Soldiers who Survived
George Ernest MATHER
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Regiment
Rank / Number
Date of Birth
Residence
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Royal Engineers
Sapper / 21133
20th April 1892
7 Exchange Place
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George Ernest Mather was born on 20th April 1892. He was one of six children. The family lived at 17 Market Street, Rainhill. The house still stands in the Village as 7 Exchange Place. At some time it was known as Poplar Cottage.
He enlisted in Warrington on 6th February 1911 at the age of 18. He joined the 23rd Field Company Royal Engineers as Sapper number 21133. This company was part of the 1st Division which went to France on the outbreak of war, reaching France and fighting at the battle of Mons on 23rd August 1914. Ernest's family believe he was the first man from Rainhill to go to the Front.
Ernest survived the War, sending many postcards home from France and Belgium. He remained in the same RE company.
The Battle Orders of the 1st Division show where he would have fought, to name a few…Mons, Ypres, Loos, The Somme, Passchendale, The Hindenburg Line and right through to the end of the war.
He was awarded the 1914 Star (known as the Mons Star) with Clasp and Roses and also the Military Medal as listed in the London Gazette 4/10/1918 supplement 7/10/18.
Ernest died on 6th April 1954 and was buried in St Ann’s churchyard on 9th April 1954.
Incidentally, Ernest was related to Emily Mather who was murdered by Frederick Bailey Deeming in Melbourne, Australia in 1892.
On 22nd August 2014 the local newspaper The St Helens Star carried a story about Ernest being one of the first Rainhill men to signup for the Great War.
Acknowledgement: Ian Blackmore (Grandson)
He enlisted in Warrington on 6th February 1911 at the age of 18. He joined the 23rd Field Company Royal Engineers as Sapper number 21133. This company was part of the 1st Division which went to France on the outbreak of war, reaching France and fighting at the battle of Mons on 23rd August 1914. Ernest's family believe he was the first man from Rainhill to go to the Front.
Ernest survived the War, sending many postcards home from France and Belgium. He remained in the same RE company.
The Battle Orders of the 1st Division show where he would have fought, to name a few…Mons, Ypres, Loos, The Somme, Passchendale, The Hindenburg Line and right through to the end of the war.
He was awarded the 1914 Star (known as the Mons Star) with Clasp and Roses and also the Military Medal as listed in the London Gazette 4/10/1918 supplement 7/10/18.
Ernest died on 6th April 1954 and was buried in St Ann’s churchyard on 9th April 1954.
Incidentally, Ernest was related to Emily Mather who was murdered by Frederick Bailey Deeming in Melbourne, Australia in 1892.
On 22nd August 2014 the local newspaper The St Helens Star carried a story about Ernest being one of the first Rainhill men to signup for the Great War.
Acknowledgement: Ian Blackmore (Grandson)
1911 Aldershot. Ernest Mather of the Royal Engineers
September 1915. Ernest Mather in Peels Garden, Rainhill
1919 Wilf, John and Ernest Mather.
The medal card of Ernest Mather.
Photographs courtesy of Ian Blackmore.
Ernest's Medal collection and 1914 Christmas tin.
The house on the right was once called Poplar Cottage and was where Ernest lived. It is in Exchange Place, Rainhill.
The family grave of Ernest Mather