Selected Biography

Slater, Walter Hunt – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 22.9.1880.[1]  Parent: Hester Hunt Slater [Flax Puller] later married in 1882 to Hammond Spencer (Coconut Mat Maker).  Family Connections: Brother to Ernest Henry Spencer [b1882] and Harry Hammond Spencer [b1895].    Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1881), 26 Gregory Street, Sudbury, Suffolk (1891[2]), 9 Cranes Yard, Railway Lane, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire (1911 to 1921), 15 Southampton Place, Chatteris (1939).  Occupation: Coconut Mat Weaver for E.H. Price and Company (1911), London and North-Eastern Railway Goods Porter at Chatteris Station (1921 to 1939).  Married: Charlotte Emma Jane Green in 1903.  Service Record: Before 1914 Walter served for three years with 4^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment [Territorial].  On 30.3.1915 he attested as Pte.18742 with 3^rd [Reserve] Battalion, Suffolks, transferring to 1^st Battalion, Suffolks and posted to France from 6.7.1915 as part of 84^th Brigade, 28^th Division.  Private Slater saw action between 29.9.1915 and 3.10.1915 at the Battle of Loos, possibly in the role of machine gunner.  He was posted to Salonika from 24.10.1915 to 29.12.1918 as part of the campaign to neutralise the Bulgarian advance on Serbia.  His record shows that he suffered regularly from bouts of malaria while serving on this Front.  He was transferred to the Army Reserve in April 1919.[3]  Died: Chatteris, Cambridgeshire in 1971.[4]

Related Biographies

Crisp, Charles Henry – Born: Holton St Mary, Suffolk on 7.8.1882.[5]  Parents: George Crisp (Shepherd) -and Mary Susannah [née Coulson].  Home: Sandpit Cottages, The Street, Holton Sy Mary, Suffolk (1891, 1901), The Red House, Sudbury, Suffolk (1911), 6 Girton Terrace, Prince Street, Sudbury (1939) to [1948].  Occupation: Groom (1901, 1911), British Legion Club Steward (1939).  Married: Ellen Esther Slater of Long Melford in 1914.  Service Record: Charles was conscripted on 12.12.1915 as Gnr.96294 with the Royal Garrison Artillery, being issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged in January 1919.[6]  Died: West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk on 12.4.1948.[7]

Spencer, Ernest Henry – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 5.11.1882.[8]  Parents: Hammond Spencer (Coconut Mat Maker) and Hester Hunt [née Slater].  Family Connections: Brother to Walter Hunt Slater of Long Melford [b1880] and Harry Hammond Spencer [b1895].  Home: 26 Gregory Street, Sudbury, Suffolk (1891), The Cottage, Gainsborough Street, Sudbury (1911), School Street, Sudbury [1915], 3 Walnut Tree Lane, Sudbury (1921 to 1939).  Occupation: Coconut Mat Maker (1911), General Labourer (1939).  Married: Mabel Louisa Portfleet (Silk Weaver) in 1909.  Service Record: Prior to enlisting in 1902 as Pte.6269 with 1^st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, Ernest was a member of its 4^th [Territorial] Battalion, transferring to the Army Reserve in 1905.  He was mobilized on 5.8.1914 but after medical examination immediately discharged as ‘no longer physically fit for War Service’.  On 18.2.1915 he enlisted in Sudbury as Pte.3199 with ‘D’ Company, 2/5^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, however within a matter of weeks was again discharged, his medical examination diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis.[9]

Spencer, Harry Hammond – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 16.12.1895.[10]  Parents: Hammond Spencer (Coconut Mat Maker) and Hester Hunt [née Slater].  Family Connections: Brother to Walter Hunt Slater of Long Melford [b1880] and Ernest Henry Spencer [b1882].  Home: Skeels Yard, Bridge Street, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire (1911), 9 Railway Lane, Chatteris, [1914], 67 Delce Road, Rochester, Kent [1968].  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1911), General Labourer [1914].  Married: Norah Mountain in 1919.  Service Record: Harry enlisted on 30.12.1914 as Pte.1165 with 2/1^st Huntingdonshire Cyclists, being posted to France on 26.7.1916 and joining 1/1^st Battalion, Cambridgeshire Regiment transferring in a matter of days as Pte.43061 to 1^st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment as part of 15^th Brigade, 5^th Division.  Action soon followed at the Battles of Guillemont, Flers-Courcelette and Morval in September, all phases of the 1916 Somme Offensive.  During the Battle of Arras in April 1917 Private Spencer received a shrapnel to his shoulder, returning briefly to England for treatment.  In June 1919 Harry joined the Royal Navy as Stoker N^o. K57702, rising to the rank of Petty Officer and receiving a Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in 1931, with his engagement continuing until June 1941.[11]  Died: Rochester, Kent on 5.2.1968.[12]

Notes – [1] Baptism Register 5.12.1880, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [2] Recorded as Walter Spencer.  [3] For details of the 1^st Suffolk’s involvement at Loos see War Diary [WO 95/2277/3] and Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. R. Murphy The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928], pp.126-9, and during the Salonika Campaign see War Diary [WO 95/4916] and Murphy Ibid., [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928], pp.155-64.  See also his 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].  [4] Image courtesy of Colin Lees.  [5] 1939 Register.  [6] [WO 329 – Silver War Badge [ref: B72097].  [7] National Probate Calendar.  [8] 1939 Register.  [9] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363].  Image courtesy of Ted and Pat Stiles.  [10] Date of birth taken from his RN Record.  [11] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Royal Navy Registers of Seaman’s Services [ADM 188/976] and Royal Navy Medal and Award Rolls [ADM 171/K57589].  [12] National Probate Calendar.  Image courtesy of Ted and Pat Stiles.