A. E. N. Chance
Sub-Lieutenant, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Howe Bn. R.N. Div.
Killed in action 13 November 1916, aged 24
Remembered at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 the Chance family was living in 7 rooms at 24 Winslade Road, London SW2. Lambeth-born Henry Chance, 56, was a journalist; Margaret Anne Chance, 54, was born in London. The household, all of whom were born in Lambeth, included their daughter, Margaret Isabel Layder, 28 and granddaughter Margery Florence Layder, 6; son Harry William Chance, 25, a black-and-white artist” (he was probably an illustrator working only in monochrome, probably using graphite); and Arthur Ernest Newton Chance, 19, an insurance clerk. Henry and Margaret Chance had 5 children, 4 of whom survived until 1911.

Arthur Ernest Newton Chance, one of four children of journalist Henry Chance, and Margaret Anne Chance, enlisted in the Navy on 10 August 1911, aged nearly 20. He was previously an insurance clerk. He was commissioned  as a Temporary Sub Lieutenant in November 1915 and joined the British Expeditionary Force in July the following year. He died at the Somme on 13 November 1916.

Chance’s record lists the vessels he served on before the war and after it started – all very straightforward – and describes him as 5 feet 5¼ inches, with red hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion. It also gives an outline of his court martial. He was tried on 13 September 1916 for “(1) uttering a forged document (i.e. forged cheque for £3/10/-) on or about 15 July 1916; (2) for ditto on or about 21 July 1916; (3) for behaving in an scandalous manner unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman in giving a cheque signed by him in a fictitious name having no account in that name.” He was found guilty on all three charges and sentenced to be cashiered and imprisoned (without hard labour) for six months. Unfortunately, the record does not show where these events or how Chance’s life ended at the Somme.

The 1911 census shows the Chance family living in seven rooms at 24 Winslade Road, Brixton. The household included Chance’s sister, Margaret Isabel Layder, 28, and her daughter Margery Florence Layder, 6. Arthur’s brother, Harry William Chance, 25, was a “black and white artist” (he produced monochrome illustrations, probably for magazines or newspapers).

Royal Naval Division data

Born 26 November 1891
Missing, assumed killed in action
Enlisted 10 August 1911
Hawke Battalion D/652 22 August 1914 – 26 October 1914 to Chatham Depot & Sea-Service (HMS “Digby”)
Commissioned Temporary Sub Lieutenant RNVR 12 November 15
Howe Battalion draft for BEF 7 July 1916-13 November 1916
Discharged Dead
Father, H. Chance, 24 Winslade Rd., Brixton Hill, London SW, later of: 317 Clapham Rd., London SW
1914 Star issued to mother 20 August 1925