Robert Wait Turnbull was born in 1878, the illegitimate first child to parents Ann Turnbull and William Wait a coal miner at North Seaton Colliery. Ann and William later married on 14th September 1878 at Woodhorn Church. The family lived in tied accommodation to the Colliery starting in the 1881 Census at 68 North Seaton Colliery Cottage, before moving to 262 High Cross Row, and then 2 Cross Row by the 1901 census, where Robert is mentioned as being 22 and working as a hewer.
Robert married Elizabeth Jane Clarke on 18th December 1902 at Woodhorn Church and in 1905 they have moved to Pont Street, Hirst and had their first son Thomas. By 1911, Robert is still working as a hewer and now living at 4 Single Row, North Seaton Colliery, but sometime after 1914 enlists with the Royal Garrison Artillery to fight in the Great War.
From information gleaned from his Medal Card, which was obtained through the National Archives, we see he was a gunner with the Royal Garrison Artillery, Rank number 376361. In family photographs he is shown with his brother William, also in RGA uniform. In a record from the absent voters list of 1918 [ER/6/32] his family are now at 8 Second Single Row and his service number, rank and battery number has been given as 376361 Lance Bombardier with the 44th Siege Battalion British Empire Forces.
The 44th Siege Battalion was sent over to France and landed on 24th January 1916 with two 12 inch railway howitzers. The battalion served on the Western Front, at Meault near Albert. In 1917 the 44th Siege Battalion was part of the 26th Heavy Artillery Group, with the 1st, 11th and 12th Howitzer Royal Marine Artillery, and the 52nd and 89th Siege Batteries of the Royal Garrison Artillery. They fought under Lieutenant General Sir Julian Byng in the Battle of Arras, (9th April – 16th May 1917) supporting the Canadian Corps in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. A war diary giving a full account of the Royal Garrison Artillery 44th Siege Battalion 1916-1918 is kept at the National Archives [WO 95/545].
After the war Robert returned to mining. On his death certificate he is shown as living at 4 Quality Row, Cambois, and working as a shifter in a coal mine up until his death aged 64 on 10th January 1943. He was buried at St. Johns Church, Seaton Hirst, on 16th January 1943.
Robert’s brother, William, was born on 6th September 1894, the fifth child and second son. In the 1911 census, William is mentioned as being 16 and working as a Putter, moving tubs of coal to and empty tubs from the shaft.
After war broke out in 1914, William Joined the Royal Garrison Artillery. From the copy of his medal card obtained from the National Archives we have discovered his regimental number was 138491 and his rank Corporal. Unfortunately, the Absent Voters List for 1918 for the Wansbeck Area [ER/6/32] has very little information to offer other than his name and address.
For further information on William’s war record I will need to go to the National Archives at Kew, as they hold the Medal Rolls [WO 329/285] for the Royal Garrison Artillery, and by finding his name in the list I should find further details as to his battalion, and possibly information on where he was stationed during the war.
For William’s service in the Great War he was awarded the British and Victory Medal. After the war William returned to work in North Seaton Colliery on coal cutting. He married Evelyn Hudspith in 1921 and had a daughter Ann born in 1922. On 29th April 1929 while working underground coal cutting, William sustained an injury through a fall of stone from which he died five days later on 3rd May 1929, aged 34. His death is commemorated in a family silk bookmark.