Commemorated: | |||
Awards & Titles: | |||
Family :
Second son of the Reverend Canon Edward and Margaret Knyvet Steward (nee Wilson); husband of Miriam Agnes Steward (nee Carver), of The Moot, Downton, Salisbury. He had two sisters.The siblings were:
Margaret Joan Steward b. 1880, d. 1958
Maj.-Gen. Edward Merivale Steward b. 1881, d. 1948
Arthur Amyot Steward b. 14 Jul 1882, d. 6 Oct 1917
Muriel Knyvet Steward b. 1884, d. 1914
Arthur and Miriam had three children:
Lavinia Margaret Steward b. 3 Apr 1913, d. 1993
Miriam Joan Steward b. 25 Mar 1915, d. 1977
Aveluy Knyvet Steward b. 7 Oct 1916, d. 10 Feb 2004
Education & Career :
Steward went to Wellington College between 1897 and 1899. He was in the Murray.
He volunteered for the South African War with the Norfolk Militia before returning to education. He went up to Magdalen College, Oxford in 1904 taking his degree before going to Wells Theological College in 1911 and being ordained Deacon and becoming Curate of St Paul's, Southcoates, Hull in 1912.
He returned to South Africa to minister to the Miners at St Mary's Johannesburg before volunteering to return to the Colours on the outbreak of war.
He was a member of the Oxford & Cambridge Club.
Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The Second Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902, South Africa.
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: Royal Flying Corps |
| Action : The Battles of Ypres 1917 (Third Ypres, or Passchendaele) |
31 July - 10 November 1917. By the summer of 1917 the British Army was able for the first time to fight on its chosen ground on its terms. Having secured the southern ridges of Ypres at Messines in June, the main attack started on 31st July 1917 accompanied by what seemed like incessant heavy rain, which coupled with the artillery barrages conspired to turn much of the battlefield into a bog. Initial failure prompted changes in the high command and a strategy evolved to take the ring of ridges running across the Ypres salient in a series of 'bite and hold' operations, finally culminating in the capture of the most easterly ridge on which sat the infamous village of Passchendaele. The Official History carries the footnote ?The clerk power to investigate the exact losses was not available? but estimates of British casualties range from the official figure of 244,000 to almost 400,000. Within five months the Germans pushed the British back to the starting line, which was where they had been since May 1915.
He returned to England from his ministry at St Mary's Johannesburg, offered his services as a combatant officer. and was given a commission in the RFA in I9I5. He then transferred to the RFC as Observation Officer.
He was attached to 11th Balloon Coy.
Detail :
He was killed by a shell hitting his bunker on 6th October 1917.
Buried at Dunhallow ADS Cemetery at West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Apollo University No. 357 E.C. | Oxfordshire |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
1st June 1909 | 26th October 1909 | 25th January 1910 |
He was initiated into the Apollo whilst up at Oxford.
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