Selected Biographies

Baber, Clement John Orchard – Born: Stoke Newington, London on 21.9.1888.[1] Parents: Richard Samuel Colborne Baber (Clerk) and Susan Elizabeth [née Orchard].  Family Connections: Brother to William Orchard Baber [b1881] of Long Melford, Richard Colborne Orchard Baber [b1883] and Gustave Colborne Baber [b1895]; also, uncle of Edward Colborne Orchard Baber [b1912] and Richard James Colborne Babar [b1926], and brother-in-law of Harold Edgar Kent [b1883].  Home: 30 Osbaldeston Road, Stoke Newington, London (1891), 113 Homeleigh Road, Stamford Hill, London (1911), 176 High Road, South Tottenham, London [1916 to 1929], 176 Raneleigh Road, Tottenham [1936], 42 Bincote Road, Enfield, Middlesex [1938] to (1939).[2]  Occupation: Clerk for Great Central Railway (1911 to 1939).  Married: Alice Mary Freegard in 1911.  Service Record: Clement enlisted on 7.1.1916, as Gnr.1592 with Royal Marine Artillery probably manning 15-inch siege howitzers on the Western Front.  He received his discharge in February 18.2.1919.[3]  Died: Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire on 6.2.1964.[4]

Baber, Edward Colborne Orchard – Born: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on 12.11.1912. Parents: Richard Colborne Orchard Baber (Poultry Farmer) [see below for details] and Edith [née Stutter].  Family Connections: Nephew of William Orchard Baber [b1881] of Long Melford, Clement John Orchard Baber [b1888] and Gustave Colborne Baber [b1895]; also, cousin of Richard James Colborne Baber [b1926].  Home: 16 Teralba Road, Brighton-le-Sands, New South Wales [1939], 5 Henson Street, Brighton-le-Sands [1941], Kyeemagh, New South Wales [1943].  Occupation: Buyer [1941].  Married: Edna Laura.  Service Record: Edward received a commission as Lieutenant NX6612 with 24^th Battalion, Australian Infantry.[5]  As part of the Australian 9^th Division, Richard’s unit made an amphibian landing near Lae on 4.9.1943, in an attempt to encircle Imperial Japanese forces holding the town.  Died: on active service in the Salamaua area of New Guinea on 11.9.1943 and is buried in Lae War Cemetery [grave ref: D.A.9], Papua New Guinea.[6]

Baber, Gustave Colborne – Born: Stoke Newington, London on 20.12.1895.[7] Parents: Richard Samuel Colborne Baber (Clerk) and Susan Elizabeth [née Orchard].  Family Connections: Brother to William Orchard Baber [b1881] of Long Melford, Richard Colborne Orchard Baber [b1883] and Clement John Orchard Baber [b1888]; also, uncle of Edward Colborne Orchard Baber [b1912] and Richard James Colborne Babar [b1926], and brother-in-law of Harold Edgar Kent [b1883].  Home: 30 Osbaldeston Road, Stoke Newington, London (1901), Lion Inn, The Street, Elmswell, Suffolk (1911), Police Station, Parchmore Road, Croydon, Surrey (1921), 5 River View Terrace, London Road, Maldon, Essex (1939).  Occupation: Egg Merchant (1911), Metropolitan Police Constable (1921), Egg Merchant and Motor Driver (1939).  Married: Gertrude Mary Spinney [d1946] in 1922 and Maud E. Earnshaw in 1948.  Service Record: Gustave enlisted as Pte.1144 with the Royal Army Medical Corps and was posted to France on 13.12.1914.  He was later issued with a new regimental number Pte.508038, receiving his discharge in April 1919.[8]  Died: Ludlow, Shropshire in 1985.

Baber, Richard Colborne Orchard – Born: Hackney, London in 1883.  Parents: Richard Samuel Colborne Baber (Clerk) and Susan Elizabeth [née Orchard].  Family Connections: Father to Edward Colborne Orchard Baber [b1912] and brother of William Orchard Baber [b1881] of Long Melford, Clement John Orchard Baber [b1888] and Gustave Colborne Baber [b1895]; also, brother-in-law of Harold Edgar Kent [b1883].  Home: 30 Osbaldeston Road, Stoke Newington, London (1891), Maybush Farm, Dibden, Hampshire [1910], 48 Northfield Road, Stamford Hill, London (1911), emigrated to Australia on SS Wakool [1911], 5 Henson Street, Brighton-le-Sands, New South Wales, Australia [1943].  Occupation: Poultry Farmer [1910], Storekeeper [1939]. Newspaper Record: Richard and his brother William went into business as poultry farmers trading in the name of Baber Brothers at Maybush Farm, Hythe in Hampshire.  The venture sadly failed, and the partnership declared bankrupt in 1921.[9]  Married: Edith Stutter in 1908.  Service Record: Richard volunteered in 1900 as Pte.33733 with 37^th [Buckinghamshire] Company, 10^th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry.  His unit was posted to South Africa where they were deployed as mounted infantry, seeing action during the Second Anglo-Boer War.  It is not known if he served during the Great War as no definitive military record has been found.  Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War however, he enlisted as Lieutenant, later Captain No.10993 with Australian Army Provincial Corps, Eastern Command, retiring in January 1944.[10]  Died: New South Wales in 1952.

Baber, Richard ‘Dick’ James Colborne – Born: Cosford, Suffolk in 1926. Parents: William Orchard Baber (Egg Merchant) [see details below] and Ethel Maud [née Mulley].  Family Connections: Nephew of Clement John Orchard Baber [b1888] and Gustave Colborne Baber [b1895]; also, cousin of Edward Colborne Orchard Baber [b1912].  Home: Nelson Villa, Rodbridge Hill, Long Melford [1931] to (1939), Margo, Borley Road, Long Melford, Suffolk [2002 to 2021].[11]   Occupation: Director of The Sudbury Egg and Poultry Market Ltd [1992 to 2022].  Married: Margery Elizabeth Grant in 1953 and Kyoko Tamura in 1993.  Service Record: Educated at Long Melford Boys Primary and Sudbury Grammar School, Richard was a member of ‘H’ Company, 10th Battalion, Suffolk Home Guard from 1942 to 1943.  His name is recorded in the official tribute to the organization entitled The Lion Roared his Defiance, photographed in and around Long Melford in 1944.[12]  He was call-up to the Regular Army in 1943 as Pte.14784614, initially joining the Essex Regiment, and in December of that year was transferred to 4^th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry in Belgium, under the command of 43^rd [Wessex] Infantry Division’s 129^th [South-Western] Brigade.  Between 8 February and 11 March 1945 his unit took part in the northern thrust of the Allied pincer movement called Operation Veritable, forcing a crossing of the river Rhine at the town of Goch in North Rhine-Westphalia.  The following month Dick’s battalion witnessed the appalling scenes at the newly liberated Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, a matter of weeks later Germany made its unconditional surrender.  Private Baber remained with the Allied Army of Occupation until his demobilisation in 1946.[13]

Baber, William Orchard – Born: Hackney, London on 10.1.1881.[14]  Parents: Richard Samuel Colborne Baber (Clerk) and Susan Elizabeth [née Orchard].  Family Connections: Brother to Richard Colborne Orchard Baber [b1883], Clement John Orchard Baber [b1888] and Gustave Colborne Baber [b1895]; also, uncle of Edward Colborne Orchard Baber [b1912] and brother-in-law of Harold Edgar Kent [b1883].  Home: Heyworth Road, Upper Clapton, Hackney, London (1881), 30 Osbaldeston Road, Hackney (1891, 1901), Lion Inn, The Street, Elmswell, Suffolk (1911), Sunny Bank, Hythe, Hampshire [1912], Myrtle Cottage, Elmswell [1916], Nelson Villa, Rodbridge Hill, Long Melford (1939) to [1962].  Occupation: Clerk in a Draper’s Shop (1901), Egg Merchant and Poultry Farmer (1911), Shipping Clerk [1916], Manager of Egg Packing Department and a Special Constable in Long Melford (1939), see also Richard Colborne Orchard Baber for details of their business relationship.  Married: Ethel Maud Mulley in 1912.  Newspaper Record: William and his brother Richard went into business as poultry farmers trading in the name of Baber Brothers at Maybush Farm, Hythe in Hampshire.  The venture sadly failed, and the partnership declared bankrupt in 1921.[15] Service Record: William enlisted on 7.1.1916 as Gnr.1591 with the Royal Marine Artillery, probably seeing service in France manning the 15-inch Siege Howitzers, from June 1916 to the end of the War.  On 18.11.1918 he was transferred to 3^rd Royal Marine Battalion, receiving his discharge in April 1919.[16]  Died: Long Melford, Suffolk on 30.12.1962.[17]

Related Biography

Kent, Harold Edgar – Born: Staines, Middlesex on 9.5.1883.[18]  Parents: Joseph Couch Kent (Builder) and Amelia Jane Couch [née Honey].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of William Orchard Baber [b1881] of Long Melford, Richard Colborne Orchard Baber [b1883], Clement John Orchard Baber [b1888] and Gustave Colborne Baber [b1895].  Home: 90 Park Street, Stoke Newington, London [1901], 1 Durlston Road, Hackney, London [1908], 113 Homeleigh Road, Stamford Hill, London (1911), 100 Mount Pleasant Lane, Upper Clapton, London [1918] to (1921), 41 St Clements Court, Broadway West, Southend-on-Sea, Essex (1939).  Occupation: Managing Clerk [1908], self-employed Forwarding Agent (1921), Assistant Manager in a Lighterage Company (1939).  Married: Alice Marion Baber in 1908.  Service Record: Harold volunteered in February 1901 as Pte.680, later 34050 with the Middlesex Imperial Yeomanry [Duke of Cambridge’s Hussars].  The following month he was posted to South Africa seeing action during the Second Anglo-Boer War as mounted infantry.  At the time of his discharge in July 1902 he was serving with 56^th Company, 15^th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry.  In the Great War Harold enlisted as Cpl.R/28926 with 8^th [Service] Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps.  He was posted to France as part of 41^st Brigade, 14^th (Light) Division, probably seeing action during the Arras Offensive and Third Battles of Ypres in 1917.  On 21.3.1918, the opening day of the German Spring Offensive, his unit was overrun at St Quentin and Kent was captured, spending the rest of the conflict in a German Prisoner of War Camps at Cassel in Hesse and Parchim in Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch.[19] Died: Epping, Essex in 1957.

Notes – [1] Date of birth from his RN Record.  [2] Some addresses from the Electoral Roll.  [3] Royal Marines: Registers of Service [ADM 159/98/1592].  See also William’s record below.  The brothers enlisted on the same day and have consecutive service numbers.  [4] National Probate Calendar.  [5] National Archives of Australia [ref: B883/NX6612].  [6] Commonwealth War Grave Commission.  [7] 1939 Register.  [8] Medal Roll [WO 329] and Medal Index Card [WO 372].  [9] See notices in the London Gazette of 29.5.1914, 25.1.1921 and 11.3.1921.  [10] National Archives of Australia [ref: B883/N61604].  [11] Electoral Roll.  [12] Published by Marten & Son, Ltd., of Market Hill, Sudbury, Suffolk in 1946. [13] Based on an interview with Dick Baber by David Gevaux on 15.9.2023.  [14] Date of birth from the Baptism Record 6.2.1881, St Matthews Church, Upper Clapton, Hackney, London. [15] See notices in the London Gazette of 29.5.1914, 25.1.1921 and 11.3.1921.  [16] Royal Marines: Registers of Service [ADM 159/98/1591] and Royal Navy Medal and Award Rolls [ADM 171/167/081].  See also Clement’s record above.  The brothers enlisted on the same day and have consecutive service numbers.  [17] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.  All photographs courtesy of Richard Baber of Long Melford.  [18] Date of birth from the Baptism Record of 31.5.1883, St Mary the Virgin Church, Belfont, Middlesex.  His POW Record records his year of birth erroneously as 1882.  [19] International Committee of the Red Cross [ref: PA.24120 and PA.29897], Medal Roll [WO 329/1529], and Medal Index Card [WO 372].