Lieutenant William Beck Savage was born in 1883 in Forest Gate, Essex, a son of David John Savage née Jacobs (1858-1932) and Emma Savage née Beck (1844-1927). It would appear that at some point between 24 July 1881 when his elder brother Mackenzie Stanley Savage née Jacobs (1881-1948) was baptised and the 3rd quarter of 1883 when his birth was registered in the West Ham registration district, his father had changed the family name from Jacobs to Savage.
On 28 June 1883 he was baptised at Emmanuel Church, Romford Rd, Forest Gate and in the 1891 he is shown as a scholar living at 40 Godwin Road, Forest Gate, with his parents, his brother Mackenzie and sister Dorothy Kathleen Savage (1884-1966), together with a female general domestic servant. His father was shown as a college secretary. The 1901 census shows him as an insurance clerk living at 277 Romford Road, West Ham, with his parents and his two siblings.
On 27 July 1909 he was enrolled as a student at the Royal Academy where he remained until December 1912. In the 1911 census he is shown a painter (artist), still residing at 277 Romford Road, Forest Gate, with his parents and both siblings. His father is recorded as a secretary of a City of London college, whilst his brother was an assistant inspector of accounts at the Metropolitan Water Board. According to the website exhibitions.univie.ac.at his studios were at Eaton Studio, Eaton Terrace, St. John's Wood.
He initially enlisted as a Private in a Public Schools Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, service number PS/862 and entered France on 25 December 1915 and is shown in the London Gazette dated 21 November 1916 as a cadet being commissioned as a temporary Second Lieutenant with effect from 25 October 1916. Promoted to Lieutenant, he was serving in the 51st Battalion, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), when he went missing presumed killed in action, aged 34 years, on 21 March 1918. As he has no known grave he is commemorated in Bay 10, Course C, Stone No.6, on the Arras Memorial, Faubourg-d'Amiens Cemetery, Boulevard du General de Gaulle, Arras, France.
Probate records show that his address has been 26 Morshead Mansions, Elgin Avenue, Maida Hill and that when administration of his estate was granted to his father on 20 February 1920 his effects totalled £193-1s-8d. On 5 March 1920 his father was sent his army effects, including a £12-0s-0d war gratuity, that totalled £109-13s-0d. He was posthumously awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal 1914-1918 and the Victory Medal.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
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