Yeoman Warder from 1908 to 1943
Alexander Smoker, was Born in 1865 and died 6th April 1943 aged 78 in the Byward Tower, although his death certificate says he died in Guys Hospital and buried in West Norwood Cemetery, memorial id 43239575.
He enlisted into the Royal Scots Fusiliers on the 31st May 1883 and was discharged 29th May 1908 his Army number 348, he was a Sergeant Major, W0II.
On the 10th October 1908, he became a Yeoman Warder here at the Tower of London filling the vacancy when YW William Appleton who had passed away.
He was the Yeoman Gaoler from 1st October 1914 to 18 July 1915, and the Chief Yeoman Warder from the 1st October 1915 his death in the Byward Tower on the 6th April 1943
He lived on the Top floor of the Martin Tower then on becoming the Yeoman Gaoler he moved into 5 Tower Green, then as the Chief Yeoman Warder he moved into the top floor of the Byward Tower.
There is a memorial to YW Smoker on the South Wall of the Chapel Royal, of St Peter Ad Vincula
Alexander Smoker with the Yeoman Gaoler
Medals
Long Service & Good Conduct Medal (LS&GC)
1911 Coronation Medal
Meritorious Service Medal
1935 Jubilee Medal
1937 Coronation Medal
1939-45 Defence Medal (posthumously)
British Empire Medal (BEM)
Family:
Wife:
Alice Georgina (nee ?) b1872 – d1918 – 2nd Wife: Alice Eliza Barker b17 Sep 1883 – d25 Dec 1971 in Dulwich Hospital
2 responses to Yeoman Warder Alexander Smoker 161
The 1st wife’s name was Alice Georgina Brett and she was born in 1862, not 1872. They were married in 1886 and had 6 children.
Alice Mary (1887), John Alexander (1889), Edith Florence (1892), Charles Alfred (1894), Ethel Maud (1896) and Lillian Emily (1906). (Names can have slightly different spellings depending on the source, such as Mary becoming May or Lillian becoming Lilian, etc.)
A G Brett was my great-grandfather’s older half-sister.
Alexander Smoker’s 1st wife was called Alice Georgina Brett and she was born in 1862, not 1872.
They were married in 1886 and had 6 children:
1 – Alice Mary, b 1887 (sometimes May instead of Mary);
2 – John Alexander, b 1889;
3 – Edith Florence, b 1892;
4 – Charles Alfred, b 1894;
5 – Ethel Maud, b 1896;
6 – Lillian Emily, b 1906 (sometimes Lilian instead of Lillian).
Ethel married Gilbert John Trowbridge (RAF) who went on to become a yeoman warder between 1930 and 1948.
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