Regiment: Royal Field Artillery, 107th Brigade
Date & place of birth: Hanover Square, London 21 August 1887
Date & place of death: 14 November 1915 (aged 28) near Ypres
Captain Henry Chetwynd-Stapylton came from a wealthy legal family who lived in Petworth and London. He was a career Army officer; except for those in the highest ranks, deaths among officers were proportionally just as high as those among lower ranks, as the officers were expected to be first “over the top” in battles like Ypres, setting the example for their men, and armed with no more than a pistol.
Family background
Henry Chetywnd-Stapylton was born in London, but his parents also owned Hilliers, a large house off the Horsham Road just east of Petworth. His father, Henry Goulbourn Chetwynd-Staplyton, was a barrister; his mother’s maiden name was Mary Williams-Wynn. They had two further children, Annora and Esther.
Military career
By 1911 Henry was in the Army, serving in the 86th Battery, Royal Field Artillery at Deepcut Barracks, Surrey. He was therefore involved in the war from the start as a Captain in the British Expeditionary Force.
Death and commemoration
Henry Chetwynd-Staplyton was killed in action near Ypres on 14 November 1915. He is buried in Reninghelst New Military Cemetery, Poperinge, West Flanders, Belgium. He is also commemorated in St. Mary’s Petworth by a colourful panel of St. George and a plaque detailing his career and death.
Subsequent family history
Henry had married Muriel Kathleen Gosling at St George’s Hanover Square on 25 October 1915, less than a month before he died. There is no record of their having had any children.