George Selwyn and his half-brothers Christopher Selwyn and Arthur Penrose Selwyn were among six sons of a former headmaster of Uppingham School, Edward Selwyn. George was born in the town in 1897 and lived there until 1907 when his father retired to Hindhead, near Haslemere, Surrey. George's mother was Julia Maud who his father married after the death of his first wife Lucy Ada. George was about ten by the time they moved and went to school in East Grinstead before going on to Rugby School. The family had a strong connection with the school. His father's first wife, Lucy, was the granddaughter of Dr Arnold, the famous headmaster featured in Tom Brown's Schooldays. George joined the Royal Artillery and went to the front in July 1916. He fought at the Battle of the Somme and at Vimy Ridge the following year. At first he was with C Battery, then A Battery 108th Brigade and later served with the Lahore Divisional Artillery. In September 1917 he was severely wounded by a shell near Ypres and was evacuated to England. On recovery George spent time at the Experimental (Gas) Battery at Porton near Salisbury before returning to France in July 1918. Now serving with A Battery 108th Brigade, he was wounded in the leg at Haussy on 21 October. The shrapnel was successfully removed at a Casualty Clearing Station, but he was seriously ill when he reached No. 8 General Hospital at Rouen and died there from influenza and pneumonia on 25 October 1918, less than three weeks before the Armistice. George is buried at St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, grave S.V.E.8 and is remembered on the Rugby School war memorial. But the three Selwyn brothers are not on Uppingham Town's war memorial or mentioned in the book by George Phillips, Rutland and the Great War. Christopher and Arthur are remembered on the memorial inside Uppingham School Chapel.

Picture and extra information courtesy Rugby School Archives.