Frederick William Brookes was born on the 14th July 1898 at 11 Emery Street, Burslem, Staffordshire, being baptised on the 3rd August 1898 at Cobridge Christ Church. His parents were William, a Potter's cashier born in 1863, and his mother, Mary Jane née Dawson, born c. 1870; they married on the 5th of December 1892. 

The 1901 census shows Frederick as a 2-year-old living at 31 Derby Street, Burslem, with his parents, William, aged 37, a Pottery Decorator Manager, Mary Jane, aged 31, and siblings Reginald Percy, born 24 Feb 1893, aged 8, and Vera Mary, born 6 Oct 1894, aged 6.

The 1911 census records Frederick as a 14-year-old living at 67 Alfred Street, Cobridge, with his father William, aged 48, a Canvasser and Collector, mother Mary Jane, aged 41. Records show they had been married 20 years and had 7 children, 1 of whom had died. There is no recorded occupation for Frederick, but his older brother Reginald Percy, aged 19, was a Potter's Clerk, Vera Mary, aged 17, a Warehouse Woman, and younger siblings Katie Adeline, aged 9, Annie Dorothy, born 15 July 1904, aged 7, and Winifred Diana, aged 4. 

William Brookes died on the 5th December 1914, aged 51, of Emphysema, his address being 11 Joseph Street, Hanley, his occupation Flint Mill Lodge Man. 

Frederick's sister, Vera Mary Brookes, married Sidney V Mason in 1915. 

Reginald Percy Brookes married Rosetta Colclough in 1915.

It is not known when Frederick William Brookes joined the military, but we can tell from his Medal Index Card that he was a pre-war territorial soldier with the service number T2714 Royal Field Artillery. He also served with service number 805765 before being renumbered 487991.

We also do not know when Frederick first entered a theatre of war, but we can surmise from his Medal Index Card that it was after the 31st December 1916, as he was awarded only the British War Medal and Victory Medal.

There is, in fact, very little surviving information to tell us about Frederick's time during WW1, but snippets tell us he served with the 5th Divisional Signal Company, Royal Engineers, and he earned the Military Medal whilst attached to the 51st Highland Division. The Highland Division was engaged in heavy fighting on the Ypres salient during the German Spring Offensive, which began on the 21st March 1918. It was at this time that Field Marshal Haigh gave his famous ‘BACKS TO THE WALL’ speech. Here on the 25th March 1918, Frederick met his fate, reported wounded and missing.

So a brave man fell, a man who had been previously recognised for bravery by the award of the Military Medal, which was mentioned in the London Gazette dated 28th January 1918 and the Birmingham Daily Post 29th January 1918. So although we don’t know what the award was for, it would have been for something that he did in 1917.

Frederick's death is reported in the War Office Weekly Casualty Lists dated 7th May 1918. 

Army Pension Cards show differing addresses of his family, these being 24 Waterloo Road, Burslem, 47 Trafalgar Square, Hanley, and 41 Hope Street, Hanley. It also shows us his family pension award being made to his mother on 11.06.1919. 

His body was never found, and so he is commemorated at the Ploegsteert Memorial Ypres on panel number 1. 

He is also remembered on the Royal Doulton Burslem Memorial and the Hanley WW1 war memorial. 

1921 census sees the family living at 47 Trafalgar St, Hanley, Mary Jane, widowed, aged 51, now head of the family, living with her daughters Katie, aged 19, a Silk Mill Machinist, Annie, aged 16, a Potters Enameler, and Winifred, aged 13, still in education.  Also living with them as lodgers were widowed Joseph Shenton, aged 56, a Brick Layer, and his two children, Frederick, aged 19, a Collier Loader (Below ground), and Margaret, aged 15, Home Duties. 

Mary Jane Brookes died in 1922.

Katie Adeline Brookes married David Clacher in the spring of 1922. 

Annie Dorothy married William Barker in 1927. 

Winifred Diana married Royston Bates in 1929. 

Sources 

Parents' marriage: Indexes created from Anglican Parish Registers held at Staffordshire Record Office; Stafford, Staffordshire, England

Baptism: Ancestry.com. England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

1901 census Class: RG13; Piece: 2597; Folio: 34; Page: 3

The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England; Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911

The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England; 1921 Census Returns; Reference: RG 15/12648, ED 6, Sch 322; Book: 12648

W.Brookes FreeBMD. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

Military-Genealogy.com, comp. UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.

Source Citation

National Army Museum; Chelsea, London, England; Soldiers' Effects Records, 1901-60; NAM Accession Number: 1991-02-333; Record Number Ranges: 883001-884500; Reference: 540

Western Front Association; London, England; WWI Pension Record Cards and Ledgers; Reference: 699/06d

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000347/19180703/111/0005 ( missing and wounded July 3rd 1918 

M.J Brookes death: General Register Office; United Kingdom; Volume: 6b; Page: 241

FreeBMD. England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/874968/frederick-william-brookes/