William Jolly Auldjo

Jean Longstaff has submitted the following:-

Born at Inveresk, Edinburgh on 24th July 1894 William Jolly Auldjo was the third son of gardener Irvine Auldjo and his wife Jane Brown (nee Jolly). Aged five William went to school in Monzie, Crieff, Perthshire after his father started work as Head Gardener at Monzie Castle, and the family moved to live in the Gardener’s House. The 1901 Scottish census lists Irvine and Jane, along with their children John William, Robert Irvine, William Jolly, Helen Irvine and Jane Irvine at that address; the family would later be complete with the addition of Mary Jolly, born the following year.

Around 1908 the family moved to live in Northumberland when Irvine became Head Gardener at Swarland Hall near Felton. William followed his father and became a gardener too, and in 1911 was one of three gardeners boarding with the Patterson family in Chillingam. Three years later he was employed by Major Cookson as gardener at Meldon Park near Morpeth and in August enlisted in the Northern Cyclists’ Battalion as Private 949. Wanting to go to the front, in July 1916 William transferred to the 22nd Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers as Private 38177 and arrived in France two months later.

After just a few weeks he was taken ill with impetigo and invalided back to England, not being discharged from hospital until just before Christmas 1916. Posted back to France in 1917, he was appointed Lance Corporal in September and two months later was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry in the field, to which was added a Bar a few months later.

Wounded twice more in May and October Lance Corporal Auldjo returned to England in February 1919 for discharge from the army. Returning to gardening as his career, in June 1921 William married Isabella Armstrong in Alnwick, and some time later they moved to live in Amble, where William joined the local rifle club.

William Jolly Auldjo died in Northumberland in October 1966, and his wife in Amble in 1979.

William Jolly Auldjo is remembered at Felton on F14.10 and in Newton-on-the-Moor on N21.01