Harold's Story.
Private Harold Hockinhull died of influenza and tuberculosis on 15th January 1919, at Bramshott military camp in Hampshire. He was 24 years old. He is buried at Cheadle and Gatley Cemetery, Stockport.
Harold was born on 8th February 1894, the third son of George Henry Hockenhull (1864 - ) and Sarah Bithell (1864-1949), at 1 Holt Street, Stockport, Cheshire. He was baptised on 11th March.
The 1901 census shows Harold, then aged 6, with a younger sister, two-year old Hettie and three older siblings (Stanley (11), Joseph (14) and Alice (15). His father was a hatter. By 1911, the family had moved to Number 5 Holt Street.
On 20th June 1914, aged 20, he married Elsie Finley (1894 - 19??) at St Mary’s Church, Stockport.
Immediately after the marriage, they emigrated from Liverpool to Boston, Massachusetts, USA, arriving on 2nd July 1914 and settled at 60 Eagle Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, where Harold earned a living as a grocery clerk. He returned to the UK after enlisting into the Canadian Army on 29th July 1918 in Montreal. His attestation papers show him to have been 5 feet 4 inches tall, of a medium complexion with grey eyes and light hair. Harold had recorded his religious denomination as Church of England.
Sent to England for training with his regiment, Harold was based at Bramshott military camp in Hampshire.
The camp for Canadian soldiers was established on the heathland between Bramshott and Liphook, row upon row of wooden huts for the men to sleep in, a hospital and open air theatre and stage. The camp was serviced from a line of hastily erected corrugated iron huts which kept the camp well provided for all its various needs, with a cafe, bank, shop, cinema and various other entertainments.
A large hospital was opened at Bramshott, Connaught Military Hospital, caring for those soldiers who were sick, succumbing to changes in climate and exposure to different viruses and bacteria. The war wounded also were brought here to be tended. Sadly many of the soldiers having survived the war fell victim to the Spanish flu pandemic that unleashed itself in 1918.
Private Harold Hockinhull died of influenza and tuberculosis on 15th January 1919. He was 24 years old. He is buried at Cheadle and Gatley Cemetery, Stockport. His parents' address at that time was 306 Edgeley Road, Stockport.
Research by Shena Lewington (December 2025)
The 1901 census shows Harold, then aged 6, with a younger sister, two-year old Hettie and three older siblings (Stanley (11), Joseph (14) and Alice (15). His father was a hatter. By 1911, the family had moved to Number 5 Holt Street.
On 20th June 1914, aged 20, he married Elsie Finley (1894 - 19??) at St Mary’s Church, Stockport.
Immediately after the marriage, they emigrated from Liverpool to Boston, Massachusetts, USA, arriving on 2nd July 1914 and settled at 60 Eagle Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, where Harold earned a living as a grocery clerk. He returned to the UK after enlisting into the Canadian Army on 29th July 1918 in Montreal. His attestation papers show him to have been 5 feet 4 inches tall, of a medium complexion with grey eyes and light hair. Harold had recorded his religious denomination as Church of England.
Sent to England for training with his regiment, Harold was based at Bramshott military camp in Hampshire.
The camp for Canadian soldiers was established on the heathland between Bramshott and Liphook, row upon row of wooden huts for the men to sleep in, a hospital and open air theatre and stage. The camp was serviced from a line of hastily erected corrugated iron huts which kept the camp well provided for all its various needs, with a cafe, bank, shop, cinema and various other entertainments.
A large hospital was opened at Bramshott, Connaught Military Hospital, caring for those soldiers who were sick, succumbing to changes in climate and exposure to different viruses and bacteria. The war wounded also were brought here to be tended. Sadly many of the soldiers having survived the war fell victim to the Spanish flu pandemic that unleashed itself in 1918.
Private Harold Hockinhull died of influenza and tuberculosis on 15th January 1919. He was 24 years old. He is buried at Cheadle and Gatley Cemetery, Stockport. His parents' address at that time was 306 Edgeley Road, Stockport.
Research by Shena Lewington (December 2025)