WORLD WAR I
Bingham War Memorial
Service Record
| Captain Ricardo Cope | Royal Army Medical Corps | born 1876 | |
| Medal roll and Commonwealth War Graves Commission web site | Ricardo entered service as a Lieutenant RAMC. promoted to Captain and
served at 8th and 10th Stationary Hospitals. First served in France from 16/12/14 |
8th Stationary Hospital was at Wimereaux, 5 kilometres north
of Boulogne. From October 1914 onwards, Boulogne and Wimereux formed an important hospital centre and until June 1918, the medical units at Wimereux used the communal cemetery for burials, the south-eastern half having been set aside for Commonwealth graves, although a few burial were also made among the civilian graves. 10th Stationary Hospital was at St Omer but moved location frequently. Lying on key railway lines, roads and waterways connecting the channel ports with the fighting fronts of French and Belgian Flanders, Saint-Omer became a centre for Commonwealth military command, logistics, training, and medical care. |
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| Medal card | Confirms above postings. Awarded 14/15 Star, British and
Victory medals. Entered France 16.12.14 Applied for Star on 9.8.20. Address: Church Street, Bingham |
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Family history etc
| Captain Ricardo Cope | |||
| 1876 | Born Forest Hill Surrey | ||
| Census 1881 and 1891 | Living at 48 Chapel Road, Broadwater Worthing, Sussex with: Mother: Helen, widow Sister: Nellie Mary |
Living on own means |
Father Ricardo was also a doctor. |
| 1901 | Registered to practice 8th February 1901 | ||
| 1910 | Married Ethel Amy Norton in Brighton. | ||
| 1920 | When he applied for his medals his address was Church Street, Bingham, which we know was number 7 | ||
| Captain Ricardo Cope, Royal Army Medical Corps, came to Bingham in 1912 [see Adelaide Wortley History of Bingham 133], following the death of Dr Eaton. He died in 1926 in his fifties. In 1921, his wife, Ethel Amy Cope bought 9, Church Street, but had rented it for some time before that. Dr R Cope was a founder member of the Bingham branch of The Royal British Legion. | |||
| 1925/6 | Listed on the Electoral roll | Shown living in Church St with wife Ethel Amy. We know this to be number 7, the home of doctors since 1841. | |
| 1926 | Cope Ricardo MRCS died aged 50 30th Aug 1926 | Buried in Bingham Cemetery. Probate records show he left £4308. | |
| 1939 Register | Church Street (we know this to be no 9) Etel A, b. 20 August 1875 Ricardo, b. 24 May 1913 |
Unpaid domestic duties Tobacco Clerk, Castle Tobacco Factory |
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| 1956 | Ethel Amy (wife) died aged 80 11th Feb 1956 | Buried in Bingham Cemetery | |
| “History of Bingham” | Adelaide Wortley recorded that on the death of Dr. Ricardo
Cope, MRCS., LRCP:- Bingham Parish Church was filled when Dr Cope’s
funeral took place. Rich and poor in the district alike paid their tribute
to his memory. The coffin was draped with the Union Jack. Dr Cope served
in the army during the First World War. In his younger days he spent five
years in West Africa. He came to Bingham in 1912 and died on September
2, 1926, in the fullness of his manhood, when he was but fifty years old. The Memorial Fund collected in Bingham and district amounted to £186.4s.7d, of which Bingham’s share was £78 18s 7d. Mrs Cope was presented with a beautifully illuminated address;- To
Mrs Cope Widow of the late Ricardo Cope Esq., MRCS. LRCP. We who have set our names to this book wish to express our deep sympathy with you in the death of your husband—to many of us a friend and benefactor—and to show in some permanent manner our appreciation of his work. This expression has taken the form of a fully-equipped bed and memorial plate at Nottingham General Hospital. We hope that in the future, happiness may be restored to you by the health and success of your son. |
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| 1927 | Canon Hutt’s tribute to Dr Cope was written in All Saints’
Magazine, thus:- ‘We have suffered a great loss. We loved him. Could anything exceed his devotion, his scrupulous care, his absolute forgetfulness of self, his kindly sympathy? Many a time have I thanked God for giving me friendship of Ricardo Cope. His sound advice, his quaint, almost comical way of looking at certain things, his shrewdness, his sly little digs, his subtle jests, and added to it his utter incapacity of doing or saying an unkind, uncharitable thing—these qualities made friendship with him a thing of joy and thankfulness. He was a thoroughly good, sincere Christian gentleman. We thank God for the life and example of Ricardo Cope.’ September, 1926. |
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