William FREEBURY

William FREEBURY,
Private 18864,
1st Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers

Born - Wroughton, Wiltshire
Enlisted - Pontypridd
Residence - Llanfabon

Died - 3rd September, 1916 - Western Front
Killed in action aged 35 yrs

Buried at Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval, France - Grave XV.D.4

Son of John Freebury, of 14, Union St., Swindon.

William FREEBURY is shown on the Cilfynydd War Memorial as W Freeburg.

tn_Delville_Wood

Delville Wood Cemetery,
Longueval
France

William Freebury headstone

I have researched William Freebury and can find his link to Nelson in that he resided in Llanfabon. In respect of the birthplaces of enlisting men, I have found that (as in the case of Thomas Churches in this site) there is a possibility that the birthplace actually records the Parish, and not the village or locality. I have not yet come across similar evidence for the place of residence. As such I believe that William did live in the Llanfabon locality. However, I do not know where, yet.

William was born between September and December 1882. He was one of four children born to John and Louisa Freebury. John came from Castle Eaton , Wiltshire and was born around 1847. Louisa came from Bourdon, Berkshire and was born there in around 1850.

They lived at:

Loomers Lane, Wroughton, Wiltshire where they had their family.

William was the oldest of the four children. He was born in 1882.
Edwin (Edward) was born in 1887
Roda was born in about 1889, and
Frederick was born in 1892.

In 1901 both John and William were shown as non-domestic grooms. Could this have been an association with the linen trade? Does their street name give it away.

In the years leading up to the First World War both William and Edwin came to the coal mining valleys. William lived in Llanfabon while I believe Edwin, who was later referred to as Edward may have lived in Cilfynydd, near Pontypridd.

This page is to the memory of William Freebury. However it is also know that Edwin Freebury fought and died in the First World War.

Edwin Freebury, Private 7159
‘D’ Company, 1st Battalion, Wiltshire regiment

Edwin was killed in action on 27th December, 1914, in the Ypres area of Belgium
His name is inscribed on panel 53 at the Menin Gate, Ypres

His name is also recorded with William’s name on the Cilfynydd War Memorial.
(Both names are shown as Freeburg which may be the correct family name, but may have been altered so as not to sound Germanic)

This page is to the remembrance of William and Edwin Freebury

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