Albert Brown

Albert Brown

Born in 1 Oxford Terrace, St Ives in 1888, Albert's father, William, worked at St Ives railway station as a carman, delivering goods in a horse-drawn cart. His mother, Mary Anne Muncey, gave birth to eleven children, two of whom died in infancy. Home life was certainly cosy, their house being a two bedroomed end of terrace. Albert still lived at home in 1901, employed as a grocer's errand boy.

Albert married in 1910, his wife Jane Parsons from Sawston, Cambridgeshire. By then, he worked as a compositor. Their home was in Beckton Road, Canning Town in the East End of London.

The only certain evidence of Albert's death in WWI is a newspaper article from 1922 about his parent's golden wedding anniversary. The article mentions that four of their five sons fought in WWI, 'one, Mr Albert Brown, making the supreme sacrifice at Ypres'.

There is only one record of an Albert Brown who died at Ypres. He died sometime between 26 October and 8 November 1914 in the First Battle of Ypres, which took place between 19 October and 22 November 1914. This Albert has no known grave and the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial displays his name. He was a Lance Serjeant in the Grenadier Guards. His service no 11665 shows he joined in 1904.

This may be our Albert Brown. His age was 16 years in 1904, the right age to join up. Recruitment before 1908 was for twelve years. This usually meant six years with the army and six years in the reserve force, paid to be available for call up if needed and undertaking part-time training. So Albert would have left full-time army duties in 1910, just before he married.

Grenadier Guard reservists queuing at Wellington Barracks, Westminster, London, 5 August 1914.

As a reservist, Albert was immediately called up following the outbreak of WWI on 4 August 1914. He might be in the photograph above, taken in London the day after war was declared. Three Guards Brigades helped stop the German advance into France, but took heavy casualties.

Other than the single record at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), there is no trace of Albert's war service or death. No entry on St Ives' War Memorial, or any other war memorial. There is no mention of his death in local newspapers at the time it happened. No family details in the CWGC records.

Albert is one of sixteen St Ives men whose names are not on the War Memorial. He died less than three months after the start of the war and was the first St Ivian to lose his life in WWI. Possibly too traumatised, the family could not engage with authorities to commemorate Albert. Maybe the thought was too troubling, being reminded of Albert's death every time they went into St Ives' town centre and saw the War Memorial.

If you have any additional information about Albert, please click get in touch.