ELPHICK Chart 0300

This is a Chart for Christopher Douglas Elphick and Hilda Kate Bignold

 

married
26th June 1915
St Barnabas
Dulwich
Southwark
London
witnesses
Esther M BIGINOLD
C ELPHICK
registered
June quarter 1915
Camberwell District
London
banns
30th May
6th and 13th June 
1915
of 
Christopher Douglas
ELPHICK
of this parish
(St Barnabas, Dulwich)
and 
Hilda Kate 
BIGNOLD
of
Emmanuel
Streatham

 

1
CHRISTOPHER DOUGLAS ELPHICK
born 
7th January 1889
Dulwich, London
(Camberwell, London - 1891 Census)
registered
March quarter 1889
Camberwell district
London
baptised
14th June 1905
St Barnabas
Dulwich
Southwark
London
occupation
1901 Scholar
1911 Insurance Clerk
1915 Clerk (at marriage)
military service
 WWI 
Service No. 7379
  Private 
Honourable Artillery Company
2nd Btn 
medals
Victory and British

died 
15th May 1917
France
Aged 28
memorial
 H A C Cemetery 
Ecoust-St Mein
Pas de Calais
 France
(see notes about body being found in 2009)
grave reference
 II.AA.8
also remembered on his parents grave
Camberwell Cemetery
London
probate
4th May1918 
London
to
Hilda
Kate 
ELPHICK
widow
will
£527 5s.

 

2
HILDA KATE BIGNOLD
born
 
11th February 1893
Norwood, Surrey
 (shown as 10 February on the 1939 census)
baptised
21st May 1893
St Nicholas
Tooting Graveney
Wandsworth
Surrey
confirmation
9th May 1910
St Peter
Streatham
Lambeth
London

Hilda Kate ELPHICK née BIGNOLD
and son Ronald Douglas ELPHICK

occupation
1939 Unpaid Domestic Duties
died
December quarter 1970
 Bromley district
Kent
Aged 77


3
Ronald
 Douglas
 ELPHICK
born
11th August 1916
 Croydon district
Surrey
died
 
July  2000
Tunbridge Wells district
Kent
Aged 87

married
June quarter
1948
Lewisham district
London
Joyce 
Edith
JOBBINS
  1. 1891 4 Placqualler Road, Camberwell, London. Father Christopher aged 34 Civil Service Clerk (Telegraph) born Maidstone, Kent, Mother Louisa aged 37 born Paddington, London, then Dorothy aged 4 born Camberwell, London and then Douuglas aged 2 born Camberwell, London
    1901 4 Ardsley Terrace, Camberwell,London. Head Christopher aged 44 Civil Service Overseer Telegraph born Maidstone, Kent, Mother Louisa aged 46 born Paddington, London, Siblings Dorothy aged 13 a Scholar born Dulwich, Surrey, then Christopher followed by Grace A aged 8 a Scholar bornDulwich, Surrey.
    1905 28 Hillsboro' Road, Dulwich (address at baptism) Father Christopher a Civil Servant, Mother Louisa. Baptised at the same tiem was Dorothy ELPHICK born 4th April 1887, same details as her brother.
    1911 28 Hillsboro Road, East Dulwich, London. Father Christopher aged 54 a Superintendant Telegraph GPO born Maidstone, Kent. Mother Louisa aged 56 down as having been married 28 years and having had 4 children 3 survive and 1 had died at the date of this Census, she was born in Bayswater, London. Then there is a Zahlia ISARD sister-in-law single aged 58 independant born Bayswater, London. Children Dorothy aged 23 a Post Office Clerk, born Dulwich, London, then Douglas, followed by Grace Ann aged 18 a Clerk Commercial born Dulwich, London. There was a servant a May BURNHAM aged 18 a Domestic Servant born Peckham, London.
    1915 St Barnabas, Dulwich, London (banns)
    1915 28 Hillsboro' Road, East Dulwich, London (address at marriage) Father Christopher ELPHICK - Civil Service
    1918 68 Garden Avenue, Mitcham, Surrey (address given at probate)
    Notes for Christopher Douglas ELPHICK:
    His body was found by a French farmer at Bullecourt in August 2009 and he was interred with full military honours 24th April 2013. He now rests with three other soldiers whose remains were also uncovered, two of whom sadly, cannot be identified, but his comrade, Lieutenant John Harold Pritchard was laid to rest with him.
    From the Daily Telegraph 23rd April 2013
    Lieutenant John Harold Pritchard and Private Christopher Douglas Elphick, of The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC), will be reinterred in the HAC Cemetery in northern France.
    Both men were killed on May 15, 1917, during an enemy attack, while serving with the NAC's 2nd Battalion.
    The men's remains were found in a field near Bullecourt in 2009.
    Today, their relatives will attend the ceremony, in which they will be accorded full military honours.
    Among the expected guests will be Lt Pritchard's nephew, great nieces and their families, and Pte Elphick's two grandsons and their families. 
    Prince Michael of Kent will also attend the ceremony at Ecoust-St Mein, near Arras, at noon today, in his capacity as HAC Royal Honorary Colonel.
    Lt Pritchard was identified by a silver identity bracelet and Pte Elphick by a signet ring bearing his initials.
    Two further sets of remains could not be identified, but they will be reinterred at the same time as ''HAC soldiers known unto God''.
    The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest regiment in the British Army, was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII.
    Its regiments have fought in both world wars and the current Regiments forms part of the Territorial Army.
    The company is a registered charity which works to achieve its aim to attend to ''better defence of the realm'', mainly by the support of the HAC Regiment.
    The regiment's members are mostly drawn from men and women working in and around London.
    Lt Pritchard, born in Wandsworth, south-west London, in 1886, was the eldest of three boys in a family of seven.
    He attended St Paul's Cathedral School and was a chorister at the cathedral. He then worked as an inspector at the Alliance Assurance Company before joining the HAC in 1909.
    Jackie Evans, one of great niece's, said today's ceremony would be emotional.
    She told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 that the family found out from an internet "war forum". Lt Pritchard was identified by a silver, engraved bracelet that was found on his body as well as a wallet.
    "It is very unusual to have an identified body to bury," she said.
    "We saw the coffin yesterday and his cap, medals and sword. It was very emotional.
    "We will be laying him to rest in a war cemetary so he will be surrounded by his colleagues."
    Pte Elphick was born in Dulwich, south London, in 1889 and attended Alleyn's School before becoming a clerk at the Prudential Insurance Company in 1904, then joined the HAC in 1916. 
    Part of the eulogy read out by Chris Elphick at the burial of his grandfather and namesake:
    "Christopher Douglas Elphick, popularly known as Douglas, was born on 7th January 1889, in Dulwich, South London. His parents were Christopher and Louisa, and he had two sisters, Dorothy and Grace.
    "Very shortly after leaving school in 1904 he joined the Prudential Insurance Company, with whom he remained until he joined the army.
    "He was said to be of a cheerful and buoyant disposition, with musical and histrionic tastes.
    "We heard about his love for amateur dramatics from our grandmother, whose tone implied that this might have been something of a mixed blessing.
    "They married in June 1915 and moved into a new house in Mitcham, and were soon expecting a baby.
    "He was clearly a young man with a sense of duty, and so the insurance clerk, like so many others, became a soldier, and he joined the HAC later that same year – the same regiment as his brothers-in-law.
    "After training, he had some home leave before his embarkation for France in November 1916, so he was able to meet his son, Ronald Douglas, who had only been born in August.
    "We have a photograph showing him holding their baby boy, every inch the proud father in his uniform.
    "We know very little about his active service, which was all too brief.
    "He went missing at Bullecourt the following May, during an action in which many others of his comrades were also killed.
    "An HAC friend wrote movingly to our grandmother that he had been the best of companions, and his loss was being felt very keenly."
    Information from Commonwealth War Graves Commission web site
    Son of Christopher and Louisa Elphick, of 28, Hillsboro Rd., Dulwich, London; husband of Hilda Kate Elphick, of 68, Garden Avenue, Mitcham, Surrey.
    Historical Information
    The enemy positions from Doignies to Henin-sur-Cojeul, including the village of Ecoust, were captured on 2 April 1917, by the 4th Australian and 7th Divisions. This cemetery was begun by the 7th Division after the battle, when 27 of the 2nd H.A.C., who fell (with one exception) on the 31st March or the 1st April, were buried in what is now Plot I, Row A. After the German counter-attack near Lagnicourt on the 15th April, twelve Australian gunners were buried in the same row. Rows B, C and part of D were made in August and September 1918, when the ground had been recaptured by the 3rd Division after five months enemy occupation. The 120 graves thus made were the original H.A.C. Cemetery; but after the Armistice graves were added from the battlefields of Bullecourt and Ecoust and from a number of smaller burial grounds, including:-
    BARASTRE COMMUNAL CEMETERY GERMAN EXTENSION, which contained 284 German graves, 46 French, and those of 39 soldiers from the United Kingdom, four from New Zealand and one from Australia.
    BULLECOURT CHURCHYARD, which contained the graves of two airmen from the United Kingdom, and BULLECOURT GERMAN CEMETERY (South of the village, just beyond the railway line), in which 200 German soldiers and 30 from the United Kingdom were buried. Bullecourt was the scene of very fierce fighting from the 3rd to the 17th May 1917, on the 21st March 1918, and on the 31st August and the 1st September 1918.
    CAGNICOURT COMMUNAL CEMETERY GERMAN EXTENSION, which contained 333 German and six Russian graves, and those of 17 soldiers from the United Kingdom and one from Australia.
    CROISILLES GERMAN CEMETERIES, both on the road to Ecoust, which contained, in total, the graves of 505 German soldiers, one French, and eleven from the United Kingdom.
    EPINOY CHURCHYARD, which contained the graves of three airmen from the United Kingdom and one from Canada, as well as 136 German graves. The church was destroyed in the War.
    IMPERIAL CEMETERY, 800 metres West of HENDECOURT-LESCAGNICOURT, which contained the graves of ten soldiers and two sailors from the United Kingdom and seven Canadian soldiers, who fell in August-September 1918.
    INCHY-EN-ARTOIS CHURCHYARD, which contained the grave of one R.N.A.S. officer.
    LECLUSE CHURCHYARD, which contained the grave of one R.F.C. officer.
    L'HOMME MORT CEMETERY No.2, ECOUST-ST. MEIN (between L'Homme Mort and Vraucourt), which contained the graves of 19 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in August-September 1918.
    MARQUION GERMAN CEMETERY, in the village of Marquion. It contained the graves of 211 German soldiers, eight Russian, and 17 from the United Kingdom.
    MORY-ECOUST ROAD CEMETERIES No.1 AND No.2, ECOUST-ST. MEIN, both very near the road. They were made in March, April and May 1917, and they contained the graves of 63 soldiers from the United Kingdom (almost all 8th and 9th Devons and R.F.A.) and one from Australia.
    QUEANT GERMAN CEMETERY, at the North-East exit of the village, which contained the graves of 22 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in March, 1918.
    VILLERS-LES-CAGNICOURT COMMUNAL CEMETERY, which contained the graves of 25 German soldiers and two from the United Kingdom.
    There are now nearly 2,000, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over half are unidentified and special memorials are erected to 17 soldiers from the United Kingdom and 14 from Australia, known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials record the names of 34 soldiers from the United Kingdom, buried in other cemeteries, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire.
    The cemetery covers an area of 5,801 square metres and is enclosed by a low red brick wall.
  2. 1893 27 Lancaster Road, Dulwich, London (baptism of Hilda Kate)
    1901 27, Lancaster Road, Lambeth, London Servants were Georgina ELLIS (49) single Housekeeper Domestic born Wybinbury, Cheshire and Kathleen TRUDGETT (28) single Mother's Help Domestic born Royston, Hertfordshire
    1910 27 Lancaster Road, Norwood, London (address given at confirmation)
    1911 27 Lancaster Road, Lambeth, London. A servant was Georgina ELLIS (58) single Housekeeper born Stapley, Cheshire
    1915 Emmanuel, Streatham, London (banns)
    1915 54 Copley Park, Streatham, London (address at marriage)
    1917 68, Garden Avenue, Mitcham, Surrey (death of husband)
    1939 68 Garden Avenue , Mitcham M.B., Surrey as a widow
  3. 1939 68 Garden Avenue , Mitcham M.B., Surrey, 

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