Edward was born in the second quarter of 1884 in Burscough, the son of Nathan Pye and his wife Harriet (nee Cooper) who married in 1876. He was baptised on the 01st June 1884 in Ormskirk.
Edward's father Nathan died in the March quarter of 1888, aged 36. His death was registered in Ormskirk.
On the 1891 Census Edward is aged 7 and a scholar living at 76 Ormskirk Road with his widowed mother Harriet, who is a 34 year old charwoman. There are three siblings listed in the household; John William 11 scholar, Edward 8 scholar, and Enoch 5 scholar, all born Lydiate.
By the time of the 1901 Census, Edward's mother had remarried. She was now Harriet Sephton. The family were living at Back Lane, Lathom. Edward is shown as step son of John Sephton, he is now aged 17 and a colliery jigger boy. His mother is 45 years of age and was born in Lathom, whilst his step father is a coal miner hewer born in Ormskirk in 1846. Edward's three siblings are listed as; Margaret aged 24, Nathan aged 18 and Enoch 14. There are three half sisters Lily 8, Elsie 5 and Reita 4 plus a half brother newborn Moses.
The 1911 Census shows the family living at Back Lane, Westhead, Ormskirk, Lancashire. Edward's stepfather, John Sephton, is aged 62 and employed underground in a colliery, his mother, Harriet, is aged 52 born 1859 with no occupation listed. They have been married for eighteen years. They have four sons living with them, Edward aged 27 and working as a colliery drawer, Enoch aged 24, born 1887 works underground in a colliery, Harry Sephton aged 10, born 1901 and John Sephton aged 7, born 1904 are both at school.
Edward married Evelyn Jane Jenkinson in the second quarter of 1911 in St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Ormskirk. Their daughter Harriet was born in 1912 but sadly died at 12 months old.
Their next child, another daughter, Margaret Hilda, was born on the 03rd August 1913. She was placed in an institution, date not known, Brockhall Institution for Mental Defectives at Langho, near Blackburn.
Edward enlisted at Southport in the 14th Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment in about December 1914 (based on the amount of the War Gratuity), as Private 25356. The battalion trained in Eastbourne and Seaford, and shipped to France on 5th September 1915. They entrained for Marseilles and from there embarked in October for Salonika. They fought in the Battles of Horseshoe Hill in August 1916 and Machukovo in September 1916, where Edward was wounded.
He was mentioned in the Ormskirk Advertiser on 12th October 1916:
“Private Edward Pye, of Scarth Hill, Ormskirk, who had been reported missing for several days with the forces in Salonika, has returned to the camp rather badly wounded. One of his comrades, Private Stanley Spencer, sends this information in a letter received this week.”
The battalion saw further action at Doiran in 1917. They then moved to the Western Front in June 1918, via Itea in Greece and Taranto, Italy, and were absorbed by the 18th Battalion K.L.R. in August, becoming the 18th (Lancashire Hussars), The King’s (Liverpool Regiment). Troops of the 14th Battalion were usually given home leave after arriving in France, so it is hoped that Edward saw his family once again.
The 100 Days Offensive, the Allied push that would eventually bring the war to an end, begins in August, and by early October the 18th Battalion arrives at the Hindenburg Line in the region of Bony. The Allies pursue the retreating German Army and on 08th November 1918, in what would be their last engagement of the war, the 18th Battalion attacks the Germans near Marbaix.
Edward was wounded and died of his wounds three days before the Armistice.
He now rests in Le Cateau Military Cemetery, Nord, France.
Le Cateau-Cambrésis and the country to the west of it was the scene of a battle fought by the British II Corps on 26 August 1914 against a greatly superior German force. The town remained in German hands from that date until the evening of 10 October 1918, when it was rushed by the 5th Connaught Rangers and finally cleared a week later. During the war Le Cateau had been a German railhead and the site of an important hospital centre. The military cemetery was laid out by the Germans in February 1916 with separate plots for the Commonwealth and German dead. It contains the graves of over 5,000 German soldiers, many of whom were buried during the occupation, the rest being brought in from other German cemeteries after the Armistice. A separate plot contains the graves of 34 Russian prisoners of war who died in captivity. The Commonwealth plot is the site of almost 700 graves and commemorations of the First World War. The majority of the graves in Plots I, III, IV and V are those of British dead buried by the Germans, mainly from the battleground of 1914; Plot II contains entirely graves of October and November 1918, eight of which were brought in after the Armistice.
The pension card shows his widow Evelyn Jane, at Corporation Hospital, Linacre Lane, Bootle. Sadly, Evelyn died in February 1919 aged 30. Helena Annie Lea, of Churchill Road, Halsall Lane, Aughton, became the guardian of their daughter Margaret.
His effects of nearly £90 and a War Gratuity of £22 went to Brockhall Mental Hospital for the maintenance and benefit of his daughter Margaret Hilda. Margaret lived in Brockhall until it was closed in 1992. She remained in the area and died in 2002.
Edward is commemorated on the following Memorials:
Lathom and Burscough Cross
St. James, Westhead, Ormskirk
His mother, Harriet, died in the March quarter of 1930, aged 73.
We currently have no further information on Edward Pye, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.
