Selected Biographies

Coote, Albert Charles – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 10.11.1898.  Parents: Florence Selina Coote (Coconut Mat Winder), married Edward E. Prigg (Farm Labourer) in 1901.  Family Connections: Half-brother to Alfred Edward Prigg [b1900] and Edward Thomas Prigg [b1901].  Home: 4 Overalls Yard, Sudbury, Suffolk [1898], 2 Laundry Gardens, Cross Street, Sudbury (1901), Smaley Meadow, Long Melford (1911).  Service Record: A member of the Long Melford Volunteer Training Corps in 1915.  Albert attested as Pte.21839 with 8^th [Service] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, transferring as L/Cpl.493903 to 1/13^th [County of London] [Princess Louise’s Kensington] Battalion, London Regiment and posted to France from 30.6.1916 as part of 168^th Brigade, 56^th [1/1^st London] Division.  His battalion saw action during the Somme Offensive of 1916 and at the Battles of Arras in April and May 1917.  Died: Albert was killed in action by shellfire on 4.5.1917 during the Third Battle of the Scarpe and is commemorated on the Special Memorial 66 at Wancourt British Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France and on the Long Melford War Memorial.[1]

Coote, Ernest Phillip – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk 1.4.1882.  Parent: Eliza Coote (Nurse) [later married to Frederick Hartley (Hawker and Dealer)].  Home: Living with Mother and Frederick Hartley (Stepfather) at 35 Friars Street, Sudbury, Suffolk (1891 and 1901), 18 Gregory Street, Sudbury, Suffolk (1911).  Occupation: Soap Maker (1901), Barge Lighterman (1911).  Service Record: Recorded as Pte.35299 of N^o. 4 Platoon, The Queen’s [Royal West Surrey] Regiment in March 1917, transferring as Pte.77035 to 29^th [Works] Battalion, Duke of Cambridge’s Own [Middlesex] Regiment and finally as Pte.67317 to 5^th Labour Battalion, Labour Corps.  Died: Ernest died on 21.12.1918 and is buried in Sudbury Cemetery [grave ref: DD 168], Newton Road, Sudbury, Suffolk.[2]

Coote, Frederick Charles – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk in 1874.  Occupation: Labourer [1902].  Service Record: Before joining the Regular Army, Frederick was a member of the Essex Militia.  He attested in 1892 as Pte.3435 with 2^nd Battalion, Essex Regiment, seeing action during the Second Anglo-Boer War.  In 1902 he was transferred to 1^st Battalion, promoted to Corporal, and posted to India, receiving his discharge in there in 1905.  It is not known if Frederick saw service during the First World War as no definitive record has been found.[3]

Notes – [1] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 5.3.1899, St Gregorys Church, Sudbury, Suffolk.  For Training Corps article see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 10.3.1915.  For details of 1/13^th London’s movements see War Diary [WO 95/2955/1-3].  For notification of his death see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 4.7.1917.  See also his Commonwealth War Graves Commission record, British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 474977], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [2] Date of Birth from Baptism Register 7.5.1882, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford.  Recorded as Ernest Hartley on the UK Census for 1901.  See his Commonwealth War Graves Commission record, Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [3] See his Chelsea Hospital British Army Service Record [WO 97] to 1905.