Claud Hammond Robertson was born in Gloucester on 15 June 1885 and baptised on 9 September 1885 at St Aldate, Gloucester. His father, Samuel Richard, was a Clerk in Holy Orders. His mother was called Parnel Agnes. Claud became an engineer and also enlisted with the Prince of Wales’ Volunteers sometime before the start of WW1, but which of these came first we do not know.
An entry in the London Gazette tells us that he was promoted from sergeant to 2nd lieutenant in 1911, lieutenant in 1914 and captain in 1915.
He married Olive Lindsey Renton in Kingston, Surrey in 1912.
It is not known when he moved to Moore, other than in the early years after his marriage. He and Olive lived at Brantwood, on the corner of Runcorn Road and Six Acre Lane. He worked as an engineer for Pearson and Knowles Coal and Iron Company, Warrington. We also know, from an article in the Warrington Guardian, that he played golf at Warrington Golf Club.
He rejoined the regiment (4th Battalion Prince of Wales Volunteers, South Lancashire Regiment) at the beginning of the war. Newspaper reports say that he was always concerned about the welfare of his men. In June 1915, he received a temporary promotion from lieutenant to captain and just a week later, he was ‘slightly wounded’ in his shoulder and sent back to England for treatment. In July the following year, he was gassed and admitted to hospital again.
He finished his service career as a major.
In 1930, Claud and Olive travelled to Naples with her father, aboard the ‘Orontes’. The passenger list records him as being an engineer. By 1939, Claud had retired and was living with Olive in Rhayader. Later, they moved to Avening, Stroud, where Claud died in 1951. Probate was granted to his widow, to whom he left his estate worth £663 7s.