Rampton of Whitchurch Family Chart no. 71

	Ernest Frederick RAMPTON		Mary HAMILTON
	born 29 Apr 1889 at Winchester		?
			mar. circa 1915 Canada
	d. 24 Apr 1917 at Vimy Ridge bur. La Chaudiere Military Cemetery Vimy VIII.A.9
	Royal Marines Musician (1911) Moulder (1915) Corporal (1917)

Their Children

Ernest Frederick

born 29 Mar 1916 Halifax Nova Scotia Canada bapt. 30 Mar 1916 St Patricks Church Halifax NS

m. Charlotte ?

Additional Information

Ernest Frederick joined the military on 25 Jul 1906, when he was 17 years old. In the 1911 census, Ernest Frederick was a musician in the Royal Marines Light Infantry, part of the ships' company stationed at Tattingstone SFK. In Jan 1914, he emigrated to Canada on the ship Corsican, landing at Halifax NS; his age was given as 24, his reason for emigrating was given as "to join the army". In the year between landing at Halifax and joining the Canadian army, he had married Mary Hamilton, with whom he had had a son, also called Ernest Frederick, although the original parish register shows his name as Ernest Ludwick; this error of record had to be corrected on 18 Feb 1969, after his death, by Elizabeth Rampton (possibly his daughter).

Ernest enlisted in the Royal Canadian Regiment on 25th August 1915, rose to be a Corporal, and died at Vimy Ridge; he is buried in La Chaudiere Cemetery in Vimy. Further details of his service can be found on the Rampton War Memorial page as well as that of his brother, Arthur who died at Ypres.

The Canadian Veteran Affairs website has images of Ernest's enlistment documents, and it is fascinating to note his physical characteristics: 5ft 6 1/2 inches tall, fresh complexion, grey eyes, dark brown hair, and tattoos! Ernest has several tattoos, and they are described in detail: on his chest, tombstone and angels and the inscription "In memory of my dear father", and on his left forearm, clasped hands and a heart, plus words (unspecified) on both forearms. The document also states he was Roman Catholic.

The address given for him on his enlistment papers is 22 Starr Street Halifax Nova Scotia.

Family Group Identifiers

Family: RAMOVERTON1
Family Group: whitchurch071