E. J. Milborrow
Service no. 93005
Gunner, Royal Field Artillery, 17th Bty. 83rd Bde
Enlisted in Brixton; lived in Stockwell
Died on 11 July 1918 aged 28
CWGC: “Son of Mr and Mrs E. Milborrow, of 83, Hargwyne Street, Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at St Souplet British Cemetery, Nord, France

British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920

In 1911, Ernest John Milborrow, 20, was an unemployed laundry warehouseman, living with his parents and six of his seven siblings in four rooms at 83 Hargwyne Street, Stockwell.  His father, Ernest Alfred, 43, a silk tie cutter, and his mother, 45, were both born in Lambeth.

Ernest Milborrow’s service history has not survived but those for his brothers William and Arthur Milborrow have. They both joined the Royal Field Artillery, 162nd (Howitzer) Brigade in Camberwell on the same day, 27 March 1916, and were given adjacent Service numbers.

William (L13105), aged 23 and working as a butcher when he enlisted, rose through the ranks and was demobbed in 1920 as a Serjeant. His career included two disciplinary issues. He was reprimanded in October 1915 for insubordinate conduct to an officer and again in July 1918 for absence from parade. His medical history included having his infected teeth removed (November 1915) and inoculations against typhoid. He caught flu in March 1919, just at the start of the pandemic. He was 5 feet 5¾ inches tall.

Arthur Thomas (L13106) described himself as a bank messenger, and was 19 when he enlisted. He was demobbed as a driver in 1919. He was disciplined in February 1917 for being absent from parade, and in March 1918 for going absent from leave for one day. He was hospitalised for two days with diarrhoea and for eight with a sprained foot (“nothing found,” said the doctors). He was 5 feet 3 inches tall.

Information from the censuses

In 1911, Ernest John Milborrow, 20, was an unemployed laundry warehouseman, living in four rooms at 83 Hargwyne Street, Stockwell (where they had been since at least 1901), with his parents and siblings. All nine children (eight of whom are on the census) and the parents were Lambeth-born:
Ernest Alfred Milborrow, 43, a silk tie cutter
Ellen Milborrow, 45
Ernest John Milborrow, 20
Willie (William) Milborrow, 19, a butcher’s roundsman (employed to make rounds or deliveries)
Nellie Elizabeth Milborrow, 14
Arthur Thomas Milborrow, 12, at school and working as a newsboy
Elsie Phoebe Milborrow, 11
Edith Milborrow, 9
Edward Milborrow, 6
George Milborrow, 2

 

T. P. Messenger
Service no. 202245
Lance Corporal, London Regiment, 1st/1st Battalion
Died on 28 May 1918 aged 22
Remembered at Soissons Memorial, France

Information from the censuses

Thomas Percy Messenger, a 15-year-old grocer’s errand boy, lived at 46 Horace Street, Stockwell, where his family occupied four rooms. His father, John Messenger, 56, a wood and coal merchant from Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire, and mother Elizabeth Messenger, 52, from Blackheath, south-east London, had 13 children, all of whom survived. Five were listed on the census:
Thomas Messenger, 15
Jane Messenger, 13
Cecil Messenger, 11
[Indecipherable] Messenger, 9 -see  below
Walter Messenger, 3
All were born in South Lambeth.
In 1901 the family lived at 4 Assaye Street, Lambeth.

Information from Lin Marshall (née Messenger) – via email 6 December 2010

Regarding your entry for THOMAS PERCY MESSENGER, who was my great uncle, the name which you have listed as indecipherable is VICTOR.

I am a genealogist researching both my father’s and mother’s families.  I don’t know if the following is of interest to you, but I must tell you that I was overjoyed to see Tom included in your book.  I have informed all the Messenger relatives with whom I am in touch, and they are equally overjoyed. Though my great grandfather John has recorded on the 1911 Census record which you have quoted, that his wife Elizabeth (known as Lizzie) was born in Blackheath, actually she wasn’t!  She was born in Greenwich at 1 Luton Place, but was baptised in Collingbourne Kingston, Wiltshire, where her family lived and she grew up.  John Messenger was born in Inglesham, Wiltshire, not Ashton Keynes as he stated on the 1911 Census.  My great grandfather actually did not know where he was born, and usually said Cricklade! His family moved to Marlborough from where John walked through the Savernake Forest to court his Lizzie (nee Goddard)!

This is the entry I have in my family history for Thomas Messenger:

Thomas (Tom) Percy Messenger. Tom was born in Lambeth in 1895 (Civil Register: September quarter 1895, Lambeth, vol 1d, page 461).  He was baptised on 5th September 1895 at St Anne’s, South Lambeth.  On the 1911 Census, he was recorded by his father as living at home aged 15, an errand boy for a grocer.  He became a chef, then joined the First Battalion of the London Regiment during World War 1 and went to France.   He was awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal and, at the time of his death, had attained the rank of Lance Corporal.  He went missing, presumed dead, on 28.05.1918 when only 22 years old. His name is recorded on the Stockwell Memorial.

Lin Marshall nee Messenger) discovered that Tom’s name was not included on the War Graves Commission’s Roll of Honour on the Internet and wrote asking to have it included, furnishing the necessary documentation as proof.  After some months, she was notified that all the records had been checked and he was now included, and also that his name was to be added to the memorial at Soissons in France, the memorial closest to where he had fallen.”