Ernest Edwin Merrifield

Story:
Ernest Edwin Merrifield was born at Sutton Waldron, Dorset on 26th August 1874 and baptised at Fontmell Magna, Dorset, on 25th October 1874, the son of Samuel Merrifield and Mary Ann Merrifield (née Polden).  He spent his childhood at Ham Hill, Sutton Waldron, Dorset, with his parents. By 1891, he had moved to Christchurch, Hampshire, and later to Bournemouth, Hampshire, where he was a Motor Man for the Co-operative Society.   He enlisted on 22nd February 1915 and joined the Royal Army Medical Corps as a Private (Service No 55951). He later transferred to the Cheshire Regiment (Service No. 3/28219).   He served only in the UK and was discharged on 18th November 1919 as being medically unfit for which he received a small pension.  He was awarded the British War Medal.   The 1921 Census shows him as a patient in a hospital near Farnborough, Kent, described as a Tram Driver for Bournemouth Corporation Transport but currently out of work. By the 1939 Register he was living at 3 Roberts Road, Bournemouth, Hampshire, and was working as a Gardener.  He remained single throughout his life and died in Bournemouth in 1942.