Herbert was the third child of Arthur Leopold and Edith Emily (neé Sherriff). He was born on Tuesday 27th September 1898 at 57 Reaston Street, Deptford. His mother registered his birth on 28th October 1898. (Birth Certificate)
Herbert was baptised almost one year later at Christ Church, Camberwell on 24th September 1899. It is likely that he was named Herbert after his uncle Herbert Sidney who had died in October the previous year. By coincidence, his middle name Charles was also the name of his great grandfather – Charles Alexander and his grandfather Charles Sherriff. (P/c of baptism register)
On 31st March 1901 a census was carried out and this shows that Arthur and Edith were still living at 57 Reaston Street, Deptford. Herbert was recorded as being two years old and born in New Cross. The rest of the family consisted of Arthur aged 34, a lighterman, Edith aged 32, Robert aged six and Emmeline aged just six months. They shared the house with the three members of the Harrison family. (Copy of census)
Records of the School Board for London, show that Herbert attended Monson Road School, although his date of birth was incorrectly recorded as 22nd September 1898, having previously attended the Infants’ School at the same address. He left school on 26th August 1910 just short of his twelfth birthday.
(In 1871, the Code of Regulations allowed the creation of infant schooling for those aged between five and seven, after which the children were transferred to the elemental school. In 1876 the school leaving age was fixed at ten years, which was subsequently raised to eleven years in 1891, and then again to twelve years in 1899. The 1902 Education Act abolished School Boards and replaced them with Local Education Authorities. It was no until 1918 that the school leaving age was raised once again to fourteen years). (Genuki website)
With the early partial release of the 1911 census, it has now been possible to find Herbert still living with his parents at 57 Reaston Street, now aged 12. Arthur was aged 44 a lighterman, Edith was aged 43, and Emmeline aged 10. It appears that Robert had already left home and was living elsewhere. (Copy of census)
Less than three weeks after war was declared, on 22nd August Herbert took the train to Greenwich and underwent a medical examination at the Recruiting Office in Frances Street. He was passed fit for the Army Reserve and was described as being 5ft 2¼ins tall, weight 102 lbs, he had blue eyes and fair hair.
The next day he enlisted in the Army Reserve (Special Reservists) for a period of six years with the Buffs (3rd Regiment of Foot, East Kent Regiment), service number S/10916. From his attestation papers, they state that he was born in New Cross and was aged 17 years and 348 days and his trade was an engineer. This information provides a date of birth of 9th September 1896, and in other words, he was not quite sixteen years of age.
On 26th October 1914 he was posted to the 9th Battalion of the East Kent Regiment. The only details relating to his army service during this time come from a series of entries on his conduct sheets. From a note at the top of the sheet, it states that a sheet was destroyed on 17th April 1915 and that the last entry had been dated 23rd February 1915.
On 25th March 1915 whilst at Dover, Private Alexander was caught smoking on parade and confined to barracks for two days. But it is during May that he found himself frequently in more serious trouble. On 2nd May (location unknown, but may possibly be Folkestone) he went absent for 30 hours and forfeited two days pay. On 14th May he went absent from the Tattoo for eleven days before being apprehended by the Civil Police in Wilton Road. His punishment was detention and forfeiting a further eleven days’ pay.
(The only Wilton Road which appears to be relevant to this event is the one by Abbey Wood railway station. Whilst this is not far from Purfleet, it is on the wrong side of the Thames and there is no obvious way of crossing the river, without going back to Woolwich and using either the free ferry which had been operating since 1889 or the foot tunnel which had been opened in 1912. Either way, it will remain a mystery as to what Herbert was doing during those eleven days and why he was caught here).
Before he had completed his punishment, he went absent again on 23rd May for just over two days, receiving a further seven days confinement to barracks and forfeiting another two days’ pay. Finally on 28th May he was found guilty of using insubordinate language to an NCO and confined to barracks for eight days.
Amongst the service documents which have survived, there is a letter written on 12th June 1915 by his mother stating that the recruiting sergeant knew that Herbert was too young, but persuaded him to enlist as being older. She was therefore appealing to the commanding officer to discharge her son as she had sent his birth certificate to him and he had already passed it to his company officer.
Finally on 16th June 1915, after serving 297 days, Herbert was discharged ‘having made a mis-statement as to age on enlistment.’ At this time, his age was recorded correctly as sixteen years and nine months. (P/c of Attestation Papers)
The Military Service Act of 1916 imposed conscription on all single men aged between 18 and 41, unless exempted. As Herbert reached his 18th birthday in September 1916, it is likely that he either volunteered to re-enlist, or was conscripted around this time. The only clue to this second period of military service comes from his marriage certificate which states that he was a Private in the 3rd Training Reserve, North Staffordshire Regiment. His occupation was recorded as being an engineer, but it is unclear as to whether this refers to his civilian employment or his army service. It would seem that all his service documents from this period were destroyed during German bombing in the Second World War, and it has been impossible to find any other information at this time. (Marriage Certificate)
(When I was still in my early teens, I remember my mother borrowing Herbert’s diary which he had kept whilst in the Army. I read a little of it, but can now remember nothing about what he wrote. I now believe this diary has been donated to the Imperial War Museum. I hope to track this down one day in the near future. The story, as told to me, was that Herbert had been gassed during the war and had been taken prisoner. A photograph taken shortly after the birth of his son, James, around September 1917 shows him in army uniform with a lance corporal’s stripe on his sleeve, but it is not known which regiment he was serving with at that time.)
On 2nd April 1917 Herbert married by licence Emily Elizabeth Louise Holland at the Camberwell Register Office. He was described as aged 19, a private in the 3rd Training Reserve, North Staffordshire Regiment, and he gave his address as 57 Reaston Street, New Cross. Emily was also 19 years old and lived at 33 Edith Road, Peckham, the daughter of James Charles Holland, a cab-driver, deceased. (Marriage Certificate)
On the birth certificate of his son James dated 28th July 1917, Herbert was recorded as a lance corporal in the 5th Training reserve Battalion and the address he gave was 33 Edith Street. (Birth Certificate)
On the birth certificate of his daughter Winifred dated 24th October 1919, Herbert was recorded as a mechanical engineer, ex-army, and the same address was given as above. (Birth Certificate)
On the birth certificate of his daughter Patricia dated 14th January 1924, Herbert was recorded as a dock labourer, and the family address was given as 57 Reaston Street. (Birth Certificate)
The Electoral Register for 1924 records Herbert living at 57 Reaston Street with his parents Arthur and Edith.
The Electoral Registers for 1931 and 1932 show Herbert still living at 57 Reaston Street, with his wife Emily, his parents Arthur and Edith, and his sister Emmeline.
Between 1932 and 1933, the family moved the short distance to 11 Monson Road where the family continued to live as recorded in the Electoral Register for 1938, but likely stayed until sometime in 1941.
11 Monson Road stood on the western side of the road, near the junction with Reaston Street. Although it survived bombing during the Second World War, the houses in this part of the road were demolished to make way for blocks of flats.
On the birth certificate of his son Terence dated 6th June 1933, Herbert was recorded as a dock goods checker, and the family address was given as 11 Monson Road. (Birth Certificate)
When Herbert’s son James married on 12th October 1940, he was described as a wharf foreman. It is known that during the London blitz, he was an air raid warden at Butler’s Wharf, next to Tower Bridge. (Marriage Certificate)
From a conversation with Win, over twenty years ago, I was told that due to the bombing, various government ministries were moved out of London. At the time Herbert was working for the Ministry of Food and he moved to Chelmsford. Initially he lived in a flat near admiral’s Park, but shortly afterwards he was offered a house called Newholme at the top of Springfield Road. Patricia was the first to join him, whilst the rest of the family followed at a later date. This was certainly the address at the time Patricia joined the WAAF on 15th January 1942, one day after her 18th birthday – much to the consternation of her father.
Kelly’s Directory for 1943 record the family at this address, as do the Electoral Registers from 1945 until 1954. During this time, Win married in 1947 and Herbert was shown as being employed as a transport warehousing officer for the Ministry of Food. (Marriage Certificate)
In 1950 Patricia married, and Herbert was still employed as above. (Marriage Certificate)
During 1954 the family moved from Newholme to the Alma Public House in Arbour Lane, where Herbert and Emily were the publicans for about the next four or five years. When Terence married in 1954, this was the address shown on the certificate. (Marriage Certificate)
The Alma Public House was listed at 52 Arbour Lane, but the Electoral Register of 1959 shows the Herbert and Emily living at No.33, however, by the following year, they had moved to Well Cottage at 160 Springfield Road. It is believed that having moved out of the Alma, Herbert transferred to the offices of Gray and Sons, the brewery company that owned the Alma. Herbert worked there for the next few years as a clerical officer until he retired around 1965.
Herbert died on 28th January 1968. (Death Certificate)
WIFE
EMILY ELIZABETH LOUISE HOLLAND (1897 – 1992)
Emily Elizabeth Louise was born on Saturday 5th June 1897 at the general Lying Hospital, York Road, Lambeth, and was the youngest of six children of James Charles and Emily Louisa Ann(neé Lee). James was recorded as being a cab-driver. The family lived at 36 Warrior Road, Camberwell. Her mother registered the birth on 15th June 1897. (Birth Certificate)
Even though her mother had been recommended to the hospital by the curate of All Saints’ Church in Camberwell, it turned out that Emily was baptised at St. John the Divine, Kennington on 19th December 1897. (P/c of baptism register)
The 1901 census of 31st March shows the family still living at the same address, the family consisted of Emily, a widow aged 41, a charwoman, Annie aged 15, a machinist, James aged 11, Charles aged 10, William aged 6 and three year old Emily. The house was shared with one other family containing eleven members. (Copy of census)
Until the release of the 1911 census, nothing more is known about Emily other than she worked as a waitress prior to her marriage to Herbert. When she married, she was described as a spinster aged 19 and living at 33 Edith Road, Peckham. (Marriage Certificate)
After the birth of their son James, Emily went to work in a munitions factory (probably at the Woolwich Arsenal), where she was involved in an accident and lost the index finger on her left hand.
After Herbert died, Emily moved to an upstairs flat at 24A Springfield Green where she lived until about 1977, when she moved into 30 Springfield Green, which was a bungalow adjacent to the block of flats. Later on, she went into some nursing homes, including St. Anne’s Court, in Springfield and Park View in Witham.
Emily died on 6th March 1992 at Witham. (Death Certificate)