RELATIVES of a soldier buried in a churchyard in Semington gathered together this month for a special service to pay tribute to the great-uncle they never knew existed.
In May this year, Melksham News ran a story on behalf of Semington Parish Council appealing for relatives of Frank Baden Farmer to come forward, to discuss the possibility of adding his name to the Semington War Memorial.
The soldier, who served in the army from 1915 to 1917 and died in 1921, is buried in a Commonwealth war grave in the churchyard of St George’s Church, alongside one other soldier, William Henry John Hancock.
Following the appeal, relatives of Frank Baden Farmer contacted local and military historian, Ray Heard, who was assisting the council with their search.
Great-nephew to Frank and son of 95-year old Victor Farmer, Frank’s nephew, Mark Farmer said, “We saw the story in the Melksham News. There was no mention of Frank from my dad growing up; Frank died before he was born, but you think he would have known about him – but not an inkling. It’s nice to know that he was given a proper war grave.”
Mark’s sister and great-niece to Frank, Elaine Gardiner added, “My father Victor, lived on Scotland Road in Melksham for 80 years. After finding out about Frank, I’ve found out that Frank’s parents had 20 children! He had 19 brothers and sisters – I couldn’t believe it. It makes you want to find out more.”
Siblings Mark and Elaine were joined by other great-nieces and nephews for a short ceremony in the churchyard, led by Reverend John Rees, followed by a minute’s silence.
Since the appeal in May, historian Ray has discovered that both soldiers did not die as a result of injuries from World War One, but the families of both soldiers were still offered the option of a Commonwealth war grave as they died before 31st August 1921 – the date of when Parliament officially declared the war to be over.
Ray explained, “We now know that we won’t be adding the names of Frank and William to the war memorial as their Commonwealth war graves were a request from the family,
“Families of any soldier who died before the official date of the end of World War one were offered the opportunity to have a Commonwealth war grave. The advantage to the family, at a time when money was short, was that the grave would be maintained in perpetuity – so every 10 years, the grave is inspected and cleaned – and this will always be ongoing.
“As to why Frank was buried in Semington – I’ve since discovered that Frank’s father was on the parish council.”
