Stephen Wriothesley BEST (1889-1917)

Stephen Wriothesley Best (1889-1917) was a day pupil at Christ College, Brecon, from 1900-1906, at the same time as Cyril Sladden. 

Stephen Best was born in Brecon on 16th January 1889, the fourth of six children of Charles William Best, a civil engineer who was county surveyor for Brecknockshire, and his wife, Julia, of Penbryn, Brecon.  On leaving school, he studied law at the University of Edinburgh and then joined the Civil Service in Edinburgh.

Early in the war he enlisted with the Brecknock Battalion of the South Wales Borderers.  His younger brother, Frank, also joined the Brecknocks and they served together in Aden, India and Mesopotamia.  Whilst serving in India, Stephen chose to be baptized on 22nd March 1916 at Mhow, Bengal.

Lieutenant Stephen Best was killed at the Battle of Bund-i-Adhaim, Mesopotamia, on 30th April 1917 and is commemorated on the Basra Memorial.  He was mentioned in despatches in 1917.  Two of his brothers, Lieutenant Frank Harrington Best and Lieutenant Arthur Stephen Middleton Best, were both killed in Mesopotamia in February 1917. 

All three sons are commemorated on the war memorial in the grounds of St Mary’s Church, Brecon.  The memorial was unveiled by their mother in November 1920.