Stockwell War Memorial

Friends of Stockwell War Memorial & Gardens

St Andrew's War Memorial

Arthur Pearce Harold

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A. P. Harold
Service no. 320761
Private, Norfolk Regiment, 12th (Norfolk Yeomanry) Battalion
Born in Reading, Berkshire
Killed in action around age 34 on 9 December 1917
Remembered at Jerusalem War Cemetery, Israel

Information from the censuses

Arthur Pearce Harold, 28, a newspaper clerk, was born in Reading, Berkshire. In 1911 he lived in 3 rooms at 13 Prideaux Road, Stockwell with his parents, Edward Charles Harold, 64, a chemist’s assistant from Tonbridge Wells, Kent, and Elizabeth Ann Harold, 62, a music teacher from Maidstone, Kent, and his sister, Margaret Gibson Harold, a 25-year-old post office clerk, born in Tunbridge Wells. This is one of the few examples where all members of the household have given occupations, including the women. Edward and Elizabeth Harold had had 5 children, with only Arthur and Margaret surviving in 1911.

Alfred Grout

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A. C. Grout
Service no. 13775
Private, Royal Berkshire Regiment, 8th Battalion
Born in Lambeth; enlisted in London; lived in Stockwell
Killed in action age 20 on 25 September 1915
CWGC: “Son of Mrs C. S. Grout, of 6 Garden Row, Stockwell, London, and the late George Grout.”
Remembered at Dud Corner Cemetery, Loos, France

Information from the 1901 census

In 1901 Alfred Grout, then 6, and his siblings lived with their widowed mother at 30 White Hart Street in Kennington. The census merely gives his mother as “C. Grout” and does not state where she was born. She was 31. Her children are listed as:
Emily Grout, 10
George Grout, 8
Alfred Grout, 4
Ernest Grout, 4
All the children were born in Lambeth.

Ernest Girdlestone

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E. Girdlestone
Service no. 16374
Private, Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, 6th Battalion
Killed in action age 38 on 17 September 1916
Enlisted in Lambeth; lived in Brixton
CWGC: “Son of the late Owen William and Clara Morten Girdlestone, brother of Mrs. L. Boughey, of 283 Rosendale Road, Herne Hill, London.”
Remembered at London Cemetery and Extension, Longueval, France

Information from the censuses

In 1911 Ernest Arthur Girdlestone, 30, was working as a painter’s labourer and living with his brother Percy James Girdlestone, 28, a widowed upholsterer, and his son, William Girdlestone, 6, at 188 Icknield Port Road, Birmingham, where they occupied 2 rooms. All were born in Brixton, south-west London.
Twenty years earlier Ernest was living with his parents and siblings at 99 Stockwell Road, where the household included:
Owen Girdlestone, 63, an upholsterer from Halesworth, Suffolk
Clara Girdlestone, 44, from Colchester, Essex
Owen Girdlestone, 16, a tailor’s porter, born in Holborn, London
Ernest Girdlestone, 13, born in Holborn, London
Percy Girdlestone, 12, born in Holborn, London, “speech and hearing imperfect”
Clara Girdlestone, 2, born in Lambeth

There is a discrepancy between the 1891 and 1911 censuses in place of birth for Ernest and his siblings. It is possible that, since the death of Owen and Clara Girdlestone, this knowledge was lost.

Victor Edwin Finch

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V. E. Finch
Service no. 2829
Rifleman, London Regiment (Post Office Rifles), 1st/8th Battalion
Killed in action at around age 21 on 25 May 1915
Remembered at Le Touret Memorial, FranceInformation from the censuses

In 1911 Victor Edwin Finch was living in 2 rooms at 11 Stockwell Green with his family. Frederick James Finch, 46, was a brewer’s drayman, born in Surrey. His second wife Elizabeth Finch, 45, was from Headley, Surrey. Victor Edwin Finch, 17, was a telegraph messenger for the Post Office. His half-siblings were Edward James Finch, 9, Alexandra Hilda-May Finch, 8, Gilbert Arthur Finch, 6 and Margery Emily Elizabeth Finch, 4. All the children were born in Stockwell.

In 1901 Victor Finch was 7 and living at 47 Stockwell Green with his father, stepmother Elizabeth and two sisters Nancy Rebecca Finch, 11, and Dorothy A. Finch, 5.
Frederick Finch was married first in 1899 to Nancy Bella Pickard, mother of Nancy, Victor and Dorothy, at St Andrew’s Church, Landor Road, in 1889. Nancy died in childbirth in 1895, and Frederick married Elizabeth May in 1900. The couple went on to have the four chiildren listed in the 1911 census.

Victor Finch’s great nephew Adrian Purkiss adds the following interesting information:

Victor Edwin Finch’s first cousin once removed was Albert George Richard Henley, Mayor of Bermonsey, who was killed on 11 May 1941 clearing incendiaries from the roof of the town hall during a bombing raid. Another first cousin once removed was Sir Cyril Stanley Pickard KCMG of the British Diplomatic service. Angela Simmons, a first cousin twice removed, married Canon Paul Simmonds, who was for many years the Vicar of St Andrew’s Church Stockwell Green where Victor Finch is remembered.

Frederick Eversfield

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F. Eversfield
Service no. J/12826
Able Seaman, Royal Navy, H.M. S/M “D6.”
Died age 24 on June 1918
Husband of Kathleen Christina Eversfield, of 19, St. James Rd., Carshalton, Surrey.
Remembered at Chatham Naval Memorial

Information from the censuses

In 1911 Frederick Eversfield, a 16-year-old stores porter lived at 6 Emily Mansions, Landor Road, SW9 with his family: parents Harry Eversfield, 46, a stone maston born in Wrotham, Kent and Mary Eversfield, 45, from Dover; and siblings   Eliza Eversfield, 25, a restaurant counter hand, and Hilda Eversfield, 12. All three children were born in Dover.
In 1901 Frederick Eversfield was 6 and living at 1 Alexandra Cottages, Tower Street, in Dover, Kent, with his mother and siblings. Mary J. Eversfield was 34 and born in Dover. The children on the census were
Harry Eversfield, 16, foundry labourer
Elizabeth Eversfield, 12
Alfred Eversfield, 9
Frederick Eversfield, 6
Hilda Eversfield, 2
Winifred Eversfield, 1
Sarah A. Burbridge, 84, a widow living on her own means and born in Alkham, Kent, lived with the family.

Henry Wilfred Edney

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H. W. Edney
Service no. 315081
Lance Corporal, London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade), 5th Battalion
Died age 21 on 17 October 1917
Son of Elizabeth M. A. Edney, of “The Moorings,” 30 Clitheroe Road, Clapham, London
Remembered at Longuenesse (St Omer) Souvenir Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 the Edney family lived in 7 rooms at 50 Stockwell Green. Elizabeth Edney, 47 and born in Marylebone, London, was a widow. She had 6 children (one had died) in 1911:
Phillip Stanley Edney, 22, a stationer’s assistant, born in Brixton
Leslie George Edney, 20, an insurance clerk, born in Brixton
Walter Ernest Edney, 18, a restaurant clerk, born in Camberwell
Harry (or Henry) Wilfred Edney, 15, a messenger, born in Camberwell
Elsie Mercy Edney, 13, born in Camberwell
Ethel Hopkins, a single 21-year-old hairdresser from Bristol, boarded with the family.
Grace Elizabeth Edney, 21, was working as a servant to Mary Ann Larkin, a 65-year-old house agent, a few doors down the street at 17 Stockwell Green.