4 Crispin Lane

John Thomas Oates

The Oates family occupied 4 Crispin Lane for many years in the early 1900's.  We are not sure when they moved into the house - they are listed in the 1918 electoral register as living in "John St", which probably meant Crispin Lane.  By 1925 the Thornbury Street directory shows that J. T. Oates lived in Mutton Lane, which is definitely Crispin Lane.

John Thomas Oates was born on 20th January 1873 in Wells Street, Cheadle in Staffordshire.  He was the son of John Oates and his wife, Eliza (nee Rugman).  John (senior) was born in Ireland.  We believe his family may have come from Dublin were said to be 'tinkers'.  Eliza was born in Thornbury and returned here after the death of her husband in 1874. 

His army career seems particularly interesting.  He enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry at Taunton on 22nd January 1891 when he was just 18 years of age.  His initial period of service was to be 7 years.  His enlistment papers show that John had been a plasterer before joining the Army.  He was described as being 5ft 4 inches tall and weighing 123 lbs.  His chest was 36 inches when expanded, and 34 inches when not.  He had a fresh complexion, brown eyes, brown hair and a small scar on his right cheek.  His religion at the time was Church of England.

He was appointed Lance Corporal on 5th September 1891, promoted to Corporal on 1st June 1894 and appointed Lance Sergeant on 15th April 1898.  During this time, he served in Gibraltar from 10th November 1891 to 18th December 1893.  He moved from there to the East Indies where he served from 19th December 1893 to  14th February 1899.  Although the records refer to the 'East Indies' as his base, he spent considerable time in India where he was awarded the India Medal with clasps for 'The Relief of Chitral 1895' and 'Tirah, Semana and Punjab Frontier 1897'.  The Chitral Campaign took place in North West India (now Pakistan) in 1895.  Rebels had taken over the district and killed the ruling chief.  British troops were sent to re-establish order.

On 15th February 1899 he was sent home to UK and he was transferred to the Army Reserve on 19th October 1899.  He moved to Thornbury to join his mother who had returned here to live with her father, Walter Rugman.  We understand John was employed as a 'birdscarer'  when he met 'Annie', whom he married in Thornbury Congregational Chapel on Easter Monday, 3rd April 1899.  "Annie" was Eliza Annie Fowler who was born in Thornbury in 1873 (baptised on 25 January 1874), the daughter of George Fowler, a labourer and his wife, Elizabeth from Kington. 

At the time of his wedding he described his occupation as 'formerly a soldier', but John didn't hang around long after the wedding.  With trouble brewing in South Africa, he was recalled by the Army on 9th October 1899.  He was given the rank of Sergeant and sent off to South Africa where he helped in the 'Relief of Ladysmith'.  This British-controlled town was under siege by the Boers from 2 November 1899 to 28 February 1900.  As a result of his efforts here he was mentioned in the dispatches of Lord Roberts, published in the London Gazette sold on Tuesday 10th September 1901, as having given special meritorious service during the campaign in South Africa.  On 5th July 1901 he returned to the UK where on 15th January 1902 he was awarded a Medal for Distinguished Conduct in the Field on 29th November 1901.  The photo above shows John at the time of the Boer War about 1900-2. He was discharged from the Army on 17th February 1902.  The photo on the right shows John and Annie Oates (possibly with their son Jack) at about this period.

When the Great War began, John went back into the action.  He re-enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry on 22nd September 1914 as a private, but was immediately appointed Sergeant.  On 9th November 1914 he was promoted to Colour Sergeant.  On 1st January 1916 he was transferred to the Machine Gun Corps.  On 8th December 1916 he was appointed  Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM).  We understand that in view of his age his involvement was restricted to training men at Aldershot.  When the War was won, John was discharged on 4th October 1918 as being 'surplus to Military requirements'.

Click here to read more about John Thomas's family and his life after leaving the Army

This page was last updated: 12/07/2008