Selected Biographies

Eary, Arthur – Born: Lavenham, Suffolk in 1867.  Parents: Charles George Eary (Agricultural Labourer) and Ellen [née Rushbrooke].  Family Connections: Uncle of Frederick Rudolph Eady [b1888], Walter Eady [b1890] and Sydney Eady [b1891].  Home: High Street, Lavenham, Suffolk (1871), Nookey Green, Preston, Suffolk (1881), living with Matilda Risby (Mother-in-Law) in Hall Street, Long Melford (1891), Hall Street, Long Melford (1901 and 1911).  Occupation: Miller’s Carter (1891), Carrier (1901), Grocer and Merchant (1911).  Married: Annie Eliza Risby in 1891.  Service Record: Arthur was a member of the Long Melford Volunteer Training Corps in 1915.  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1932.[1]

Eary, Frederick Rudolph – Born: Preston St Mary, Suffolk on 17.1.1888.  Parents: William Eary of Long Melford (Horseman on Farm) and Salome Maria [née James].  Family Connections: Brother to Walter Eary [b1890] and Sydney Eary [b1891]; also, nephew of Arthur Eary [b1867].  Home: Preston Hill, Preston St Mary, Suffolk (1891), 15 Water Street, Lavenham, Suffolk (1901), Halifax Union Workhouse, Gibbet Street, Halifax, Yorkshire (1911), 3 Worth Street, Camp Road, Leeds, Yorkshire [1916], 22 Brunswick Terrace, Leeds (1939).  Occupation: Groom (1911), Motor Driver [1916], Chauffeur (1939).  Married: Alice Lotte Woodcock in 1917.  Service Record: Frederick was conscripted on 29.2.1916 as Pte.M2/166903 with [Mechanical Transport] Company, Army Service Corps, receiving his discharge on 30.6.1916 as ‘being unlikely to become an efficient soldier on medical grounds’.  Died: Leeds, Yorkshire in 1949.[2]

Eary, Sydney – Born: Preston St Mary, Suffolk in 1891.  Parents: William Eary of Long Melford (Horseman on Farm) and Salome Maria [née James].  Family Connections: Brother to Frederick Rudolph Eary [b1888] and Walter Eary [b1890]; also, nephew of Arthur Eary [b1867].  Home: 15 Water Street, Lavenham, Suffolk (1901), 1 Hall Road, Lavenham, Suffolk (1911).  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1911).  Service Record: Sydney attested as Pte.22691 with the East Yorkshire Regiment, transferring as Pte.29964 to 15^th [Service] Battalion, Prince of Wales’s Own [West Yorkshire] Regiment [1^st Leeds Pals] and posted to France as part of 93^rd Brigade, 31^st Division.  At dawn on 3.5.1917 Sydney’s battalion left its trenches at Gavrelle and advanced in two extended lines across 750 yards of no man’s land.  By 8:00 am it was clear that the attack had failed as hundreds of Germans could be seen advancing across the same stretch of no man’s land toward the British lines.  Those few hours took a terrible toll on the Leeds Pals who lost over 400 men either killed, wounded, or missing.  Died: Sydney was listed as missing presumed killed in action on 3.5.1917, the opening day of the Third Battle of the Scarpe.  He is commemorated on the Arras Memorial [bay 4], Faubourg d’Amiens British Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France and on the memorial plaque in St Peter and St Paul Church at Lavenham in Suffolk.[3]

Eary, Walter – Born: Preston St Mary, Suffolk in 1890.  Parents: William Eary of Long Melford (Horseman on Farm) and Salome Maria [née James].  Family Connections: Brother to Frederick Rudolph Eary [b1888] and Sydney Eary [b1891]; also, nephew of Arthur Eary [b1867].  Home: Preston Hill, Preston St Mary, Suffolk (1891), 15 Water Street, Lavenham, Suffolk (1901), lodging with Francis Brayshaw (Farmer) at Peel Park, Brandsby, Easingwold, Yorkshire (1911), 13 Walter View, Easy Road, East End Park, Leeds, Yorkshire [1916].  Occupation: Stockman (1911).  Married: Alice Mullaney in 1914.  Service Record: Walter was conscripted on 14.4.1916 as Pte.SE/16263 with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, posted to France from 14.8.1916, transferring on 27.9.1917 as Pte.25942 to 10^th [Service] Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s [West Riding] Regiment.  On 9.11.1917 he was posted to Italy, returning to England on 28.9.1918.  Died: Walter died from a malignant laryngeal tumour on 18.11.1918 and is commemorated in Lawnswood Cemetery, Leeds, Yorks.[4]

[1] For Training Corps article see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 10.3.1915.  [2] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Leeds, Yorkshire.  See also his Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363].  [3] For details 15^th West Yorkshire’s movements see War Diary [WO 95/2163/3].  Commonwealth War Graves Commission record, British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 650731], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [4] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Commonwealth War Graves Commission record, British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 824142], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].