Ben Osler appeared on the census in 1891. He was living with his family in 22 Marsh Row, Mostyn, Hlintshire. Head of the household was Benjamin Osler (snr) who was 45 and a Labourer in the Ironworks. He had been born in Sheffield. His wife, Mary was 44 and a native of Mostyn. Their listed children on the census were William 22 and John 17 – these two both worked as Labourers in the Ironworks and had both been born in Lancashire. Jessie 14 and Ishmael 9 were at school and were both Lancashire born  but Mary 9, Ben 6 and Elizabeth 4 had all been born in Mostyn.

The next census of 1901 records Ben at Pentreffynon Farm, Whitford where he was listed as a 16 year old General Servant.

The census of 1911 records Ben aged 26 living in the family home which was then Tan Lan, Glan y Don, Holywell. Mary Osler was head of the household. She was 64 and a widow. Ben was an Ironworker,working at The Blast Furnace. A third listed resident in the household was Elizabeth Jones who was Mary’s 54 year old unmarried sister who worked as a ‘charwoman’.

UK Soldiers who Died in The Great War 1914 -19 -accessible on www.ancestry.co.uk, confirms the regimental details above and also tells us that he enlisted in Rhyl.  His medal index card, also on ‘Ancestry, details his medals and adds that he entered his first Theatre of War, (France) on the 19th July 1915. Both these sources confirm that he was killed in action.

Ben’s Service Records seem to no longer exist but a record of his ‘Effects’ after death tells us that Mrs Mary Osler, his mother, received £12.10s of money that was owed to him by the army.

There is an index card for Ben Osler in The Flintshire Roll of Honour at The County Record Office in Hawarden. His regimental details are confirmed as above. The address given was Tan Lan, Mostyn. It says he served from September 1914  until his death in May 1917. It is this source that gives the detail about him being killed by a shell.