20610 Private Herbert Rowland
8th(Service)Battalion
Devonshire Regiment
1st July 1916
Originally named Herbert Stevens Edwards,though no record of his birth appears to exist,he appears to have been born in 1896 in either Tavistock or Marystow(both in Devon).
His adoptive parents were John Rowland(born in 1861) and
Eliza Gill(1866-1938).
They had a daughter of their own,Edith Alice(born in 1905).
In the 1901 census the family were recorded as living at
Holly Cottage,Thrushelton,LewDown Devon. John was employed as a rural postman and blacksmith.
In the 1911 census,John & Eliza had moved to Church Cottage in Thrushelton;John was still the postman.
Herbert however was now living at Canonbara,Lewdown,Devon and working there as a cattle boy.
It is worth noting that Herbert appears in both census' in his original name and may never have actually been formally adopted by the Rowlands.
He enlisted in Tavistock and was killed in action on 01/07/1916.
He was awarded the 1914-1918 British War and the Allied Victory medals.