Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Memorial: | Warwickshire Masonic Memorial | Erdington | |
| 2. Grave: | White House Cemetery, St. Jean-Les-Ypres | ||
Awards & Titles: | |||
Early Life :
Son of Thomas Daniel and Katharine Mary Hopkyns, of Long Wittenham Vicarage, Abingdon, Berks, England. Born at Chichester, England. M.A. Brasenose College, Oxford, Vicar of Randfontein, Transvaal, South Africa. Formerly Chaplain To the South African Church Railway Mission.Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The Second Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902, South Africa.
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: South African Infantry |
| Action : France & Flanders |
France & Flanders covers all the dates and corresponding locations which are outside the official battle nomenclature dates on the Western Front. Therefore the actions in which these men died could be considered 'normal' trench duty - the daily attrition losses which were an everyday fact of duty on the Western Front.
Detail :
Service No: 14724 1st Regiment, South African Infantry.
The Reading Mercury provides some background in its 6th October edition: " The Rev. Thomas Gray Hopkyns, Vicar of Randfontein, Transvaal, a private in the South African Medical Corps, was killed on September 20th while on stretcher duty near the firing line, aged 35. the third son of the Rev. T. Daniel and Mrs. Hopkys, of Long Wittenham Vicarage, Berks, he was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, and was ordained in 1915 to the curacy of St. John the Baptist, Leamington, where he remained until 1910, when he was appointed Bishop's assistant chaplain to the Railway Mission at Pretoria. In 1914 he was appointed to the vicarage of Randfontein.
Probate: HOPKYNS reverend Thomas Gray of Randfontein Transvaal Province South Africa clerk died 20 September 1917 in Flanders Administration (with Will limited) London 6 September to the reverend Thomas Daniel Hopkyns clerk attorney of James George Gammie. Effects £975 16s. 9d.
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Guy's No. 395 E.C. | Warwickshire |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
5th March 1906 | 2nd April 1906 | 7th June 1906 |
Thomas is listed as a Clerk in Holy Orders when initiated into Guy's Lodge No. 395 at Leamington in 1906. He was 23. He is shown to have resigned from the Lodge 1st December 1913.
Whilst Thomas is not listed on the 1921 or 1933 rolls, he is commemorated on the list on the Warwickshire Memorial to Warwickshire Province Masons who died in the Great War and which is displayed at Yenton Masonic Hall, Birmingham (formerly at the Masonic Hall at Stirling Road, Birmingham).
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