Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE MATTHEW MATTHIAS LAVILL 28758. Born Sheffield, in January 1896, it appears Matthew was orphaned at a very early age. The 1901 Census has him residing with a Lauretta Hepworth, a 32-year-old foster carer who looked after seventeen children.
He attended boarding school in Hull and was residing there at the time of the 1911 Census. A Seaman by trade, he was living back in the town of his birth at 21 Heywood Road, Sheffield, but appears to have travelled to Hull in order to enlist.
His army records describe him as 5 foot, 6 inches tall, 36 inch chest size, and 130 lbs weight, Church of England religion. Matthew attested in the Summer of 1916 and arrived in France on January 10th the following year, it speaks volumes that his Germanic middle name was dropped to a simple ‘M’ on his form.
He was first sent to the 7th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, but was transferred through the 7th, 6th, 4th and 12th before he ended up in the 11th. He also spent three weeks at Beaufort War Hospital, Bristol originally the city’s Lunatic Asylum, but converted to a war hospital it must have been quite a place. Matthew Matthias Lavill was killed in action on 21st February 1918, and buried at Roclincourt Military Cemetery; he was 22 years old.
His army effects were claimed by his father, Henry Lavill, living at 32 Galton Street, Birmingham.
