Sapper John Boswell, Royal Engineers

John Boswell was born in Liverpool in 1885, the the son of Thomas Boswell, a boiler-maker from Cheshire, and his wife Elizabeth.

John wasn't their first child, the 1891 census shows that the family lived at 19 Moville St, Toxteth Park, and consisted of Thomas & Elizabeth with four children: William aged 15, Thomas aged 9, John aged 6 and Elizabeth aged 3 months.

At the time of the 1901 census the family were living at number 31 of the same street. Thomas and Elizabeth had 5 children at home with them. Eldest son William had presumably moved out and the remaining children at home were: Thomas aged 19 and John aged 16, both employed as apprentice plumbers, Elizabeth aged 10, Mary aged 8 and Harold aged 4.

On 26th October 1907, John Boswell married Marion Jane Foweraker in the church of St Silas, Toxteth.

At the time of the 1911 census, the family were living at 29 Beresford Rd, Dingle. The census records that John was 26 years old, a general contractor plumber and married to Marion Jane. They had been married for three years and had one child John Alexander Boswell who was 1 year and 10 months old. Marion's widowed mother Janet Foweraker was with them for the census.

John Boswell volunteered for military service on 22 May 1916. He was given the regimental number 169731 and the rank of sapper (equivalent to private) with the Royal Engineers.

John's service record has not survived but other papers show that he was with G Company of (possibly) 1st Field Company Survey. He was discharged on 18th October 1917 due to sickness and died a year later on 23rd October 1918. Records show that he received a Victory Medal, a British War Medal and a Silver War Badge (due to his honourable discharge on grounds of sickness).

Due to his death being after he was discharged, John Boswell was not eligible for CWGC commemoration. He was buried in Allerton Cemetery and his military service was included in the inscription on his headstone.

The image below was taken in 2017, as you can see the headstone has been laid flat, this is not vandalism, the council did it for safety reasons. Unfortunately it means the headstone is likely to erode more quickly as water gathers on it.