St Erkenwald's Church - The War Memorial
Richard Goring has kindly sent me details of the inscriptions on the War Memorial. Not all of the names are complete, but if you have any information that could assist in completing them, then please let Richard know. His email address is on his website, which can be reached by clicking on his name, above. This page is very long - I didn't like to split up this sensitive information.
War Memorial - a combination and 'best interpretation' of recordings made by John Wyatt (1990), Richard Goring (1992) and the Essex Society for Family History (co-ordinated by Linda Medcalf) 1995
The church, an ugly yellow-brick building of cathedral-like proportions, was consecrated in 1910 (originally commenced in 1905 as a chapel-of-ease to St John the Baptist in central Southend) and set in the north-east corner of the junction between York Road and Southchurch Avenue, Southend. Services ceased around 1978 and the building was de-consecrated around 1985/6 and sold off to a private developer. The adjacent manse was developed into an old people's home in the mid-1980s, but plans to demolish and or redevelop the church were rejected by the town council, which sought a Listed Building Order on the property. In November 1992, fire broke out in the roof while maintenance work was under way. The roof was severely damaged and the spire taken down for safety reasons. The church was finally demolished in 1995.
There was a Great War memorial, outside the church and right on the footpath junction of the above roads. It comprised a two-tier base, approximately 77 inches square, with a smaller, cube-shaped stone set on top and surmounted by a tall cross, giving an overall height of about 12 feet. The material was a white stone and the dedications, on the north and south faces of the cube stone, achieved by cutting from around the letters, to give the appearance of troughs within which the lettering was raised to the level of the adjacent stone surface. All lettering was upper case. The memorial was removed to safekeeping by members of Southend East Rotary Club shortly before the church was demolished, with the intention of restoring it and finding a suitable location to re-erect and re-dedicate it.
The following is a list of the names and inscription, as far as the three above-mentioned surveys were able to discern them. Underlinings indicate unreadable or uncertain characters. In addition, as a means of judging the 'certainty' of each entry, the full name of the man, his branch of service/regiment, and date of death are given wherever possible (occasionally, more than one candidate appears). These have mostly been deduced from Roll of Men of Southend on Sea & District Who Fell for Their Country in the Great War 1914-1919 published by John H Burrows & Sons c. 1922. In some instances the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records show a different date (usually there is no more than a few days' discrepancy)
South side, left-hand column
AL .
.
ARCHER A.
No obvious fit.
BAKER J
best fits are John Edward, 5th East Surrey attached 18th Middx, 26/9/17
or James Thomas, Royal Engineers, 28/9/17
Lt BEETON A C
Arthur Charles, 1/6th Essex , 22/8/15 (see note 6)
BENDIX C
Edward, RFA, 13/10/17 (see note 6)
BROWN G
best fits are Arthur George, RAMC, 26/2/18 (see note 7) or George, Royal Engineers, 28/12/18
Lt BROWNE E
George Ernest Melford, RAF, 23/9/18 (see notes 5 and 6)
BRYANT C
Charles, Rifle Brigade, 30/3/18
BUCKE F G
Frederick George, 2/24th London (The Queen's), 31/10/17 (although the initials are not clear, there is really no-one else this entry could be for)
BURROWS W
no known Southend resident, but there was a W BURROWS from Great Wakering who might be the man - did that W BURROWS actually worship at St. Erkenwald's or was he involved with the church in some other way?)
CARTWRIGHT J N
John Noel, Queen's Westminster Rifles, 27/8/16
CRANE E
Ernest, 22nd Royal Fusiliers and previously awarded Military Medal, missing in action 29/4/17
COLTMAN A
Walter Alfred, Border Reg, 27/3/17
CULHAM E
Edward Ernest, Merchant Navy, 26/10/18 (a sad story - a young lad who joined in order to serve his country, promptly caught pneumonia and died within a month)
CRICKITT C G
Cyril Granolt, 12th Royal Fusiliers, 10/8/16 (although the initials are not clear, there is really no-one else this entry could be for)
South side, left-hand column
DELL G
George Albert Levi, RN, 12/10/18
DELL W
William Henry, 9th Lancers, 21/8/18
DUNN H
Herbert Edward, 7th Suffolk , 13/10/15
ELMS F
Frederick Charles, Royal Fusiliers, 9/12/18 (John Wyatt recorded ELLIS E or F)
FARROW A
Alex, 2nd Essex, 12/12/16
FREEMAN D or H
best fits are Digby Mark , London Rifle Brigade, 12/9/16 or Harry, 12th Norfolk , 22/12/17
GUIVER H
probably Herbert, 2nd Essex, 18/2/16 (see note 4)
HAZLEWOOD A
Walter Herbert, 3rd London , 27/8/18 (see note 2)
HEAD W
Wilfrid Arthur, 1/23rd London , 16/9/16
HILLS W
possibly Walter J, 1st Essex, 6/8/15
HIMPETT W
William Edward, 7th Bedfords , 22/3/18
HORNING A F
Albert Frederick, 13th Royal Fusiliers, 26/10/18
HUTCHINS W
HYETT R
) neither of these men can be identified as local - their names do not
) appear on the Town Roll in Prittlewell Priory
HOLMES ROWLAND
Ro(w)land, 2nd Honourable Artillery Company, 30/11/16
On the south-facing plinth base is the following, also chiselled in the same style:
TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THE MEN OF THIS PARISH WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR KING AND COUNTRY IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918 THIS CROSS WAS RAISED BY THEIR SORROWING FELLOW PARISHIONERS AND FRIENDS REMEMBER THEM O GOD FOR GOOD AND BRING THEM UNTO GLORY THROUGH THE SUFFERING AND DEATH OF THE CAPTAIN OF THEIR SALVATION
North side, top plinth, centre:
NUNN J F
James Frederick, RAMC, 7/6/17
BARNES W
William, MGC, 1/9/17 (see notes 2 and 3)
GOODY L J
Leonard, 5th Essex, 2/11/17 (see notes 1 and 5)
HEDGELEY T E
Thomas Edward, 2nd South Wales Borderers, 1/7/16 (see note 1)
(the only man on the memorial killed on the first day of the Somme )
North side, left-hand column:
KERSHAW W
Walter Sidney, 1/6th Gordon Highlanders, 26/7/18 (see notes 5 and 6)
LEWIS W
most likely candidates are Ernest William, RFA, 26/12/17 and Wilfrid Eric, 3rd NZ Rifle Brigade, 28/3/17
MACE C
Charles, 6th Essex , attached 2nd Essex , 15/11/16
MARIS T
Ernest Arthur, 12th East Surrey , 29/3/18
Lt MARTIN A
Arthur, Middx attached 1/4th Loyal North Lancs , 28/6/16
MOORE A
Alexander, RFA, 5/4/18
MYALL W
William Christopher, RNR, 17/8/16
MYALL E or G
Albert Lawrence, RNR, 14/3/17
PORTER C
Albert Charles, 1/6th Essex , 9/9/15 (see note 1) (John Wyatt had name as PARKER)
PORTER A
Albert Victor, 3rd Essex, 15/3/16 (see note 6)
RAMSEY J
Frederick Victor, 11th KRR, 10/9/17 (see note 1)
ROBERT LOO
This is the ESFH interpretation, and it might be ROBERE Louis Anthony, 2nd R Sussex , 9/9/16 . John Wyatt read it as RAWLSON, but there is no-one of that name known. Richard Goring could not read it at all.
S S
.
S AT
.
North side, right-hand column:
SEAGER S
Stanley Sidney, 9th Essex , 20/11/17
SMITH H W
Arthur William, 10th London , 16/12/18
STONE W or H
possibly William Jabez, 10th Essex, 14/6/17
TAYLOR G
best fits are George Thomas, 4th Worcesters , 7/8/15 ; Arthur George, RND, 11/8/15 ; John, MGC, 1918
THORBY F
Frank Louis, 12th Royal Fusiliers, missing in action 28/9/15
TOMPKINS E E
Earnest Earp, Essex Yeomanry, 10/8/18 (although the initials are not clear, there is really no-one else this entry could be)
TURTILL
James John, 1st Surrey Rifles, 3/9/18
TYLER G
could be George William, RAMC, 15/9/16 or George, 11th Middx, 3/5/17
WALSH W
William Joseph, RFA, 9/11/18
WALTON A
no-one known
WHEELER C or E
Edwin George, RFA, 2/3/15
WILDING W
Walter, 6th Essex, 5/12/15
WRIGHT A H
Alan Henry, RN, 19-20/7/15 (see note 6)
MURRELL B G
Bertram George, 12th Middx, 7/18 (although the initials are not clear, there is really no-one else this entry could be for)
Notes:
1
This man also appears to be named on the memorial at Holy Trinity, Southchurch
2
This man also appears to be named on the memorial at St Saviour, Westcliff
3
This man is also recorded in the County Borough employees Remembrance Book, held at the Civic Centre, Southend
4
This man is also on the staff memorial in the entrance to Central Southend Police HQ
5
This man also appears to be named on the memorial at All Saints, Southchurch (the original, damaged memorial is still in store at the church, but all the names were recorded in a Remembrance Book which is on public display).
6
This man also appears to be recorded on the old High School memorial which is now in the main Assembly Hall at Southend High School for Boys, Prittlewell
7
This man is also recorded on a memorial plaque at Belle Vue Baptist Church , Southchurch
