LANCE CORPORAL ROBERT GEORGE FAWKES
YORK AND LANCASTER REGIMENT
9TH NOVEMBER 1915 AGE 21
BURIED: LIJSSENTHOEK MILITARY CEMETERY, BELGIUM
I wonder when Robert Fawkes' mother, Caroline, died? In May 1919 she is shown as the sole legatee of her son's will. He left her his war gratuity*, which looks as though it was £5, and the balance on his account of £3 13s 8d. However, it would be a bit odd if she were still alive for Robert Fawkes Snr to only refer to himself in the headstone. From the evidence, I can see that it has sometimes been years after a casualty's death, and after the end of the war, before the next-of-kin were asked for their details and their choice of inscription - ten years sometimes. Mrs Fawkes could well have died in the interim.
Researching the lives of these First World War casualties has revealed so much social history. The 1911 census asks how many children a couple have living out of how many live births. The Fawkes' answer to this was three still living out of seven live births. I've usually assumed that the deaths would have been infant deaths but I can see that the children who subsequently died were aged 9,4 and 1 in the 1901 census.
*There is a very interesting Great War Forum post here on the subject of War Gratuities.