On this Armistice Day let me introduce you to my sixth cousin twice removed George Frederick Culpin.
Fifth of the six children of Thomas & Emma (nee Carter), George was born in Thornhaugh, near Peterborough in 1888. In the following two census returns he is shown at home with the family and presumably, as soon as he was able, he followed his father and older brothers into life as a farm labourer.
But not for long as, by the 1911 census, he was serving in India as a private in the 2nd Battalion, The Black Watch, having enlisted in Edinburgh. The battalion returned from India at the outbreak of war and George, by now promoted Sergeant, was killed on 11 November 1914.
He has no known grave but is commemorated on the Menin Gate and the Thornhaugh War Memorial.
We will remember them.
1 comment:
Hello,
I was doing an internet search for George Culpin and saw your post. I think I can explain why he joined the Black Watch in Edinburgh, rather than an English regiment. During WW1, his name was one of several listed in the school magazine of Fettes College as a 'college man-servant' who had made the supreme sacrifice. I assume that he had gone to Edinburgh and worked at Fettes as a gardener (given his background) then joined the army up here. With best wishes,
David McDowell, History Dept., Fettes
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