Selected Biographies

Fakes, Evelyn Maud – Born: Little Livermere, Suffolk on 9.9.1889.[1]  Parents: William George Fakes (Gamekeeper in Long Melford) and Alice Maude [née Calton].  Family Connections: Sister to Spencer William Fakes [b1891] and Sidney Victor Fakes [b1893]; also, brother-in-law William Edward Sier [b1888] and Oliver Ernest Rising [b1896].  Home: Little Livermere, Suffolk (1891 and 1901), Gezirch, Hampden Park, Eastbourne, Sussex (1911), Hare Drift, High Street, Long Melford [1916], Cottage Hospital, Harefield Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex [1936], School House, Little Packington, Meriden, Warwickshire [1958].  Occupation: Housemaid (1911) Nurse [1916], Hospital Sister [1919] to (1939).  Service Record: Evelyn was a volunteer with the British Red Cross Society from November 1916 to April 1919 engaged as a Trained Nurse, holding the post of Sister at Kitebrook Voluntary Aid Hospital in Morton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire.[2]  Died: Meriden, Warwickshire on 19.7.1958.[3]

Fakes, Sidney Victor – Born: Little Livermere, Suffolk on 26.5.1893.[4]  Parents: William George Fakes (Gamekeeper in Long Melford) and Alice Maude [née Calton].  Family Connections: Brother to Evelyn Maud Fakes [b1889] and Spencer William Fakes [b1891]; also, brother-in-law William Edward Sier [b1888] and Oliver Ernest Rising [b1896].  Home: 63 The Street, Great Livermere, Suffolk (1901), Hare Drift, High Street, Long Melford (1911), Coach and Horses Inn, Harvington, Worcestershire [1936] to (1939).  Occupation: Gamekeeper’s Assistant (1911), Innkeeper [1936][5] to (1939).  Married: Elizabeth E. Challis in 1921 and Hilda Byrd in 1946.  Service Record: Sidney enlisted on 31.8.1914 as Pte.19212 with 9^th [Service] Battalion, Essex Regiment.  He was posted to France from 30.5.1915 as part of 35^th Brigade, 12^th [Eastern] Division, possibly seeing action during the Battle of Loos in 1915, the Somme Offensive in 1916, and the Battles of Arras and Cambrai in 1917.  He was transferred as Pte.99957 to the Machine Gun Corps before being issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged on 18.4.1918 due to sickness.[6]  Died: Warwickshire in 1980.

Fakes, Spencer William – Born: Little Livermere, Suffolk on 14.4.1891.[7]  Parents: William George Fakes (Gamekeeper in Long Melford) and Alice Maude [née Calton].  Family Connections: Brother to Evelyn Maud Fakes [b1889] and Sidney Victor Fakes [b1893]; also, brother-in-law William Edward Sier [b1888] and Oliver Ernest Rising [b1896].  Home: 63 The Street, Great Livermere, Suffolk (1901), School Lane, Meriden, Warwickshire [1939].  Occupation: Gamekeeper and Air Raid Warden (1939).  Married: Kate Elizabeth Green in 1920.  Service Record: Spencer enlisted as Gnr.42782 with 21^st Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, posted to France from 21.8.1915, receiving his discharge in June 1919.[8]  Died: Coventry, Warwickshire in 1973.

Related Biographies

Rising, Oliver Ernest – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 9.1.1896.[9]  Parents: William Rising (Flax Dresser) and Margaret [née Stearns] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Brother to Bertie Herbert Rising [b1893] and half-brother of William Rising [né Stearns] [b1878]; also, cousin of Fred Rising [b1879], and brother-in-law of Spencer William Fakes [b1891] and Sidney Victor Fakes [b1893].  Home: Westgate Street, Long Melford (1901 and 1911), St Edmundsbury, Old Road, Feering, Essex (1939), Beeswing, Upper Road, Little Cornard, Suffolk [1948].  Occupation: Newsagent (1911), Railway Signalman (1939).  Married: Constance Violet Fakes 1921.  Service Record: Oliver was conscripted on 15.11.1915 as Pte.24291 with 7^th [Service] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.  He was promoted to Lance Sergeant and posted to France as part of 35^th Brigade, 12^th [Eastern] Division.  The Battalion was in action many times throughout the conflict; in 1916 during the Somme Offensive, in 1917 at the Scarpe, Arleux and Cambrai, and in the final year of the War at the battles of Bapaume and the Ancre.  He was issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged in May 1919 due to wounds.[10]  Died: Little Cornard, Suffolk on 30.12.1948.[11]

Sier, William Edward – Born:  Limehouse, London on 1.1.1888.[12]  Parents: Henry James Sier (Engine Fitter) and Hannah [née Baker].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Evelyn Maud Fakes [b1889], Spencer William Fakes [b1891] and Sidney Victor Fakes [b1891].  Home: 11 King John Street, Mile End Old Town, London (1891), 205 Burdett Road, Mile End (1901) to [1915], 13 Wedderburn Road, Barking, Essex [1921 ER], Iolanthe, 12 Medina Road, Grays, Essex [1930 to 1972].  Occupation: Yacht Block Maker (1911), Ship Pulley Block Maker (1939).  Married: Lillian Maude Fakes in 1910.  Service Record: William was conscripted as Pte.52622 with 32^nd [Service] Battalion [East Ham], Royal Fusiliers [City of London Regiment], later transferring as Pte. G/79081 to 10^th [Service] Battalion [Battersea], Queen’s [Royal West Surrey Regiment].  Both battalions saw action on the Western Front.[13]  Died: Thurrock, Essex on 24.12.1972.[14]

Notes – [1] Date of birth and address taken from the 1939 Register for Uxbridge; also, from the Electoral Roll.  [2] British Red Cross Record Card.  [3] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.  [4] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Evesham Rural District, Worcestershire.  The Death Index records his birth year incorrectly as 1895.  [5] Business details taken from Kelly’s Directory for Worcestershire 1936.  [6] For details of 9^th Essex’s movements see War Diary [WO 95/1851/1-4].  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls, First World War, Silver War Badge [WO 329] record [ref: B127821], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [7] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Meriden in Warwickshire, however his Death Index records the date as 13.4.1891.  [8] See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [9] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 2.12.1877, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford.  [10] For details of 7^th Suffolk’s movements see War Diary [WO 95/1852/1-4] and Murphy, Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. R. The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928], pp.177-81, 232-38, 272-77 and 352-53.  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls, First World War, Silver War Badge [WO 329] record [ref: B253665], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [11] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.  [12] Date of birth taken from the 1939 Register.  [13] Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [14] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.