George Henry Kingston FULLER (1879–1916)
Oxford Journal Illustrated, 13 September 1916
Reproduced by kind
permission of Oxfordshire
County Council, Oxfordshire History Centre
Parents and siblings
- Father: Philip FULLER: born in Pusey, Berkshire in 1857/8; died 1921
- Mother: Elizabeth CHAMBERLAIN: born in Charney, Berkshire in 1851/2
George’s parents were married in the Faringdon district in the fourth quarter of 1877. His father worked all his life as a gardener; and his mother had been deaf since the age of eight.
They had eight children, all of whom survived infancy:
- George Henry Kingston Fuller: born at Charney/Pusey in 1879 (reg. second quarter)
- Albert John Fuller (Bertie): born at Pusey in 1881 (reg. third quarter)
- Austin Fuller: born at Charney in 1882/3 (reg. first quarter of 1883)
- Emily Harriet J. Fuller: born at Charney in 1884 (reg. fourth quarter)
- Ethel Mabel Fuller: born at Charney in 1886 (reg. third quarter)
- William Montague Fuller: born at Charney in 1888/9 (reg. first quarter of 1889)
- Sydney Frank Fuller: born at Charney in 1891 (reg. third quarter)
- Jesse Fuller: born at Charney in 1894 (reg. third quarter)
At the time of the 1881 census, George was two years old, and his parents were living with him at Charney Road, Pusey in the home of his mother’s grandparents, the agricultural labourer Moses Chamberlain (67) and his wife Harriet.
By 1891, George’s parents had had five more children and were living in Charney, possibly at the same house as before, since Harriet Chamberlain had died in 1888, and Moses in Oxford in 1890. George (12) was now living in Oxford with his uncle Henry Kingston (a Magdalen College porter) and his wife Emily, and he never went back to live with his parents. Although it was his aunt who had been born in Charney and was therefore more likely to be his blood relation, George had been named after his uncle, and the fact that he was still at school at the age of 12 (unlike his younger brother) indicates that his prospects had been greatly improved by his move to Oxford to be brought up by childless and more prosperous relations, who had a servant of their own in 1891.
In 1901 George (22) was working as a printer, and The War Record of the Oxford University Press states that he was a monotype compositor. He was still living with his uncle and aunt at 4 & 5 Longwall Street. His sister Emily (17) had now also moved there and was working for her aunt, who kept a lodging house on the premises. Meanwhile his parents were back in Charney with four of their children, including Sydney and Jesse, born since the last census. His brothers Austin (18) and William (who was only 12) were already working as farm horse-men. Albert (19) lived at Pusey House Gardens where he was employed as a gardener; and Ethel (15) was the live-in nursemaid of a farmer in West Hanney.
On 26 September 1904 at St Matthew’s Church in Oxford, George Henry Kingston FULLER married Frances Susan CRIPPS. Frances (born in New Hinksey, Oxford in 1880, registered third quarter) was the daughter of a college servant, and lived with her parents at 62 Marlborough Road. At the time of the 1901 census, she had been working as a lady’s help. George was still living at Longwall Street at the time of his marriage.
They do not appear to have had any children.
The 1911 census shows George (32), a compositor, living with his wife Frances at 5 Alexandra Road in Osney. His uncle, now a widower, was still living at at 5 Longwall Street with a young housekeeper and working for Magdalen College, while his parents were back in Pusey with only one of their seven children at home: Ethel (24), who was now working as a housemaid. George’s brother Austin (28) was a waggoner on a farm in Streatley and married with three children; and William (22) was single, and a gardener, lodging at Paddockhurst Gardens, Worth, Sussex.
George Henry Kingston Fuller volunteered to serve in the First World War. He enlisted on 31 May 1915 in the 3/4th Battalion of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, and served in England until March 1916. He was then transferred to the 1/4th Battalion (Service No: 5043) and served as a Private in France. He was in engagements on the Somme, and was killed in action at Thiepval Wood at the age of 37 on 16 August 1916.
He has no known grave, but is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial (Pier and Face 10A & 10D). He is also listed on the Oxford University Press War Memorial.
Right: George H. K. Fuller's name on the
Oxford University Press war memorial. He is also on the Cowley St John war memorial
Aftermath
George Fuller’s parents
- Philip Fuller (born 1857/8) died in 1921 at the age of 63 (reg. Faringdon district second quarter).
George Fuller’s widow
- Mrs Frances Susan FULLER (born 1880) did not remarry. She was living at 106 St Mary’s Road in east Oxford just after the war, and was still there in 1966. She died in Oxford that year at the age of 86.
George Fuller’s siblings
- Austin Fuller (born 1882/3) married Sarah Green in the Bradfield registration district in the fourth quarter of 1903. At the time of the 1911 census they were living at Coombe Bottom, Streatley with their first three children: Archie Austin Fuller (6), Dorothy Gladys Fuller (4), and Flora Priscilla Fuller (2). They had five more children registered in the Bradfield district: Ida E. Fuller (1911); Kathleen M. Fuller (1913); Violet S. Fuller (1916); Ronald M. Fuller (1920); and Albert P. G. Fuller (1922)
- Emily Harriet J. Fuller (born 1884) married Walter R. Eldridge in the Faringdon district in the first quarter of 1912.
- Ethel Mabel Fuller (born 1886) is likely to be the Ethel M. Fuller who married Charles W. Ricketts in the Faringdon district in the first quarter of 1921.