Oswald Thresher
Oswald Thresher, born in 1882 in Stoke Newington, Essex, was the son of Samuel Bennet Burt Thresher and Edith Thresher. His father was a wine merchant, a member of the family who ran the Thresher Wine Company. Oswald married Grace Hyatt on 2 September 1909 at St Andrew’s Church, Stoke Newington and by 1911 they had moved to Hertfordshire. They lived at 'East Bank', 34 Avenue Rise, Bushey and Oswald was manager of the wine and spirits department at a brewery. Their son, Felix, was baptised at St James’ Parish Church in 1913 and Marcus was born in Bushey in 1914.

During the war Oswald served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers and details of his service were recorded in the Bushey Parish Magazine following his death from wounds on 2 October 1918: 

The death of Mr Oswald Thresher, from wounds received during 
the recent fighting in Palestine has come as a shock to his many 
friends in Bushey and Watford. Always a keen and efficient soldier, he was just giving up his long membership in the Queen's 

Westminsters when war broke out. He served from the first, at 
home, in France and then in Egypt and Palestine. Mr Thresher was 
a sidesman and a keen member of the CEMS (Church of England 
Missionary Society). Always bright, courteous and obliging, he was just the one to commend the Faith he believed in, and to help other realize their best side in life. We offer our sincere 
condolences to Mrs Thresher and family. 
St James' Parish Magazine 1918 

He was buried in Haifa War Cemetery, grave reference A 48, and is commemorated at the churches of St James’, Bushey and St Matthew’s, Oxhey and on the Bushey Memorial.

His wife and family subsequently moved to 32 Cyril Mansions, Battersea, London. Felix became an RFC and RAF Pilot officer and died of the Norfolk coast near Sheringham in 1938, aged 26. Marcus became a Lieutenant in the First Battalion of the Queen’s Royal Regiment and died the same year in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, aged 24. Their mother died in 1969 at the age of 85.