Pte. Harold Reginald Graham Sherard Piffard

Private Harold Reginald Graham Sherard Piffard (28 May 1896 – 7 June 1917) was born at 29 Cambridge Avenue, Maida Vale, Westminster, West London in England. He emigrated to New Zealand for his health prior to the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Harold's parents were artist Harold Hume Piffard and Helena Katherine Docette Piffard (née Walker). His Uncle, Dr. Ernest Frederick Docetti Walker (1871-1915), lived at Blenheim in New Zealand. Harold worked for the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company as a clerk. He enlisted on 8 February 1916, and was killed during the Battle of Messines in Belgium the following year [Service No: WWI 24221. Regiment/Service: Canterbury Regiment, N.Z.E.F., 2nd Battalion.]. Harold is remembered on Panel 16 of the Messines Ridge (New Zealand) Memorial.

Sources

1. Harold Reginald Graham Sherard Piffard - Online Cenotaph - Auckland War Memorial Museum
2. Marlborough Express Tuesday, 19 June 1917 Personal Notes
3. New Zealand and World War One - Roll of Honour - P / Ref 14.4.2021

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From British Newspaper Archive: Dundee Courier, Tuesday, 2 June 1896 Page 8 Births

Piffard. — At [29 Cambridge Avenue, North Maida Vale, London NW6 5AA 51.5351011, -0.1934558], on Thursday, 28 May 1896, the wife of Harold Hume Piffard, of a son.

From findmypast 19010331 census Harold Piffard 33 Harold 4 Dorothy 3 Ivan 1 at 18 Addison Road Chiswick London

31 March 1901 Census for residents of [18 Addison Grove, Chiswick, London W4 1ER 51.4971432, -0.2513644]

• Harold Piffard, head, widower, male aged 33 [born about 1868] in London; Artist (Painter), working on own account at home
• Harold Piffard, son, male aged 4 [born about 1897] in London
• 2 siblings, 1 other relative, 3 servants

From MyHeritage: Harold Hame Piffard: 1911 England & Wales Census

2 April 1911 Census for residents of 18 Addison Road, Chiswick, London, England; House with 11 rooms

• Harold Hume Piffard, head, married for 9 years [about1902] 5 children, 4 still living, male, aged 43 [born about 1868], in London; Artist Painter; working at home
• Eleanor M Piffard, wife, married for 9 years [about1902] 1 child living, female, aged 39 [born about 1872], in Dundee, Angus
• Harold Piffard junior, son, single, male, aged 14 [born about 1897], in London
• 3 siblings, 1 servant

From fold3 19170607 service record Harold Reginald Graham Sherard Piffard 639740597

• Full Name: Harold Reginald Graham Sherard Piffard
• Service Number: WW1 24221
• Conflict Period: World War I
• Served for: New Zealand

From Wikipedia - Harold H. Piffard

Harold Reginald Grahame Sherard Piffard (28 May 1896 – 7 June 1917). He emigrated to New Zealand for his health before the outbreak of the war. He worked for the Lone and Mercantile Agency as a clerk. He enlisted in New Zealand on 8 February 1916, and was killed in France in the following year.

From Marlborough Express Tuesday, 19 June 1917 Personal Notes

Private H. R. G. S. Piffard, who has been killed in action, was a nephew of the late Dr. E. F. D. Walker, of Blenheim, and lived here for several years, being a member of the Loan and Mercantile Agency Co.'s staff. He was about 21 years of age. He belonged to the Old Country, and came out to New Zealand for the benefit of his health.

From St Michael and All Angels Church World War I Project

St Michael and All Angels, Bath Road, Chiswick, London W4 1LW 51.4961, -0.2548 Private Harold (“Rolly”) Reginald Grahame Sherard Piffard

Missing, presumed Killed, 7 June 1917

“Rolly” Piffard was born on 28 May 1896, the eldest son of an artist and aviation inventor, Harold Hume Piffard (1867-1938) who had married his mother, Helena Katharina Docetti Walker of Dundee, in 1895. He had three siblings: Dorothy, born 1898, Ivan, 1899 and Grahame Laurence, who died sadly at age three months in February 1901. It is likely that there had been complications at his birth, as tragically, Helena died on 27 November 1900. His father re-married, in 1902, Eleanor Hoile, with Rolly’s step-brother Hume Piffard being born in Bedford Park in 1905. ...

Harold “Rolly” Piffard started school at Miss Emma Jones’ Private School, Bedford Park, which was established at the home of her brother-in-law, Thomas Rooke, also an artist of repute, at [7 Queen Anne's Gardens, Chiswick, London W4 1TU 51.4985733, -0.2552188]. Rooke had married Leonora Jones, the former governess to Margaret, daughter of Burne-Jones, and William Yeats’ daughter Lolly taught briefly at the school. In 1906 “Rolly” went on to Latymer School. According to that school’s Roll of Honour, after leaving Class VI, about 1911, he went to farm in New Zealand with his uncle, but not before briefly serving as a peace-time territorial with the Queen’s Westminster Rifles, (later 16th Battalion, London Regiment). In New Zealand he eventually became a clerk with The New Zealand Loan Company at Blenheim, South Island.

“Rolly” attested for service in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force on 9 February 1916 in Blenheim. He underwent basic training at Trentham Camp, near Wellington until 31 May 1916 when he embarked on SS “Willochra” in “C” Company 13th Reinforcement troops, as 7/4th New Zealand Reserve Force. The ship docked at Devonport on 26 June and there followed further training at Sling Camp, near Bulford on Salisbury Plain. He finally arrived in France on 6 October 1916 and joined 2nd Battalion, Canterbury Regiment in 12 (Nelson) Company on 22 October.

From PDF Format: The New Zealand Division

See page 35 for a map showing Oxonian Trench just north of the town of Mesen [Oxonian Trench, Mesen, Belgium 50.76760, 2.89727]

From Casualty Details | CWGC

• Private Harold Reginald G. Sherrard Piffard
• Service Number: 24221
• Regiment & Unit/Ship: Canterbury Regiment, N.Z.E.F. 2nd Battalion
• Date of Death: Thursday, 7 June 1917
• Buried or commemorated at: [The Messines Ridge (New Zealand) Memorial to the Missing, N314, 8957 Mesen, Belgium 50.765, 2.8907751]