Regiment: Royal West Surrey, 2nd/4th Battalion, 34th Division
Service No: G/12871
Date & place of birth: 1880, Ipsden near Wallingford, Oxfordshire
Date & place of death: 1 August 1918 (aged 38), Western Front
Jesse George had moved to Petworth to work as a groom; he left three children aged 8-12.
Family background
Jesse George was born in 1880 in the village of Ipsden, Oxfordshire. His parents were Joseph and Sarah; Joseph was an agricultural labourer in 1891. By 1911 they had had 10 children of which 9 had survived. The names we can find are Alfred (who died in 1951) Marian, James Henry, Eliza, Thomas, Charles and Cecil (who died on 24 June 1917.) Jesse moved to Petworth around 1910, and in 1911 was a groom coachman at Littlecote Lodge, Petworth, now the site of the Macarthy and Stone development.
Military service
Private George enlisted in Petworth and served in the Royal West Surrey Regiment. In the latter part of 1918, having been transferred to the 101st Brigade of the 34th Division at Proven, Belgium, his battalion took part in the battles of Soissonais, the Ourcq, Ypres, Courtrai, Ooteghem and Tieghem, and the capture of Baigneux Ridge.
Death and commemoration
Private Jesse George was killed in action in one of the battles listed above on 1 August 1918. It may have been the Soissonais battle as he is commemorated on the Soissons memorial. He was 38 years old.
 Subsequent family history
Jesse had married Adeline Blanche, who lived in Angel Street by the end of the war. Their children were William, Arthur and Mary.