“Admired very much”: Cyril Stuart (1895-1915) an “Old Salopian”

By John D Ellis

A prestigious independent school, then and now, its alumni, (known as “Old Salopians” or “Salopians”), when the Stuart brothers attended included peers of the realm, politicians, senior military officers, clergymen, theologians, sportsmen and academics. Cyril Stuart attended between 1907 and 1914, and won plaudits for his athletic ability, particularly running (winning 48 cups) and being appointed a Praepostor (prefect).(6) He was also a Senior Whip, responsible not just for discipline amongst the pupils, but also amongst his fellow praeposters. As a mixed-heritage teenager in an independent school at the height of the British Empire, it was a potentially problematic role, but one he excelled in. One contemporary recalled: “He was a man whom we admired very much…chiefly, I think, because he was one of those few who can be an important person in the place, and still be decent and nice to everyone great or small”.(7)

Whilst at Shrewsbury the Stuart brothers spent time with their aunts, the sisters of Charles Pelham Huggins.(8)

It is not known if there were any other Black students at the school, however, the Stuart brothers were not the only Black people in Shrewsbury: Joe Stout, born in Rhode Island, USA c.1828 and described as “a man of colour” was a resident of the city from 1889 until his death in 1912.(9)

Cyril Stuart left Shrewsbury in the summer of 1914 (Claude had previously left in 1911). The photograph below shows the praepostors of the school just months before the outbreak of the First World War.(10). Cyril stands on the left of the back row. The caption reveals something of the fates of the young men whose future was to be defined, and in some cases ended, by war.

After returning to Jamaica to enter the medical profession, Cyril Stuart returned to Shrewsbury to enlist when the First World War started in August 1914 (revealing a strong connection with the city and the school). On the outbreak of war, there were so many volunteers that additional battalions had to be raised by the local regiment, the King’s (Shropshire Light Infantry [hereafter the “KSLI”]).(12) The 5^th (Service) Battalion KSLI was formed by early September 1914 and included a “Pals Company” of Old Salopians.(13)

The “Colour Bar”

The “colour-bar” (also referred to as the “colour ban”), that descended in the mid-nineteenth century (whether officially sanctioned by the War Office or enforced by recruiters and individual regiments), meant that other than in a few cases, by 1914 the presence of men of African origin was limited to the West India Regiments, and those of Asian origin, to the Indian Army. The start of the First World War, and the enthusiastic rush to enlist of hundreds of thousands of Britons appears to have tested the “colour bar”. In some cases, it held firm:

Cyril Foster, a builder born in the West Indies and living in Pitsmoor, Sheffield, was rejected by a recruiting sergeant when he attempted to enlist in the Royal Engineers (RE) because he was a “man of colour”.(14) Clearly not a man to take no for answer, Foster contacted RE Records in Chatham to ask why he was ineligible to serve. Not receiving a reply, Foster wrote a letter of complaint to the Sheffield Evening Telegraph in early September 1914, ending the letter with the phrase “civis Romanum sum” (“I am a Roman citizen”, the phrase used in Cicero’s “In Verrem” as a plea for the legal rights of a Roman citizen),(15) revealing that in addition to being determined, he was also cultured.

Foster’s experience was shared by others. A “brawny man of colour” from the West Indies was similarly turned away by recruiters in Coventry, being told he was not eligible to serve.(16) In South Wales, in September 1914, the Western Mail, reported that two “coloured men, from Barbados and Jamaica respectively, were very eager to join the Welch Regiment, and were indignant beyond words, when told they could not be accepted. ‘Then we’ll go to France’ said one of them,’They are taking blacks as well as whites’”.(17)

Yet, Cyril Stuart appears to have enlisted without incident, possibly because of his father’s influence, his status as an Old Salopian, or perhaps because his fellow “Salopians” made it clear to recruiters that their enlistment was dependent on his.

No.13043 Private Cyril Stuart joined the 5^th Battalion KSLI, however he was not the only Black soldier in the unit. No.14148 Private David Williams was born in Jamaica c.1891. A miner by occupation, he enlisted in the KSLI at Caerphilly on the 7^th of September 1914. The following day his eligibility to serve was confirmed by the Recruiting Officer at Cardiff – evidence that the enlistment of Black recruits was subject to additional scrutiny. On enlistment he was 23 years and 1 month of age, 5 feet 7” tall with black eyes, black hair and a “copper colour” complexion. He marked his enlistment paper suggesting he was signature illiterate – something not uncommon amongst servicemen at the time. He was posted to the 5^th Battalion KSLI within a week of enlisting. Despite passing a medical examination and having his eligibility to serve verified (twice), the Depot of the KSLI referred him to Shrewsbury Military Hospital, where, after being examined, it was declared he would be discharged due to: “Defective Intelligence. This man can neither read nor write, he cannot follow the simplest word of command, his intellect is dull, he is liable to paroxysms of ungovernable temper and is quite unfit for military service”. He was discharged on the 4^th of October 1914 “being not likely to become an efficient soldier” (Para. Ciii. K.R.).(18)

The Historical Black Presence in Shropshire Regiments

There was also a precedent for Black soldiers serving in the KSLI, although it is unlikely that the regiment was aware of it in 1914. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries most British Army regiments employed Black men as enlisted military musicians; bandsmen, drummers and trumpeters. The Army appears to have made no distinction between those of African or Asian origin, referring to them all as “Black” or “of colour”. Prior to the Cardwell Reforms of the early 1880s, the antecedent regiments of the KSLI were the 53^rd (Shropshire) and 85^th (King’s Light Infantry) Regiments of Foot. Both regiments, and the Shropshire Militia, had previously enlisted Black soldiers.

John Contades, born in Martinique c.1784, served in the 1^st Battalion 53^rd Foot from 1814 to 1822. He was described as having a black complexion. Most of his service was in India, where he settled after being discharged on a pension, dying in 1824.(19)

The 2^nd Battalion of the 53^rd recruited three Black men for their band in Portsmouth in May 1815: John Joseph, born in Brazil c.1780; John Lawrence, born in Martinique c.1782; and Peter Parker, born Liverpool c.1784. All three were described as having black complexions.(20) In August 1815 the 2^nd Battalion accompanied Napoleon into his exile on the island of St Helena. Returning in September 1817, the battalion was disbanded in Canterbury in October 1817, with all three Black bandsmen being discharged on the same day.(21)

William Winters, born in Jamaica c.1798, served in the 85^th Foot from 1818 to 1822. Described as a “man of colour”, he enlisted in Chatham and was discharged on the Isle of Wight.(22)

Robert Gulle, a Black servant on a French privateer taken off the Coast of Portugal in March 1799, was recruited from amongst the Prisoners of War at Portchester by the Shropshire Militia later the same year.(23) Jean Penosa, a Black sailor on a French corsair taken in May 1798, enlisted in the Shropshire Militia in the same manner as Robert Gulle.(24)

The 5^th (Service) Battalion, KSLI

Formed in Shrewsbury, the 5^th Battalion moved to Chiddingfold in September 1914, and later Aldershot.(25) An Old Salopian, albeit serving with the 6^th Battalion KSLI, described a typical day of training:

“We get up at six o’clock and have some ‘washy’ cocoa and fall in for first parade at 6.45 till 9 o’clock; if you are one minute later you are marched off to the guardroom. We have breakfast at nine o’clock, which consists of bread and butter and either cheese or tinned fish and tea. We fall in again at ten o’clock to drill till 12.30, hard at it all the time. We are allowed to fall out three times for five minutes during this parade. We then have dinner at one o’clock, which consists of chunks of boiled meat, potatoes, and beans; nothing but water to drink, and no pudding. We fall in again at two o’clock and drill till 4.30, with one break of 15 minutes. They give up an hour’s Swedish drill during one of these parades.” (Swedish drill was a system of physical exercises performed to vocal instructions).

“We have tea at five o’clock, and time off to do anything or go anywhere within three miles radius, but we have to be in our lines by nine o’clock, lights out at 10 p.m., finishing the day”.

“…We have to run a mile in seven minutes, and then be fit to fall in for parade straight away. We have to climb fences, walk along poles over an 8ft. deep hole, and jump ditches, and finally to climb over an 8ft. brick wall with rifle and all”.(26)

In March 1915, both The Evening Mail and The Sportsman reported that Private Steuart, (sic Stuart), a “man of colour” serving in the 5^th Battalion, KSLI, was “first home” in a seven-mile inter-unit race at Aldershot.(27) The Broad Arrow printed the same story, observing that Private “Steuart” came from Jamaica.(28) The Daily Mirror went one better in its 8^th March edition, including a photo of Cyril which included the King in the background (mounted, second right) and, in a separate picture,  the Queen presenting Cyril with his prize. 

The caption under the photo reads “King George, always at home with his soldiers, acted on Saturday as starter in the big military race run at Aldershot, when over 500 soldiers competed. The Queen very graciously presented the prizes. The race was won by Private Stewart [sic], a coloured soldier from Jamaica.” 

The 5^th Battalion arrived in France in late May 1915, but just prior to that Cyril Stuart had been promoted to the rank of Lance-Corporal, second in command of an infantry section of between 8 and 12 soldiers. The rank appears to have been a local or acting one, which would be normal procedure when there was a high turn-over of personnel and soldiers having to step up to assume new roles and responsibilities. After time, the rank was usually made substantive. The “racial” hierarchy sometimes resulted in resistance from White soldiers to serving under the command of Black soldiers (or a reluctance by White officers to promote Black soldiers and White non-commissioned officers to serve alongside them), however, this does not appear to have been the case in the 5^th Battalion KSLI. With Cyril Stuart being described as “a favourite of the Colonel (i.e. the Commanding Officer; Lieutenant-Colonel HM Smith, DSO), other privates and men.”(29)

Whilst serving in France, Cyril Stuart encountered Leslie Woodroffe, a Master at Shrewsbury from 1909, serving as an officer in the Rifle Brigade who recalled meeting with him on three occasions. Woodroffe wrote of the last time they met: “I said: ‘Well, Stuart, how are you getting on?’ and he answered, ‘Awfully well. It’s hard work, but I’m thoroughly enjoying it.’ This was after a severe winter, roughing it in the ranks.” Woodroffe recalls that on their third meeting, after ten days in the trenches with a long march before them and having not slept for 24 hours, he was met with exactly the same response, before having “a few minutes talk about Shrewsbury.”(30)

The War Diary for the 5^th Battalion provides a daily account of events from arriving in France in May 1915.(31) Below, is a synopsis of the movements and actions of the battalion whilst Cyril Stuart served with them:

20/5/1915. Lieutenant-Colonel HM Smith DSO, (the C.O. or “Colonel”), 28 officers and 727 rank and file depart Aldershot for Folkestone and then Boulogne.
21/5/1915. Arrive at Ostrohove Rest Camp, and then undertake “a long and tiring forced march” to billets at Erkelsbrugge.
22/5-27/5/1915. Erkelsbrugge. Billets.
28/5-30/5/1915. Eecke. Billets.
31/5-2/6/1915. Dug outs 2 miles Southwest of Ypres. This was the first occasion the battalion had been in the line. They were subject to harassing artillery fire whilst repairing trenches and suffered their first casualties: 2 killed and several wounded. Sergeant Diss, of B Company, was the first man in the battalion to be killed in action. Initially, the battalion recorded all the men by name in the War Diary, however, this practice would not be maintained when the casualty rate increased.
3/6-5/6/1915. Canada Huts. Bivouac area. Provided parties for trench digging at Zillbeke. 1 wounded.
6-12/6/1915. Locre. Bivouac area. Companies were individually rotated through the trenches to gain frontline experience. 3 killed and 5 wounded. An attack on a B Company post by German Bomb-throwers was repulsed by rifle fire.
13/6-14/6/1915. Canada Huts. Bivouac area. Digging dug-outs East of Ypres prior to occupation.
15/6/1915. Vlamertinghe. The battalion occupied the dugouts constructed the day before.
16/6/1915. Trenches East of Ypres. Heavy German artillery fire resulted in 13 killed, 59 wounded (1 of whom died the following day), and 10 missing.
17-18/6/1915. Vlamertinghe.
19-24/6/1915. Trenches East of Ypres, where it rained heavily. Heavy German shelling during which 2 were killed, and 45 wounded. Bombers of the battalion assaulted German trenches and 1 of them was killed.
25/6-1/71915. Zwynland. Bivouac area. Resting: “All ranks very tired”.
1-2/7/1915. Zwynland. Bivouac area. Men from all companies provided for digging parties in the Ypres Salient. 2 wounded.
3/7/1915. Zwynland. Bivouac area. Resting.
4/7/1915. Zwynland. Bivouac area. Church Service at 11:30 AM. Digging party sent to communications trenches. No casualties.
5-7/7/1915. Zwynland. Bivouac area. Route marching. Digging party sent to communications trenches. No casualties. Weather described as “windy and showery”.
8-14/7/1915. Ypres Ramparts. Brigade Reserve along with 5th Battalion Ox and Bucks, 9^th Battalion KRRC and 9^th Battalion Rifle Brigade (so possibly when Cyril Stuart encountered Leslie Woodroffe who was serving in the latter battalion). The battalion carried supplies to the front-line trenches during the hours of darkness. Sporadic German shelling resulted in 1 killed and 19 wounded (2 subsequently died).
15-19/7/1915. Ypres Ramparts. Brigade Reserve. 3 killed (including 1 accidentally) and 26 wounded.
20-26/7/1915. Busseboom. Camp. Working parties of 150-200 men were sent to work in the trenches each evening. Only 1 man was wounded during this period, however, Lieutenant-Colonel Smith DSO., was admitted to hospital, 22/7/1915, suffering from the effects of a wound six days earlier.
27-31/7/1915. Ypres. Days were spent repairing the dugouts and cleaning the positions. Nights were given over to repair and carrying parties and harrying the Germans, (patrolling). 2 killed and 19 wounded. 2 mules of the battalion were killed in Ypres when the limbered wagons they were pulling were damaged by shell fire.
1/8/1915. The 5^th Battalion was ordered to relieve the 9^th Battalion KRRC in the frontline trenches. Usually, a procedure carried out under the cover of darkness, it was ordered to be done in daylight – no doubt reflecting necessary urgency. This proved impossible, and was only completed by midnight: 13 killed, 2 died of wounds and 22 wounded. Colonel Villers Stewart assumed command of the battalion.
2-8/8/1915. Ypres. 15 killed, 1 died of wounds and 95 wounded.
9/8/1915. Ypres. Rifle and MG fire from the battalion supported an attack by 16^th and 18^th Brigades. 7 killed and 39 wounded.
10/8/1915. Ypres. “Quiet day – no casualties”. Relieved by 6^th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry in the evening.
11/8/1915. Vlamertinche. Bivouac area. Resting.

Private Cyril Stuart died of wounds on the 11^th of August 1915 whilst being treated at No. 16 General Hospital. He was buried in Plot 1, Row H, Grave 1A at the Le Treport Military Cemetery, France.(32) Le Treport, in the Somme region of France, is a port northeast of Dieppe. It is likely that Cyril Stuart was being evacuated back to Britain when he died.

The Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1918 state that Cyril Stuart “died of wounds received at Hooge”, however, the War Diary rarely gives exact locations for security reasons, and “Hooge” was not referenced.(34) So, how and when was Cyril Stuart mortally wounded?

The Actions of Hooge.

In 1915 Hooge, a small Belgium village, happened to be in a strategically important location – on a ridge East of Ypres. Being part of the Ypres Salient, it was the scene of intense fighting for much of the war. The “Actions of Hooge” took place in July 1915. On the 19^th of July the Germans held Chateau de Hooge and the British its stables. The British detonated a mine under the German positions, and this enabled them to gain some ground from the surprised Germans before their attack faltered. In turn, the Germans attacked the British positions in the early hours of 30^th July, using flame-throwers accompanied by a heavy artillery bombardment.

The 14^th (Light) Division, in which the 5^th Battalion KSLI served, defended Hooge from the main German attack on 30^th July until relieved on 6^th of August. The War Diary of the 5^th Battalion indicates that in this period most casualties were caused by German artillery fire, and so it is likely that this was the cause of Cyril Stuart’s wound. Whilst there were casualties most days, the greatest loss was on the 1^st of August 1915 during the daylight relief of the 9^th Battalion KRRC, which makes that the most likely date Cyril Stuart was severely wounded.

Post Script

Private Cyril Stuart: In October 1915 the Birmingham Daily Post published a roll of Old Salopians who had either been killed or died of wounds, including: Stuart, L-Cpl. CA. (Lance-Corporal).(35) In the same month, his last effects, (the sum of £5/18s/4d) were paid to his brother Charles (Claude) Stuart.(36) Cyril Stuart was posthumously awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal 1914-1920 and the Victory Medal.(37)

The Family: Claude Stuart also served during the First World War.(38) Returning to Jamaica, he married Doris Maud Silvera in 1924. He was a Member of Parliament for St Mary (1955-1962), and Minister of Health (1955-1959). In 1977 Victoria Park in St Mary was renamed “Claude Stuart Park”. The park contains a number of monuments, including a cenotaph commemorating the fallen of the First and Second World Wars and a statue to “Tacky” (Tackyi) the leader of a Slave Rebellion in the 1760s.(39) Claude and Doris had three children, with one son being named Cyril Pelham Stuart.(40) Claude Stuart died in Jamaica in 1981.

Following the end of the First World War, Charles Pelham Huggins relocated to France, where he died at Jonville le Pont, Paris in 1929.(41)

The fate of Ada Stuart remains unknown.

Shrewsbury School: Over 300 Old Salopians lost their lives in the First World War, and their sacrifice is remembered every Remembrance Sunday by the School.(42)

Notes and References.

I would like to thank the family of Cyril and Claude Stuart for their assistance with this article.

1)www.shrewsbury.org.uk/news/school-will-not-forget

2)Correspondence with the family, June 2021. Also livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/4306432

3)en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Men-at-the-Bar.djvu/265 In 1858, at St George’s, Hanover Square, London, Hastings Charles Huggins married Catherine Emily Hora, granddaughter of the late Count de St Jeves. Illustrated London News, 2^nd January 1858. findmypast.co.uk Hastings Charles Huggins QC died in Demerara in 1883. John Bull, 5^th May 1883. findmypast.co.uk It is not known if the Huggins family were linked to the infamous slave owner, Edward Huggins of Nevis, who was tried and acquitted in 1810 for flogging one of his slaves to death. www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146635234 (Edward Huggins was handsomely compensated by the British taxpayer [over £60,000 at today’s prices] when the 21 enslaved people he owned were emancipated in 1834) 

4)Correspondence with the family, June 2021.

5)A letter in the possession of the family, and written by Shrewsbury School in 1995, confirmed that “C.P. Huggins of Black River, Jamaica” was noted in the “parents etc” column of the “Headmaster’s Register”. Correspondence with the family, June 2021. Also livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/4306432

6)Praepostor is a term used in some English independent schools for the teaching of Latin. www.shrewsbury.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/files/old_salopians/Salopian156_Summer2015.pdf

7)www.shrewsbury.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/files/old_salopians/Salopian156_Summer2015.pdf

8)Correspondence with the family, June 2021. The 1881 Census reveals that Charles Pelham Huggins had three sisters, all of whom were born in Demerara: Emily (1869), Helen Sarah (1873) and Agnes Theodosia (1876). 1881 England Census. 11 Kildare Gardens, Paddington, Kensington, Middlesex. RG 11/14/10/13/21. Correspondence with the family, June 2021.

9)Wellington Journal, 16^th January 1909. findmypast.co.uk

10)www.shrewsbury.org.uk/news/school-will-not-forget

11)Ibid.

12)The KSLI later became the “Light Infantry” and today is an antecedent regiment of “The Rifles”.

13)Lichfield Mercury, 4^th September 1914. Birmingham Daily Post, 7^th September 1914. findmypast.co.uk

14)Sheffield Evening Telegraph, 3rd September 1914. findmypast.co.uk

15)Ibid.

16)Coventry Evening Telegraph, 10^th September 1914. findmypast.co.uk

17)Western Mail, 5^th September 1914. findmypast.co.uk

18)For David Williams see: TNA WO 364. findmypast.co.uk

19)For John Contades see: TNA WO 12/6332, WO 23/147, WO 25/413 and 415. TNA WO 97/663. St Domingo was also given as a place of birth.

20)For John Joseph, John Lawrence and Peter Parker see: TNA WO 25/416.

21)Ibid.

22)For William Winters see: TNA WO 25/508.

23)For Robert Gulle see: ADM 103/327. French POWs. 1801. Portchester. findmypast.co.uk

24)For Jean Penosa see: ADM 103/ 326. Portchester. French POWs, 1798-1799. findmypast.co.uk

25)Birmingham Daily Gazette, 11^th September 1914. findmypast.co.uk

26)Birmingham Mail, 24^th September 1914. findmypast.co.uk

27)The Evening Mail, 8^th March 1915. The Sportsman, 8^th March 1915. findmypast.co.uk

28)Broad Arrow, 12^th March 1915. findmypast.co.uk

29)www.shrewsbury.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/files/old_salopians/Salopian156_Summer2015.pdf

30)Captain Leslie Woodroffe won the Military Cross at the Battle of Hooge. He died of wounds in France in June 1916. www.shrewsbury.org.uk/news/school-will-not-forget Also www.shrewsbury.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/files/old_salopians/Salopian157_Winter2015.pdf

31)First World War and Army of Occupation War Diary. France, Belgium and Germany. 14 Division, 42 Infantry Brigade, King’s (Shropshire Light Infantry) 5^th Battalion: 9 May 1915 – 7 February 1918. WO 95/1902/1. (The Naval and Military Press Ltd., 2015).

32)UK, Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929. National Army Museum. NAM Accession Number: 1991-02-333; Record Number Ranges: 203501-205000; Reference: 88. ancestry.co.uk

33)www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/11700/Mont%20Huon%20Military%20Cemetery,%20Le%20Treport/

34)The register confirms that Cyril Stuart was the son of Charles Pelham Huggins and Ada Stuart of Jamaica. The rank of Lance-Corporal is scored through and Private written in its place. Singlehurst, P. British Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1918. Commonwealth War Graves Commission (London, England). ancestry.co.uk

35)Birmingham Daily Post, 5^th October 1915. findmypast.co.uk

36)UK, Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929. National Army Museum. NAM Accession Number: 1991-02-333; Record Number Ranges: 203501-205000; Reference: 88. ancestry.co.uk

37)TNA WO 372/19/93910. findmypast.co.uk

38)Correspondence with the family, June 2021.

39)www.jnht,com/site_claude_stuart_park.php Correspondence with the family, June 2021.

40)Correspondence with the family, June 2021.

41)England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995. ancestry.co.uk

42)www.shrewsbury.org.uk/news/school-will-not-forget