Edgar Hinton was Richard Fisher’s Great-Great Uncle (his Grandfather’s Uncle). He was not a Machine Gunner, yet his influence on the establishment of the collection warrants his inclusion on this website. It also provides a record of another of the victims of the Great War.
Edgar, and his brother Frederick, lived at The Croft, Wanborough. They were the grandsons of a Swindon Mayor – James Hinton – and the sons of a prominent Wanborough Farmer and member of the local Council. It was their father – also called Frederick – who organised the recruitment meeting, on 03 September, 1914, where both sons joined the 1/1st Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry.
On 26 September, 1917, the 1/1st was effectively disbanded and all Officers and Other Ranks were transferred to the 6th Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment, which was renamed the 6th (Wiltshire Yeomanry) Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment.
He was killed in action on 21 March, 1918.
He was awarded the 1914-15 Star and the British War and Victory Medals.
In the early 1990s, when The Croft was being cleared of the family possessions, Edgar’s medals become some of the first items in what is now the VMGCRA and they are held with the collection, along with two memorial scrolls that were in both his father’s house (The Croft) and his brother’s house (Pond Farm).
He is memorialised on the Arras Memorial as he has no known grave.
