Selected Biographies

Oliver, Arnold – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1887.  Parents: Edward Oliver (Brewer) and Emily Martha [née MacGougan].  Family Connections: Brother to Brian Edward Oliver [b1883]; also, cousin of Paul Henry Oliver [b1881].  Home: The Brewery House, Cornard Road, Sudbury (1891 and 1901), High Pale Farm, Bures St Mary, Suffolk (1911), The Assington Stud, Dorking Tye Farm, Assington, Suffolk [1916] to (1921), Uplands, Braiswick, Colchester, Essex [1930].  Occupation: Farmer and Breeder of Heavy Horses [1908][1] to (1921).  Married: Edith Frances Cornforth in 1914.  Service Record: Arnold enlisted in 1908 as Pte.904 with the Suffolk Yeomanry, rising to the rank of Sergeant, receiving his discharge in December 1914 being assessed as medically unfit for further service.  In 1918 and 1919 he was a member of the Melford War Agricultural Sub-Committee.  Died: Lexden, Colchester, Essex on 30.3.1930.[2]

Oliver, Brian Edward – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 23.12.1883.[3] Parents: Edward James Oliver (Brewer) and Emily Martha [née MacGougan].  Family Connections: Brother to Arnold Oliver [b1887]; also, cousin of Paul Henry Oliver [b1881].  Home: The Brewery House, Cornard Road, Sudbury (1891 to 1921), 8 St Marys Square, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk (1939), 6^A Westgate Street, Bury St Edmunds [1963].  Occupation: Brewer (1911), Brewery Manager, later Brewery Director for Greene King & Sons (1921 to 1939).  Married: Catherine Simpson in 1912.  Service Record:  Brian held a Lieutenant’s commission with 2^nd (Volunteer) Battalion, Suffolk Regiment when it was restyled as 5^th Battalion.[4]  He was posted to Gallipoli as a Captain in ‘B’ Company 1/5^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment on 29.7.1915, moving with his unit to Egypt in December.  In 1917 he was part of the campaign against the Ottoman Turks in Palestine, seeing action at all three Battles of Gaza, the Battle of Sharon, and the capture of Jerusalem in 1918.[5]  Died: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk on 7.12.1963.[6]

Oliver, Charles David – Born: Bocking, Essex on 10.12.1889.[7]  Parents: James Oliver (Coal Dealer) and Emily Jane [née Cottis].  Home: Bradford Street, Bocking, Essex (1891), Manor Road, Bocking (1901), Panfield Lane, Bocking (1911), College House, Bradford Lane, Bocking [1914], 162 Villiers Road, Willesden, Middlesex (1921), 68 Fullers Road, Woodford, Essex [1926 to 1931], Post Office, Village Street, Hitchin, Hertfordshire (1939), Post Office, Arlesey Road, Ickleford, Hertfordshire [1967].  Occupation: Harness Maker (1911), Harness Maker for the Great Eastern Railway (1921), Master Saddler, Boot Repairer and Sub-Postmaster (1939).  Married: Alice Jane Mott of Long Melford in 1918.  Service Record: Charles enlisted on 17.11.1914 as Dvr.TS/1445 with 150^th [Horse Transport] Company, Army Service Corps.  He was posted to France on 25.7.1915, joining the Headquarters Company, 18^th Divisional Train as a saddler and harness repairer.  During his time on the Western Front his division saw action at the Battles of the Somme in 1916 and Third Ypres the following year.  Invalided to England, he was discharged in June 1919.[8]  Died: Ickleford, Hertfordshire on 3.11.1967.[9]

Oliver, Paul Henry – Born: Chilton, Suffolk on 10.3.1881.[10]  Parents: Henry Stanton Oliver (Master Brewer) and Eliza Mary Margaret [née Coote].  Family Connections: Cousin of Brian Edward Oliver [b1883] and Arnold Oliver [b1887].  Home: Newton Road, Newton Green, Suffolk (1881), Dalmeny, Sudbury Road, Great Cornard, Suffolk (1891 to 1911), Newton Hall, Newton Green (1939) to [1966].  Occupation: Auctioneer’s Articled Clerk (1901), Partner with Boardman and Oliver [Auctioneers and Estate Agents] [1904 to 1944],[11] Farmer (1939).  Married: Mabel Courtnald Perry [d1947] in 1909 and Barbara Frances Gooderham in 1948.  Service Record: Paul Oliver was an alderman of the Suffolk Town Council from 1910 and was elected Mayor in November 1916.[12]  He was also a member of the Suffolk County Agricultural War Committee in 1916, the Melford War Agricultural Sub-Committee from 1916 to 1919, appointed a Visitor of Licensed Houses under ‘The Mental Deficiency Act’ in 1917 and recorded as a West Suffolk County Councillor in the same year.  Died: Newton Green, Suffolk on 20.5.1966.[13]

Notes – [1] Occupation and addresses from Kelly’s Directory for Suffolk 1912 to 1916. [2] National Probate Calendar.  [3] 1939 Register.  [4] Stowmarket Weekly Post 10.9.1908.  [5] For the battalion’s exploits during the Great War see Capt. A. Fair and Capt. E. D. Wolton “The Suffolk Regiment”: the history of the 1/5th Battalion [London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1923], also his Medal Roll [WO 329] and Medal Index Card [WO 372].  [6] National Probate Calendar.  [7] 1939 Register.  [8] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363].  [9] National Probate Calendar.  [10] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Melford Rural District. [11] For partnership see Public Notices in Suffolk and Essex Free Press 16.3.1944. [12] Nomination for Sudbury Town Council see East Anglian Daily Times 25.10.1910. [13] National Probate Calendar.