Salisbury Street, Shaftesbury 1

Frank Hunt

Surname: Hunt
Other names: Frank
Other people in this story:
James Martin Hunt
Elizabeth Hunt née March
Annie Agnes Hunt née Dunkley
Locations in this story:
Salisbury Street, Shaftesbury, Dorset
Willoughby Road, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey
Fulham, London
Quill Lane, Putney, London
France & Flanders
Stour Row, Shaftesbury, Dorset
Arras Memorial, France

Story:
Frank Hunt was born in Shaftesbury, Dorset, on 4th October 1874, the son of James Martin Hunt and Elizabeth Hunt (née March). The family lived in Salisbury Street, Shaftesbury where Frank's father was a grocer.  His father died in 1886 and his mother continued with the business until her retirement just prior to 1911 when she moved to Stour Row, Shaftesbury, Dorset.   By 1901 Frank had moved to 48 Willoughby Road, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, where he was boarding out and working as a Plasterer's Improver.  He married Annie Agnes Dunkley at Fulham Registry Office on 7th October 1903 and they went on to have six children.  By 1915 he had moved with his family to 19 Quill Lane, Putney, London. 

He enlisted on 11th December 1915 but was not mobilized until 18th August 1916 when he joined the 3rd Battalion of The Buffs (East Kent) Regiment as a Private (Service No. G/12104).   He served in France and Flanders from 8 December 1916 with the 1st Battalion.  Whilst there he received gunshot wounds on 28th February 1918 and admitted to the 16th Field Ambulance, following which he was returned to duty on 10th March 1918.  He went missing, presumed dead, on 21st March 1918.  His wife wrote to his unit (the letter was received on 2nd April 1918) asking for news of her husband as she was concerned.  There is no copy of any reply which would have certainly confirmed his loss in the field. He was awarded the Victory and British War medals and, in due time, his wife received a Memorial Bronze Plaque on 19th March 1920.  His wife and family were awarded a pension of £2. 2s. 1d. (£2.10) per week.   He is remembered on the Arras Memorial at Faubourg-D'Amiens Cemetery, Arras, France, (Bay 2).

Images:

Links to related web content / sources:
The National Archives
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Shaftesbury Grammar School War Memorial

Thomas Norman Langford

Surname: Langford
Other names: Thomas Norman
Other people in this story:
Edward Langford
Harriet S. Langford
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 9th Earl of Shaftesbury
Charles Henry Tovey
Edward Ralph Langford
Locations in this story:
Park End Cottage, Love Lane, Alcester, Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury Grammar School, Shaftesbury, Dorset
Gillingham, Kent
Hartley Wintney, Hampshire
Tunbridge Wells, Kent
France & Flanders
Queen Mary Military Hospital, Whalley, Lancashire
Armagh Military Hospital, Northern Ireland
Langford's Lane, Shaftesbury
Holy Trinity Churchyard, Shaftesbury
Rouen, France
Bimport, Shaftesbury

Story:
Thomas Norman Langford was born in 1897 in Shaftesbury. He was the son of Edward Langford, a Veterinary Surgeon, and Harriet S. Langford. The family lived at Park End Cottage, Alcester, Shaftesbury. His brother Edward Ralph (b.1886) also served in the war, with the East Yorkshire Regiment.

"Norman" attended Shaftesbury Grammar School from May 1908 and was awarded an Exhibition of £3 per annum for two years in the scholarship examinations of 1909. In 1912 and 1913 he passed the Cambridge Local Preliminary and Junior Examinations, and received a school prize for “Good Examination Work”. On leaving school in 1914 he joined the Gillingham (Kent) branch of the London, City & Westminster Bank.

On 10th December 1915, at the age of 18, he volunteered to join the Army at Hartley Wintney in Hampshire (Service No. 137554). It was not until May 24th the following year that the Attestation was approved by the Commanding Officer of the 2/5th Battalion of The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) at Tunbridge Wells. On November 28th he was posted abroad as part of the British Expeditionary Force in France & Flanders. On 26th February 1917 he received a severe gunshot wound to the neck and two days later was admitted to hospital in Rouen. He returned to the UK and on March 3rd was admitted to Queen Mary Military Hospital, Whalley, Lancashire. In July 1917 he was posted to the Royal Scots, but returned to hospital, being discharged from Armagh Military Hospital on 11th January 1918. On 17th February 1918 he was transferred to the Royal Army Medical Corps (Service No. 5940).

On 12th August 1919 Norman was honourably discharged, being no longer physically fit due to Neurasthenia attributable to his war service. He was awarded the King’s Certificate and Silver War Badge. He returned to the family home at Park House in Love Lane, where his father ran his veterinary surgery. He received the Victory and British War medals in 1922.

In his “Tales of Old Shaftesbury” Fred Long recounts: “The direct road from Bimport to Love Lane (i.e. Langford Lane) did not exist and people walked down the lane as far as the surgery and to reach Love Lane had to bear to the right across Mr. Langford’s property. His son Norman contracted T.B. whilst serving in the 1914-18 War, but whilst he was strong enough to help in the work he and his father extended Langford Lane to reach Love Lane.”

Norman died of Pulminary Tuberculosis on 5th May 1923 and was buried in Holy Trinity churchyard.

On 16th October 1923 the Memorial Hall was opened by the Earl of Shaftesbury at Shaftesbury Grammar School. The ceremony was described in the November edition of the school magazine. The headmaster Dr. Tovey “read the names of the twenty-seven old boys in whose memory the Hall had been erected, and then Lord Shaftesbury removed the Union Jack from the beautifully carved oak tablet which recorded their names.” A wreath was “put at the foot of the tablet, bearing the words “Our Sorrow and our Pride. From the Old Shastonian Club.” Next morning this wreath was placed on the grave of T.N. Langford, the only one of the twenty-seven who was buried in Shaftesbury.”

The Shaftesbury Grammar School memorial is now in the school hall at Shaftesbury School. Throughout the war a hand-written list was also compiled of Shaftesbury Grammar School old boys serving in the armed forces. An asterix can be see next to the names of those who had died, but this is not the case with Norman, whose death had occurred more than four years after the war had ended. The board is now at Gold Hill Museum. 

Printed Sources: 
Tales of Old Shaftesbury by Fred Long, 1979

Shaftesbury Grammar School Magazine, October 1909
Shaftesbury Grammar School Magazine, May 1914
Shaftesbury Grammar School Magazine, October 1914
Shaftesbury Grammar School Magazine, November 1923

Images:
  • Grave of Norman Langford 1
  • Grave of Norman Langford 2
  • Grave of Norman Langford 3
  • Shaftesbury Grammar School Old Boys 5
  • Langfords Lane 1
  • Langfords Lane 2
  • Shaftesbury Grammar School Old Boys 1

Links to related web content / sources:
The National Archives
Shastonian
Edward Ralph Langford
St. James' War Memorial

Frederick James Ford

Surname: Ford
Other names: Frederick James
Other people in this story:
William Ford
Jane Ford
Edith Linda Ford née Mayo
Locations in this story:
Bridge, Kent
St. James Street, Shaftesbury, Dorset
France & Flanders
La Neuville British Communal Cemetery, Corbie, France
High Street, Shaftesbury

Story:
Frederick James Ford's birth was registered in Bridge, Kent, in early 1888, the son of William and Jane Ford.  He lived all his life, apart from Military Service, in Bridge.  He married Edith Linda Mayo in Bridge, Kent, in 1911.  His wife had been born in Shaftesbury, Dorset, but she was working at the time of her marriage as a Housemaid in Bridge.  Frederick (known normally as Fred) had joined the The Buffs (East Kent) Regiment rising to the rank of Lance Sergeant (Service No. G/5774).  He died of wounds in France & Flanders on 21st August 1916 and was buried at the La Neuville British Communal Cemetery, Corbie, France, (Grave Ref: II.A.30). He was awarded the Victory and British War medals as well as the 1915 Star.  His wife returned to Shaftesbury and lived at 44 St. James Street, Shaftesbury, Dorset.  Frederick is remembered on the War Memorial at St. James' Church, Shaftesbury, and on the Holy Trinity Church Memorial Board which is now situated in St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury.   His name also appears on the War Memorial in Bridge, Kent.  Edith did not remarry and by 1939 she was working as a Housekeeper for a Chemist at 14 High Street, Shaftesbury.  (NB.  This information was identified by Ian King as a result of his Dorset War Memorial research.)

Images:
  • St. James' Roll of Honour
  • Shaftesbury Remembrance Sunday 2016
  • Holy Trinity Memorial in St. Peter's Church 3
  • Holy Trinity Memorial in St. Peter's Church 2
  • Holy Trinity Memorial in St. Peter's Church 1

Links to related web content / sources:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Cann War Memorial

Obery Archibald Brown

Surname: Brown
Other names: Obery Archibald
Other people in this story:
Samuel John Brown
Clara Brown née Moore
Bertram George Brown
Louisa Steele née Brown
Cyril Brown
William Thomas Brown
Harry Brown
Locations in this story:
Cann, Shaftesbury, Dorset
Lewisham, Kent
France & Flanders
Bruay Communal Cemetery Extension, Bruay, Pas de Calais, France
Park Farm, Twyford, Dorset
Cann Common, Dorset

Story:
Obery Archibald Brown was born in 1891 in Cann. He was the son of Samuel Brown, a miller's labourer, and Clara Brown (née Moore), who died in 1899 in Shaftesbury. The family lived at Cann Common, Shaftesbury.  At the time of the 1911 Census he was working as a cowman and living at Cann Common, Shaftesbury.

He enlisted in Lewisham, Kent as a Private in the 8th Battalion of The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) (Service No. G//18285). He served in France and Flanders and was awarded the Victory and British War medals.  He died on 19th March 1917 and was buried at Bruay Communal Cemetery Extension, Bruay, Pas de Calais, France (grave id. D.9). His Next of Kin was his sister Louisa Steele, Park Farm, Twyford, Dorset. His father, Samuel, died in the last quarter of 1917, just months after his son. He is remembered as "Archibald Brown" on the Cann War Memorial, Shaftesbury. One of his brothers, Bertram George (b.1895) died on 4th April 1915 while a prisoner of war. Three more brothers served in the war and returned: Harry (b.1885), William Thomas (b.1888) and Cyril (b.1894).  

Images:
  • Names on Cann War Memorial
  • Unveiling of Cann War Memorial

Links to related web content / sources:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Bertram George Brown
Cyril Brown
Harry Brown
William Thomas Brown