Selected Biographies

Blythe, Clement Sidney – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 22.1.1891.[1]  Parents: Joseph Blythe (Master Butcher) and Sarah [née Hammond].  Family Connections: Brother to William Edward Blythe [b1886], Maurice Hammond Blythe [b1888] and Joseph Frederick Blythe [b1896]; also, brother-in-law of Cyril Henry Buckle [b1893].  Home: Church Street, Sudbury, Suffolk (1891 to 1901), 405 Harehills Lane, Leeds, Yorkshire (1911), Coniston College, St Chilvers, Coton, Nuneaton, Warwickshire [1916], 32 Wellington, Charlton, London [1919], 22 Goat Lane, Norwich, Norfolk [1919], lodging with Frederick Mills (father-in-law) at The Four Swans Hotel, 10 North Street, Sudbury, Suffolk (1921), The Stork Hotel, Walsall, Staffordshire [1939, 1940].  Occupation: Butcher (1911), Bakery Manager for Walter Heyworth & Co., of Goat Lane, Norwich (1921) Licenced Victualler (1939).  Married: Lillian Elsie Morley Mills in 1916.  Service Record: Clement was conscripted on 2.3.1916 as Pte.S/294984, working as a Ledgers Clerk at N^o.3 Reserve Horse Transport Depot, Army Service Corps, receiving his discharge in 1919.[2]  Died: The General Hospital, Walsall, Staffordshire in 1940.[3]

Blythe, Edward Brunning – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 5.9.1899.[4]  Parents: Walter Charles Blythe (Horsehair Dyer) [see record below] and Nellie Olive Deeks [née Ambrose].  Home: Swan Cottage, Swan Lane Gardens, Long Melford (1901 and 1911), Melford House, Hall Street, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Fruiterer and Confectioner (1939).  Married: Margery E. Smith in 1933.  Service Record: Edward was eligible for conscription from 1918, however no definitive military record has been found.  He acted as an Air Raid Warden during the Second World War.  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1968.

Blythe, Joseph – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk in 1828. Parents: William Blythe (Shoemaker, later Pork Butcher) and Sarah [née Crosbie]. Home: Hall Street, Long Melford, Suffolk (1841), Garrison of the Tower of London (1851), Inmate of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London (1901). Occupation: Soldier [1846 to 1868], Chelsea Pensioner (1901). Married: Elizabeth Reed in 1855. Service Record: Joseph enlisted at Sudbury in September 1846 as Pte.3199 with 1^st Battalion, Coldstream Guards, being posted to the Crimean Peninsula in September 1854, his battalion seeing action almost immediately at the Battle of the Alma and in November at the Battle of Inkerman, a particularly bloody action fought in thick fog. During his twenty-one years with the Colours, he was awarded the Crimean Medal, Turkish War Medal and a Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. He received his discharge in April 1868.[5] Died: He was granted a pension and in 1897 admitted to the Royal Hospital Chelsea where he died on 27.1.1902.[6]

Blythe, Joseph Frederick – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 12.7.1896.[7]  Parents: Joseph Blythe (Master Butcher) and Sarah [née Hammond].  Family Connections: Brother to William Edward Blythe [b1886], Maurice Hammond Blythe [b1888] and Clement Sidney Blythe [b1891]; also, brother-in-law of Cyril Henry Buckle [b1893].  Home: Church Street, Sudbury, Suffolk (1901 to 1911), 59 Pall Mall, St James, Westminster, London (1921), Church Street, Sudbury (1939), 43 Station Road, Sudbury [1974].  Occupation: Florist (1911), Valet [1914] to (1921), Master Butcher (1939).  Service Record: Joseph enlisted on 29.9.1914 as Pte.1018 with 22^nd [Service] Battalion [Kensington], Royal Fusiliers, being posted to France from 16.11.1915 as part of 99^th Brigade, 2^nd Division, seeing action during the Somme Offensive where he received wounds at Delville Wood on 28.7.1916.  He returned to England before re-joining his unit on the Western Front in June 1917 seeing action at the Battle of Cambrai in November and at St Quentin and Bapaume during the German Spring Offensive of 1918.  On 1.9.1918 Joseph joined the Tank Corps as L/Cpl.302989, staying with them until his discharge in 1919.[8]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk on 20.10.1974.[9]

Blythe, Maurice Hammond – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1888.  Parents: Joseph Blythe (Master Butcher) and Sarah [née Hammond].  Family Connections: Brother to William Edward Blythe [b1886], Clement Sidney Blythe [b1891] and Joseph Frederick Blythe [b1896].  Home: Church Street, Sudbury, Suffolk (1891) to [1918].  Occupation: Butcher’s Assistant (1911).  Service Record: Maurice enlisted on 15.4.1915 as Dvr.1549 with 2/1^st Headquarters Company, East Anglian Divisional Train, Army Service Corps, being attached as Dvr.45888 to 3^rd Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment from 6.7.1917.  He was posted to France from October of that year, transferring as Dvr.360071 to 98^th Field Company, Royal Engineers in 1918 and serving with them until his untimely death only months later.[10]  Died: From influenza on 1.11.1918 being buried in Awoingt British Cemetery, Cambrai, France [grave ref: II.E.29] and commemorated on the War Memorial in Sudbury, Suffolk.[11]

Blythe [né Brunning], Walter Charles – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 28.10.1874.[12]  Parents: William Blythe (Greengrocer and Pork Butcher) and Emma [née Brunning].  Family Connections: Father of Edward Brunning Blythe [b1899].  Home: St Marys Street, Long Melford (1891), Swan Cottage, Swan Lane Gardens, Long Melford (1901 and 1911), Hall Street, Long Melford (1921), Melford House, Hall Street, Long Melford (1939) to [1965].  Occupation: Horsehair Packer (1901), Horsehair Dyer for List & Son of Long Melford (1911 to 1921), unemployed Horsehair Labourer (1939).  Married: Nellie Olive Deeks Ambrose in 1899.  Service Record: Walter was a member of the Melford Silver Band in 1914 and is recorded as a member of the Long Melford Volunteer Training Corps in 1916.[13]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk on 16.1.1965.[14]

Blythe, William Edward – Born: Acton, Suffolk on 2.12.1886.[15]  Parents: Joseph Blythe (Master Butcher) and Sarah [née Hammond].  Family Connections: Brother to Maurice Hammond Blythe [b1888], Clement Sidney Blythe [b1891] and Joseph Frederick Blythe [b1896]; also; brother-in-law of Cyril Henry Buckle [b1893].  Home: Church Street, Sudbury, Suffolk (1891 to 1939).  Occupation: Butcher’s Assistant (1901, 1911), Master Butcher (1939).  Service Record: William was conscripted on 28.4.1916 as Pte.G/26969 with 15^th [Reserve] Battalion, Duke of Cambridge’s Own [Middlesex Regiment], transferring on 1.9.1916 to 24^th [Reserve] Battalion, Middlesex.  He was transferred from the Infantry for retraining with the Royal Garrison Artillery on 19.12.1916 as Gnr.148674, joining 250^th Siege Battery on the Western Front in June 1917.  Blythe continued with this unit until his discharge in 1919.[16]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1961.

Related Biography

Buckle, Cyril Henry – Born: Mildenhall, Suffolk on 7.1.1893.[17] Parents: Henry Buckle (Miller) and Agnes Harriet Ann [née Andrews].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of William Edward Blythe [b1886], Clement Sidney Blythe [b1891] and Joseph Frederick Blythe [b1896]. Home: York Road, Sudbury, Suffolk (1901 to 1921), Mayland, 29 Bures Road, Great Cornard, Suffolk (1939) to [1980]. Occupation: Clerk, later Chief Clerk at Baker’s Flour Mill in Great Cornard (1921 to 1939). Married: Olive Emma Blythe in 1924. Service Record: Cyril transferred from the Army on 21.2.1916 as No.23308 to the Royal Flying Corps, moving to the Royal Air Force on 1.4.1918 as a clerk and holding the rank of Sergeant.[18] Died: Great Cornard, Suffolk on 15.2.1980.[19]

Notes – [1] 1939 Register for Sudbury, Suffolk.  [2] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363].  [3] Date and place of death the National Probate Calendar.  [4] Baptism Register 14.10.1899, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford.  [5] Chelsea Hospital British Army Service Record [WO 97/1372/094].  [6] Date of death from his Army record above.  [7] 1939 Register for Sudbury, Suffolk.  [8] For military details see his Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] [as James Frederick Blythe], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] [as J.F. Blythe] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [9]  Date and place of death taken from the National Probate Calendar.  [10] For military details see 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].  [11] British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 804061].  [12] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Long Melford.  [13] My thanks to Tim Seppings of Sudbury for showing Walter’s connection to the Melford Silver Band.  For Training Corps article see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 27.12.1916.  [14] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.  [15] 1939 Register for Sudbury, Suffolk.  [16] For military details see his 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].  [17] 1939 Register.  [18] Royal Air Force [TNA – AIR 78/24/1].  [19] National Probate Calendar.