Lives of the First World War

28th May 1897 - 2nd April 1911

Born on 28 May 1897 to Uriah and Emily Fowler in the Hardway, a distinct area of the parish of Brewham in Somerset. His father's family had resided in Brewham for many generations, although sons rarely followed their father's footsteps when it came to earning their living. Harry's own father, Uriah, was a farm labourer while his father, another Uriah, was a butter merchant and shopkeeper, and a further generation back there was William who was a farmer and baker. Harry would prove to be no different when his time came to choosing how to earn his living. He was not quite three months old when his parents had him baptised into the Anglican faith at the parish church of St John the Baptist Brewham on the 15 August 1897. His three older siblings; Nellie, Reginald and Frank were also baptised at the same time. The parish registers together with the 1901 census returns indicates that the family moved from the Hardway soon after Nellie was born, in the summer of 1891, going to Pulham in North Dorset, which is where Reginald and Frank were to be born. However, the family returned in time for Harry to be born in 1897 In 1901 the census gives us a picture of the type of place that the Hardway was; a farming community with many farms close-by. The Fowler family neighbour's were; farmers, a shepherd, carter's, a game-keeper, dairyman and farm labourer's. A busy, hardworking community just as the family home must have been with so many children, although the eldest would already be out earning their living, while the middle ones would be attending the village school in South Brewham, leaving the youngest at home with their mother. Harry's turn to go to school would come near his fifth birthday, the school register giving the date of his first attendance as 21 May 1902. However, just as he was settling into school life so his brother Edwin was leaving the rural life of a farm boy behind him to join The Royal Navy. The 1911 census returns indicate that the Fowler family were living at Moss Cottage in the Hardway, close to The Bull Inn. Harry's parents had been married for 28 years and successfully delivered ten children into the world, all of whom were still living, no mean feat for the time.

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