Inscription
IN SACRED
AND
EVERLOVING MEMORY
OF
RONALD MOWBRAY
PRIVATE : MACHINE GUN CORPS,
YOUNGEST SON OF
R.B. AND A. HARVEY
FORMERLY OF NEWBARN, CALBOURNE
HE DIED OF WOUNDS AT
ESTAIRE FRANCE ON ON JUNE 12TH 1917
AGED 22
"Until the day break
and the shadows
flee away"
Further information
From CWGC Record :
Son of Mr. and Mrs. R. B. Harvey, of Thorley Lodge, Morley, Yarmouth, Isle of Wight.
CWGC record ...
A short biography of Ronald Harvey is held in All Saints Church, from which is taken the following :
"Ronald was the third child and second son of Richard and Alice Harvey, Richard, originally from Tapnells, and Alice, from Newport, had married
in 1889. They initially farmed at West Afton, but then moved to Newbarn Farm, Calbourne. Farming seems to have been a family affair with
several of the children listed in the 1911 Census as employed on the farm."
At some point after war was declared in Augst 1914, Ronald joined the Hampshire Regiment, probably the IW Rifles. Later he transferred
to the 170th Company of the Machine Gun Corps.
... The battle of Messines lasted from 7th to 14th June 1917. ... At some point
Ronald Harvey was wounded - it is reasonable to assume in the battle of Messines. He was taken to a casualty clearing station at Estaires, a
little further south and a few miles west of Armentieres. He died of his wounds on 12th June 1917.
... At some point after the war the Harvey family moved to Thorley Lodge. Ronald's name is not on the Calbourne War Memorial and the
family erected a plaque in Calbourne Church. Unusually for such a plaque, it records the death of a private soldier, not an officer.
Ronald's mother Alice died in 1930 aged 68, and his father Richard in 1947, aged 86."
-----------------
Richard Baker Harvey married Alice Mowbray in 1889 at All Saints Church, Godshill.
On the 1891 Census return Richard and Alice Harvey are at Wilmingham Farm, Causeway, Freshwater, with ther first child, Helen.
On the 1901 Census return Richard and Alice Harvey are at West Afton Farm with their four children including Richard aged 5.
On the 1911 Census return Richard and Alice Harvey are at Newbarn Farm, Calbourne. Richard Harvey described himself as a "Poor Farmer".
Ronald Harvey was still at school at that time.
Ronald Harvey was formerly Pte 31598 Hampshire Regiment.
Ronald Harvey is also commemorated on the Arreton War Memorial and the Arreton Roll of Honour
