Born 24th August 1896 in Filby, the first child of Robert Henry and Kate Goatson, neé Waters. Two more children followed before Robert Henry's death on 15th October 1898 leaving Kate with three young children, the youngest two months old.
Kate married Arthur Charles Goatson in 1900 at Great Yarmouth, Arthur was possibly half brother to Robert Henry, three children were born to this marriage before Kate's death in 1907. Robert was attending Filby School left the school and the village on 21st November 1908 aged 12 years.
Robert enlisted in Norwich and joined the Norfolk Regiment, 9th Battalion, service number 40014. He was a private when he was killed in action on 15th September 1916 in France and Flanders aged just 20 years.
Robert is remembered on the Filby school memorial and the church war memorial and also the Thiepval memorial.
He is also remembered in Filby churchyard on his parents' headstone :-
In loving memory of Kate the beloved wife of Robert Henry Goatson who entered into rest June 18 1908 aged 32 years
Also of Robert Henry Goatson the beloved husband of the above who was drowned at sea October 15th 1898 aged 25 years
Also of their loving son Robert who gave his life for his country September 15th 1916 aged 20 years.
"No one knows the parting or what the parting cost
But God in his great mercy has gained what we have lost"
Robert was awarded the Victory and the British medals
Please be aware a lot of development remains to be done and our researches are far from complete.
The information provided here is gathered from a number of sources and is, to the best of our knowledge, accurate. We cannot, of course, vouch for the accuracy of all those source and we are aware that names by which individuals were known and those recorded in official records often varied. There are also gaps in the official record as some records were lost to enemy action during the Second World War and through the passage of time.
To see pictures of the war memorial please click here.
If you have any further information regarding these men or photographs or, despite our best efforts, there is an error for an individual entry please contact Lesley via webmaster@filbyvillage.org.uk
To return to the church memorial index please click here.
