Selected Biographies
Hills, Archibald – Born: Great Cornard, Suffolk on 16.8.1892.[1] Parents: Abel Frederick Hills (Gardener) and Elizabeth Sophie [née Day]. Family Connections: Brother to Harry Thomas Hills [b1883], Wilfred Hills [b1891] and Gerald Gordon Hills [b1899]. Home: Sudbury Road, Great Cornard, Suffolk (1901), Coronation Villa, Queens Road, Sudbury, Suffolk (1911), Frost Barns, Maldon, Essex (1939). Occupation: Newsagent’s Errand Boy (1911), Builder’s Labourer (1939). Married: Daisy Constance Mutter in 1927. Service Record: Archibald enlisted on 9.11.1914 as Dvr.1479 with 89th East Anglian Divisional Train, Army Service Corps, being discharged on 30.7.1915 as being ‘no longer physically fit for War Service’ due to sickness.[2] Died: Cold Norton, Essex on 17.5.1968.[3]
Hills, Edward John – Born: Clare, Suffolk in 1897. Parents: Edward Percy Hills (Watch Repairer) and Harriett Theobald [née Shepherd] of Long Melford (Assistant School Mistress). Home: High Street, Kelvedon, Essex (1901), 74 Friars Street, Sudbury, Suffolk (1911). Occupation: Watchmaker’s Assistant. Service Record: Edward enlisted in late 1915 as Pte.5631 with the Suffolk Regiment, being posted to the Western Front in 1916 where he joined 1/4th Battalion, Suffolks as part of 98th Brigade, 33rd Division. Hills was quickly promoted to Lance Sergeant and by 1917 had been given the new service number 202431.[4] Died: Edward was killed in action on 23.4.1917 during the attack on Guemappe, one of many fiercely fought actions during the Second Battle of the Scarpe.[5] He is commemorated on the Arras Memorial [bay 4], Faubourg-d’Amiens Cemetery, Arras, Pas de Calais, France and the War Memorial in Sudbury, Suffolk.[6]
Hills, Gerald Gordon – Born: Great Cornard, Suffolk on 1.7.1899.[7] Parents: Abel Frederick Hills (Gardener) and Elizabeth Sophie [née Day]. Family Connections: Brother to Harry Thomas Hills [b1883], Wilfred Hills [b1891] and Archibald Hills [b1892]. Home: Sudbury Road, Great Cornard, Suffolk (1901), Coronation Villa, Queens Road, Sudbury, Suffolk (1911) to [1981]. Occupation: Pawnbroker’s Assistant [1917], Nursery Hand (1939). Married: May Florence Gowen in 1922. Service Record: Gerald enlisted on 31.7.1917 as Officer’s Steward F65705 with the Royal Navy. On 1.4.1918 he was transferred as No.235705 to Royal Air Force.[8] Died: Sudbury, Suffolk on 6.8.1981.[9]
Hills, Harry Thomas – Born: Great Cornard, Suffolk on 27.8.1883.[10] Parents: Abel Frederick Hills (Gardener) and Elizabeth Sophie [née Day]. Family Connections: Brother to Wilfred Hills [b1891], Archibald Hills [b1892] and Gerald Gordon Hills [b1899]. Home: Sudbury Road, Great Cornard, Suffolk (1891 and 1901), The Green, Long Melford (1911), 61 Friars Street, Sudbury, Suffolk [1916], East Street, Sudbury [1919] to (1939). Occupation: Gardener (1901 and 1911), Chimney Sweep [1916] to (1939). Married: Florence Amelia Hayward in 1909. Service Record: Harry was conscripted on 23.10.1916 as Pte.6133 with 4th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, re-numbered as Pte.202818 in early 1917. He was transferred on 12.6.1917 to the Labour Corps, serving as Pte.162074 with 390th [Home Service] Company, Labour Corps at his discharge in September 1919.[11] Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1965.
Hills, Philip Vincent – Born: Boxford, Suffolk on 26.12.1878.[12] Parents: Philip Baker Hills (Farmer) and Emma [née Tiffen]. Home: Payton Hall, Boxford, Suffolk (1881 to 1901), Wood Hall, Acton Road, Sudbury, Suffolk, and Hill Farm, Polstead, Suffolk [1916 to 1925], Wrongs Farm, Great Cornard, Suffolk (1939). Occupation: Farmer. Married: Dorothy Maud Drake in 1934. Service Record: Philip sat on the Board of Guardians for the Sudbury Union Workhouse from 1913, and the Melford Rural District Council and Melford War Agricultural Sub-Committee during the Great War. Died: Great Cornard, Suffolk on 10.2.1972.[13]
Hills, Wilfred – Born: Great Cornard, Suffolk on 11.9.1891.[14] Parents: Abel Frederick Hills (Gardener) and Elizabeth Sophie [née Day]. Family Connections: Brother to Harry Thomas Hills [b1883], Archibald Hills [b1892] and Gerald Gordon Hills [b1899]. Home: Sudbury Road, Great Cornard, Suffolk (1891, 1901), Coronation Villa, Queens Road, Sudbury, Suffolk (1911) to [1914]. Occupation: Butcher’s Shop Assistant (1911). Married: Hilda Mary Pleasants in 1922. Service Record: Wilfred enlisted on 9.11.1914 as Dvr.1478 with No.4 (Norfolk and Suffolk) Brigade Company, East Anglian Divisional Train, Army Service Corps, being posted to Salonika from 19.8.1916 to 29.11.1918 as Dvr.T4/0211886. On his return to England, he joined 668 [Horse Transport] Depot Company, ASC stationed at Blackheath in Kent. Hills was issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged in February 1919.[15] Died: Maldon, Essex in 1969.
Notes – [1] Date of birth from the 1939 Register. [2] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Silver War Badge [WO 329] [No.79693] and Medal Index Card [WO 372]. [3] National Probate Calendar. [4] Medal Roll [WO 329] and Medal Index Card [WO 372]. [5] For details of the battalion’s movements at Arras see Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. R. Murphy, The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928] pp.225-27 and War Diary [WO 95/2427/2]. [6] British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 and Commonwealth War Grave Commission. [7] Date of birth from the 1939 Register. [8] RN Record [ADM 188]. [9] National Probate Calendar. [10] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Sudbury, Suffolk. [11] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363]. [12] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Melford Rural District. [13] National Probate Calendar. [14] Date of birth from the Admissions Register 23.9.1895 for Great Cornard Board School. [15] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Silver War Badge [WO 329] [No.521626] and Medal Roll [WO 329].
Genealogical Tables
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