Private Charles Matthewson

Private Charles Matthewson, 16th Battalion ( Canadian Scottish ) Canadian Infantry. He died in the Rawalpindi Hospital, Wimereux, France from wounds on 2nd May 1915  suffered in Belgium during the Second Battle of Ypres, aged 31. He was the son of Rowaleyn William and Elizabeth Matthewson of Oxton and is buried in Wimereux Communal Cenmetery Pas de Calais, France. He had served his apprenticeship as a grocer with his father in Oxton and was the organist on Channelkirk Church.  He had emigrated to Canada in 1911 and worked as a grocer in Victoria, British Columbia. On the outbreak of war he had enlisted in Vancouver, British Columbia and had come over with the first Canadian Contingent. His Headstone is inscribed ” Born Oxton, Berwickshire Scotland, 4th July 1884″.