Selected Biographies

Randle, Albert William Palmer – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 26.8.1898.[1]  Parents: Robert Palmer Randle (Wheelwright) [see below for military details] and Ellen [née Whittle] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Brother to Harry Palmer Randle [b1889] and brother-in-law of George Roy Cadge [b1887]; also, nephew of John Palmer Randle [b1870], and cousin of Graydon John Palmer Randle [b1895] and Austin Jarvis Palmer Randle [b1899].  Home: Park Terrace, St Marys Street, Long Melford [1899] to (1921), Star Cottages, St Catherines Road, Long Melford (1939), 45 St Catherines Road, Long Melford [1976].  Occupation: Carpenter (1921 to 1939).  Married: Mabel Ranson in 1928.  Service Record: Albert was conscripted as Gnr.209118 with the Royal Field Artillery.  Without an extant Service Record however, it is not known when he enlisted and from what date he was posted overseas.  Given his year of birth this should not have been any earlier that September 1917.  Family photographs show him with other servicemen convalescing in a requisitioned English country house.  The absence of a Silver War Badge record suggests that Albert returned to active service and may not have received his discharge until 1919.[2]  Died: Long Melford, Suffolk on 18.10.1976.[3]

Randle, Austin Jarvis Palmer – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 3.3.1899.[4] Parents: John Palmer Randle (Wheelwright) [see below for military details] and Augusta [née Chinnery].  Family Connections: Brother to Graydon John Palmer Randle [b1895]; also, cousin of Harry Palmer Randle [b1889] and Albert William Palmer Randle [b1898].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1901 and 1911).  Occupation: Clerk at Barclays Bank in Sudbury, Suffolk [1918].  Service Record: Austin was a member of the Long Melford Volunteer Training Corps in 1915.[5]  Based on his service number, he enlisted in March 1918 as Gdmn.17409 with 1^st Battalion, Scots Guards, joining them in France as part of 1^st Guards Brigade, 1^st Division.[6]  Died: Austin was killed in action on 27.9.1918 during the retaking of Flesquières and is buried in Flesquières Hill British Cemetery [grave ref: VIII.B.10], Nord, France and is also commemorated on the Long Melford War Memorial.[7]

Randle, Graydon John Palmer[8] – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 18.12.1895.[9]  Parents: John Palmer Randle (Wheelwright) [see below for military details] and Augusta [née Chinnery].  Family Connections: Brother to Austin Jarvis Palmer Randle [b1899] and brother-in-law of William Coe [b1891] and George Bernard Hurst [b1903]; also, cousin of Harry Palmer Randle [b1889] and Albert William Palmer Randle [b1898].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1901 to 1939), Wayside Cottage, Thorpe Road, Tendring, Essex [1950].  Occupation: Assisting in family’s Wheelwright business (1911), Carter [1917], Chauffeur [1917], Carpenter and Undertaker (1939).  Married: Ida Chadwick in 1942.  Service Record: Graydon was a member of the Long Melford Volunteer Training Corps in 1915.  At the Melford Military Service Tribunal in June 1917 his application for exemption was deferred for six months.[10]  During this period, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis.[11]  It is not known if he was eventually conscripted as no extant military record has been found.  Died: General Hospital, Colchester, Essex on 20.2.1950.[12]

Randle, Harry Palmer – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 15.2.1889.[13]  Parents: Robert Palmer Randle (Wheelwright) [see below for military details] and Ellen [née Whittle] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Brother to Albert William Palmer Randle [b1898]; also, nephew of John Palmer Randle [b1870], cousin of Graydon John Palmer Randle [b1895] and Austin Jarvis Palmer Randle [b1899], and brother-in-law of George Roy Cadge [b1887].  Home: St Marys Street, Long Melford (1891 to 1901), Park Terrace, St Marys Street, Long Melford (1911) to [1955].  Occupation: Carpenter and Wheelwright (1901 and 1921), Carpenter and Undertaker (1939), Undertaker [1949].  Married: Laura Harriet King in 1912.  Service Record: Harry was conscripted on 11.12.1915 as Pte.024309 with the Army Ordnance Corps.  At the Melford Military Service Tribunal in April 1916 his employer Palmer and Sons the village wheelwrights, requested exemption for him on the grounds that although he had already been attested, he was a married man and a volunteer member of the Melford Fire Brigade.  In further mitigation his employer explained that he also did work for fourteen farms in the district.  Exemption was denied.  Harry’s father took the case to the Appeals Tribunal in Bury St Edmunds on his son’s behalf, the application was again denied.[14]  He continued to serve with the Army Ordnance Corps and was issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged from on 7.12.1918, while a patient at Military Hospital in Purfleet, Essex.[15]  Died: Addenbrooks Hospital, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire on 5.3.1955.[16]

Randle, John Palmer – Born: Eye, Suffolk on 15.11.1870.[17]  Parents: William Palmer Randle (Engineer) and Mary Ann.  Family Connections: Father of Graydon John Palmer Randle [b1895] and Austin Jarvis Palmer Randle [b1899]; also, brother to Robert Palmer Randle [b1867], uncle of Harry Palmer Randle [b1889] and Albert William Palmer Randle [b1898], and father-in-law of William Coe [b1891] and George Bernard Hurst [b1903].  Home: Back Lane, Eye, Suffolk (1871), St Marys Street, Long Melford (1891), Hall Street, Long Melford (1901) to [1940].  Occupation: Wheelwright and Carpenter (1891 to 1911), Wheelwright and Blacksmith [1916].[18]  Married: Augusta Chinnery of Long Melford in 1893.  Service Record: John was a member of the Long Melford Volunteer Training Corps in 1915.[19]  As an employer he appeared numerous times before the Melford Military Service Tribunal to plead the case of his blacksmiths and wheelwrights, the former being seen as vital to his filling Army contracts of two hundredweight of horseshoes a week.  In 1919 he was co-opted onto the parish War Memorial Committee.  Died: Long Melford, Suffolk on 23.2.1940.[20]

Randle, Robert Palmer – Born: Eye, Suffolk on 16.2.1867.[21]  Parents: William Palmer Randle (Engineer) and Mary Ann.  Family Connections: Father of Harry Palmer Randle [b1889] and Albert William Palmer Randle [b1898]; also, brother to John Palmer Randle [b1870], father-in-law of George Roy Cadge [b1887], and uncle of Graydon John Palmer Randle [b1895] and Austin Jarvis Palmer Randle [b1899].  Home: Back Lane, Eye, Suffolk (1871), St Marys Street, Long Melford (1891 and 1901), Park Terrace, St Marys Street, Long Melford (1911 to 1939).  Occupation: Carpenter (1881), Wheelwright (1891 to 1911), Wheelwright and Carpenter (1939).  Married: Ellen Whittle of Long Melford in 1886.  Service Record: Robert was Captain of the village’s volunteer Fire Brigade from 1900 to the end of the War, and a member of the Long Melford Volunteer Training Corps from 1915.[22]  Died: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk on 1.4.1945.[23]

Related Biographies

Adams, Frederick John – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 6.7.1894.[24]  Parents: Thomas Adams (Shoemaker) and Alice [née Mills].  Family Connections: Brother to Thomas Edward Adams [b1887], Joshua Ward Adams [b1892], Ernest Seaman Adams [b1899] and George Cecil Adams [b1902]; also, brother-in-law of Sydney Charles Slaughter [b1897] and nephew of Ernest Edward Adams [b1859].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1901), HM Royal Navy Training Establishment, HMS Ganges, Shotley, Suffolk (1911) 3 Coastguard Cottage, Dover, Kent (1939).  Occupation: Sailor from 1910 to 1944.  Married: Alice Matilda Palmer Randle of Long Melford in 1922.[25]  Service Record: Frederick enlisted in 1910 as boy sailor N^o. J.9204 with the Royal Navy.  He served at sea from 1911 to 22.6.1914 as an Ordinary Signalman on the battleship HMS Commonwealth; from 16.5.1917 to 5.10.1917 as a Leading Signalman on the cruiser HMS Dido, and between 6.10.1917 and 1.4.1919 on the cruiser HMS Penelope, being promoted to Yeoman Signalman in May 1920 and awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in 1928 while serving on HMS Titania.  Frederick continued in the Navy up to his death as Signalman N^o. C/SX76 of the Royal Naval Shore Signal Service, based at N^o. 5 RNS Station Dover in 1939 then at N^o. 4 RNS Station at Shoeburyness.[26]  Died: Frederick died on active service at N^o. 4 Royal Naval Signal Station, Shoeburyness, Essex on 13.8.1944 and buried at St Andrews Church, Shoeburyness [grave ref: 6B].[27]

Cadge, George Roy – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 26.5.1887.[28]  Parents: William Cadge (Bricklayer) and Minerva [née Grice].  Family Connections: Brother to William Cadge [b1878] and Charles Ebenezer Cadge [b1880], half-brother to Philip Charles Grice [b1874]; also, cousin of William Cadge [b1885] and Arthur Cadge [b1880], and brother-in-law of Ernest Frank Wickens [b1893], Harry Palmer Randle[b1889] and Albert William Palmer Randle [b1898].  Home: St Marys Street, Long Melford (1891 to 1911), Liston House, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Carpenter (1901 and 1911), Carpenter and Joiner [1916] to (1939).  Married: Ada Palmer Randle of Long Melford in 1925.  Service Record: Between 1909 and 1913 George was a member of the Army Service Corps.  He was conscripted on 13.11.1916 as Spr.213128 with the Royal Engineers, transferring as Pte.57369 to 14^th [Service] Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers [Pioneers], being posted to France from 8.9.1917 to 19.6.1919 and seeing action on the Somme in 1916, and the Arras Offensive and the Third Battles of Ypres in 1917.  On 6.1.1918 he was moved again as Spr.213128 to 209^th [Norfolk] Field Company, RE as part of 34^th Division, and finally to 465^th Field Company, RE.  George was issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged in July 1919 as ‘no longer physically fit for War Service’, due to sickness.[29]  In 1922 he is recorded as a committee member of the Long Melford Ex-Service Men’s Club.  Died: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in 1974 and buried in Long Melford Cemetery.

Coe, William – Born: Boxted, Suffolk on 30.9.1891.[30]  Parents: George John Coe (Farmer) and Rosa [née Bigg].  Family Connections: Brother to George Coe [b1885] and cousin of William Charles Coe [b1889]; also, son-in-law of John Palmer Randle [b1870] and brother-in-law of Graydon Palmer Randle [b1896].  Home: Lodge Farm, Hare Drift, Long Melford (1901), 3 Bulwer Road, Leytonstone, London (1911), Lodge Farm, Hare Drift, Long Melford [1918], Glebe Side, Halstead, Essex (1939), Red Cottage, Melford Road, Sudbury, Suffolk [1953].  Occupation: Underwriter’s Clerk (1911), Brewer’s Invoice Clerk (1939).  Married: Augusta Violet Palmer Randle of Long Melford in 1923.  Service Record: William enlisted as Pte.1563, later N^o. 305045 with 1/1^st Suffolk Yeomanry in the Corps of Hussars.  He was granted a commission on 27.8.1915 as a Second Lieutenant in ‘D’ Company, 1^st Battalion, Border Regiment.  On 8.10.1915 he was posted to Cape Helles Gallipoli, evacuated in January 1916 to Egypt and posted with his battalion to France in March 1916.  As part of 29^th Division’s 87^th Brigade, he saw action during the Somme Offensive of 1916 and the Third Battles of Ypres in 1917.  In the spring of 1918 however, his battalion was badly mauled and thrown into retreat by the enemy’s Lys Offensive, which punched a gaping hole in the British front line.  The pivotal day for the 1^st Borders came on 11.4.1918 when they were ordered to form a defensive position around the village of Neuf-Berquin, in an attempt to slow the German advance.  This proved impossible forcing them over the next twenty-four hours to make a hurried withdrawal, at the end of which barely two hundred men remained.  By 4:00pm of that day the Battalion’s War Diary noted that ‘two platoons of ‘D’ Company could not be extricated and were last seen surrounded but still fighting’; as a subaltern in this company, it is likely that William Coe was with these men when he was captured.  German records show that he was wounded in the back and stomach and taken to a field hospital in Armentieres, before being incarcerated in a Prisoner of War camp at Stendal in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.  He was repatriated in December 1918.  In 1922 William is recorded as one of the 14 vice-presidents of the Long Melford Ex-Service Men’s Club[31] and was an Air Raid Warden during the Second World War.[32]    Died: Sudbury, Suffolk on 5.11.1953.[33]

Hurst, George Bernard – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk 25.4.1903.[34]  Parents: Bernard Horace Hurst (Music Teacher) and Amelia [née Boggis].  Family Connections: Brother to Lionel Alexander Hurst [b1898]; also, nephew of Alexander Burnett Hurst [b1862] and Walter Boggis [b1870], and brother-in-law of Graydon John Palmer Randle [b1896].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1911 to 1939).  Occupation: Bank Clerk [1922], Clerk at the Ministry of Transport (1939).  Married: Dorothy Maud Randle of Long Melford in 1936.  Service Record: George enlisted in 1922 as Pte.6079909 with Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment, receiving his discharge in 1934.[35] During the Second World War he volunteered as an Ambulance Driver.[36] Died: Stourbridge, Worcestershire in 1981.

Newson, Victor George – Born: Reading, Berkshire on 20.1.1893.[37]  Parents: George Anthony Newson (Watchmaker and Jeweller) and Susan Anabella [née Rumley].  Home: Frederick Place, Sunninghill, Berkshire (1901), 132 Crouch Hill, Crouch End, London (1911 to 1939), Cambrai, Postwick Lane, Brundall, Norfolk [1973].  Occupation: Watchmaker’s Apprentice (1911), Watchmaker [1915] to (1939).  Married: Florence May Palmer Randle of Long Melford in 1921.  Service Record: Victor was conscripted on 24.11.1915 as Gnr.68277 with 69 Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, promoted to Bombardier and posted to France on 27.8.1917 where he joined 285 Siege Battery.  He received his discharge in March 1919.[38]  Died: Brundall, Norfolk on 14.2.1973.[39]

Notes – [1] Baptism Register 9.2.1899, St Catherines Mission Church, Long Melford. [2] Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [3] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.  My sincere thanks to Albert’s grandson Andy Palmer-Randle for kindly allowing me access to photographs and other family documents. [4] Baptism Register 13.4.1899, St Catherines Mission Church, Long Melford. [5] For Training Corps article see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 29.12.1915, recorded as A. Palmer [sic].  [6] For a possible date of enlistment see http://armyservicenumbers.blogspot.co.uk /2009/01/scots-guards.html.  For details of 1^st Scots Guards movements in 1918 see War Diary [WO 95/1219/3].  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372] [MI Card shows Regimental No. 17419, M Roll shows both] all in the name of Austin Jarvis Palmer [sic].  [7] See also his Commonwealth War Graves Commission record, British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 835012].  [8] He had changed his name by deed poll to Graydon John Palmer, see London Gazette 23.6.1942, p.2794 for notification.  [9] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 13.2.1896, St Catherines Mission Church, Long Melford. [10] For Training Corps article see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 10.3.1915, recorded as G. Palmer [sic].  For the Tribunal’s ruling see SEFP 6.6.1917. [11] Tuberculosis Register of Notification from Medical Practitioners 4.9.1917 [Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Record Office ref: EF501/4/23]. [12] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar under the surname Palmer.  [13] Baptism Register 10.4.1890, St Catherines Mission Church, Long Melford. [14] For the Tribunal’s rulings see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 5.4.1916 and 3.5.1916. [15] Service Medal and Award Rolls, First World War, Silver War Badge [WO 329] record [ref: B76583], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [16] National Probate Calendar.  [17] 1939 Register. [18] Occupation taken from Kelly’s Directory for Suffolk 1916. [19] For Training Corps article see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 10.3.1915, recorded as J. Palmer [sic]. [20] National Probate Calendar.  [21] 1939 Register. [22] For Training Corps articles see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 10.3.1915 and 29.12.1915, recorded as R. Palmer [sic]. [23] National Probate Calendar.  [24] Date of birth from Baptism Register 2.9.1894, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [25] Marriage Register 28.2.1922, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [26] For notice of his promotion see SEFP 18.11.1914.  RNRSS [TNA – ADM 188/665/9204] and RNMR [TNA – ADM 171/202]. [27] Date of death from Commonwealth War Graves Commission record and the National Probate Calendar.  [28] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 7.8.1887, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford.  [29] See also his Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls, First World War, Silver War Badge [WO 329] record [ref: B252230], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [30] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Halstead, Essex. [31] Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], which records that William Coe was commissioned on 27.8.1917 and attached to 3^rd [Reserve] Battalion, Border Regiment.  For details of 1^st Border’s movements on the Western Front see War Diary [WO 95/2305/1].  For POW register see International Committee of the Red Cross [file ref: PA26245] and the account in the Long Melford Parish Magazine May 1918.  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [32] 1939 Register.  [33] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.  [34] 1939 Register for Melford Rural District in Suffolk. [35] Queen´s Royal West Surrey, 1921-1922 Enlistment Register, Book 4.  [36] 1939 Register.  [37] Date of birth taken from the Death Register.  [38] 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].  [39] Date of death from his Grave marker in St Laurence Church, Brundall and the National Probate Calendar.