ARTHUR WARNER HUNT (1887 - 1918)

Arthur Warner Hunt was born at "St.Hilda" Grove Hill, Woodford, Essex in 1887, the son of  George Hunt a paper merchant and his wife Kathleen (nee Warner). By April 1911 the family (which included Arthur's younger brother, George) had moved to 39 St.Helen's Road, Westcliff on Sea. In late 1915 Arthur, who was working as a stockbrokers clerk, married Dorothy Marguerite Bond and they set up home at 185 Hamlet Court Road. On 3 December, shortly after his marriage, Arthur enlisted in The London Regiment (Artists Rifles) at Southend. The following October he was given an acting commision (later confirmed) as a 2nd Lieutenant in 11th Battalion, Esssex Regiment. He was killed in action on 28th April 1918 and is buried at Esquelbecq Military Cemetery (grave 1.A.29) in France.

Esquelbecq Military Cemetery

REGINALD WILLIAM JOHN SHEARS (1887 - 1916)

Reginald William John Shears was born 2 September 1887 in Etheldon Road, Shepherd's Bush, London.  He was baptised at St. Stephen's Hammersmith on 20 August 1891. His parents were William Henry Simmons Shears and his wife Dora Harriet. In 1901 the family were living at 57 Cambridge Road, Willsden with Reginald and his sister Norah Renee Alicia. By 1911 the family had moved again, this time to 38 Anerley Road, Westcliff, by which time Reginald was working, like his father, as an architect's assistant. He volunteered for the army when war broke out in 1914 and was posted as a Rifleman to 1/9 Battalion Queen Victoria Rifles. He was killed in action on 1 July 1916. Soon after his death the family moved to "Oban" Blackness, Crowbridge, Surrey. He is also commemorated on the Thiepval Monument in France.

GATHORNE HARDY (1898 - 1918)

Gathorne Hardy deserves an apology. His name appears on the St.Alban's war memorial and in the book of remembrance as "Gaythorne".  Gathorne was born in Wood Green in London in 1898. He was the son of successful businessman William Hardy (1838-1907) and his second wife Geraldine.The couple were married at St.Mary Abbots, Kensington in 1896 and their son Gathorne was baptised at St. Michael at Bowes, Bowes Park, Southgate on 24 July 1898.In the baptism book William is described simply as a "Gentleman" but on the later 1901 census we learn that he was a "retired contractor". Soon after this the family, which included William's daugher, Laura, by his first marriage, moved to Westcliff where they took up residence at White Lodge, 38 St.Vincent's Road, Westcliff where the employed one Ada Barker as a servant and Eliza Freakley as a nurse for young Gathorne.

The historic King Alfred School where Gathorne was a pupil

       William Hardy died on 28 May, 1907 leaving a phenomenal (for the time) £32089  11s  8d and Gathorne was sent to be educated at King Alfred's Grammar School at Wantage and Mrs. Hardy moved to "San Remo" 45 Canewdon Road. War broke out in 1914 and as soon as he was old enough Gathorne joined the army and, like so many of his class, was soon commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and served with The Royal Irish Fusiliers. He was seriously wounded in action on 12 April 1918 at Wulverdhem   Nr Midland Farm, taken prisoner by the Germans,  and died of his wounds in captivity  on 30 April 1918 in Flanders and is buried there in the Kortrijk Communal Cemetery, plot 23, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. In his will he left £57 to his mother (her address is now given as 49 Canewdon Road). Geraldine Hardy returned to London where she died at Kensington, age 83, in 1943.

As I finished writing the above I decided to visit St.Vincent's Road to photograh "White Lodge", the Hardy home at No.38. Sadly the house no longer exists, having been destroyed by a German bomb on 10 December 1943. The same bomb also destroyed Nos 36  and 34 St.Vincents Road. Frederick Robert Sapey and his wife Lily May lived at 34 - both were killed and both were members of the St.Alban's congregation, their names appearing on the World War Two memorial plaque.

38 St.Vincent's Road after the bomb (Essex Records Office)

JOHN "JACK" ORMOND SMELLIE (1896 - 1917)

John "Jack" Ormond Smellie was born in Georgetown, British Guiana on 12 May 1896. His parents were William George Smellie (1865-1946) and his wife Anne Jane Pinkerton McCowan (1866-1941). Young Jack  and his elder brother, William (known by his middle name "Archie"), born 2 September 1894,  were sent England to be educated at Cranleigh School in Surrey and during the holidays they lived with their uncle Dr. John Clementson Smellie at 273 London Road, Westcliff, Essex. Dr. Smellie was a member of the St. Alban's congregation. Jack excelled in sports and represented his school at Aldershot in both foil and sabre events.

When war broke out both Jack and his brother joined the army. Jack was commisioned as a Lieutenant in The King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment and later transferred to the Machine Gun Corps. He fought in two engagements on the Somme and wrote of his experiences to his cousin Geoffrey :

 "Since I last wrote, we've been through it. The push has begun and I was in at the start. My God, it was bloody hell let loose. We had the whole Division cut up and how I got through, God only knows. It was certain death to anyone going over the parapet and 10 to 1 in the trench. The fellows fell like flies. It was ghastly to say the least. I had half a team knocked out before we had gone ten yards leaving me six men for two guns. I can't give out full details and really I don't want to. We will be in again and though it is a pretty good ordeal, I am longing to have another go at the -----. Archie [his brother] was on my left and came through: he is in again, as apparently his Division did not suffer so badly as ours. He's acting company commander of 'C' Coy. It was very interesting and we managed to get some good work done with the M.G.'s on the Hun counterattacking - stopped him before he got through his own wire even. I had everything torn during our tour of 36 hours fighting, even my boots. I got hung up with a tripod on our own barbed wire. I really had cold feet for a moment then, as it was there that half the team went down. Not only the Hun's first two lines, but our front line was absolutely flattened and it was impossible to walk along, both for dead, wounded and bashed in dugouts. The British have taken 10,000 prisoners up to date along our front."

It was in his third engagement, at Le Sars on the Somme on 1 October 1916, that John was hit in the neck and paralysed while advancing with his men.  He was repatriated to England and spent some time at Netley Military Hosptal near Southampton before being moved to Sir John Ellerman Hospital at  Regent's Park. John's parents made the perilous wartime sea voyage to England to see their son. William Smellie had to return home in May 1917 but his wife Anne stayed on with her son whose condition worsened until he died on 8 August 1917. He was buried in Sutton Road Cemetery in Southend with full military honours.

 Despite having been wounded on two occasions, including six gunshot wounds, while serving with the Dorsetshire Regiment, Jack's brother, Archie, survived the war and remained in the army, serving with his regiment in India, Malta, Egypt, Sudan and Palestine. Although in his mid-forties he was recalled to the army in  1939 and posted to Dover. He was ship's adjutant on the Isle of Man ferry Mona's Queen when it made its last crossing to Dunkirk on 29 May 1940, hit a mine and sank within two minutes. Archie was  rescued by H.M.S. Vanquisher but later fatally injured by a shell burst on the ship and died 1 June 1940.  He is buried at Malo-les-Bains Cemetery, Dunkirk. Archie's son, Herbert John "Larry" Orpen-Smellie, continued the famiily military tradition and had a distinguished military career, rising to the rank of Lt. Colonel and becoming a champion rifle marksman, representing his country on many occasions. He also celebrated his 70th birthday by doing a bunjay jump in New Zealand! He passed away in 2002. His son is Lt.Colonel Giles Rackley Orpen-Smellie  formerly of The Parachute Regiment, now of The Sandhurst Foundation.

Archie Smellie was Ship's Adjutant on the Mona's Queen when it struck a mine

Dr. John Clementson Smellie, Jack and Archie's uncle, was born in Georgetown, British Guiana on 12 June 1870. He studied medicine in London. He set up his practice as doctor and surgeon in Westcliff on Sea, living in a 12 room house at 39 Leigh Road, Westcliff (Leigh Road was renamed London Road - the original street name can still be seen on the side of the nearby Cricketeers Public house - and the house number became 273). Dr. Smellie married his wife Lilian in 1900 and they had two children, both born in Westcliff, Rachel (born 1903) and James (born 1904). In 1911 the family employed two servants, Daisy Clarissa Chapman and Alice Matilda Norman. After his retirement Dr. Smellie moved to "Hillsboro" 39 Fernside Road, Poole, Dorset. He died on 12 Sept 1943 (his wife died the previous year) leaving £8820 to a fellow doctor. The house at 273 London Road was boarded up for many years but has now been restored and is occupied again.

273 London Road

I am heavily indebted to the website of the Thomas Austin Family for much of the information in the above article. 

In a letter to me, Giles Brackley Orpen-Smellie, Jack Smellie's grand-nephew and Archie Smellie's grandson, added : 

"I have identified that Jack served in 70 Machine Gun Company, which was part of 70 Infantry Brigade.  

On 1 July 1916, 70 Brigade was serving as part of 8 Division in III Corps.  They were the left brigade of the left division of the Corps with X Corps on their left.  Archie served in 1 DORSETs, which was part of 14 Infantry Brigade of 32 Division in X Corps.  They were the right brigade of the right division of X Corps.  Thus the brigades in which the two brothers fought on 1 July 1916 were adjacent, which explains how they were able to meet in the aftermath, as described in Jack's letter.

70 Brigade returned from 8 Division to 23 Division on 17 July 1916.  The divisional history of the 23 Division reports Jack being wounded while describing the Division's attack on Flers on 1 October 1916.  It seems that he was hit in the neck and was paralyzed.  It was as a result of this wound that he died on 8 August 1917."

 

Lt.Colonel Giles Brackley Orpen Smellie

 

KATHARINE TALFOURD (1833 - 1915) AND HER FAMILY

It is only recently that we discovered that two of the windows in our church have connections, indirectly, with both Charles Dickens and the poet William Wordsworth. The connection comes through Katharine Talfourd who is commemorated on a window in the north aisle. Although we know that Katharine regularly attended the church and learn from the window that she was an early benefactress, the window, surprisingly gives us more information about her father than it does about her.

Dedication on St.Katharine Window

St. Katharine. North aisle

Katharine Talfourd was born in 1833 in Bloomsbury, London. She never married and lived most of her life either with her parents or her younger brother William. In 1861 she was living in Margate, Kent with her mother, Rachel at "Retreat" St.Peter's Road. After her mother's death in 1875 she went to live with her brother, William Wordsworth Talfourd at the Rectory in Winceby, Lincolnshire where William was the Rector.

The Rectory at Thundersley where Katharine lived with her brother.

 When her brother became rector of St.Peter's in Thundersley, Essex they continued to live together until William's death in 1900. Katharine then moved to 29 Valkyrie Road in Westcliff on Sea where she lived with two female servants. She attended St.Alban's Church until she died on 17 April 1915.  The St.Katharine window in the north aisle of the church bears a dedication in her memory. Opposite in the south aisle under another window, depicting St.Augustine and St.Alphegue, there is a brass plaque in memory of her brother, William Wordsworth Talfourd.

The young Sir Thomas

Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd,  (26 May 1795 – 13 March 1854), was an English judge and author.  The son of a well-to-do brewer, he was born at Reading, Berkshire. He received his early education at Hendon and at the Reading Grammar school. At the age of eighteen he was sent to London to study law.  Early in 1821 he joined the Oxford circuit, having been called to the bar earlier in the year. Fourteen years later, when he was created a sergeant-at-law, and when again he in 1849 succeeded Mr. Justice Coltman as judge of the Court of Common Pleas, he earned these distinctions more by his laborious care in the conduct of cases than for his brilliance in court.

At the general election in 1835 he was elected MP for the Parliamentary Borough of Reading, a result repeated in the general election of 1837. He chose not to run in the general election of 1841, but ran again in the general election of 1847 and was elected again. In the House of Commons he introduced a Copyright Bill in 1837; his speech on this subject was considered the most telling made in the House during that session. However, the dissolution of Parliament in 1837 following the death of William IV meant that the Bill had to be reintroduced in the new Parliament in 1838. By that time, the bill met with strong opposition and did not pass that year. Talfourd re-introduced the Bill again in 1839, 1840 and 1841, the Bill failing to pass in each of those years. It finally became law in 1842, albeit in a greatly modified form, and at a time when Talfourd was not in Parliament. Charles Dickens dedicated The Pickwick Papers to Talfourd. Sir Thomas was also a respected literary figure and the author of both plays and literary criticism. He was an early champion of the works of the poet William Wordsworth and named his own son after him. Another of his sons was Francis (Frank) Talfourd (1828-1862) a successful dramatist famous for his burlesques of Shakespeare and classical subjects.

Sir Thomas Noon Talford

Talfourd died in 1854 in Stafford after having an "apoplectic seizure" in court while addressing the jury from his judge's seat at the Shire Hall, where he is commemorated by a bust, sculpted by John Graham Lough. Charles Dickens attended his funeral at West Norwood Cemetery.

South Aisle window dedicated to William Wordsworth Talfourd

THE LEATHERDALE BROTHERS

The Leatherdale Brothers have no obvious connection with St.Alban's Church or Westcliff. The most likely explanation for their inclusion on the St.Alban's War Memorial is that a relative, name unknown, was a member of the congregation.

Alan Richard Leatherdale was born in Catford, South London 8 May 1897 and baptised on 12 September at St.Jude's East Brixton. The parent's names are given as George Fenning Leatherdale and Mabel Gertrude Leatherdale (nee' Parsons) who also had a daughter, Phyllis, and lived at 12 Norfolk Road, Catford. Later the family moved to 22 Westholm Green, Letchworth. Alan was educated  at St. Anne's, Redhill and by private tutor at Dunton Waylett Rectory, Essex. He was employed at the London County and Westminster Bank in Andover.When war broke out Alan joined the volunteer force and offered himself for Officer Training College. When he was rejected on grounds of health he joined The Royal Fusiliers and reached the rank of Corporal. He was killed in action on 18 September 1916 at Flers on The Somme. In his will he left £200 to his mother who was by then living in Andover, Hants. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Monument.

Alan Richard Leatherdale

Like his younger brother, Donald Ryan Leatherdale was born in Catford, South London (1896) and educated at Christ's Hospital. He was employed by The Royal Exchange  Insurance Company. At the outbreak of the war he joined the Artist's Rifles and volunteered for foreign service and served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in 1st Battn (50th Foot) Queen's Own West Kent Regiment in June 1915. On 22 July 1916 he was seen to be wounded while leading his men into action at High Wood and was later presumed to have died that day. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Monument. A comrade wrote "He went into action like a brave Britisher and a gentleman with not the slightest fear of death."

Donald Ryan Leatherdale

THE TWO ECCLES CARTERS (1854 - 1930) and (1892 - 1914)

Eccles Carter was born in 1854 in Taunton Somerset. He came Southend in the 1890's with his wife, Emily, and two daughters. Eccles was a Stock Exchange agent and lived at 3 Clifton Terrace, Southend. He was one of the earliest choirmasters at St.Alban's Church. In the Memorial Chapel (The Holy Name Chapel) there is a metal cross which, within its hollow base, has the inscription "Gift of the Choirmen in gratitude for the services of their choirmaster Eccles Carter, Christmas 1901"  It is possible that this gift to the church was made at the time of Carter leaving the church and retiring to his native West Country where he died 24 February 1930.

Eccles Carter lived in Clifton Terrace Southend

Some confusion has been caused by the fact that the name Eccles Carter also appears on the First World War Memorial plaque. After some research I can state categorically that this is not the same Eccles Carter who was choirmaster at the church.  This is how I believe the mistake was made: In The Southend Standard of 9 October 1914 their appeared a report of the death of Royal Naval Lieutenant Eccles Carter (b. Kensington 1892) who was lost on H.M.S. Pathfinder on 5 September of that year. I believe that somebody at the newspaper recognised the distinctive name and wrote in the paper that he was "late of Westcliff", not realising that they were two different people. Because of this his name was added to the War Memorial while Eccles the choirmaster enjoyed his retirement elsewhere!

As Lt. Carter appears on the memorial plaque (even if by mistake) it is worth saying something about the circumstances of his death.  Pathfinder was sunk off St. Abbs Head, Berwickshire,Scotland on Saturday 5 September 1914 by the German U-21, commanded by Lieutnant zur See Otto Hersing. Typical of the scout cruisers' poor endurance, she was so short of coal whilst on patrol that she could only manage a speed of 5 knots, making her an easy target. The ship was struck in a magazine, which exploded causing the ship to sink within minutes with the loss of 259 men. The explosion was actually seen by Aldous Huxley who was staying at Abbs House at the time. He wrote about it in a letter to his father dated 14 September : "I dare say Julian told you that we actually saw the Pathfinder explosion — a great white cloud with its foot in sea. The St. Abbs' lifeboat came in with the most appalling accounts of the scene. There was not a piece of wood, they said, big enough to float a man—and over acres the sea was covered with fragments—human and otherwise. They brought back a sailor's cap with half a man's head inside it. The explosion must have been frightful. It is thought to be a German submarine that did it, or, possibly, a torpedo fired from one of the refitted German trawlers, which cruise all round painted with British port letters and flying the British flag."

H.M.S. Pathfinder

THE WEST WINDOW and THE BARNEY FAMILY

The great West Window of St.Alban's church is dedicated in memory of Eliza Barney and her daughter Ida Maria Sophia. Eliza Snowden was born in Georgetown, Demerara in British Guyana, South America in 1849. In the 1870's she married William Barney a textile agent and Yorkshire Dress and Goods merchant and they lived in Camberwell, Surrey. Their daughter, Ida Mary Sophia was born in 1875. Sometime after 1891 The Barney's moved to Southend in Essex where they lived at 23 Park Road.  Eliza died in 1926 leaving £684 8s 9d. She was followed three years later by William who left £11107 9s 11d to the public trustee.

This house, formerly 23 Park Road, Southend was The Barney family home.

Their daughter Ida married Arthur S. Underwood (b.1878) in the summer of 1915. Their son, Flying Officer Edward Underwood was killed on active service in Norway in 1944 age 21. He is buried in the Aseral Churchyard in Norway. He is commemorated on the St.Alban's World War Two memorial. Ida continued attending St.Alban's Church for many years and died in 1958.

The Great West Window 

Designed and Executed by A. H. Nicholson.

The subject which the design illustrates are the words of Our Lord "Ego Sum Vitis Vos Dalmites."
The tree rises up from behind a picture of the Nativity, or rather of the Epiphany, with the figure of the Blessed Virgin and Child, the three Kings and Joseph. In the background will be seen the camels on which the Magi have travelled and the City of Bethlehem. The Star shines over the cot in which the young Child lies. On either side are censing Angels kneeling in worship.

The Tree on which the figures of the Apostles stand or kneel ia a conventional type suggestive of the vine, and each of the Apostles bears the special attributes and emblems and holds in his hand the portion of the Creed with which tradition has associated him. At the top of the window is the emblem of the Holy Spirit surrounded by rays.

UPPER TIER : Mattheus, Petrus, Andreas, Jacobus Major, Johannes and Simon
Second Tier Matthias, Phillip, Jacobus Frater Domini, Thomas, Bartolomeus and Thaddeus.

SECOND TIER :  Matthias, Phillip, Jacobus Frater Domini, Thomas, Bartolomeus and Thaddeus.  

Note: The Great West Window is probably the most outstanding feature in the church it needs to be seen to appreciate its true beauty, no photograph will ever be able to do it justice.

(Inserted in 1927 at a cost of £1000 given by an anonymous benefactor in memory of Eliza Barney and her daughter).

(Description of the window by Bill Sanders, former Sacristan of St.Alban's based on an old document.)

FRANK ARTHUR BARKHAM (1888 - 1918)

Frank Barkham was born in Hackney in 1888. He was a baker by trade, employed at the Broadway Bakery and later in Prittlewell. He joined the Royal Garrison Artillery in October 1917 and went to France in February the following year.  He was taken ill in June and died on 29 June 1918 of pneumonia. He was married with four children and had lived at 152 Salisbury Avenue, Westcliff.

CECIL STUART BRUNSDEN (1887 - 1918)

Cecil Stuart Brunsden was born in London and came to Westcliff when his parents moved here in 1894. He lived with his parents at 47 Milton Road, where they ran a linoleum store, until his marriage at which time he moved to "Redcot" in Silverdale Avenue. He enlisted in the Army in October 1914 and served with the Royal Flying Corp where he was promoted to Corporal (2nd airman) and continued to serve when the corp became the Royal Air Force in 1918. He came home on leave for the first time in October 1918 but on his return to France he developed pneumonia and died on November 18 - just seven days after the end of the war.

HAROLD FRANCIS BOX (1895 - 1918)

St.Mary's South Benfleet where Harold's father was Vicar

                                                                 
Harold Francis Box was born in Orsett, Essex, in 1895. He was one of five children born to The Rev. Charles Francis Box the Vicar of St.Mary's South Benfleet, Essex and his wife Emily. Harold attended Keble College, Oxford and it was his intention to follow his father into the priesthood. He was killed in France on 29 October 1918, a few days before the Armistice. At the time of his death he was a lieutenant serving with 5th Battalion Essex Regiment attached to The Royal Engineers. He is listed on the church war memorial

Harold is buried in France at Crucifix Cemetery, Vendegies-Sur-Ecallion. He is also listed on the South Benfleet War Memorial which was erected in 1920.

                                                           South Benfleet War Memorial
                                                       (picture from Southend Standard)

ARTHUR ETHERIDGE BERGERNIE ( 1896 - 1916)

Arthur Etheridge Bergernie was the youngest son of Mr. W. Bergernie of 40 Grovernor Road, Southend. He attended both Southend High School and Clarke's College. He enlisted in November 1915 and was shipped to France the following August. He was killed in action on 19 September 1916, just three days before his twentieth birthday.

FREDERICK PERCIVAL BEARD (1895 - 1916)

Frederick Percival Beard 1895-1916

In 1901 Walter James Beard was a tobacconist in Burdett Road, Mile End. Walter, who was born in The Strand, London and his wife Bessie must have been fairly prosperous as not only did they have a servant but also a nursemaid for their youngest child. The children included sons James and Walter and a daughter, Beatrice. Another son was Frederick Percival who had been born in 1895 and who was baptised at St.Paul's Bow Common on 19th October 1898. Sometime after 1900 the family moved to Westcliff on Sea, to the house "Trevons" at 35 Preston Road. By 1911 Walter is no longer listed as a tobacconist but rather as the director of a contracting company where his two elder sons work as clerks.

The younger son, Frederick,  seems to have developed an interest in matters masonic as he certainly attended lodge meetings at The Middleton Hotel in Southend. He was nineteen when the Great War broke out and like so many of his generation he volunteered for the army. He served as a Rifleman in the 5th Battalion London Rifle Brigade. He was killed in action on 1 July 1916 - the first day of the Battle of the Somme, the very same day as Percival George Clappen who is also remembered in this church. Frederick is commemorated on the Thiepval Monument Addenda Panel Five, front terrace

The Beard Family home at 35 Preston Road

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PERCIVAL GEORGE CLAPPEN (1898 - 1916)

The Clappen Family Home in Wickford Road where Percival Clappen was born in 1898

Percival George Clappen was born in Wickford Road, Westcliff in 1898. His father was Edward Smith Clappen, an Ironmonger who traded from Milton House in Southend High Street. Edward and his wife Florence May (ne' Berry) lived at "Corinium" which still stands today on the corner of Wickford Road and Hadleigh Road in Westcliff. The house, which backs onto the railway, was formerly a splendid building which like many in the area had stables at the rear but today is divided into rented flats and is rather rundown and sad.  On the 1901 Census Edward is listed as "living on his own finances" and by 1911 he is "Retired".  Their first child was named Edward Smith Clappen after his father but he tragically died in an accident in 1900 just before his eighth birthday.

 More children followed, Donald William in 1895, Percival George in 1898 and Archibald John in 1901. Curiously, the 1901 census also lists a daughter, Eleanor, although so far I have been unable to find a registration of her birth. It is, however, certain that she did exist as she later married one Thomas G. Southy.

The third child of the family, Percival George Clappen was the first of the family to be born in Westcliff, the birth of his two elder siblings being registered in West Ham. The family regularly attended St. Alban's church and, presumably, it was there that Percival was baptised. When war broke out in 1914 young Percival enlisted and served in 1st Battalion, London Scottish Regiment. Like so many of his generation Percival George Clappen was mortally wounded at Gommecourt Wood in France on 1 July 1916 - the first day of The Battle of the Somme. In his memory his family had a window dedicated to him in the church and it can be seen in the South Aisle. The window features St.Edmund and next to it, featuring St.Martin, is a window dedicated to his brother.

Percival George Clappen is also commemorated n The Thiepval Monument Pier and Face 9c and 13c (Departement de la Somme, Picardie, France)

HILARY KENNY (1895 - 1918)

Hilary Alexander Henry Symonds Kenny is one of many of those who died in The Great War who are commemorated in this church. Hilary was born in Bromley, Kent on 11 January 1895. His parents were Dr. Alexander Symonds Kenny and his wife Mary Grace Kenny (ne' Nicolas). Dr. Kenny was a native of New Zealand who came to London to study medicine in the 1880's. The couple had two other children, daughters, Elfreda, born in 1896 and Magdeline, born in 1897. On 18 June 1898, Mary Kenny and her three children took passage on the ship Loch Garry for Melbourne, Australia with their ultimate destination being Auckland, New Zealand. Dr. Kenny, who had preceded his wife, died in New Zealand and the family returned to England where Hilary was enrolled as a pupil in Epsom College.

While Hilary was at Epsom College his mother moved to Westcliff on Sea in Essex and took up residence at 11 Avenue Terrace.  The family were regular members of the congregation at St.Alban's Church and Hilary was both a member of the altar serving team and a much valued Sunday School teacher.   In 1914 war broke out with German and on 4 December Hilary volenteered for The Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, initially for the Public Schools Battalion but later being transferred to Anson Battalion.

Hilary served with an ant-aircraft gun battery at Mudros on the Greek Island of Lemnos and later took part in the landings by British and Anzac troops at Gallipoli. It was there, while serving in the allied trenches that tragedy struck. At about 6.35 on the evening of 11 September 1915 at Cape Helles, Hilary was cleaning his rifle when it went off, killing one of his comrades who was sleeping nearby. The unfortunate man was twenty-five year old Welshman Able Seaman David James Phillips, who in civilian life had been the Assistant County Surveyor of Suffolk. Hilary blamed the shooting on a mechanical malfunction of his rifle.

On 29 August 1917, back in England, Hilary was commissioned as Temporary Sub-Lieutenant in the RNVR and in December the same year he was drafted to the British Expeditionary Force in France as a member of Anson Battalion, Royal Naval Division. Although a unit of the Royal Navy the Division served as infantry. Hilary Kenny was killed in action on 26 March 1918. He is listed among the dead on The Arras Monument in France.

Hilary left £153 12s. to his mother. In later years Mrs. Kenny moved to 7 Inverness Avenue, Westcliff.  She died in 1933 age 71.

Hilary Kenny is commemorated in three places in the church, most prominently in a stained glass window in the vestibule of the south porch. The window (paid for my his mother) depicts St.Hilary who was the 43rd Pope but the face (see above) is the face of Hilary Kenny. He is also remembered on the left hand altar rail in the Lady Chapel and again on the Great War War Memorial Plaques near the High Altar.

Hilary is also commemorated on The Arras Monument (Departement de la Somme, Picardie, France)

Special thanks to : Jack Clegg's Memorial Database of Royal Naval Division Casualties of The Great War.

Hilary Kenny's home in Avenue Terrace, Westcliff.