Edward Vivian Birchall Explained

Edward Vivian Birchall
Birth Name:Edward Vivian Dearman Birchall
Birth Date:10 August 1884
Placeofburial:Étaples Military Cemetery
Allegiance: United Kingdom
Rank:Captain
Commands:1/1st Buckinghamshire Battalion
Battles:First World War

Edward Vivian Dearman Birchall (10 August 1884 – 10 August 1916), was an English philanthropist who died of wounds at the Battle of the Somme. He left a legacy of £1000 for the promotion of voluntary services. The money was used to help create, in 1919, the National Council of Social Services. It later became the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, an umbrella body for charities in England.[1] [2]

Early life and education

He was born on 10 August 1884 at Bowden Hall,[3] Upton St Leonards, Gloucestershire, the third, and youngest, son of Dearman and Emily Jowitt Birchall.[4]

Birchall attended school in Sunningdale, Berkshire, from 1893 to 1898 and Eton College from 1898 to 1903. He graduated from Magdalen College, University of Oxford with a BA in 1908.[2]

Military service

Birchall was a captain in the 1/1st Buckinghamshire Battalion. He died on 10 August 1916 and is buried in France, at Étaples Military Cemetery near Boulogne.

Notes and References

  1. News: Soldier's legacy lives on through a century of voluntary action . Third Force News . 5 August 2014 . 5 May 2024 . Smith, Susan.
  2. Web site: Edward Vivian Dearman Birchall, BA, DSO . 25 January 2022 . Magdalen College, University of Oxford.
  3. Bowden Hall was purchased by Birchall's father in 1868 and is now a hotel.
    Web site: Bowden Hall (also known as Creed's Place, Bounden Hall, Bowden Hall Ramada Hotel Gloucester). Parks and Gardens . 5 May 2024.
    Web site: Edward Vivian Dearman Birchall, BA, DSO . 25 January 2022 . Magdalen College, University of Oxford.
  4. Birchall, Edward Vivian Dearman (1884–1916), philanthropist . September 2004 . 5 May 2024 . Laybourn, Keith. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . 10.1093/ref:odnb/68990 . Keith Laybourn .