Selected Biographies

Potter, Alfred Charles John – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk in 1880.  Parents: Henry Potter (Coconut Mat Weaver) and Ann [née Younger] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Brother to Harry Bertie Potter [b1883]; also, brother-in-law of George Ambrose [b1873], Ralph Ambrose [b1894], James Ambrose [b1878] and Ernest Harold Ambrose [b1884].  Home: High Street, Long Melford (1881), living with David Sparrow (brother-in-Law) at Dairy Villas, Love Lane, Rayleigh, Essex (1911), 120 Hainault Avenue, Westcliffe-on-Sea, Essex (1921).  Occupation: Cowman [1901], Nursery Labourer (1911).  Married: Emily Ambrose in 1911.  Service Record: Alfred enlisted in 1901 as Pte.8415 of 1^st Battalion, Gordon Highlanders, posted to India from 1902 to 1904.  Upon his return home he was sent to the regimental depot at Castlehill Barracks in Aberdeen until his unit sailed for France on 7.10.1914 as part of 8^th Brigade, 3^rd Division.  He was promoted to Company Sergeant Major in April 1915 seeing action between June and September at Bellewaarde and Hooge.  During the Somme Offensive of 1916 he was again closely engaged, receiving shrapnel wounds to his knee, arm, and face at the Battle of Delville Wood on 18.8.1916.  For conspicuous gallantry in action, he was awarded the Military Cross, the citation reading:  ‘He collected what men he could find and held his own in a wood till practically surrounded, when he fought his way back’.[1]  He was sent back to Aberdeen on 23.6.1916, not returning to the Western Front until 13.3.1918, where he stayed through to April 1919.  After 18 years with the Colours, he was discharged in August 1920.[2]   Died: Rochford, Essex in 1937.

Potter, Arthur Robert – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 11.4.1873.[3]  Parent: Mary Ann Potter (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Father to Walter John Potter [b1896] and Nellie Potter [b1900], and half-brother to Charles William French [b1884] and Harry Ernest French [b1892]; also, cousin of Alfred Charles Potter [b1880] and Harry Bertie Potter [b1883], father-in-law of Harry Dennis Boreham [b1896], and brother-in-law of James Robert Woodgate [b1876].  Home: Bull Lane Cottages, Bull Lane, Long Melford (1881), Westgate Lane/Street, Long Melford (1891 to 1939).  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1891), Gardener’s Labourer (1901), Miller’s Carter (1911), Incapacitated (1939).  Married: Lucy Foreman in 1895.  Service Record: Arthur was a member of the Long Melford Volunteer Training Corps in 1915.[4]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1943.

Potter, Harry Bertie – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 16.10.1883.[5]  Parents: Henry Potter (Coconut Mat Weaver) and Ann [née Younger] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Brother to Alfred Charles John Potter [b1880] and cousin of Arthur Robert Potter [b1873].  Home: Lodging with David Sparrow (brother-in-Law) at 3 The Flats, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex (1901), 5 Shakespeare Drive, Prittlewell (1911), 25 Byron Avenue, Southend-on-Sea (1939). Occupation: Cowman (1901), Bricklayer’s Labourer (1911), Bricklayer (1939).  Married: Margaret Hannah Maria Freeman in 1904.  Service Record: Harry enlisted as Pte.3362 with 1/6^th Battalion, Essex Regiment, being posted to Suvla Bay, Gallipoli from 5.8.1915 as part of 161^st [Essex] Brigade, 54^th [East Anglian] Division.  He was evacuated from the Dardanelles on 4.12.1915 and with his battalion was sent to Alexandria, spending the rest of the war in Egypt and Palestine.  In 1917 he was issued with a new number as Pte.275524 and during the Palestine Campaign of that year, saw action at the First, Second and Third Battles of Gaza, the Battle of Jaffa, and the Battle of Meggido.  He received his discharge in April 1919.[6]  Died: Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1960.

Potter, Nellie – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 10.12.1900.[7]  Parents: Arthur Robert Potter (Miller’s Carter) [see details above] and Lucy [née Foreman] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Sister to Walter John Potter [b1896]; also, daughter-in-law of George Boreham [b1858] and sister-in-law of Albert George Boreham [b1892].  Home: Westgate Street, Long Melford (1901 and 1911), Hall Street, Long Melford (1939). Milestone House, Hall Street, Long Melford [1976], North Court, Northgate, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk [1990].  Married: Harry Dennis Boreham [see details below] in 1924.  Service Record: Nellie was a member of the Women’s Land Army during the First World War.  Died: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk on 26.10.1990.[8]

Potter, Walter John – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 18.9.1896.[9]  Parents: Arthur Robert Potter (Miller’s Carter) [see details above] and Lucy [née Foreman] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Brother to Nellie Potter [b1900] and brother-in-law of Harry Dennis Boreham [b1896].  Home: Westgate Street, Long Melford (1901 and 1911).  Occupation: Grocer’s Assistant (1911), Railway Porter at Hatfield Peverel Station with the Great Eastern Railway [1912].  Service Record: Walter enlisted on 3.9.1915 as N^o. J43893 with the Royal Navy, serving from 9.10.1915 to 21.11.1916 as an Able-Bodied Seaman on the monitor HMS Marshal Soult, transferring on 13.7.1917 to the destroyer HMS Surprise.[10]  Died: Walter died on 23.12.1917 when HMS Surprise was sunk by enemy action off Rotterdam.  His body was never recovered.  He is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial [panel 22], Chatham, Kent; also, on the Great Eastern Railway Memorial at Liverpool Street Station in London and the Long Melford War Memorial.[11]

Related Biographies

Boreham, Harry Dennis – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 16.4.1896.[12]  Parents: George Boreham (Maltster’s Labourer) and Alice Emily [née East] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Brother to Albert George Boreham [b1892]; also, nephew of Dennis William Boreham [b1865], cousin of William Charles Boreham [b1888], Frederick Boreham [b1901], Victor Dennis Boreham [b1894] and Frederick John East [b1896], and brother-in-law of Charles Ebenezer Cadge [b1880], George Webb [b1886] and Albert Leeks [b1889], and son-in-law of Arthur Robert Potter [b1873].  Home: Melford Road, Sudbury, Suffolk [1896], Chapel Green, Long Melford (1901), 3 Rotten Row, Long Melford (1911), Hall Street, Long Melford (1939), Milestone House, Hall Street, Long Melford [1976].  Occupation: Butcher’s Lad (1911), Butcher [1914] to (1939).  Married: Nellie Potter in 1924 [see above for details].  Service Record: Harry enlisted on 3.9.1914 as Pte.2261 with 1/5^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, posted to Suvla Bay, Gallipoli on 10.8.1915 as part of 163^rd Brigade, 54^th [East Anglian] Division. , being evacuated to Egypt on 6.12.1915.  Within hours of landing his unit was moved forward into frontline trenches on the south face of a steep and rocky hill called Karakol Dagh.  At dawn two days later the Suffolks and the three other untested battalions of 163^rd Brigade were ordered to secure the heights to the east.  Advancing nearly a mile through a hail of Turkish artillery and machine gun fire, by the end of the day the enemy had been held at bay and a secure forward defence line established.  When Bertie and the other Melford men were finally relieved by fresh troops after three gruelling days, they were found in a sorry state, having baked under the searing heat they had run desperately short of drinking water and been plagued by swarms of flies attracted by the dead and dying around them. When the Roll was called it was found the Suffolks alone had lost 186 men either dead or wounded with a further 150 laid low by dysentery.  The Battalion was evacuated in December 1916 to Egypt.  In 1917 he was issued with a new service number, and as Sgt.240491 took part in the invasion of Palestine, his battalion seeing action at the First, Second and Third Battles of Gaza, the Battle of Sharon and the capture of Jerusalem.[13]  During 1917 and 1918 he was employed as Company Cook,[14] and in 1939 is recorded as an Air Raid Warden.  Died: Long Melford, Suffolk on 6.2.1976.[15]

Woodgate, James Robert – Born: Acton, Suffolk on 20.6.1876.[16]  Parents: Charles Woodgate of Long Melford (Agricultural Labourer) and Harriett Anne [née Simpson].  Family Connections: Brother to Rufus George Woodgate [b1881]; also, brother-in-law of Arthur Robert Potter [b1873].  Home: Acton Green Cottages, Acton, Suffolk (1881), Post Office Row, Acton (1891), Bull Lane, Long Melford (1901 and 1911), 2 Council Houses, High Street, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1901 to 1939).  Married: Alice Isabella Potter of Long Melford in 1899.  Service Record: James enlisted in April 1915 as Pte.16002 with 8^th [Service] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, being posted to France from 25.7.1915 as part of 53^rd Brigade, 18^th [Eastern] Division.  The Battalion fought in several major battles during the Somme Offensive of 1916; at Albert, Bezentin and Delville Wood.  James Woodgate was later transferred as Pte.644767 to the Labour Corps and discharged in April 1919.[17]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1960.

Notes – [1] London Gazette 18.10.1916, Suffolk and Essex Free Press 1.11.1916 and Long Melford Parish Magazine November 1916.  [2] Soldiers’ Documents and Pension Claims, First World War [WO 364], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [3] Baptism Register 1.6.1873, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [4] For Training Corps articles see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 10.3.1915 and 29.12.1915.  [5] Baptism Register 2.12.1883, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [6] For details of 1/6^th Essex’s movements during the Gallipoli Campaign see War Diary [WO 95/4325] and in Palestine see [WO 95/4650].  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [7] 1939 Register.  [8] Her service in the Land Army is based on photographic evidence shown to the author.  Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.  [9] Baptism Register 6.12.1896, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [10] Royal Navy Registers of Seaman’s Services [ADM 188/734] and Medal and Award Rolls [ADM 171/112].  [11] Commonwealth War Graves Commission record.  [12] Baptism Register 25.6.1896, St Catherines Mission Church, Long Melford.  [13] For details of 1/5^th Suffolk’s movements in Gallipoli and Palestine see War Diaries [WO 95/4325 and WO 95/4658] and Capt. A. Fair [mc] and Capt. E. D. Wolton [compiled by] “The Suffolk Regiment”: the history of the 1/5^th Battalion [London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1923], pp.13-107.  [14] Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [15] National Probate Calendar.  [16] 1939 Register.  [17] Recorded as a Soldier at the baptism of his son see Baptism Register 4.4.1915, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford.  For details of 8^th Suffolk’s movements see War Diary [WO 95/2039/1] and Murphy, Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. R. The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928], pp.165-72.  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].