Family :

Service Life:

Campaigns:

• The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.

The official dates cover the period from 15th June 1915 to 8th August 1915. This is the period on the Western Front following the piecemeal engagements North of the La Bassee canal at Aubers Ridge, Festubert & Givenchy but before the Battle of Loos, the largest Western Front battle of 1915.

Detail :

3/Suffolk is Reserve Btn UK only- which Btn was he in? 2/Lt. John Ridley Prentice, 3rd Bn. Suffolk Regt. Killed in action, 18th June 1915. Age 22. Commemorated: Menin Gate. Ref: Panel 21. He was initiated on 10th March 1915, age 21. His occupation given as Army Officer, 2nd Lieutenant. John Ridley Prentice was born on 11th May 1893, in Birdlip, Brimpsfield, Cirencester, to Thomas Ridley Prentice, Professor of Music, born 1843, and Esther Grove, born 1855. He had two brothers. His father died in the 3rd quarter of 1895 at age 53. It would appear that his father changed his name at some time before he married Esther in the 4th quarter of 1878 as, strangely, John's birth certificate shows the name of his father as Johann Wolfgang Goethe. John enlisted as a private soldier on 2nd September 1914 into the 19th (Ser.) Bn. Royal Fusiliers, but was discharged to Sandhurst on the 30th October 1914. His enlistment papers show him as a law student, 5ft 10 3/4 ins tall, 144 lbs with 36 chest and good physical development. He was commissioned 2nd Lieut. into the 3rd Bn. Suffolk Regiment and landed in France on 6th May 1915, and was killed less than six weeks later.

His picture is to be found on the site WW1 Photos, but shows him as a Sergeant.

According to Grays Inn History: "Second-Lieutenant John Ridley Prentice, an undergraduate of the University of London, was admitted as a student in 1913. He was an officer in the Regular Forces (Suffolk Regiment), and was killed in action on 18 June 1915 at Zillebeke, when serving with the British Expeditionary Force. He was 22 years of age."

Admitted to the Inn: 1913 Oct 31: Prentice, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, of 10 Bryanston Mansions in the County of London; the youngest son of Thomas Ridley Prentice, of Hampstead, in the County of Middlesex, Musician and Author, deceased. Note: Name changed to John Ridley Prentice by Deed Poll of May 11, 1914

Masonic :

Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

• The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• The (UK) National Archives
• Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
• ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry

Additional Source:

• Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
• Researcher : Bruce Littley
• Provincial Research : W.Bro. Rod Gibson (Suffolk)