Selected Biographies

Salisbury, George Henry – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 11.11.1878.[1]  Parents: John Salisbury (Coconut Mat Maker) and Amelia Jane [née Cullum].  Family Connections: Brother to Riley Cullum Salisbury [b1881] and Gordon Jack Salisbury [b1891]; also, uncle of Ralph Charles Salisbury [b1913] and brother-in-law of Harry John Polley [b1881].  Home: High Street, Long Melford (1881 and 1891).  Occupation: Labourer [1897].  Service Record: George enlisted in 1897 as Pte.1349 with 3^rd [Reserve] Battalion, Scots Guards, posted to South Africa from 1900 to 1902 and seeing action in the Second Anglo-Boer War before his discharge in 1909.  It is not known if he saw service during the First World War as no definitive record has been found.[2]

Salisbury, Gordon Jack – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 24.6.1891.[3]  Parents: John Salisbury (Coconut Mat Maker) and Amelia Jane [née Cullum].  Family Connections: Brother to George Henry Salisbury [b1878] and Riley Cullum Salisbury [b1881]; also, uncle of Ralph Charles Salisbury [b1913] and brother-in-law of Harry John Polley [b1881].  Home: High Street, Long Melford (1901), HMS Inflexible off Howth Head, Ireland (1911), 218 Hertford Road, Lower Edmonton, London [1918].  Occupation: Sailor [1909 to 1918].  Married: Lizzie Dorothy Webb in 1916.[4]  Service Record: Gordon enlisted in 1909 as N^o. J3924/CH with the Royal Navy.  During the First World War Gordon served on the protected cruiser HMS Blenheim as part of the Mediterranean Fleet in the Dardanelles in 1915, serving on the destroyer HMS Renard at the time of his marriage in 1916.[5]  Died: Gordon died of pneumonia on 3.10.1918 while serving on the depot ship HMS Greenwich and is buried in Sudbury Cemetery [grave ref: RR 217] in Suffolk and commemorated on the Long Melford War Memorial.[6]

Salisbury, Ralph Charles – Born: Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire on 9.4.1913.  Parents: Riley Cullum Salisbury (Baker) [see below for military details] and Ethel May [née Tate].  Family Connections: Nephew of George Henry Salisbury [b1878] and Gordon Jack Salisbury [b1891].  Home: 141 Beckenham Road, Penge, Surrey (1921), 94 Willesden Lane, Acton, Middlesex [1934], 35 Parana Road, Sprowston, Norwich, Norfolk [1984].  Occupation: Soldier [1932 to 1945].  Married: Olive Elsie Bunn in 1935.  Service Record: Ralph enlisted in February 1932 as Pte.5770001 with Royal Norfolk Regiment, transferring to The Queen’s [Royal West Surrey] Regiment and serving into the Second World War, before transferring to the Royal Norfolks in July 1944.[7]  Died: Sprowston, Norwich, Norfolk on 21.6.1984.[8]

Salisbury, Riley Cullum – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 1.5.1881.[9]  Parents: John Salisbury (Coconut Mat Maker) and Amelia Jane [née Cullum].  Family Connections: Father to Ralph Charles Salisbury [b1913], and brother of George Henry Salisbury [b1878] and Gordon Jack Salisbury [b1891]; also, brother-in-law of Harry John Polley [b1881].  Home: High Street, Long Melford (1891), Bethnal Green Workhouse, Waterloo Road, Bethnal Green, London (1911), 10 Ruckley Avenue, Lozelle Street, Birmingham, Warwickshire (1915), 84 Burns Road, Harlesdon, London [1919], 141 Beckenham Road, Penge, Surrey (1921), 40 Essex Road, Willesden, London [1924], 15 Courtfield Road, Kensington, London [1932], 14 Farncombe Road, Worthing, Sussex (1939).  Occupation: Baker (1899), Imbecile Attendant (1911), Baker [1915], Sales Manager for the Singer Sewing Machine Company (1921December, then in 1917 to 103^rd [Training Reserve] Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.  In November he was again transferred, this time as Sgt. S/407300 to 1021^st [Horse Transport] Company, Army Service Corps based at Stirling in Scotland, receiving his discharge in February 1919.[10]  Died: St Albans, Hertfordshire in 1955.

Related Biography

Polley, Harry John – Born: Wivenhoe, Essex on 31.3.1881.[11]  Parents: William Polley (Railway Plate Layer’s Labourer) and Mary Ann [née Knopp].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of George Henry Salisbury [b1878], Riley Cullum Salisbury [b1881] and Gordon Jack Salisbury [b1891].  Home: 3 Rectory Road, Wivenhoe Essex (1891), High Street, Long Melford (1901), 24 Station Road, Long Melford (1921 to 1939).  Occupation: Seaman (1901), out of work Hotel Manager (1921), Auxiliary Postman (1939).  Married: Adeline Jane Salisbury of Long Melford in 1905.  Service Record: Although no definitive military record has been found, Harry may have enlisted on 4.9.1915 as Pte.63931 with the Royal Army Medical Corps.  If this assumption is correct, then he would have been posted overseas and later issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged due to wounds on 16.12.1918.[12]  In 1922 he is recorded as a committee member of the Long Melford Ex-Service Men’s Club.  Died: Deben, Suffolk in 1957.

Notes – [1] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 5.1.1879, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [2] Chelsea Hospital British Army Service Record [WO 97] up to 1909.  [3] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 2.8.1891, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [4] Marriage Register 5.12.1916, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [5] Royal Navy Registers of Seaman’s Services [ADM 188/654].  [6] His RN record suggests that he actually died on the minelayer HMS London, however the Commonwealth War Graves Commission record gives HMS Greenwich, whereas the local press reported that his place of death as the hospital ship HMS Soudan [Suffolk and Essex Free Press 30.10.1918].  [7] Regimental Rolls and Recruitment Registers, 1908-1947.  [8] National Probate Calendar.  [9] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 5.6.1881, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford and the 1939 Register.  [10] 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].  [11] 1939 Register.  [12] Service Medal and Award Rolls, First World War, Silver War Badge [WO 329] record [ref: B.65689], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].