Selected Biographies

Griggs, Alfred – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk in 1868.  Parents: Henry Griggs (Shunter at Railway Station) and Charlotte [née Moss].  Family Connections: Uncle of Alfred Ezekiel Griggs [b1899].  Home: Stone Cottages, Sudbury Road, Long Melford (1871), Rotten Row, Long Melford (1881), 78 Station Street, Stratford, Essex (1911).  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1881), Coal Labourer for Great Eastern Railway (1911).  Married: Fanny Miller [née Framingham] in 1905.[1]   Service Record: Alfred enlisted in 1887 as Pte.19040 with 1^st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, posted to India from 1889 to 1892 and to South Africa from 1900 to 1902.  He saw service in the Second Anglo-Boer War and took part in the campaigns in Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal, receiving his discharge in 1902.  It is not known if he served in the First World War as no definitive record has been found.[2]

Griggs, Alfred Ezekiel – Born: Battlesbridge, Essex on 15.1.1899.[3]   Parents: Ezekiel Griggs of Long Melford (Railway Porter) and Kate Elizabeth [née Mount].  Family Connections: Nephew of Alfred Griggs [b1868].  Home: 4 Brook Street, Little Dunmow, Essex (1901), 4 Chipping Hill Terrace, Church Street, Witham, Essex (1911), 9 Rickstones Road, Witham (1939) to [1981].  Occupation: Railway Parcel Porter [1917].  Married: Florence Boag in 1927.  Service Record: Alfred was conscripted on 5.10.1917 as an Aircraft Mechanic in the Royal Flying Corps, being posted to N^o.44 Training Squadron.  On.1.4.1918 he transferred as N^o.98301 to the Royal Air Force, then on 4.5.1919 to the RAF Reserve.[4]   Died: Witham, Essex on 5.2.1981.[5]

Notes – [1] The UK Census for 1911 suggests that Alfred and Fanny were married in 1891, which seems to contradict Alfred having an adopted son who was born in 1899.  [2] Chelsea Hospital British Army Service Record [WO 97] up to 1902.  [3] Date of birth taken from the 1939 Register.  [4] Royal Air Force Airman’s Records [AIR 79/890].  [5] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.