Ralph Eustace Hemingway

James was one of the numerous family of James and Mary Hemingway. His father was a civil engineer and contractor. In 1871 James (36) and Mary (31) were living at Foden Bank House, Byrons Lane, Macclesfield. Five children were in the household on the night of the census: Charles Robert (10, b. Cardiff), James A (5, b. Attringham), Philip Crawshaw (2, b. Macclesfield), Francis (1, b. Macclesfield) and Allan (1m. b. Macclesfield). James and Mary employed a nurse and two domestic servants. Ralph's father died on 22 September 1879 at the age of 45. His eldest son, Charles Robert, was his executor (probate granted 22 October 1881). At the time of the 1881 census Mary was still living at Foden Bank House with her daughter, Edith (19) and her youngest sons, Francis (11), Alan S (10), George E (9), William TH (7), Frederick (6), Henry (4) and Ralph (3). She employed three servants including a nurse. Ralph attended a preparatory school in Worcestershire and was there on the night of the 1891 census. By this time his mother had moved to Park House, Longford, Gloucester, and at the time of the census her son Francis (21), a lieutenant in the Militia, was living with her; she employed three servants. By 1901 Ralph, now practising as an architect, was living at 'Redcourt', Derby Road, Nottingham, in the home of his eldest brother, Charles Robert Hemingway. Charles was a railway contractor and married with a large family. Also in the household was another brother, Philip (32), a civil engineer who was a widower. By 1911 Ralph's mother was living at 18 Downleaze, Stoke Bishop, Bristol, with her son Frank (Francis), a widower. Frank had returned to live with his mother having, in 1901, been a lodger in Hythe St Leonard. Mary Hemingway remained at that address until her death on 8 November 1924 at the age of 84. Philip Hemingway also served in the 8th Bn Sherwood Foresters during the war. Their nephew, James (Charles' eldest son), was killed on 9 May 1915, serving as a second lieutenant in the Seaforth Highlanders.

Educated Rugby Public School (photograph on Old Rugbeians website). Member Nottingham Union Rowing Club. Played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club (batsman), playing in 30 Nottinghamshire matches between 1903 and 1905 (NCCC website). He was a freemason (Nottinghamshire No 1434). He was an architect with a practice in Angel Row, Nottingham.

Sherwood Foresters Officers' Services Records has a record that he was a 2nd Lieutenant in October 1914. He arrived in France on 26 June 1915. Shortly before his death, Ralph was badly cut by glass in the face and hands when a periscope he was using was shot to pieces. (See newspaper report, 'Extra information') Ralph was killed during the action at the Hohenzollern Redoubt. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial (panels 87 to 89). He qualified for the 1915 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

Probate: HEMINGWAY Ralph Eustace of Nottingham. Lieutenant in Sherwood Foresters, died 14 October 1915, Administration London 10 June to Charles Robert Hemingway [brother] railway contractor. Effects £8,231 14s. Soldiers Effects: his brother, Charles Robert, was named as his next of kin and administrator. Extract from the Nottingham Evening Post dated 5th October 1915 : “SEC.-LIEUT. R. E. HEMINGWAY WOUNDED. “Sec.-Lieut. R. E. Hemingway, of the 8th Battalion Sherwood Foresters, who is reported wound[ed] in this morning’s casualty list, under date September 27th, has written to a friend in Nottingham as follows: “I believe I shall be in as a casualty, so I am writing to reassure you. I got chipped in the face and hands by glass from a periscope that somebody shot to bits. It was very trivial. My brother ( [Second Lieutenant Philip Crawshaw Hemingway, later promoted captain,) who was hit the same day in the hand, is now, I believe, in England.” Above extract curtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918