Herbert Stott was born in Ravensthorpe, Yorkeshire, England, on March 1, 1882, the son of John Stott and Annie Stott, of Dewsbury, England. Herbert married Annie Stott (later Hyne), and they would reside, first, at 249 Queen Street, Sarnia, and later 501 Confederation Street, Sarnia. Herbert enlisted December 3, 1915 in Sarnia with the 149th Battalion. At the time, he listed his occupation as labourer. In early December of 1915, the Sarnia Observer reported that the first recruit to be taken on by the Lambton 149th Battalion was Herbert Stott. He became a member of the Army, Canadian Infantry, Western Ontario Regiment, 1st Battalion, with the rank of Private.
On August 17, 1918, Herbert Stott would lose his life as a result of wounds received one week earlier while fighting in France, during Canada’s final Hundred Days Campaign. Herbert Stott would later be officially listed as, Died of Wounds – (SW.Lt.Side) War Hospital, Exeter. In August of 1918, Herbert’s wife Annie in Sarnia would receive the following telegram:
Ottawa, Ont. August 19
Mrs. Annie Stott, 249 Queen Street, Sarnia, Ont.
Deeply regret to inform you 845252, Pte. Herbert Stott, Infantry, officially reported died of wounds at war hospital Exeter, on August 17th, 1918, gunshot wound in side and amputation of leg. Director of Records
Only days prior to receiving the above telegram, Annie Stott had been sent a message that her husband Pte. Stott had been wounded. When Annie Stott received the telegram announcing her husband’s death, she and their five children, the youngest child being three years of age, were preparing for a picnic. There would be no picnic that day.
Following is an article taken from a Dewsbury, England newspaper, reporting on the death of Herbert Stott:
Westtown Soldier Buried with Military Honors
Another painful local casualty is that of Pte. Herbert Stott, the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Stott, of 12 Cemetery Road, Westtown, who has died of wounds. He was a Canadian soldier, joining the Dominion forces in Lambton’s Own at the beginning of the war, and a sad feature of the case is that his wife and five young children are left at Ontario, Canada. He was wounded in the trenches in the thigh on the 10th August, and was brought to Exeter. On Thursday last week his parents received a wire saying; “Son seriously wounded, come at once.” They immediately visited him and though the amputation of his leg had become necessary and the operation had been performed, when they left him on the Friday evening he was quite cheerful. Mr. and Mrs Stott reached home on Saturday morning, and at six o’clock in the evening came a wire to say their son was dead.
The internment, with military honors, took place at Dewsbury Cemetery on Wednesday, the Rev. J.J. Baldwin, Vicar of St. Matthew’s, Westtown officiating. There was a very considerable expression of public sympathy, and a military escort (with firing party), under the command of Sergt. Major Hemingway. A band with muffled drums was in the procession. The coffin, wrapped in the Union Jack, was borne by the soldiers from the top of the Cemetery road to the graveside, where after the last rites had been performed, several volleys were fired and the “Last Post” sounded.
It was a strange coincidence, which Pte. Stott himself remarked, that when he arrived in Canada several years ago it was on the 28th March, that he sailed from Canada with his unit on that date, and that he went to France from Bramshott this year on the same date. “I wonder,” he said, “where I shall be the next 28th of March?”
Herbert wasn’t the only member of his family to see action. Robert Stott, Herbert’s brother who was a Private with the Northumberland Fusiliers, survived being gassed in France, but was unable to attend the funeral. Herbert’s brother-in-law, Pte. Herbert Drake, had his knee-cap blown off and had been discharged. Thirty-six year old Herbert Stott is buried in Dewsbury Cemetery, Yorkshire, United Kingdom, Grave K.”U”.340.
SOURCES: A, B, C, D, E, F, L, N, 2C, 2D, 2G