Second Lieutnant Hubert Everard Clifton was born in Leicester to the Reverend Richard James Clifton, a minister of the Wesleyan church, and Annie Louisa Clifton. The family moved around a lot, perhaps due to Revd Clifton’s ministry. This is reflected in the 1911 census which showed that they family at that time were living in Banbury, that Hubert’s sister Beatrice, has (aged 24 at the time of the census) had been born in Devon, and Hubert (19) had been born in Loughborough.

At the time of the census, Hubert was studying law, having been educated at Magnus Grammar School, Newark, and the earning his BA from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1913.

In 1914, Hubert joined the 1st Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, arriving in France on June 19, 1915. He was severely wounded during the Battle of the Somme, but died, aged 25, at the Fort Pitt military hospital, Chatham, from pneumonia.

He was posthumously awarded the Military Cross in addition to the 1915 Star, Victory and British war medals.

In trying to prove the connection between Hubert Clifton and Woolton, Tom Canty uncovered a newspaper clipping that revealed that Revd Richard James Clifton, Hubert’s father, served as the minister for Woolton Wesleyan Chapel during the First World War.

Second Lieutenant Hubert Clifton is Remembered with Honour in the Torquay Cemetery and Extension