Andrew Louis Brown
This name is on the St Andrew's War Memorial
(Andrew Louie Brown, Andrew Louis Brown)
(Brown, Andrew L.)
Service no 4076
Rifleman, London Regiment (First Surrey Rifles), 21st Battalion
Died age 26 on 15 May 1916
Brother of Mrs. R. E. J. Patten, of 17, Benedict Rd., Stockwell, London.
Remembered at Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez, France and inside St Andrew's Church, Landor Road, London SW9
British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920 at the National Archives, available at ancestry.co.uk
The facts of Andrew L. Brown's life make sad reading. He joined up at Camberwell on 1 June 1915 at the age of 25 years and 10 months. Just over 4 months later, he was sent to France. He was killed in action on 15 May 1916. Later, the army sent his medals - the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal - to his sister Rhoda Ivy Patten, named as next of kin in his papers. She also received his effects: an identity disc, 2 cases of photos, some correspondence, a broken watch and strap and a steel mirror in a case. The archives hold Rhoda's pension application for Andrew. In the space for "Father" she wrote "I don't know" and for "Mother" she wrote "do [ditto]". Poor Andrew had no known family, for even Rhoda was not his sister. She describes herself as "Looked upon as a sister."
The 1911 census shows that Rhoda Ivy Patten, then 37, and her husband James Patten, 37, ran a boarding house at 17 Benedict Road, Stockwell (now part of Stockwell Park Estate). Andrew L. Brown is not listed as living there, but 5 single police constables were, as well as the Pattens' daughter Flossie, 20, a 40-year-old cab driver and 15-year-old servant. I cannot find Andrew in the census.