Rank: Private
Regiment: Middlesex Regiment
Address: Western House, Warrior Gardens, St Leonards
Other Info: An article published in the Hastings & St Leonards Observer on 26th October 1918 reads; “Wounded on September 29th, now in Woking hospital”
Additional name information from the Lives of the First World War website.
Published: October 1918
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This man was born in Croydon on the 2 October 1882.
In the 1891 census he was living with his family in Islington, Middlesex. His father Vincent Mackie was a stockbroker, aged 40, born Islington, His mother Eliza [who married as March) was 38, also born Islington. The household also had another son, Cecil, aged 4, sister in law Louisa March, 24, draper's assistant, born Barnsbury (also Islington area), and an Ellwood niece, also a draper's assistant.
In the 1901 census he was a stationer's assistant at 230-232 Seaside, Eastbourne, where William Gibbs was both a stationer and a sub postmaster. Gibbs had a wife and two children.
In 1904 his father died in Middlesex, leaving a tiny estate of £50. In the 1911 census his widow was in Stoke Newington with sons Cecil, 24, insurance clerk, and Bertie, 18, advertising clerk, and four boarders. Cecil served in the Royal Fusiliers in World War I and died in Amersham, Buckinghamshire in 1952. Bertie (actually Bernard) died in Willesden in 1937. Both of these brothers married. Eliza, the mother, died in 1933 in the Thanet area of Kent.
The only mention in the British Newspaper Archive of "Percy Vincent Mackie" that I can find is in a court case in the Children's court at Bexhill, as reported in the Bexhill on Sea Chronicle, 11 January 1911. Percy was a witness when two boys were accused of stealing 2 shillings' worth of sweets; Percy was the "owner of the sweets", which probably means he was a shop assistant rather than the shopowner. His address was given as 22A Belle Hill. The 9-year-old culprit was to be birched six times by a policeman, and the magistrate suggested that his 7-year-old partner in crime, too young to be birched, be made to watch as a punishment.
In the 1911 census he was at a 4-roomed dwelling at 131 Bulverhythe Road, St Leonards on Sea, a general dealer, nephew to Louisa March, 44, single, teacher of music, and her "friend", Florence Shore, 51, single, teacher of music, both born in London.
In the 1914 electoral register he was a parochial voter at 125 Bulverhythe Road, his qualification being a shop,
while Louisa Marsh was also a parochial voter, her qualification being the house. They could only vote in local elections and not for Parliament.
Percy, with service number PS/5359 in the Middlesex Regiment, received the Silver War Badge to show that he had been injured. At the time of the newspaper announcement the war only had only two more weeks to go; the main purpose of the badge was to indicate that a male civilian of military age had been in the forces and was no longer fit due to injuries.
We are fortunate that the same newspaper has another mention of Percy. In the 9 February 1918 edition, as P.V. Mackie, in hospital in Italy, His letter to his aunt Mrs (sic) March of Western House is quoted: "If you want to do a real good work you might send me a parcel of magazines or newspapers." Louisa March volunteered to send on items for the use of her nephew and others convalescents.
Another mention in the same paper is a long and interesting letter from Bernard, Percy's youngest brother, also to Louisa March. It is in the 28 December 1918 edition, but the letter refers to a possible armistice, so was clearly many weeks old. He had been a prisoner of the Germans at Liege, Belgium, and apparently his Red Cross parcels of food had been diverted by the Germans so that he had been starving. They were forced to carry out war work, and were only allowed to write to England if they gave the impression that they were imprisoned in Germany.
In the 1918 electoral register Percy is listed at 36 Western Road, which is close to Warrior Square. This was the first register in which all men over 21, and all women over 30, were included without the need for a specific qualification. In the 1931 electoral register he is still at 36 Western Road,. with his aunt Louisa March, in a ground and first floor apartment; Lizzy Elliott had a second floor apartment, and the Allens had a third apartment, floors unspecified.
Louisa March died on the 13 August 1939 at 36 Western Road. Probate of her small estate of £291 went to Percy Vincent Mackie, gardener. The Hastings and St Leonards Observer, 19 August 1939, said that she had been an invalid for many years and had "devoted her life to helping charities, especially the Shaftesbury Home and the Sunshine Home." Both Percy and his brother Cecil were listed as mourners in the funeral at Islington. The Working Ladies' Guild of St Leonards sent a floral tribute.
In the September 1939 Register compiled for rationing purposes Percy was at 44 Kings Road, the main shopping street in St Leonards on Sea, and close to Western Road, his occupation given as "gardener odd jobs", with his full date of birth.
Percy died in 1959 or 1960 in the Hastings area, aged 75.
Another great and interesting piece of research. Thank you Stephen, it really adds colour to these old photos. Regards, Kieron.