A village with a big story
Selected Biographies
Fitch, Charles – Born: Linton, Cambridgeshire on 12.8.1879.[1] Parents: Jabez Fitch (Groom and Gardener) and Eliza [née Brand]. Family Connections: Brother to Herbert Edward Fitch [b1882] and brother-in-law of Arthur Samual Lewis of Long Melford [b1874]. Home: 1 Horn Lane, Linton, Cambridgeshire (1881), 4 Quay Lane, Sudbury (1891), Lynton Park Road, Hampton Wick, Surrey (1911), 54 Park Road, Twickenham, Middlesex (1939). Occupation: Boot Salesman (1911), Boot Shop Manager [1917] to (1939). Married: Jessie Edith Day in 1905. Service Record: Charles was medically assessed for military service and certified as grade C2, unfit for front line service. He was however conscripted on 14.5.1917 as Pte.161444 with F Company, [Eastern Command] Labour Corps. [2]
[1] Date of birth taken from the 1939 Register. [2] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363].
Fitch, Herbert Edward – Born: Linton, Cambridgeshire in 1882. Parents: Jabez Fitch (Groom and Gardener) and Eliza [née Brand]. Family Connections: Brother to Charles Fitch [b1879] and brother-in-law of Arthur Samuel Lewis of Long Melford [b1874]. Home: 4 Quay Lane, Sudbury (1891 and 1901), Hall Street, Long Melford (1911). Occupation: Hairdresser’s Assistant (1901), Hairdresser (1911), Hairdresser and Tobacconist in Hall Street [1916]. Married: Florence Gertrude Emily Reach in 1907. Service Record: At the Melford Military Service Tribunal in June 1916 Herbert applied for exemption on the grounds that he was ‘the only hairdresser in the place’. He was given until the end of September. In October his hearing was adjourned pending a medical examination and in November 1916 he was granted conditional exemption. Within weeks however this ruling had been overturned on appeal by the military representative.[1] Herbert Fitch was conscripted in 1917 as Pte.32164 serving with 6th [Service] Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment and posted to France as part of 54th Brigade, 18th [Eastern] Division, possibly seeing action during the Third Battles of Ypres in 1917.[2] Died: Herbert died of wounds on 13.1.1918 and is buried in Dozinghem Military Cemetery [grave ref: XV.H.22], Poperinghe in Belgium and commemorated on the Long Melford War Memorial as Herbert Edmund Fitch [sic].[3]
[1] For the Tribunal’s rulings see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 28.6.1916, 25.10.1916 and 8.11.1916, and for the West Suffolk Appeal Tribunal see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 29.11.1916. [2] For details of 6th Northamptonshire’s movements see War Diary [WO 95/2044/2]. Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [3] See also his Commonwealth War Graves Commission record, British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 640646].
Related Biography
Lewis, Arthur Samuel – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 16.12.1874.[1] Parents: Samuel Lewis (Blacksmith) [d1875] and Martha [née Chatters] (Horsehair Weaver) [married Samuel George Warford in 1876]. Family Connections: Cousin of Charles Samuel Lewis [b1881], Joseph Bernard Lewis [b1886] and Albert Richard Lewis [b1881]; also, brother-in-law of Charles Fitch [b1879] and Herbert Edward Fitch [b1882]. Home: Rotten Row, Long Melford (1881), Hall Street, Long Melford (1891) to [1947]. Occupation: Boot Maker (1901), Boot Dealer (1911), Boot Maker [1916 to 1937].[2] Married: Clara Elizabeth Fitch in 1896. Service Record: Arthur is recorded as a member of the Melford Silver Band in 1900, 1911 and 1914.[3] From 1893 to 1908 he served as a Sergeant with 2nd [Volunteer] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment and from 1908 to 1914 as Sgt.45 in 5th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment [Territorial] restyled from 5.9.1914 as 1/5th Battalion, Suffolks.[4] On 28.10.1914 Arthur was diagnosed with enteric fever and discharged from the Army as medically unfit.[5] This notwithstanding, the following year he is recorded as the Company Sergeant Major with Long Melford Volunteer Training Corps.[6] He was highly regarded by his unit and was presented with a silver rose bowl in appreciation of his work.[7] In December 1915 he was invited to sit on the Long Melford Recruiting Sub-Committee and acted as a canvasser during its subsequent recruiting drive. Died: Long Melford, Suffolk on 23.7.1947.[8]
[1] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 7.2.1875, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [2] His occupation is taken from Kelly’s Directory for Suffolk 1916. [3] My thanks to Tim Seppings of Sudbury for showing Arthur’s connection to the Melford Silver Band. [4] Soldiers’ Documents and Pension Claims, First World War [WO 364] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [5] Infectious Diseases Register of Medical Certificates Received [Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Record Office ref: EF501/4/20]. [6] For Training Corps articles see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 4.8.1915 and 29.12.1915. [7] Long Melford Parish Council Minute Book [Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Record Office ref: EG501/1/3]. [8] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.
Wright, George – Born: Cork, Ireland on 7.9.1890.[1] Parents: William Wright of Long Melford (Agricultural Labourer) and Jane [née Deeks] (Horsehair Washer). Home: Station Road, Long Melford (1901 and 1911), 10 Church Street, Sudbury, Suffolk [1917]. Occupation: Milkman on Jenning Mills’s Farm at Rodbridge, Long Melford (1911). Married: Edith Fitch in 1915. Service Record: At the Melford Military Service Tribunal in April 1916 Jennings Mills, George’s employer applied for his exemption. Although originally hired as a milker he was now working 330 acres as a ploughman. Mills said that he had only 12 men left and some of these had varying degrees of physical weakness or ill health. The Tribunal was unsympathetic and granted Wright only three months exemption.[2] George was attested as Pte.G/39458 with 10th [Service] Battalion, The Queen’s [Royal West Surrey] Regiment, posted to France and transferring to 1st Battalion, The Queen’s as part of 100th Brigade, 33rd Division.[3] Died: Private Wright was killed in action on 25.9.1917 near Veldhoek during the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge, one of the Third Battles of Ypres. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing [panel 14 to 17 and 162 to 162a], Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium and on the Long Melford War Memorial.[4]
[1] Date of birth from Admission Register 3.2.1896, St Catherines Infants School, Long Melford. [2] For details of the Tribunal’s ruling see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 5.4.1916. [3] For details of 1st Royal West Surrey’s movements see War Diary [WO 95/2430/1]. For details of 1st Royal West Surrey’s movements see War Diary [WO 95/2430/1]. [4] British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 729985] and Commonwealth War Graves Commission record.
