Private Joseph COPSON
Army Ordnance Corps 031511

Joseph Copson 1888-1947
Joseph was born in Spratton in October 1888, the son of Joseph Copson, a slipper manufacturer, and his wife Mary Ann. Both parents came from long-established families in the village. The large family with 15 children lived in the Brixworth Road in a six-roomed cottage (now known as April Cottage). When Joseph left school he became a bootmaker and boarded with a family in Kingsthorpe, near Northampton. He returned regularly to Spratton and played in the village brass band. He was also a good pianist. He played in the village football team, and married Mabel Hobley, a shop assistant, in the village church in September 1912. In the 1920s he bought the White Horse Inn on the Brixworth Road, opposite April Cottage, his childhood home.
Five of the Copson brothers served in the First World War - Alfred, Joseph, John, Ebenezer and William Archibald - and all five returned. We have been unable to find details of Joseph's military career except that he joined the Army Ordnance Corps in 1916 and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He died in March 1947 aged 58 years.
EXPLORE SECTIONS
MEN WHO SERVED
- Private Charles Herbert AUSTIN (known as Herbert)
- Corporal Frank AUSTIN
- Lance Corporal James William AUSTIN
- Private John Samuel AUSTIN
- Sergeant William Henry AUSTIN
- Sergeant Bertie Henry BALDERSON
- Corporal Frederick Charles BALDERSON MM
- Lance Corporal Robert Samuel BALDERSON
- Private George William BUCKBY (known as William)
- Private Henry Andrew BUCKBY
- Richard Henry Horne BUCKBY
- Transport Sergeant Thomas BUCKBY MM
- Company Quartermaster Sergeant William Gander BUCKBY
- William Archibald COPSON (known as Archibald)
- Sapper Ebenezer COPSON
- Private Ernest Edward COPSON
- Pioneer Henry Owman COPSON (known as Harry)
- Private James COPSON
- Private John William COPSON
- Private Joseph COPSON
- Private Arthur Sidney GOODEN (known as Sidney)
- Private Hugh Henry GOODEN
- Sergeant Joseph Eric GOODEN (known as Eric)
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- Driver Frank Leonard HAYTER
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- Lance Corporal John Charles HAYTER DCM (known as Jack)
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- Ordinary Seaman Arthur Charles HORNE
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- Lance Corporal Lewis HORNE
- Private Thomas HORNE
- Driver John Henry LEESON
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- Private John Thomas MANNING
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- Air Mechanic Nathaniel MANNING
- Driver/Saddler Samuel MANNING
- Gunner George Albert MARTIN
- Private Joseph MARTIN
- Private Thomas Henry MARTIN (known as Harry)
- Private Thomas Walter MARTIN (known as Walter)
- Pioneer Walter Ernest MARTIN
- Sergeant William Higgs MARTIN, DCM
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- Lieutenant George REEVE MC MM
- Private Richard Henry REEVE (known as Harry)
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- Private Frank SMITH 46648
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- Private John William SMITH (6942)
- Private John William (William John) SMITH (8964)
- Private Charles Walter WADHAMS
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- Private Thomas Edwin WADHAMS
- Private William WADHAMS