Yarm 1914

John Elcoate was elder brother to Thomas Johnson Elcoate who died in April 1917. The Elcoate family lived in Yarm and a late Victorian photograph shows the family below. By 1911 John had moved out and started a family painting and decorating business. His mother Margaret and father Richard, A railway plate layer, both aged 50, lived with their other son Thomas aged 20 and unmarried, was a painter, and two daughters Rose and Jane aged 18 and 17 respectively.
John was 32 years and 5 months old when he enlisted on 29th November 1915 and lived with his wife Evelyn in the High Street. They got married on 6th June 1908 and had their first son the following year on 4th September 1909. Harold and Richard came along in 1911 and 1914. Mrs Elcoate will have been expecting when John signed up and gave birth to Fred in March 1916. A daughter Mary Evelyn was born in February 1919.
Although John survived the war he ended up in hospital in Glasgow, being finally discharged on 19 May 1919 and awarded a pension for 50% nephritis with a review after 1 year. Trench nephritis was responsible for 1.8% of the disabilities amongst WW1 pensioners and involved the inflamation of the kidneys. Trench nephritis was a serious problem for the Allies. There were also hundreds of deaths. The condition was treated in line with pre-war regimens designed for acute nephritis. No significant preventative methods were implemented for trench nephritis, as there was no consensus regarding causation. The medical response to trench nephritis was largely ineffective, with medical commentators recognizing that there had been a lack of medical progress.The centre photograph below shows that John received a pension of over 30 shillings per week as he had 5 children. A painter in 1920 would earn about 36 shillings.

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Yarm 1914 Research ________________

The Yarm 1914 Commemoration Group is carrying out research on the soldiers listed. We are finding where they lived in Yarm and will represent the findings in a wall of poppies presentation. More details will be posted on Facebook, Twitter and this web site. If you have any information please contact us. Left click on the picture below.