Edwin James Fry

Story:
Edwin James Fry was born at Tollard Royal, Wiltshire, on 16th March 1879, the son of Charles Fry and Eliza Fry (née Kelly).  By the time he was 12 years of age his family had moved to Green Lane, Ashmore, Shaftesbury, Dorset, and he spent the rest of his life in the area apart from his time in the Army.   He married Edith Mary West at Ashmore in 1899.  He enlisted with the Dorsetshire Regiment as a Private (Service No. 2484) and later transferred to the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (Service No. 202886).  He transferred again to the Royal Engineers (Service No. 495986) and was discharged from their service on 6th March 1919 having been declared unfit for further duty due to arthritis and rheumatism (both attributable to his service) for which he received a pension.  He was also awarded the Victory and British War medals.  The 1921 Census shows him living in Noad Street, Ashmore, working as a Woodman and Hurdle Maker.  Regrettably his wife died on 14 Oct 1932 and by the time of the 1939 Register he had remarried Elsie Charlotte Ransome at Iwerne Minster, Shaftesbury, Dorset, on 26 Mar 1939 and were living at Freak's Coppice, Ashmore, Shaftesbury, Dorset, Edwin being described as a Forestry Worker.  He died in Ashmore in 1962 and was buried there on 15th February 1962.