Thank you to Janet Mata for the following research and thank you to Susan Millard (granddaughter of Arthur) for the photograph and for additional details.
Arthur Stemp was the fourth of seven children of James and Susan Stemp of Great Bookham. James Stemp earned his living as a gardener. Young Arthur was baptised on 3rd March 1878 at St Nicholas Church in Bookham.
In 1881 the family were living at Beckley Cottages, Great Bookham
In 1891 were living at Northend, again in Great Bookham. By 1901 the Stemp family were still in Bookham, but by then Arthur, aged 23, had been in the army for a number of years and was serving as a Colour Sergeant in South Africa, later serving in India.
The 1911 census shows Arthur Stemp as a Colour Sergeant, a single man, at Warley Barracks, Brentwood in Essex.
In April that year he married Jessie Chitty of Westcott at St Nicholas Church in Great Bookham. Prior to her marriage Jessie was a general domestic servant at the “Blucher” Hotel in Effingham, employed by a licensed victualler, Charles Dodman and his wife.
The 1891 census return shows 7 year old Jessie Chitty living with her family (father a general labourer, and Jessie one of six children) in Chapel Lane, Westcott. Jessie is listed as a scholar, her two older brothers aged just 12 and 13, are both listed as “Carter Boy, Agricultural Labourer”.
Jessie and Arthur Stemp had a son, Arthur John, born on 5 July 1912 in army barracks in Essex.
As a career soldier, Arthur became a member of the Expeditionary Force in the first few months of the First World War and during this time was promoted to the rank of Company Sergeant Major.
He died during the Battle of Gehluvelt fought just east of Ypres and was first reported as missing in action, presumed killed. His name is one of those recorded on the Menin Gate Memorial.
The Battle of Gehluvelt was fought from 29th-31st October 1914. The German troops aimed to break through the British line and so clear the way to take Ypres. This German assault ultimately failed, but there was huge loss of life.
After the war, Jessie Stemp returned to live in Westcott and remarried in 1922.
| Son of | James and Susannah Stemp of Great Bookham, Surrey | |
| Husband of | Jessie Ethel May Parrott (formerly Stemp), of 8, Bailey Rd., Westcott, Dorking, Surrey. | |
| Regiment | B Company, 1st Battalion, Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment | |
| Number | L/5225 | |
| Date of Death | 31st October 1914 | |
| Place of Death | Ypres, Belgium | |
| Cause of Death | Killed in Action | |
| Age | 36 | |
| Memorial | Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial |
