later, on 20 October 1918.
After the War
Stuart’s parents
- Charles Thomas Payne continues to be listed in directories as a dairyman at 78 Kingston Road until his death at the age of 53. He was buried at Wolvercote Cemetery on 12 March 1920.
- Mrs Stella Payne was living at 78 Kingston Road in the 1921 census with her daughter Florence (21), who was a draper's assistant at Webber's in the High Street. She remained at that address until 1927. At the time of the 1939 Register she was living at 16 Morrell Avenue with her daughter Jessie Taylor and her family. She died at the age of 84, and was buried at Wolvercote Cemetery on 23 December 1947.
Stuart’s sisters
- Jessie Kate Payne (born 1891) sailed for Canada in 1920 to marry Harry S. Taylor in Winnipeg. At the time of the 1939 Register she was living at 16 Morrell Avenue, Oxford with her husband Harry, who was a dyer, and their children, plus her mother. She died in Oxford in 1980.
- Florence Margaret Payne (born 1899) married the dentist Frederick George Barttrum at St Margaret’s Church on 9 April 1923. At the time of the 1939 Register she was living with her husband Frederick, who was a dentist on his own account, at 26 Hernes Road, Oxford. Florence died at 25 Stroud Lane, Christchurch, Hants at the age of 74 on 21 February 1973.
See also
- CWGC: Payne, Stuart William
- Oxford Journal Illustrated, 27 November 1918 , “Heroes of the War”: photograph of Stuart Payne, who had died seven weeks earlier
- Postcard: Kingston Road in 1906 (No. 78, where Stuart lived, was at the north-west end)
- Wikipedia: Wiltshire Regiment
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