Selected Biographies

Woodhouse, Albert Edward – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 29.5.1874.[1]  Parents: John Woodhouse (Coconut Mat Maker) and Maria [née Larkin] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Brother to Robert Edmund Woodhouse [b1872], Alfred Woodhouse [b1877] and Edmund John Woodhouse [b1891]; also, uncle of Dick Woodhouse [b1902] and Leslie Woodhouse [b1914].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1881), St Catherines Road, Long Melford (1891) to [1957].  Occupation: Factory Hand (1891), Porter at Coconut Matting Factory (1901) Coir Yarn Sorter (1911), Foreman and Dyer at Whittle’s Matting Factory (1921), Machinist at Matting Factory (1939).  Service Record: At the Melford Military Service Tribunal in June 1918 the executors of George Whittle applied for Albert’s exemption from conscription, which was granted for a period of three months.  In October this was extended for a final time for an identical period.  It is not known if he was conscripted at the end of the three months, although this would seem unlikely as the Armistice came into force barely a month after his certificate of exemption had been issued.[2]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk 1957.

Woodhouse, Alfred – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 31.3.1877.[3]  Parents: John Woodhouse (Coconut Mat Maker) and Maria [née Perry aka Lorking] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Father to Leslie Woodhouse [b1914] and brother of Robert Edmund Woodhouse [b1872], Albert Edward Woodhouse [b1874] and Edmund John Woodhouse [b1891]; also, uncle of Dick Woodhouse [b1902] and brother-in-law of Frederick Honeyball [b1877].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1881), St Catherines Road, Long Melford (1891), servant to Isaac Tapper at Great Road, Little Stoneham, Suffolk (1901), St Catherines Road, Long Melford (1911), Park Terrace, St Marys, Long Melford (1921 to 1939), 93 Cordell Place, Long Melford [1964].  Occupation: Butcher’s Boy (1891), Gardener (1901), Brewer’s Labourer for Ward and Son of Foxearth, Essex (1911 to 1921), Gardener (1939).  Married: Sarah Ann Honeyball in 1911.  Service Record: Alfred was conscripted on 9.1.1917 as Pte.5/6234 with 5^th [Reserve] Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, transferring on 28.3.1917 to 8^th [Service] Battalion, East Surreys and posted to France.  On 24.4.1917 he was transferred in the field to 7^th [Service] Battalion, East Surreys, as part of 37^th Brigade, 12^th [Eastern] Division.  He saw action at the end of the month at the Battle of Arleux, one of the phases of the wider Arras Offensive of 1917.  On 20.11.1917 the East Surreys were again in action during the opening attack of the Battle of Cambrai, the first use of tanks en masse of the War.  It was while his battalion was advancing on the German front-line at Gonnelieu that Alf received a gunshot wound to his right thigh.  After initial treatment at N^o. 10 General Hospital at Rouen he was invalided to England on 16.12.1917, transferring as Pte.202784 to 5^th East Surreys in 1918 then to the Army Reserve in 1919.[4]  Died: Long Melford, Suffolk on 26.1.1964.[5]

Woodhouse, Dick – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 16.11.1902.[6]  Parents: Robert Edmund Woodhouse (Horsehair Cloth Presser) [see details below] and Florence Esther [née Ost] (Steam Loom Minder).  Family Connections: Nephew of Albert Edward Woodhouse [b1874], Alfred Woodhouse [b1877] and Edmund John Woodhouse [b1891]; also, cousin of Leslie Woodhouse [b1914].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1911 to 1921), 12 Southgate Street, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Extract Worker at Stafford Allen and Sons (1921), Stoker (1939).  Married: Alice Jessie Boreham in 1902.  Service Record: Dick was a Special Constable in Long Melford during the Second World War.[7]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk on 28.3.1992.

Woodhouse, Edmund John – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 18.10.1891.[8]  Parents: John Woodhouse (Coconut Mat Maker) and Maria [née Perry aka Lorking] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Brother to Robert Edmund Woodhouse [b1872], Albert Edward Woodhouse [b1874] and Alfred Woodhouse [b1877]; also, uncle of uncle of Dick Woodhouse [b1902] and Leslie Woodhouse [b1914].  Home: St Catherines Road, Long Melford (1901 and 1911), 27 Cross Street, Sudbury, Suffolk [1918], 38 Church Street, Sudbury (1921 to 1939).  Occupation: Groom (1911), Motor Car Chauffeur [1915], Motor Driver for Long Melford Haulage (1921), disabled Army Pensioner (1939).  Married: Beatrice Hartley in 1918.  Service Record: Edmund was conscripted on 1.11.1915 as Dvr.M2/135759 with 635^th [Mechanical Transport] Company, Army Service Corps, being posted to East Africa from 7.2.1916 to 23.8.1917.  On his return to England, he was transferred to 612^nd [MT] Company, ASC stationed at York, receiving his discharge in 1919.[9]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1957.

Woodhouse, Leslie – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 25.9.1914.[10]  Parents: Alfred Woodhouse (Brewer’s Labourer) [see details above] and Sarah Ann [née Honeyball].  Family Connections: Nephew of Robert Edmund Woodhouse [b1872], Albert Edward Woodhouse [b1874] and Edmund John Woodhouse [b1891]; also, cousin of Dick Woodhouse [b1902].  Home: Park Terrace, St Marys, Long Melford (1921 to 1939), 7 St Catherines Road, Long Melford [1992].  Occupation: Carpenter (1939).  Service Record: Leslie was a member of the British Red Cross and part of the Air Raid Precaution team for Long Melford during the Second World War.[11]  Died: Long Melford, Suffolk on 8.8.1992.[12]

Woodhouse, Robert Edmund ‘Dick’ – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on13.4.1872.[13]  Parents: John Woodhouse (Coconut Mat Maker) and Maria [née Larkin] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Father to Dick Woodhouse [b1902]; also, brother of Albert Edward Woodhouse [b1874], Alfred Woodhouse [b1877] and Edmund John Woodhouse [b1891], and uncle of Leslie Woodhouse [b1914].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1871 and 1881), St Catherines Road, Long Melford (1891), Hall Street, Long Melford (1901 to 1939).  Occupation: Dyer (1891), Cotton Winder (1901), Horsehair Cloth Presser (1911), Foreman at William List and Sons Horsehair Manufacturers (1921).  Married: Florence Esther Ost in 1892.  Service Record: Dick was a member of the Long Melford War Memorial Committee in 1919.  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1947.

Related Biography

Honeyball, Frederick – Born: Wickenbrook, Suffolk in 1877.  Parents: James Honeyball (Agricultural Labourer) and Emma [née Basham] of Park Terrace, Long Melford.  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Alfred Woodhouse of Long Melford [b1877].  Home: Giffords, Wickenbrook, Suffolk (1881), Cranfields, Long Melford (1891), 52 Blissett Street, Greenwich, London (1901), 9 Heath Terrace, Maidstone Hill, Greenwich (1911).  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1901), Engineer’s Labourer (1901), Polisher in a Fire Engine Works (1911).  Service Record: Frederick served as Pte.21608 with 12^th [Service] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, being posted to France from 7.6.1916 as part of 121^st Brigade, 40^th Division.[14]  Died: Private Honeyball died of his wounds on 23.7.1916 during an enemy bombardment of rifle grenades and aerial torpedoes on British trenches at Loos.  He is buried in Philosophe British Cemetery [grave ref: I.J.38], Mazingarbe, Pas-de-Calais, France and commemorated on the Long Melford War Memorial.[15]

Notes – [1] 1939 Register.  [2] For the Tribunal’s rulings see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 26.6.1918 and 9.10.1918.  [3] Baptism Register 10.3.1879, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [4] For details of 7^th East Surrey’s movements in 1917 see War Diary [WO 95/1862/3-4].  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].  [5] National Probate Calendar.  [6] 1939 Register.  [7] 1939 Register.  [8] Baptism Register 17.12.1891, St Catherines Mission Church, Long Melford. [9] For details of 635^th Company’s movements while in East Africa see War Diaries [WO 95/5377/28 and WO 95/5378/6].  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].  [10] 1939 Register.  [11] 1939 Register.  [12] National Probate Calendar.  [13] 1939 Register.  [14] Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [15] For events surrounding the action where Private Honeyball was fatally wounded see 12^th Suffolk’s War Diary [WO 95/2616/1] and Lieutenant-Colonel C.C.R. Murphy, The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928], pp.199-200.  See also his Commonwealth War Graves Commission record, British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 files [ref: 327057 and 796806].