Selected Biography

Skinner, Charles Gray – Born: Brightlingsea, Essex on 29.7.1886.[1]  Parents: Edward Skinner (Shipwright) and Matilda Ann [née Gooch].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Arthur John Bulmer [b1884], Frederick Charles Bulmer [b1887] and Thomas Clifford Bulmer [b1890] all from Long Melford.  Home: 27 Rochester Avenue, Rochester, Kent (1891), 40 Silcott Street, Brightlingsea, Essex (1901), 59 Roden Street, Holloway, London (1911), St Catherines Road, Long Melford (1921), St Marys, Long Melford (1939), Rosedale, Spring Gardens, Cock and Bell Lane, Long Melford [1946].  Occupation: Railway Clerk (1901), Carpenter (1911), Railway Booking Clerk (1921), Newsagent (1939).  Married: Gertrude Florence Bulmer of Long Melford in 1915.  Service Record: Charles was a member of ‘H’ Company, 10^th Battalion, Suffolk Home Guard when it was formed in 1942, his name being recorded in the official tribute to the organization entitled The Lion Roared his Defiance, photographed in and around Long Melford in 1944.[2]  Died: Bury St Edmunds in 1961.

Related Biographies

Bulmer, Arthur John – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 23.1.1884.[3]  Parents: Joshua Bulmer (Coconut Mat Maker) and Martha [née Ambrose] (Confectioner and Newsagent).  Family Connections: Brother to Frederick Charles Bulmer [b1887] and Thomas Clifford H. Bulmer [b1890]; also, nephew of Alfred Bulmer [b1860], cousin of Herbert Edwin Bulmer [b1882], Henry James Bulmer [b1884], Alfred Bulmer [b1887], William Frederick James Bulmer [b1888], Charles Bulmer [b1892], George Edgar Bulmer [b1901] and Arthur James Bulmer [b1906], and brother-in-law of Charles Gray Skinner [b1886].  Home: St Marys Street, Long Melford (1891), HMS Ganges Training Ship, Harwich, Essex (1901), HMS Boadicea, Harwich Harbour, Essex (1911), 5 St Stephens Street, Edinburgh [1921].  Occupation: Sailor (1901 and 1911), Merchant Seaman [1918 to 1921].  Service Record: Arthur enlisted in 1902 for a period of 12 years as Stoker N^o. 211921 in the Royal Navy, serving on the scout cruisers HMS Boadicea and HMS Foresight from 1910 to 1912 and the depot ship HMS Alecto in 1913.[4]  In 1918 he joined the Merchant Navy as a Fireman/Stoker.  Died: Arthur died at sea of heart failure while serving on the SS Baron Berwick on 9.9.1921.[5]

Bulmer, Frederick Charles – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 13.3.1887.[6]  Parents: Joshua Bulmer (Coconut Mat Maker) and Martha [née Ambrose] (Confectioner and Newsagent).  Family Connections: Brother to Arthur John Bulmer [b1884] and Thomas Clifford H. Bulmer [b1890]; also, nephew of Alfred Bulmer [b1860], cousin of Herbert Edwin Bulmer [b1882], Henry James Bulmer [b1884], Alfred Bulmer [b1887], William Frederick James Bulmer [b1888], Charles Bulmer [b1892], George Edgar Bulmer [b1901] and Arthur James Bulmer [b1906], and brother-in-law of Charles Gray Skinner [b1886].  Home: St Marys Street, Long Melford (1891 and 1901), 128 Old Heath Road, Colchester, Essex (1911), St Marys, Long Melford (1921 to 1939), 2 Nell Gwynn Cottages, St Catherines Road, Long Melford [1951].  Occupation: Tram Conductor (1911), Waiter [1915], Unemployed Waiter (1921), Newsagent (1939).  Married: Alice Osborne Hatch in 1904 [d1932] and May Hurst in 1942.  Service Record: Frederick enlisted on 4.12.1915 as Able Seaman N^o. Z/4670 with 4^th [Collingwood] Battalion as part of 63^rd [Royal Naval] Division.  In June 1916 he was transferred to the Stoker Unit until his discharge in March 1919.[7]  Died: Long Melford, Suffolk in 1951.

Bulmer, Thomas Clifford H. – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 31.3.1890.[8]  Parents: Joshua Bulmer (Coconut Mat Maker) and Martha [née Ambrose] (Confectioner and Newsagent).  Family Connections: Brother to Arthur John Bulmer [b1884] and Frederick Charles Bulmer [b1887]; also, nephew of Alfred Bulmer [b1860], cousin of Herbert Edwin Bulmer [b1882], Henry James Bulmer [b1884], Alfred Bulmer [b1887], William Frederick James Bulmer [b1888], Charles Bulmer [b1892], George Edgar Bulmer [b1901] and Arthur James Bulmer [b1906], and brother-in-law of Charles Gray Skinner [b1886].  Home: St Marys Street, Long Melford (1901), 14/26 Carter Lane, City of London (1911), 38 Sale Street, Bethnal Green, London [1915], 9 Great Ormond Street, London (1921), 193 Maple Road, Penge, Kent [1939].  Occupation: Waiter for Dawsons and Leafs Ltd (1911), Stock Keeper for a Shoe and Leather Dealer [1915] to 1921), Newsagent and Tobacconist [1933 to 1939].  Married: Ellen Sceats in 1917.  Service Record: Thomas enlisted OS. Z/4669 with the Royal Navy on 4.12.1915, transferring to 6^th (Howe) Battalion, as part of 3^rd (Royal Marine) Brigade, 63^rd [Royal Naval] Division stationed in France. His unit saw action during the Battle of the Somme in November 1916 and the Arras Offensive in the following April.  In October 1917 he was treated in England for a leg ulcer, transferring to 1^st (Drake) Battalion on 22.4.1918 and returning to the Western Front as part of 63^rd Division’s, 2^nd Royal Naval Brigade.  On 30.5.1918 he received a bullet wound to his left arm, receiving treatment at 2^nd Stationary Hospital in Bristol.  The damage from his wound was too severe for him to return to the front line and he spent the rest of the War with 2^nd Reserve Battalion at the Naval Depot at Chatham, receiving his discharge in March 1919.[9]  Died: Penge, Kent on 24 3.1939.[10]

Notes – [1] 1939 Register.  [2] Published by Marten & Son, Ltd., of Market Hill, Sudbury, Suffolk in 1946.  [3] Date of birth from RN Record.  [4] Royal Navy Registers of Seaman’s Services [ADM 188/370/211921].  [5] Board of Trade Register of Deceased Seaman [BT 334/195].  [6] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Long Melford and his RN Record which records his birth date as 13.3.1888. [7] RN Records [ADM 337/40/138], Royal Naval Division Service Records 1914-1920 [ADM 339/1/5072], and Medal and Award Rolls [ADM 171/125].  [8] Date of birth taken his RN Record.  [9] His service in the First World war is remembered in his obituary in the Sydenham, Forest Hill & Penge Gazette 6.4.1939, see also his RN Record [TNA – ADM 337/40/137], Royal Naval Division Card [ADM 33/59] and RN Medal Roll [ADM 171/125].  [10] Date of death from the. National Probate Calendar.