Edmund Arnold King

Story:
Edmund Arnold King was born on 12 Nov 1890 in Gillingham, Dorset, the son of Stephen King and Virtue King (nee Hanks).  Virtue King died in 1893 and Edmund's father re-married Emily Ann Chapple in 1895.  The family lived mainly in the Wyke, Gillingham, area until, by 1911, Edmund was boarding out in Brockenhurst, Hampshire, as the Manager of the International Stores branch.  By the time of his enlistment on 26 Jan 1916 he had become a Police Constable and was not embodied until 30 Apr 1918 and joined the 38th Training Battalion as a Private (Service No. 5/135581).  He transferred to the Machine Gun Corps on 14 Aug 1918 (Service No. 172961) but served in the UK only - at one time as an Acting Lance Corporal.  He was discharged on 13 Feb 1919 but there are no evidential medal records.   He married Sarah Elizabeth Howard (nee Bassford), the widow of Samuel Howard who had been killed serving in 1914.  The ceremony took place in Alton, Hampshire, in 1920.  The 1921 Census shows Edmund visiting at 39 Wrottesley Road, Plumstead, London, still with the Police Service. By the time of the 1939 Register he was living at 4 Aberdeen Terrace, New Road, Alton, Hampshire, described as a Police Constable (Retired).  He had moved at later date to 4 Aberdeen Terrace, New Road, Grayshott, Surrey, where he died during 1967 and was buried on 15 May 1967.  His brother, Charlie Stephen King, (whose widow lived in Layton Lane, Shaftesbury, Dorset), had served but died of gun shot wounds and his half-brother, Arthur Stanley King, was killed in action during the conflict.