Selected Biographies

Bensley, Bertie Alfred Elvin – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 10.8.1883.[1] Parents: Joseph Elvin Bensley (Coconut Mat Weaver) and Maria E. [née Theobald] of Long Melford.  Family Connections: Brother to James Charles Elvin Bensley [b1873] and brother-in-law of William Charles Hendry [b1873].  Home: Swan Lane, Hall Street, Long Melford [1883], 24 Janet Street, Poplar, London (1891), Recorded as Albert E. Bensley at 115 East Ferry Road, Poplar (1901), 357 West Ferry Road, Poplar (1911), [1928], 8 Exmouth House, Cahir Street, Poplar [1937 to 1942].  Occupation: Boiler Maker (1901), General Labourer (1911), Engineer’s Tube Bender (1939).  Married: Emily Elizabeth Turner in 1903.  Service Record: No definitive military record found.  Died: Bixbys Yard, Westgate Street, Long Melford, Suffolk on 5.3.1942.[2]

Bensley, James Charles Elvin – Born: Hempnall, Norfolk in 1873.  Parents: Joseph Elvin Bensley (Coconut Mat Weaver) and Maria E. [née Theobald] of Long Melford.  Family Connections: Brother to Bertie Alfred Elvin Bensley [b1883] and brother-in-law of William Charles Hendry [b1873].  Home: Swan Lane, Hall Street, Long Melford (1881), Military Barracks, Newmarket Road, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk (1891), 31 Manilla Street, Poplar, London [1897], 18 Havana Street, Poplar (1901), 10 Tooke Street, Poplar (1911).  Occupation: Soldier (1891), Dock Labourer (1901 and 1911).  Married: Eliza Elizabeth Clark in 1897.  Service Record: James attested on 23.8.1914 as Pte.3/9239 with 9^th [Service] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, being posted to France from 4.10.1915 as part of 71^st Brigade, 6^th Division.  He also served with 7^th [Service] Battalion, both units seeing action during the Somme Offensive of 1916.  He was later returned to England and transferred as L/Cpl.3/9239 to 2^nd [Home Service] Garrison Battalion, Suffolks, being issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged on 1.6.1917 due to a ‘Contusion of Back’.[3] Died: Poplar, London in 1933.

Related Biography

Hendry, William Charles – Born: Poplar, London on 20.8.1873.[4] Parents: Charles Hendry (Seaman) and Ann Elizabeth [née James].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of James Charles Elvin Bensley [b1873] and Bertie Alfred Elvin Bensley [b1883].  Home: 10 Tooke Street, Poplar, London (1881), 117 East Ferry Road, Poplar, London (1901), 53 Glengall Road, Cubitt Town, Poplar, London (1911), 234 Westferry Road, Poplar, London [1915], Prospect Terrace, St Catherines Road, Long Melford [1919], 6 Woollards Gardens, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Dock Labourer (1901), Paster in the Manufacture of Electric Accumulators and Storage Batteries (1911), Carman [1915], Incapacitated (1939).  Married: Annie Eliza Elvin Bensley of Long Melford in 1895.  Service Record: William enlisted on 21.6.1915 as Pte.T4/124277 with a Horse Transport Supply Company, Army Service Corps, posted to France from 14.9.1915 to 1.6.1919, receiving his discharge in July 1919.[5] Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1946.

Notes – [1] Date of birth taken from the 1939 Register.  [2] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.  [3] For details of 9^th and 7^th Suffolk’s movements see War Diaries [WO 95/1625/1] and [WO 95/1852/1-4].  See his Service Medal and Award Rolls, First World War, Silver War Badge [WO 329] record [ref: 186396], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [4] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 2.11.1873, St Lukes Church, Millwall, Poplar, London.  [5] 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].