Millennium Project
John Maurice French, always known as Maurice - was born in Deddington on 29 January 1893 second son of William (Bill) Joseph French (1866-1960) and Emily née Gibbs (1866-1955) He was the younger brother of William Loder*. They had two sisters - Gladys Emily (b.1899) and Margaret (Madge) Ann (b.1900).
The family lived in The Orchards on Hopcraft Lane. Even at the early age of 13 Maurice distinguished himself as a marksman, later winning competitions at Bisley. After leaving school he joined Franklins of Deddington, the renowned wood carvers.
*William initially joined the QOOH at outbreak of WWI then emigrated to Australia where he enlisted into The Australian Imperial Force (AIF). He was one of four survivors out of a company of 1200 at Gallipoli. He was invalided home but while on leave he caught meningitis and died on 10 February 1916. A very full account of his service can be found HERE
Private John Maurice French (Service No.2007) 
He enlisted on 2 September 1914 joining the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars and was renumbered 285254.(click on all images to enlarge.)
His first fighting was on the Messine Line and in the 1st Battle of Ypres. He was awarded the Bronze Star. In December he fell ill with pneumonia and returned home but soon recovered and rejoined his Company, subsequently fighting at Neuve Chapelle, the 2nd Battle of Ypres, Loos, the Somme, Arras and Cambrai. In 1917 he was blown up and suffered a severe head injury and shellshock. He returned to England to convalesce in Worthing and his war was over.
21 December 1921 Married Freda Louise née Adams (1894-1983) a local girl who was a brilliant pianist. The 2021 census taken on 21 March records that he was a farmer and that Freda was visiting the family house from Oxford where she was a Cashier with the Oxford Cement Company. They had a daughter Joan Margaret (b.1926) who married Garven Fisher. They had no children and when Joan died in 2000 the contents of her house were removed by a clearance firm which put a lot of stuff in a skip. Dulcie Doggett, who had helped keep house for Joan and for her parents before her, saw the copy of Maurice's newsletters and also a printed copy of a personal diary kept by Philip Fleming (uncle of Ian Fleming the James Bond author). She had the presence of mind to save them from the skip and in 2024 asked me if I could find a home for them. They are both now in the archives of The Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum
Bill French was a founder member of the Bowls Club in 1921 with the green being on his farm. Maurice played bowls for Oxfordshire and for England reaching the semi finals versus Scotland in a national competition. Following the death of his father in 1960 he took over the farm.
1959 He wrote the first of an annual newsletter to his former comrades reporting on various QOOH activities. He continued to write one every year until 1984. The newsletters were published in 1980 in a private bound edition with the assistance of Derek Marsh who helped run a QOOH charity Boys Club in London and was made an honorary member of the QOOH Association.
The photograph of Maurice above shows him holding his copy (left). It was taken in his Banbury Nursing Home. To mark the occasion he sent loyal greetings to the Queen on 27 June. Her reply can be seen HERE and two newspaper reports HERE. His last newsletter in 1984 was a particularly 'newsy' one.
1969 At a ceremony to honour their former QOOH Commanding Officer, Major The Hon. Arthur Villiers DSO, Maurice can be seen holding the wreath. To his right can be seen Col. Sir Arthur George Schuster and Capt. Gerald H Palmer. He helped run re-unions for his old 'D' Squadron from 1957-1985
Freda died in March 1983
Maurice died in February 1985
Gallery
These and many other images of the French and Hopcraft (in-laws) families can be seen in their album in Deddington Online