Name
Edward Henry Lilley
1895
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
03/11/1914
21
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
14751
Middlesex Regiment
4th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 (Mons) Star (with Clasp & Roses), British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
BROMPTON CEMETERY
N. 172673.
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
None
UK & Other Memorials
Hertford Town Memorial, Diocese - Book of Remembrance, St Albans Cathedral, St Albans (*1), Diocese of St Albans - ROH, St Albans Cathedral, St Albans (*1), Not on the Bishop's Stortford memorials
Pre War
Edward Henry Lilley was born in 1895 in Bishops Stortford, the son of Frederick and Emily Lilley, and was baptised on 30 June 1895 in Bishops Stortford.
On the 1901 Census the family were living at Middle Row, Bishops Stortford, where his father was working as a maltmaker. He was said to be living in Bishops Stortford at the time of his enlistment and was working as a labourer.
His father was later recorded as living at Cheshunt, Herts and 17 Baldwins Hill, Loughton, Essex.
Wartime Service
He was serving with the 4th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment (Special Reserve) when he enlisted at Mill Hill, London, on 31 December 1913. He was to serve 7 years with the colours and 5 years in Reserve and was posted to Devonport to join the Middlesex Regiment on 1 January 1914.
Being a serving soldier he arrived in France on 31 August 1914, soon after the outbreak of war. Edward was wounded at Bethune on 12 October 1914 with gunshot wounds to both arms and legs and was repatriated to England where he was admitted to the 2nd London Hospital (St Marks College Hospital, Chelsea). He died there at 6.15 pm on 3 November 1914 from a compound fracture of the left humerus, tetanus and pneumonia. He was aged 21 and was buried in Brompton Cemetery, London on 6 November 1914.
Additional Information
His father received a war gratuity of £4 and pay owing totalling £5 2s 0d from two separate payments. No pension records have been found.
*1 The St Albans Cathedral Diocese records suggest a connection to Hertford, however these records do list him as a Private in the Bedfordshire Regiment. We believe that we have identified the correct man because no other candidate has been found, but also because his service record shows that he was originally (pre-war) Private 6815 in the 4th Bn. Bedfordshire Regiment, a Territorial Force and that when enlisting in that service was given a character reference by a previous employer from Hertford, suggesting he was living there when he enlisted in the Regular Army - 4th Bn. Middlesex Regiment.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild
