Stockwell War Memorial

Friends of Stockwell War Memorial & Gardens

age 21

Henry George Hayes

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H. G. Hayes
Service no. 3/26023
Private, Durham Light Infantry, 10th Battalion, formerly 14284, Dragoon Guards
Born in Westminster; enlisted in London; lived in South Lambeth
Killed in action age 21 on 23 September 1915
CWGC: “Son of Charles Edward and Florence Eleanor Hayes, of Westminster, London.”
Remembered at Popinghe New Military Cemetery, Belgium

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 the Hayes family – parents and 5 children – lived at 27 Wilkie Buildings, Westminster, where they occupied 3 rooms. Charles Edward Hayes, 42,  was a cutter in the cap trade. He was born in Westminster. Florence Eleanor Hayes, 39, was born in Hackney. Charles Thomas Hayes, 18, was apprenticed to a butcher. Henry George Hayes, 17, was a brass finisher’s apprentice. Leonard Hayes, 15, was a junior clerk. Sidney Arthur Hayes, 11, and Florence Ellen Louisa Hayes, 8, were at school. All the children were born in Westminster, apart from Sidney Arthur, who was born in Lambeth.

William A. Hall

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W. A. Hall
Service no. 302230
Rifleman, London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade), 1st/5th Battalion
Died age 21 on 9 October 1916
CWGC: “Son of Henry Charles and Priscilla Amelia Hall, of 27 Cavendish Grove, South Lambeth, London.”
Remembered at Thiepval Memorial, France

Information from the 1911 Census

In 1911 the Hall family were living at 19 Cavendish Grove, where they occupied 6 rooms. Henry Charles Hall, 44, who was born in Lambeth, worked in the building trade as a painter. Priscilla Amelia Hall, 46, was born in Pimlico. They had had 13 children, 9 of whom survived in 1911. Eight were on the census return for this address:
Amelia Annie Hall, 24, was a waitress
Lucy Charlotte Hall, 20, was a “counter hand”
Daisy Maud Hall, 17, was a blouse machinist
William Arthur Hall, 15, was an office boy
Ethel Victoria Hall, at 13, was still at school,
Herbert Sydney Hall, 11, at school
Walter Edward Hall, 7, at school
Elsie Doris Hall, 4
All were born in Lambeth.

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.

Leonard George Henry Erdbeer

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L. G. H. Erdbeer
Service no. 30085
Private, Grenadier Guards, 4th Battalion
Died age 21 on 13 April 1918
Son of Henry and Helen Erdbeer, of 9 Stockwell Grove, Stockwell, London.
Remembered at Merville Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord, France

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 the Erdbeer household of 9 Stockwell Grove consisted of Henry Erdbeer, 43, a “general tinsmith” born in Poplar; his wife Ellen Elizabeth Page Erdbeer, 34, born in Brighton; Charles Morris, 72, Helen’s father and a retired tram conductor from Guestling, Sussex; Leonard George Henry, 13 and still at school; Doris Jessie, 12; and Alec Charles, 10. All the children were born in Stockwell. The family occupied 6 rooms.

Erdbeer means strawberry in German.

John Reginald Charles Edwards

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J. R. C. Edwards
Service no, 701405
Lance Corporal, London Regiment, 1st/23rd Battalion
Killed in action, age 21 on 7 June 1917
Son of John and Louisa S. Edwards, of 37A Crimsworth Road, Wandsworth Road, Lambeth, London.
Remembered at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium

Information from the 1911 census

The Edwards family lived in 4 rooms at 37a Crimsworth Road, SW8. John Edwards, 48, was a coke porter at the gas works. He was born at Kington Magna, Dorset. Louisa Edwards, 43, was from Dorchester, Dorset. The couple had 9 children (2 had died), all born in Lambeth:
Daisy Edwards, 18, a domestic servant
John Edwards, 15, a page boy in private houses
Lily Edwards, 14
May Edwards, 12
Charles Edwards, 10
Henry Edwards, 9
Violet Edwards, 7
Frank Edwards, 4
Frederick Edwards, 2

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.