Selected Biographies

Taylor, Cyril Leonard Arthur – Born: Liston, Essex on 7.11.1925.[1]  Parents: Arthur Frederick Taylor of Long Melford (Agricultural Labourer) and Gertrude [née Howe].  Family Connections: Brother to Cyril Leonard Arthur Taylor [b1825].  Home: Lyston Farm, Liston, Essex (1939), 60 Schoolfield, Glemsford, Suffolk [1994].  Married: Cynthia Cora Norris Farrow in 1951.  Service Record: Cyril was part of ‘H’ Company, 10^th Battalion, Suffolk Home Guard when it was formed in August 1942.  His name is 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, Suffolk on 19.2.1994.[3]

Taylor, Francis Walter David – Born: Aldershot, Hampshire on 17.1.1888.[4]  Parents: Francis John David Taylor (Staff Sergeant Wheeler with the Army Service Corps) and Mary Jane [née Mason].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Joseph William Bryant [b1889], Arthur James Bryant [b1891], Jonathan Bryant [b1893], William Frederick Bryant [b1895], Charles Philemon Bryant [b1899], all from Long Melford, and Martyr Stephen Bryant [b1901].  Home: Granby Military Barracks, Devonport, Devon (1901), Corunna Barracks, Stanhope Lines, Aldershot, Hampshire (1911), Rolyat, Harwich Road, Little Clacton, Essex (1939) to [1973].  Occupation: Fitter (1911), Poultry Farmer (1939).  Married: Esther Ellen Bryant of Long Melford in 1912.  Service Record: Francis enlisted in 1908 as Pte.M/27497 in the Repair Shop of the Mechanical Transport section of the Army Service Corps, rising quickly to the position Acting Company Quartermaster Sergeant.  He remained with this unit throughout the First World War and on 28.12.1917 was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal.  He was still serving in 1921 as the Census of that year records him as Mechanist Staff Sergeant with 804 [Mechanical Transport] Company, Royal Army Service Corps, stationed in ‘B’ Lines, Hipswell Camp, at Catterick Barracks in Yorkshire.[5]  Died: Little Clacton, Essex on 21.4.1973.[6]

Taylor, Fred – Born: Foxearth, Essex on 22.11.1913.[7]  Parents: Arthur Frederick Taylor of Long Melford (Agricultural Labourer) and Gertrude [née Howe].  Family Connections: Brother to Cyril Leonard Arthur Taylor [b1825].  Home: Place Farm, Liston, Essex (1921), Lyston Farm, Liston, Essex (1939).  Occupation: Stockman (1939).  Married: Grace Lilian Bartle in 1941.  Service Record: Fred was a member of the Local Defence Volunteers in Long Melford, being part of ‘H’ Company, 10^th Battalion, Suffolk Home Guard when it was formed in August 1942.  His name is recorded in the official tribute to the organization entitled The Lion Roared his Defiance, photographed in and around Long Melford in 1944.[8]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1989.

Taylor, William A. – Born: 1893.  Home: A Barnardo’s Boy in the care of William and Anna Middleditch of St Marys Street, Long Melford (1901).  Occupation: Blacksmith [1916].  Service Record: At the Melford Military Service Tribunal in June 1916 John Palmer applied for William’s exemption.  The applicant, a wheelwright and general smith, said he was ‘doing two tons of horseshoes a week for the Army, and if the blacksmith were taken, that contract would have to be given up’.  William Taylor was given a conditional exemption; one assumes that this would be for as long as the contract lasted or if he should leave Palmer’s employ to work elsewhere.  It is not known if his certificate remained valid until the end of hostilities, however no definitive military record has been found to suggest otherwise.  It should be noted that Palmer’s claim to produce tons of horseshoes a week is probably a slip of the tongue rather than a deliberate attempt to mislead, as at earlier appearances he cites the quantum of the Army contract to be a more modest two hundredweight.[9]

Notes – [1] 1939 Register.  [2] Marten & Son op. cit.  [3] National Probate Calendar.  [4] 1939 Register.  [5] For military details see his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] [WO 372/19/164010 and WO 372/24/106244], also see London Gazette 28.12.1917.  [6] National Probate Calendar.  [7] 1939 Register.  [8] Published by Marten & Son, Ltd., of Market Hill, Sudbury, Suffolk in 1946.  [9] For the Tribunal’s ruling see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 21.6.1916.  See entries for George Betts [b1888] and Walter Crouch [b1889] regarding the Army contract.