Selected Biographies

Barber, Clifford Harry – Born: Heybridge, Essex on 29.12.1888.[1]  Parents: Charles Barber of Long Melford (Miller’s Foreman) and Ellen [née Smith].  Family Connections: Cousin of Leonard Charles Barber [b1894].  Home: Mill Lane, Heybridge, Essex (1891), Twyford Mill Cottage, Great Hallingbury, Hertfordshire (1901, 1911).  Occupation: Mason and Carver (1911), Stonemason [1915].  Married: Kathleen Edwards in 1923.  Service Record: Clifford enlisted on 7.12.1915 as Pte.16570 with the Royal Engineers, being posted to the Western Front on 10.11.1916 with N^o.4 Company, 2^nd Reserve Battalion, Royal Engineers, serving as Acting/Cpl.16670 with 237^th Field Company, RE in 1919.  He was awarded the Military Medal in 1919 for conspicuous gallantry.[2]  Died: Portslade-by-Sea, East Sussex on 11.11.1977.[3]

Barber, Frederick James – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 10.10.1888.[4]  Parent: Alfred Barber (Agricultural Labourer) and Sarah Anne [née Mingay].  Home: 16 Workhouse Row, Sudbury, Suffolk [1888], St Marys Street, Long Melford (1901), emigrated to Canada [1919], 49 Kilany Avenue, York, Toronto, Ontario, Canada [1921].[5]  Occupation:  Machinist [1921].  Married: Winifred May Lingwood in 1915.  Service Record: Frederick was a member of the Suffolk Yeomanry in 1915.[6]  Died: 7.12.1950 and buried in Park Lawn Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[7]

Barber, Leonard Charles – Born: Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire on 8.2.1894.  Parents: Robert Henry Barber of Long Melford and Harriet Eliza [née Clarke].  Family Connections: Cousin of Clifford Harry Barber [b1888].  Home: Barrells Down Road, Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire (1901), 45 Hockerill St, Bishops Stortford (1911), 14 Lisle Road, Colchester, Essex [1915].  Occupation: General Engineer (1911), Motor Driver [1915].  Married: Nellie Rose Hegreen in 1918.  Service Record: Leonard enlisted on 21.10.1915 as Pte.10671 with the Royal Flying Corps, transferring as Pte.308603, a Tank Mechanic 2^nd Class, to the Tank Corps and subsequently posted to France from 12.6.1918 to 27.2.1919, receiving his discharge the following month.[8]  Died: Witham, Essex in 1942.

Notes – [1] 1939 Register.  [2] For notification of his award see London Gazette 23.7.1919, see also his Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [3] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.  [4] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 25.11.1888, St Gregory’s Church, Sudbury, Suffolk. [5] See details of Canadian Census at www.central.bac-lac.gc.ca.  [6] For Training Corps article see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 10.3.1915.  [7] Grave reference from Find My Grave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/113396697. [8] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].