Also Served: Arthur Hugo Schultz - Arthur Hugo SCHULTZ
The Mount, Eccleston Park, Prescot Major, 5th Bn., South Lancashire Regiment
Major Arthur Hugh Selwyn
Picture courtesy of Martin Ledson
Born on 3rd December 1880 in Woolwich, London, Arthur Schultz was the son of George Paul Alexander Schultz and his wife Olivia. Arthur's baptism record showed that his father was an Engineer. The 1881 census listed the family as living at 75, King Street, Woolwich, also noting that George had been born in Berlin in 1851 but was a naturalised British subject. Olivia, also aged 30, was a native of Leicestershire. The family had a daughter, Florence Margarette Olivia, in 1884.
Arthur Shultz's Baptism entry
Arthur attended Cambridge University and was living in Prescot by the time of the 1901 census. He was aged 20, single, and a boarded at 35, Station Road. His occupation was shown as 'Electrical Engineer' and he was employed at the Wire Works.
A report in the Manchester Courier in August 1903
He married Annie Scarisbrick of Atherton Street, Prescot, in early 1906 and they had a daughter, Eileen in 1909, followed by son George in 1912. In the 1911 census, the family were living in 'The Mount', Eccleston Park, Prescot. Arthur was now listed as a 'Department Superintendent'.
Arthur's mother, Olivia, died in 1908 and in 1914, his father remarried to Lilian Avila Brighton.
Olivia's entry in the National Probate Register
In the early 1900's, Arthur had signed up for military service with the Territorial Army, and when the Territorial forces were reorganised in 1908, he became a Lieutenant with the 5th Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment.
Entry in the London Gazette, 18th September 1908
In the 1914 Army List, he is shown as a Lieutenant with a seniority date of 1st July 1908, but was promoted to Captain on 7th September 1914 and then Major on 15th March 1916. His war time address was Brook Cottage, Prescot.
As the war progressed, Arthur was mentioned several times in the 'Link' magazine, the official publication of the Wire Works.
The Link, September 1914
The Link, November 1914
The Link, February 1915
Manchester Courier, 13th April 1915
He finally sailed for France in February 1917.
The Link, March 1917
The Battalion was disbanded at Steenwerck in France in February of 1918. This was part of an army reorganisation that reduced the number of infantry battalions per brigade from 4 to 3. The men of the 2/5th were split between the 2/4th and 1/5th Battalions of the regiment. The regimental history states, 'At the beginning of February [1918] the 2nd/5th went to Menigate Camp near Steenwerck, and the men of 'A' Company proceeded to join the 1st/5th Battalion at Laires, while others were transferred to the 2nd/4th. 182 other ranks left to join No. 2 Entrenching Battalion at Doulieu, on 25th February, and thus, after nearly four years of comradeship, the 2nd/5th ceased to exist as a unit.'
It isn't immediately clear which unit Arthur Schultz transferred to.
On 12th April 1918, at Merville, he received wounds to the neck which resulted in him being evacuated to hospital, and by 16th April he was being treated at No 3 General Hospital, Wandsworth, London.
Extract from Medical Records
In April 1918, Arthur Hugo Schultz changed his name to Arthur Hugh Selwyn, almost certainly as a result of the anti-German feelings which were prevalent at that time. It would appear that his father George also changed his name to Selwyn at that time.
London Gazette, 16th April 1918
In August of 1918, he made an application for a wound gratuity, although this appears to have been rejected.
He does not appear to have been posted back to active service after being wounded, though he remained attached to the South Lancashire Regiment until March 1919. He was still receiving medical treatment in the summer of 1919.
London Gazette, July 1919
After the war, he applied for his medals, giving his address as 'The Mount', Eccleston Park, Prescot. This was on 20th September 1921.
Arthur's Medal Index Card
Arthur's father, George, passed away on 1921, leaving a healthy amount to be divided between his widow, Lilian, and son Arthur. The probate records again listed Arthur as an Electrical Engineer.
National Probate Register, 1921
Little is known of Arthur Selwyn's life after this, but the the 1950 Electoral Roll showed Arthur and Annie living at 13, Dover Park Drive, Wandsworth. He will have been aged around 69 by this time, and clearly retired.
Arthur died in June 1977, in Wandsworth, aged 96. His wife, Annie, had died a year earlier.
Ref. No.:
|
