Selected Biographies

Hurndall, Charles Thomas – Born: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire on 13.8.1879.[1]  Parents: Joseph Hurnall/Hurndall (Steam Engine Driver) and Jane [née Paradine].  Family Connections: Father of Claude Charles Hurndall [b1899].  Home: Station Road, Cheddington, Buckinghamshire (1881), Mentmore, Bucks (1891), 4 Little Stanhope Street, Mayfair, London (1901), Melford Hall Stables, Melford Hall, Long Melford [1904 to 1919], Fort Lodge, Jail Road, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk (1939).  Occupation: Groom and Chauffeur at Melford Hall (1911) to [1917], Groom Chauffeur (1939).  Married: Charlotte Allington in 1898.  Service Record: Charles was conscripted on 10.12.1915 as Pte.M/299518 with the Mechanical Transport section of the Army Service Corps.  At the Melford Military Service Tribunal in May 1916 he was granted a certificate for conditional exemption, which had been appealed against by the military representative.  At some point he had fallen ill because at the sitting of the Tribunal in October 1916 the panel was informed that the doctors thought that if Hurndall was given a few months to get over the worst of the winter he would be fit for service.  They agreed to grant exemption for five months but in the meantime the applicant must join the Long Melford Volunteer Training Corps.[2]  Charles was mobilised on 5.3.1917 and posted to France from 27.3.1917 as part of 717^th [Mechanical Transport] Company, ASC attached to 285^th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, and other units in IX Corps.[3]  He received his discharge in August 1919.[4]  Died: Samford, Suffolk in 1954.

Hurndall, Claude Charles – Born: Gooderstone, Norfolk on 20.7.1899.[5]  Parents: Charles Thomas Hurndall (Chauffeur at Melford Hall) and Charlotte [née Allington].  Home: With his mother visiting Agnes and Charles Allen (aunt and uncle) in Norwich Road, Pulham St Mary, Norfolk (1901), Melford Hall Stables, Melford Hall, Long Melford [1904 to 1919], 1 Hawstead Lane, Sicklesmere, Suffolk (1939) to [1944].  Occupation: Pupil Teacher [1915], Chemist’s Apprentice [1917], Laboratory Chemist (1939).  Married: Ellen C. Wilkins in 1921 and Bertha Porter in 1944.  Service Record: Claude enlisted on 12.7.1915 as Pte.3583, later promoted to Corporal with 3/5^th Suffolk Regiment, however he was discharged two weeks later, having given a false age on enlistment.  In 1917 he joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as N^o. Z/7139, serving on the submarine depot ship HMS Maidstone.[6]  Died: Hackney, London in 1990.

Notes – [1] Date of birth from Admission Register 21.2.1882, Countess of Rosebery’s Infants’ School, Cheddington, Bucks  and the 1939 Register.  [2] For the Tribunal’s ruling see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 24.5.1916.  [3] For details of 717^th Company’s movements see War Diary [WO 95/846/4-8].  [4] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [5] Date of birth from 1939 Register for Thingoe Rural District, Suffolk; birth date also corroborated by his Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve: Records of Service [ADM 337/137].  [6] Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve: Records of Service [ADM 337/137].  Also see his Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363].