Thomas Edward Ernest Murrell (or Thomas Edwin Ernest Murrell)
Rifleman, Rifle Brigade, 3rd Battalion
Service no. S/2156
Died of wounds on 2 July 1917, aged 34
CWGC: "Son of Thomas and Emily Murrell, of Merton, London; husband of Lily Murrell, of 13, Inniskilling Rd., Plaistow, London."
Born in Mitcham; lived in Upton Park, Essex; enlisted in Canning Town, Essex
Remembered at Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension (Nord), Nord, France
British Army Service Records
When Ernest Murrell joined the Army at Canning Town in east London on 26 November, his son was 10 days old. Ernest had married Lily Isbell at the Registry Office in Romford on 30 April 1915, making it highly likely that Lily was pregnant at the time.
Murrell was posted to his regiment on 13 September 1916 and joined his regiment in France just over two weeks later. Soon afterwards a sprained ankle put him in hospital in Rouen, and a trip home on the Hospital Ship The Gloucester Castle.
The records state that in April 1917 he was serving with the 16th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade, later joining the 3rd Battalion. He was wounded in action on 2 July and taken to the 70th Field Ambulance. He had suffered gunshot wounds in both legs. His left leg was blow off. He was transferred to the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station and died of his wounds.
Notes
Murrell was 5 feet 7 inches tall, just over 8 stone with a 35 inch chest (with 2½ inches).
Lily Murrell lived at 13 Inniskilling Road, Plaistow, London S13.
Murrell's effects:
letters
photos
wallet
Gospel
cigarette holder
pipe (broken)
watch with charms and key
2 discs
cigarette case
ring
Lily was awarded 18s 9d a week for herself and her child.
Marietta Crichton Stuart, who made this identification says:
I don't know if there is any connection but what put me on to it was a vague memory of a Watchmaker, Jeweller and Silversmith at 15 Clapham High Street called H E Murrell (on the corner of Venn Street, now a convenience store), and there was an HE Murrell listed in the phone book and at 8 Holmside Road in SW12.
Murrells the jewellers in 1910 was the Electric Picture Palace, in 1919 it was enlarged to become the Coliseum with a High Street entrance (the shop site), however the grand plans ran into difficulties and the cinema failed - the next cinema was to be just down the street 90 years later, the Clapham Picture House. There was also the 1914 Majestic cinema on the High Street (now a nightclub with a substantial exit in Stonhouse Street).
Information from the 1911 census
In 1911 Ernest Murrell was living with his parents and four of his five siblings at 14 Haselrigge Road, Clapham. He was 28 and working as a cinematograph operator. His father, Thomas Murrell, 53, was a horse-drawn cab driver, born in Clapham; his mother, Emily Murrell (nee Ewins), 53, was from Mitcham. The house had six rooms.
Ernest Murrell, 28, born in Tooting
Florence Murrell, 25, saleswoman (dressmaking), born in Clapham
Edie Murrell, 22, dressmaker, born in Clapham
Ethel Murrell, 15, apprentice clerk, born in Clapham
John Murrell, 21, salesman (diary products), born in Clapham
Ernest's grandmother, Fannie Ewins, 78 and widowed, lived with the family. She was born in Wandsworth.
The Buildings of Clapham booklet published by The Clapham Society describes 6 and 8-28 Haselrigge as amazing examples of flamboyant Victorian speculative building.