Selected Biographies

Lorking, Bertie ‘Bert’ Edwin – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1894.  Parents: William Lorking (Plasterer) and Emma [née Cooper].  Family Connections: Brother to Ernest William Lorking [b1884]; also, brother-in-law of Albert Totman of Long Melford [b1893].  Home: Burkitts Lane, Sudbury, Suffolk (1901), 16 Newmans Road, Sudbury (1911).  Occupation: Cycle Mechanic (1911).  Service Record: Bert enlisted in September 1914 as Pte.2470 with 1/5^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.  On 10.8.1915 he was posted to the Dardanelles, seeing action during the Gallipoli Campaign, then following the evacuation of the peninsula in December 1915, was trans-shipped to Egypt.[1]  He was promoted to Sergeant while in the Suffolks and later transferred as Sgt.50235 to 54^th Battalion Machine Gun Corps.[2]  Died: Bert contracted pneumonia while on active service in Mesopotamia on 21.10.1918 and is buried in Hadra War Memorial Cemetery [grave ref: E.44], Alexandria, Egypt, and is also commemorated on the War Memorial in Sudbury, Suffolk.[3]

Lorking, Edward – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk in 1836.  Parents: John Fraser Lorking (Bricklayer) and Mary [née Hayward].  Home: High Street, Long Melford (1841 to 1851), Shimpling Street, Shimpling, Suffolk (1861 to 1871).  Occupation: Baker’s Boy (1851), Bricklayer and Plasterer (1861), Bricklayer and Beerhouse Keeper (1871).  Married: Mary Ann Sparke of Long Melford in 1858.  Newspaper Record: At the Court of Petty Sessions held at Long Melford on 20.6.1873 Edward Lorking Beerhouse Keeper, was summoned for selling beer on his premises, contrary to his licence.  The case was proved and the defendant fined 20s with 8s costs.[4]  Died: Edward of consumption at Shimpling on 9.8.1874.[5]

Lorking, Ernest William – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 15.3.1884.[6]  Parents: William Lorking (Plasterer) and Emma [née Cooper].  Family Connections: Brother to Bertie Edwin Lorking [b1894]; also, brother-in-law of Oliver Walter Nice [b1891] and Albert Totman of Long Melford [b1893].  Home: Burkitts Lane, Sudbury, Suffolk (1891 to 1901), North View, 20 Priory Road, Sudbury [1973].  Occupation: Cycle Mechanic (1901), Motor Mechanic [1918], Proprietor of Ernest W. Lorking & Son of Chequers Garage, Gaol Lane, Sudbury [1931] to (1939).  Married: Emily Martha Byham in 1906.  Service Record: Edward was conscripted on 16.7.1918 as AC1.269466 with the Royal Air Force, transferring to the RAF Reserve in 1919, receiving his discharge in April 1920.[7]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk on 29.12.1973.[8]

Related Biographies

Nice, Oliver Walter – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 23.4.1891.[9]  Parents: Ambrose Newman Nice (Butcher) and Eliza Jane [née Shephard].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Ernest Edward Lorking [b1884].  Home: Ballingdon Street, Sudbury, Suffolk (1901 to 1911), 14 Bulmer Road, Sudbury (1939).  Occupation: Butcher (1911), Painter (1939).  Married: Bertha Agnes Lorking in 1928.  Service Record: Oliver enlisted as Pte2640 with the 1/4^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, transferring as Pte.G/18117 to 7^th [Service] Battalion, The Queen’s Own [Royal West Kent Regiment], then to 2^nd Battalion, RWK.  The former battalion saw action on the Western Front, the latter served solely in Mesopotamia.[10]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1950.

Totman, Albert – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk in 1893.  Parents: Edward Totman (Iron Moulder) and Eliza [née Mattock].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Ernest Edward Lorking [b1884] and Bertie Edwin Lorking [b1894].  Home: Liston Lane, Long Melford (1901), 2 St Catherines Road, Long Melford (1911), 20 Gaol Lane, Sudbury [1916], 16 Newmans Road, Sudbury [1920].  Occupation: Stockman on Farm (1911), Tinsmith at Ward’s Iron Foundry [1916].  Married: Jessie May Lorking in 1916.  Service Record: Albert was conscripted on 10.4.1916 as Pte.4524 with 3/5^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.  He was transferred on 14.10.1916 as Pte.2838 to 2/1^st Suffolk Yeomanry [Duke of York’s Own Loyal Hussars], which by this date had converted to cyclist unit, joining 5^th Cyclist Brigade, 2^nd Cyclist Division, stationed first in Ipswich then in nearby Woodbridge, patrolling the Suffolk coast against possible German invasion.  On 12.9.1918 he was transferred as Pte.M/323100 to 978^th [Mechanical Transport] Company, Army Service Corps, receiving his discharge in March 1920.[11]  Died: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in 1957.

Notes – [1] Assumption based on his service number and those of his Sudbury and Long Melford contemporaries. [2] Medal Roll [WO 329] and Medal Index Card [WO 372].  [3] Commonwealth War Grave Commission.  [4] The Bury and Norwich Post 24.6.1873.  [5] Op. cit. 18.8.1874.  [6] 1939 Register.  [7] British Royal Air Force, Airmen’s Service Records 1912-1939 [AIR 79/2377].  [8] National Probate Calendar.  [9] 1939 Register.  [10] Medal Roll [WO 329] and Medal Index Card [WO 372].  [11] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363].