Selected Biographies

Mayes, Alfred Ernest – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 20.3.1876.  Parents: Alfred Ernest Mayes (Maltster’s Foreman) and Susannah [née Martin].  Family Connections: Brother to Maurice William Mayes [b1877], Frederick Mayes [b1878], George Mayes [b1880], Charles Alfred Mayes [b1884] and Mark Mayes [b1889] of Long Melford; also, brother-in-law of Hubert Charles Crosby [b1889].    Home: Malting Cottages, Long Melford (1881 to 1891), lodging with Eliza Jane Fitzgerald (widow) at 2 Byfield Road, Walthamstow, Essex (1901), 62 Heath Road, Chadwell Heath, Essex (1911), Malting House, Long Melford (1921), 33 Cramphorn Road, Chelmsford, Essex [1944].  Occupation: Maltster’s Foreman (1881 to 1911), retired (1921).  Married: Edith Sarah Hallandal [d1916] in 1909 and Annie Edith Gunn in 1919.  Service Record: It is not known if Alfred saw military service during the First World War as no definitive record has been found.  Died: Chadwell Heath, Essex on 27.8.1936.[1]

Mayes, Charles Alfred – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 23.11.1884.[2]  Parents: Alfred Ernest Mayes (Maltster’s   Foreman) and Susannah [née Martin].  Family Connections: Brother to Alfred Ernest Mayes [b1876], Maurice William Mayes [b1877], Frederick Mayes [b1878], George Mayes [b1880] and Mark Mayes [b1889]; also, brother-in-law of Hubert Charles Crosby [b1889].  Home: Malting Cottages, Long Melford (1891), Lodging with James Humphreys at 50 Brooks Mews, Hanover Square, London (1901), 27 Queens Street Mews, South Kensington, London (1911), 1 Great Cumberland Mews, Seymour Place, Marble Arch, London [1917] to (1921), 75 Dunbreck Road, Eltham, Kent (1939) to [1961].  Occupation: Groom (1901), Coachman/Chauffeur (1911 to 1921), Motor Cab Driver (1939).  Married: Julia Bareham in 1910.  Service Record: Charles was a member of 2^nd [Volunteer] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment before 1908.  He was conscripted on 9.3.1916 as Aircraft Mechanic First Class N^o. 24809 with the Royal Flying Corps and posted to France from 19.9.1917 being based at Boulogne.  He was issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged due to sickness on 26.1.1918.[3]  Died: Eltham, Kent on 12.4.1961.[4]

Mayes, Frederick ‘Fred’ – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 12.12.1878.[5]  Parents: Alfred Ernest Mayes  (Maltster’s Foreman) and Susannah [née Martin].  Family Connections: Brother to Alfred Ernest Mayes [b1876], Maurice William Mayes [b1877], George Mayes [b1880], Charles Alfred Mayes [b1884] and Mark Mayes [b1889]; also, brother-in-law of Hubert Charles Crosby [b1889].  Home: Malting Cottages, Long Melford (1881 and 1891), Beeches Road, Farnham Common, Slough, Buckinghamshire (1911), Balcaskie Road, Eltham, Kent [1919 to 1934],[6] 29 Elibank Road, Eltham (1939).  Occupation: Errand Boy (1891), Caddie Master at Golf Club (1911), Garage Attendant (1939).  Married: Florence Watkins in 1910.  Service Record: It is not known if Fred saw military service during the First World War as no definitive record has been found.  Died: Eltham, Kent in 1942.

Mayes, George – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 17.10.1880.  Parents: Alfred Ernest Mayes (Maltster’s Foreman) and Susannah [née Martin].  Family Connections: Brother to Alfred Ernest Mayes [b1876], Maurice William Mayes [b1877], Frederick Mayes [b1878], Charles Alfred Mayes [b1884] and Mark Mayes [b1889]; also, brother-in-law of Hubert Charles Crosby [b1889].  Home: Malting Cottages, Long Melford (1881 and 1891), Horse Guards, Whitehall, London (1901), Thornton House Stables, Thornton Road, Clapham Park, London (1911), emigrated to Western Australia aboard SS Otranto [1912].[7]  Occupation: Servant in 10^th Hussars (1901), Chauffeur (1911), Baker [1912].  Married: Hélène Marie Adolphine Chamay in 1911.  Service Record: Enlisting in 1900 as Pte.4561 with 10^th [Prince of Wales’s Own Royal] Hussars, George was posted to South Africa from 1901 to 1902, seeing action during the Second Anglo-Boer War.  He was posted to India from 1902 to 1908, promoted to Lance Corporal in 1904 and discharged in 1912.  It is not known if he served during the First World War as no extant record has been found.[8]  Died: Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia in 1948.

Mayes, Mark – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 1.4.1889.[9]  Parents: Alfred Ernest Mayes (Maltster’s Foreman) and Susannah [née Martin].  Family Connections: Brother to Alfred Ernest Mayes [b1876], Maurice William Mayes [b1877], Frederick Mayes [b1878], George Mayes [b1880] and Charles Alfred Mayes [b1884]; also, brother-in-law of Hubert Charles Crosby [b1889].  Home: Malting Cottages, Long Melford (1891 and 1901), 37 Whitcombe Street, Aberdare, Wales (1911), emigrated to Western Australia aboard SS Otranto [1912],[10] 64 Padbury Street, Perth, WA [1916].  Occupation: Haulier for a Mineral Water Company (1911), Builder [1912], Railway Employee [1916].  Married: Kate Agnes Townsend in 1909.  Service Record: Mark applied to join the Australian Imperial Force in 1916.[11]  No extant military record has been found.  Died: Perth, Western Australia in 1972.

Mayes, Maurice William – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 29.5.1877.  Parents: Alfred Ernest Mayes (Maltster’s Foreman) and Susannah [née Martin].  Family Connections: Brother to Alfred Ernest Mayes [b1876], Frederick Mayes [b1878], George Mayes [b1880], Charles Alfred Mayes [b1884] and Mark Mayes [b1889] all born in Long Melford; also, brother-in-law of Hubert Charles Crosby [b1889].  Home: Malting Cottages, Long Melford (1881 and 1891), 1 Hammerton Road, Northfleet, Kent (1901), 48 Chadwin Road, Plaistow, London (1911), The Creek, Northfleet [1919].  Occupation: Labourer at Cement Works (1901), Labourer (1911).  Married: Agnes Warren in 1901.  Service Record: Maurice enlisted in 1915 as Pte.17946 with 9^th [Service] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, being posted to France from 31.8.1915 as part of 71^st Brigade, 24^th Division.  On 25 September the Battalion took part in the Battle of Loos, the biggest British assault of 1915.  It is not recorded exactly when Maurice was transferred to 12^th [Service] Battalion, Suffolks, but one assumes it was after 6.6.1916 when the unit had landed at Le Havre as part of 121^st Brigade, 40^th Division.  Both battalions saw action during the Somme Offensive of 1916 and respectively at the Battles of St Quentin and Bapaume, different phases of the First Battles of the Somme in 1918.  Private Mayes received his discharge in February 1919.[12]  Died: Maurice was drowned with three others while working as a lighterman off Northfleet, Kent on 31.7.1919.[13]

Mayes, Walter – Born: Kedington, Suffolk on 30.7.1876.[14]  Parents: George Mayes of Sturmer, Essex (Agricultural Labourer) and Deborah [née Orris].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Arthur Mitchell of Long Melford [b1872].  Home: The Street, Sturmer, Essex (1881 to 1891), lodging with Sarah West (widow) on Chapel Green, Long Melford (1901), 9 Rotten Row, Long Melford (1911), 5 Chapel Green, Long Melford (1921 to 1938).  Occupation: Groom (1911), Head Groom at Melford Place in Long Melford [1916], Lorry Driver (1939).  Married: Alice Mitchell of Long Melford in 1903.  Service Record: At the Melford Military Service Tribunal in October 1916 his employer Charles Westropp of Melford Place applied for his exemption from conscription, which was granted up to February 1917 on the condition that he join the Long Melford Volunteer Training Corps in the meantime.  In June 1917 Westropp was again before the Tribunal pleading for a change in the status of Walter Mayes exemption, which the panel left at conditional.  The matter had still not been resolved by the following April when the results of an appeal by the military representative to have Mayes’s certificate for conditional exemption overturned.  The judgement of the West Suffolk Appeals Tribunal was that the certificate should be revoked unless a voucher to the contrary was granted by the Agricultural Committee.  This seems a rather curious rider to add as Charles Westropp had made the application in the first instance, the party involved was his head groom, and Westropp himself had been the chairman of the Agricultural Committee since its inception.  Whether Walter was conscripted or not is unknown as no definitive military record has been found.  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1958.[15]

Related Biographies

Crosby, Hubert Charles – Born: Great Cornard, Suffolk on 6.1.1889.[16]  Parents: Charles Crosby 9Railway Crossing Gate Keeper) and Sarah Ann [née Row].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Alfred Ernest Mayes [b1876], Maurice William Mayes [b1877], Frederick Mayes [b1878], George Mayes [b1880], Charles Alfred Mayes [b1884] and Mark Mayes [b1889] of Long Melford.  Home: Sudbury Road, Great Cornard, Suffolk (1891 to 1901), Springfield Lodge, Sudbury, Suffolk (1921), Rose Bungalow, Waldingfield Road, Chilton, Suffolk (1939) to [1952].  Occupation: Chauffeur [1915], Gardener (1921), Gardener and Smallholder (1939).  Married: Laura Mayes of Long Melford in 1919.  Service Record: Hubert enlisted on 31.10.1915 as Pte.M2/135831 with the Mechanical Transport section of the Army Service Corps. On 26.11.1915 he was posted to Egypt joining 317 Auxiliary [Petrol] Company, ASC.  He received his discharge in August 1919.[17]  Died: Gestingthorpe, Essex on 7.10.1962.[18]

Notes – [1] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar. [2] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 3.5.1885, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [3] Air Member for Personnel and predecessors: Airman’s Records [AIR 79/257] [my thanks to Jean Zeyssig for bringing this document to my attention], Service Medal and Award Rolls, First World War, Silver War Badge [WO 329] record [ref: 309009] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [4] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar. [5] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for, Woolwich District Kent. [6] Address from the Electoral Roll. [7] See Passenger List for Orient Line SS Otranto 2.2.1912. [8] Chelsea Hospital British Army Service Record [WO 97] up to 1912. [9] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 7.7.1889, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [10] See Passenger List for Orient Line SS Otranto 2.2.1912. [11] For military record see National Archives of Australia [ref: MT1486/1]. [12] For details of 9^th Suffolk’s part in the Battle of Loos see War Diary [WO 95/1625/1] and Murphy, Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. R. The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928], pp.120-23.  This action was also the first time that the British used poison gas.  For details of 12^th Suffolks movements see War Diary [WO 95/2616/1] and Murphy, pp.255-59 and 282-86.  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [13] For a full account of the fatal accident at Northfleet see Cheltenham Chronicle 2.8.1919.  My sincere thanks to Jean Zeyssig for bringing this article to my attention. [14] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Long Melford. [15] For the Tribunal’s rulings see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 25.10.1916, 6.6.1917 and 24.4.1918. [16] 1939 Register. [17] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Medal Roll [WO 329], and Medal Index Card [WO 372]. [18] National Probate Calendar.