Selected Biographies

Cater, Alfred – Born: Tilbury, Essex on 12.8.1888.[1]  Parents: Arthur Cater of Long Melford (Railway Ticket Collector) and Mary Ann [née Hesman].  Family Connections: Brother to Arthur Henry Cater [b1878], Charles Edward Cater [b1878], Benjamin Horace Cater [b1890] and Frank Cater [b1893].  Home: 1 London Row, Chadwell St Mary, Grays, Essex (1891 to 1911).  Occupation: Laundryman (1911).  Married: Eva Georgina Goodwin in 1917.  Service Record: Alfred was conscripted on 12.11.1915 as Stoker K.28806 with the Royal Navy seeing service on the cruisers HMS Thetis in 1916, HMS Dido in 1917, and the battleship HMS Prince George in 1919.[2]

Cater, Arthur Henry – Born: Hackney, London on 24.5.1876.[3]  Parents: Arthur Cater of Long Melford (Railway Ticket Collector) and Mary Ann [née Hesman].  Family Connections: Brother to Charles Edward Cater [b1878], Alfred Cater [b1888], Benjamin Horace Cater [b1890] and Frank Cater [b1893].  Home: 1 Devons Road, Bromley-by-Bow, London (1881), 1 London Row, Chadwell St Mary, Grays, Essex (1891), 26 Henley Road, Prittlewell, Essex (1901), 26 Albert Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex (1911), 63 Shere Road, Deptford, London (1921 to 1939).  Occupation: Butcher’s Boy (1891), Milkman (1901 to 1911), Painter and Decorator (1921 to 1939).  Married: Emmeline Bannister in 1901.  Criminal Record: In June 1897 Arthur was convicted at Grays Petty Sessions of ‘assaulting Mary Ann Hewitt with intent violently and against her will to ravish and carnally know [her].’ He was sentenced to nine months hard labour.[4]  Died: Deptford, London in 1951. 

Cater, Benjamin Horace – Born: Tilbury, Essex in 1890.  Parents: Arthur Cater of Long Melford (Railway Ticket Collector) and Mary Ann [née Hesman].  Family Connections: Brother to Arthur Henry Cater [b1878], Charles Edward Cater [b1878], Alfred Cater [b1888] and Frank Cater [b1893].  Home: 1 London Row, Chadwell St Mary, Essex (1901), 21 The Flats, Orient Road, Tilbury, Essex (1921), Pier Head Cottages, Montague Place, Poplar, London [1928 to 1939], 24 Zanwill Road, Greenwich, London [1945], 33 Woodbrook Road, Greenwich [1968].  Occupation: Police Sergeant (1921).  Married: Alice Jane Ethel Morsley in 1914.  Service Record: Benjamin enlisted as Steward No.408633 with the Royal Navy during the First World War.[5]  Died: Greenwich, London on 28.8.1968.[6]

Cater, Charles Edward – Born: Hackney, London in 1878.  Parents: Arthur Cater of Long Melford (Railway Ticket Collector) and Mary Ann [née Hesman].  Family Connections: Brother to Arthur Henry Cater [b1878], Alfred Cater [b1876], Benjamin Horace Cater [b1890] and Frank Cater [b1893].  Home: 1 Devons Road, Bromley-by-Bow, London (1881), 1 London Row, Chadwell St Mary, Grays, Essex (1891), 47 Preston Road, Poplar, London [1915].  Occupation: Fishmonger [1910], Stevedore [1915].  Married: Elizabeth Ann Newland in 1910.  Service Record: Charles enlisted on 15.4.1915 as Pte. S4/96379 with the Army Service Corps, being posted to France from 23.5.1915 to 22.1.1916, receiving his discharge shortly after as ‘no longer physically fit for War Service’.[7]

Cater, Frank – Born: Tilbury, Essex on 14.91896.  Parents: Arthur Cater of Long Melford (Railway Ticket Collector) and Mary Ann [née Hesman].  Family Connections: Brother to Arthur Henry Cater [b1878], Charles Edward Cater [b1878], Alfred Cater [b1888] and Benjamin Horace Cater [b1890].  Home: 1 London Row, Chadwell St Mary, Grays, Essex (1901), emigrated to New South Wales, Australia before the First World War.  Occupation: Telephone Linesman [1914].  Married:  Emily Jane Wiggins in 1921. Service Record: Frank enlisted on 29.8.1914 as Dvr.530 with 3^rd Battery, 1^st Field Artillery Brigade Ammunition Column, Australian Imperial Expeditionary Force being posted to Cairo from April 1915 before transferring to the Western Front in April 1916 and seeing action during the Somme Offensive of 1916 and at the Battles Arras and Third Ypres in 1917.  He returned to Australia in October 1918.[8]  Died: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on 17.7.1955. 

Related Biography

Ruggles, George Dennis – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1875.  Parent: Ellen Spring Ruggles.  Home: Olivers Yard, Sudbury, Suffolk [1877], The Poplars, Shenley Road, Boreham Wood, Hertfordshire (1921), 36 Maldon Road, Elstree, Middlesex [1924 to 1925], 303 Guinness Buildings, Royal Hospital, Pimlico, London [1930 to 1932].[9]  Occupation: Barman [1897], Soldier [1897 to 1919], Caretaker at Wellington and Ward Photographic Manufacturers of Elstree (1921).  Married: Lily Olive Cater of Long Melford in 1902.  Service Record: George enlisted in 1897 as Gdn.924 with 3^rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards, transferring to 1^st Battalion, being posted to South Africa in August 1900 during the Second Anglo-Boer War, seeing action in Cape Colony, Orange Free State and Transvaal, before returning to England in September 1901.  Promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 1902 he was stationed in Egypt from 1906 to 1911, before returning to England.  Kept on Home duties during the First World War he was responsible for regimental musketry training, receiving his discharge in July 1919 after 22 years with the colours.[10]  Died: Barnet, Middlesex in 1937.

Notes – [1] Date of birth from his RN Record.  [2] Royal Navy Registers of Seaman’s Services [ADM 188/924].  [3] 1939 Register.  [4] Home Office: Calendar of Prisoners [TNA – HO 140].  [5] Royal Navy Medal and Award Rolls [ADM 171/130].  [6] National Probate Calendar.  [7] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923, Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [8] National Archive of Australia, Military Attestation Papers [ref: B2455/3220333].  [9] Some address taken from the Electoral Register.  [10] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363].