BORN HULL 1897. ONLY SON OF JOHN LEE (1871-1950) & MARY ALICE BEAUTIMAN (1870-1953) OF 52, GREAT THORNTON STREET, HULL (WAR PENSION ADDRESS). SON OF A MASTER BRICKLAYER. HE HAD TWO SISTERS, MURIEL AND BERTHA. HE WAS EDUCATED AT HULL’S CONSTABLE STREET SCHOOL, WHERE HE WON A SCHOLARSHIP TO THE BOULEVARD SECONDARY SCHOOL. WHILE THERE HE RECEIVED TWO MORE BURSARIES AND FINISHED WITH A FIRST CLASS CERTIFICATE. HE LEFT SCHOOL AT SIXTEEN, TO WORK AS A CLERK, FOR MESSRS BRUNT, BUCKNALL & CO. HIS ARMY RECORDS DESCRIBE HIM AS 5 FOOT, 7.5 INCHES TALL, 33-35 INCH CHEST, 132 LBS WEIGHT AND “GOOD” PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT.
HE ENLISTED IN THE HULL PALS, AGED 18, THE DAY AFTER THE FIRST ZEPPELIN RAID ON THE CITY. HE WENT TO FRANCE IN APRIL 1916. HE WAS KILLED IN ACTION ON 13TH NOVEMBER 1916, AGED 19. HE HAD SERVED IN THE ARMY FOR 1 YEAR AND 156 DAYS. HE IS BURIED AT THE EUSTON ROAD CEMETERY, COLLINCAMPS, FRANCE.
A KEEN LOVER OF SPORT, HE FOLLOWED THE HULL RUGBY TEAM, TO EVERY NORTHERN UNION GROUND. WHEN HE WENT TO FRANCE HE SAID “WHATEVER HAPPENS, I HAVE SEEN HULL WIN THE NORTHERN UNION CUP.” HE ALSO PLAYED TWO YEARS FOR THE STUDLEY CRICKET TEAM. WAS IN THE FIRST DIVISION OF THE HULL WHIST LEAGUE. HIS FRIENDS REMEMBERED HIM AS “ALWAYS MERRY AND BRIGHT.” HIS DEATH WAS REPORTED IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL, ON THE 14TH JULY 1917. HIS MOTHER WROTE TO THE MILITARY TO SEE IF SHE COULD VISIT JOHN’S GRAVE, BUT WAS DIRECTED TO THE YOUNG MAN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION FOR ASSISTANCE.
Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE JOHN SEYNOUR LEE 12/1451. Born in 1896, John was the second of three children and only son of John and Mary Alice Lee of 52 Great Thornton Street, Hull. A Clerk by trade he enlisted at Hull City Hall on 6th July 1915 joining the 12th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment. ‘The Sportsmen’, 3rd Hull Pals. Though one of the Originals, John arrived too late to make the trip to Egypt with the others, instead he carried on his training joining them in France on 15th April 1916. John was killed in action on 13th November 1916 as the 12th and 13th Battalions took the lead in attacking Serre as part of the last desperate, fruitless act of the Somme campaign as it stuttered to a halt leaving an entire generation dead in the mud of Picardy. John Lee is buried in Euston Road Cemetery; he was 19 years old.
