Stanley Gummer

Stanley Gummer was born in Rotherham on 14 th February 1890. His father, William Guest Gummer, was a brass manufacturer. William Guest Gummer’s father, William Henry Gummer, was originally a joiner who, like his older brother Richard, a plasterer, had come to Rotherham from Lyme Regis in Dorset looking for work.

In 1871, in partnership with Tom Greenwood, William Henry established the Effingham Brass Works. Although Greenwood soon left the company, William Henry’s son George joined it in 1875, and when William Henry retired in 1890, George and his brother, Stanley’s father William Guest Gummer, took it over, renaming it G and WG Gummer Ltd. In the First World War, the company produced items for military use, including water carts, parts for shells, mines, and depth charges.

Stanley’s mother, Gertrude, neé Hemingway, was born in Port Louis, Mauritius, where her father was serving as a Quartermaster Sergeant with the Royal Artillery; the family returned to England when she was very young. Stanley was the eldest of her four children. His younger siblings were Arthur, born in 1891, who only lived for two days, William Maurice, born in 1893, and Muriel, born in 1896.

Stanley was educated at Willaston School in Cheshire, and The Leys School, Cambridge, where he was a Lance-Corporal in the Cadet Corps. On leaving school, he did not enter the family business but was articled to a solicitor in Rotherham, and completed a law degree at the University of London. He became a partner in the Rotherham firm of solicitors, Messrs. Gichard and Gummer. In his spare time, he was a good all-round cricketer, playing for Rotherham Town and the Yorkshire County Reserves; he was also a keen rugby footballer.

On 24th September 1913, Stanley married Vera Gichard at Rotherham Church; he gave his address as Brentwood, on Brinkburn Vale Road. Stanley and Vera had two children: Dinah Gichard Gummer, born on 12 th June 1914, and Michael Gichard Gummer, born on 7th July 1917.

Stanley volunteered for active service on the outbreak of war, enlisting in the 5th (Territorial) Battalion of the York and Lancaster Regiment. He was quickly promoted through the ranks to Captain. He served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders from 20th September 1915, and was killed in action at Passchendaele on 9th October 1917, aged 27. He is commemorated on Panels 125-128 of the Tyne Cot Memorial at the cemetery of the same name in Zonnebecke, Belgium. He was eligible for the Victory and British Medals and the 15 Star.