Ickworth Research Group Pamphlet No. 1
Ickworth and the
Great War
(1914-1919)
October 2015 Edition (revised 29 October 2015)
Ickworth Research Group Pamphlets
The object of the series of Ickworth Research Group pamphlets is to provide all staff
and volunteers at Ickworth with a definitive, and fully researched set of information
relevant to Ickworth.
Each pamphlet covers a specific topic, be it a person, historical event, type of
artefact, or general social background. Each pamphlet is fully researched and
related to the story of the house, the Herveys, or the collection. The information
contained in each pamphlet is fully authenticated, and referenced to primary, or
secondary sources. Where the information cannot be fully authenticated, or is based
on opinion, or anecdote, this is made clear, so that the information communicated to
the visitors can be done with the appropriate level of caveat.
Together these pamphlets form a comprehensive account of the scope of the
accurate information known at the time of its publication, or revision, about all
aspects of Ickworth.
Pamphlet Catalogue
Compiled and edited by members of the Ickworth Research Group (Caroline
Baxter, Ann Henderson, Denise Margerum, Patrick O’Mahony, Peter McGee,
Iris Taylor)
Date of first edition: October 2015
Revised: January 2016 (Graham Parker)
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Summary of Key Information
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Although a retired admiral, the 4th Marquess did not see active
service in the Great War. He and the Marchioness were involved
in many organisations contributing to the war effort. Their two
daughters were involved in volunteer roles.
Despite one noted attempt, the house was not requisitioned for
military purposes. The estate was used by a number of army
regiments for training exercises. Two firing ranges were set up
within the grounds.
As it was intimately connected to the surrounding communities
the house and estate were affected by the social and economic
impacts of the war.
Two members of the Hervey family were affected by the war,
one was killed, and the other suffered a long-term disability.
A number of local families suffered greatly, 188 men from
Horringer enlisted, 39 were killed.
During the war, most activities associated with a country house
and estate continued, for example, there were regular shooting
parties held throughout the period.
As with the Nation as a whole, the consequences of the war, and
the social and cultural changes subsequently brought about,
affected the house and estate.
A less deferential society
emerged in which household staff was no longer readily available,
and increased taxation began to exacerbate the financial decline
of the great estates.
There are a few Great War artefacts held at Ickworth House
today.
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The Ickworth Estate and The Great War
(1914-1919)
Introduction
The research team has attempted to study the impact of The Great War on the lives
of people living and working on the Ickworth Estate at the time. To frame the area of
research we have focussed on the ‘community’ that essentially worked and lived on
the estate. This inevitably has included many families who lived in the village of
Horringer, as it sits at the entrance to the Ickworth Estate and provided many of the
domestic staff and estate workers. This is not an exhaustive study, but hopefully
provides sufficient information to reflect the impact of the First World War on a rural
community in Suffolk.
The information in this summary is supported by various research documents
produced by the team. Sources include Local Public records (particularly the Hervey
family papers at the Suffolk Records Office), The National Archives at Kew, The
Suffolk Regiment Museum, NT Papers, and research documents, various genealogy
and history websites, the BBC, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and
the Ickworth Oral History archives.
One of the Great Estates – The Herveys
The business of Lord Bristol’s Estate, managed with Ickworth House at the hub, had
been running for four and a half centuries by 1914. The Hervey family had been
associated with the site since the mid-fifteenth century. A rural community existed
around the estate with the Hervey family at its centre. The Ickworth Estate was
based on the economic model of all the great estates at the time, land and
agriculture. An examination of the books of accounts for the Estate during World
War One does not reveal any dramatic change or trauma to the day-to-day business.
Rents and other income continued to be received at much the same level as before.
The amount of land and livestock remained consistent. There are indications,
however, of a slow and steady decline that began before the war and continued after
it. This decline was probably the result of wider changes to world commerce and
technology such as refrigeration and cheap food imports. By 1914 the Estate
required regular cash injections from other sources, notably the Marchioness’ private
wealth. The war did see many workers enlist in the forces. The remaining
household staff and families ‘pitched in’ to keep things running. More food was
grown and lawns were allowed to grow to produce hay for animal feed.
According to the 1911 Census return the members of the Hervey family resident at
Ickworth House were Frederick William Hervey, 4th Marquess of Bristol, Alice
Frances Theodora Wythes, Marchioness of Bristol, and their daughters Lady
Marjorie Hervey and Lady Phyllis Hervey.
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The Family at War
The Marquess held many positions in the County in peacetime. He was at the time,
Hereditary High Steward of the Liberty of St Edmunds (covering the whole of the old
county of West Suffolk), Chairman of the County Council, President of West Suffolk
General Hospital, and a member of West Suffolk Education Committee. He had
been MP for Bury St Edmunds but resigned from Parliament to take his seat in the
House of Lords when he inherited the title in 1907. The Marquess served in the
Royal Navy, achieving the rank of Captain, and was retired with the rank of Rear
Admiral in 1911. He did not see active service during the Great War. However the
Marquess did contribute to the war effort through his support and participation in
several bodies set up during the war.
West Suffolk Military Tribunal
Set up under the Military Service Acts 1915-16
following the introduction of conscription, the
Marquess was chairman of the Tribunal, which
adjudicated on matters arising under statutes
that required military service of all males aged
18-41 unless exempted due to occupation or
declared ineligible by a medical board. By June
1916 748,587 men nationally had appealed
against conscription.
Most were given
temporary or conditional exemption. In the
same period 700,000 men had enlisted in the
army. 16,500 men registered as conscientious
objectors, and most accepted alternative
services such as caring for the wounded.
There were 1350 ‘absolutists’ who refused to
perform any service that might aid the war
effort. They were subjected to public scorn
and abuse, and were later imprisoned.
Poster image courtesy of IWM
Naval and Military War Pensions Committee
The Marquess was a member of this committee that was charged with
supplementing State Pensions and Separation Allowances to soldiers, sailors and
their families, and the Health and Welfare of disabled servicemen.
War Agricultural Committee
The Marquess was an Executive member of the Committee; he was co-opted as the
chair of the County Council. The Marchioness was also co-opted onto this
committee for her work regarding the organisation of female labour. These
committees were set up in each county to facilitate meeting increased demand for
‘home grown’ food. Wheat was a particular problem. There was plenty of wheat
available in Canada and the USA, but the demand in Europe was extremely high
(principally France, Italy and the UK) and the shipping tonnage available to transport
it was insufficient. This situation was further exacerbated by the German campaign
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to sink allied ships. Later in the war the committees could direct farmers to turn
pastureland over to arable production under the Cultivation of Lands Order No. 3,
1917.
The Marchioness was also involved in organisations that contributed to the national
effort during the war.
British Red Cross Society
A ward at Ampton Hall Auxiliary Hospital
The Society together with the Order of St
John’s Ambulance raised Voluntary Aid
Detachments, trained in First Aid, Nursing,
Cookery, Hygiene and Sanitation.
They
worked in hospitals, rest centres, work
parties and supply centres.
They also
provided the first motorised ambulances to
the battlefield and set up centres for
recording the wounded and missing. The
Marchioness became Acting President of the
West Suffolk Branch.
There were a number of Auxiliary Hospitals
set up across the County in buildings such as
Town Halls, Schools, and Manor Houses.
One such hospital was set up in Ampton Hall,
near Bury St Edmunds, at the instigation of
the West Suffolk British Red Cross Society.
Between 1914 and 1919 the hospital treated
6,568 sick or wounded soldiers.
Lady Marjorie, the elder daughter, also
served with the Red Cross in 1918, at the
Northgate Street Hospital in Bury St Edmunds.
Red Cross record card for Lady Marjorie
Hervey
Women’s Agricultural Committee (WAC)
The official County Handbook at the time states ‘WACs interest themselves in all
matters that concern agricultural or rural women. The committees were formed to
encourage women to work on the land during the present scarcity of male labour.’
From 1917 the duties of the committees were expanded to include the welfare of
National Service Women Volunteers for The Land Army. The President of the West
Suffolk Committee was the Marchioness of Bristol. In April 1916 the Marchioness
gave a statement that approximately 5,000 women had volunteered to work on the
land in West Suffolk.
Soldiers and Sailors Families Association
The Marchioness was Vice-President of the Suffolk Branch of this organisation set
up for the purposes of relieving the distress caused to the wives and families of
servicemen called up to active service. The association provided relief to families
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who often had to wait a considerable period before they received the Government
Separation Allowance. By 1917 the association acted as a sub-division of the Naval
and Military War Pensions Committee.
The Ickworth Estate and the Military
From the records of the Estate office in Bury, letters reveal an uneasy relationship
between the 4th Marquess and the military. In the early years of the war, the
Marquess gave permission (with strict conditions) for various army battalions to use
Ickworth Park for training. Rifle ranges were established at Westley and the quarry
in Horringer. The letters indicate that units from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire,
London, Norfolk and Suffolk regiments trained at Ickworth.
The Marquis was keen to protect his interests, and on several occasions military
personnel were caught poaching or abusing the estate property. In September 1915
the Marquess received a request on behalf of General Sir Horace Smith-Darrien,
Commander 1st Army, for accommodation at Ickworth House and billets in the village.
The requirement was for 24 bedrooms, dining room, and smoking room, plus
stabling for 31 horses and garage space for 6 cars. The request was refused. The
estate did however supply local military units throughout the war with firewood, and
food.
The effect of War on a rural community
The families who lived and worked in the community in and around Ickworth House
felt the major impact of The Great War. The Estate at Ickworth was socially and
economically interwoven with the surrounding villages. The Estate owned much of
the property in those villages, particularly Horringer. Many people in that community
either lived or worked on the estate. Others provided local services in such as
postmen, blacksmith, innkeeper etc.
Food
In 1917 after considering the military stalemate on the battlefield, Germany
embarked upon a strategy of starving Britain into submission. In February 46,000
tons of meat was sunk at sea by U-boats. Wheat, sugar, and flour were also lost in
huge amounts during the year.
In response additional workers were introduced into food production, including
84,000 disabled soldiers, 30,000 prisoners of war, and 250,000 women, and 7 million
additional acres were dug up and turned over to agriculture. All these measures
were calculated to produce 1 month of extra food. Unfortunately this was well short
of the production level required to feed the nation. Allotments were encouraged for
people to grow their own food; grass verges, parks, railway embankments, and
village greens were pressed into service.
Bread was made from imported wheat, and was the staple diet of the poor. The rich
were encouraged to leave bread for the poor and eat expensive alternative foods.
Barley and maize flour was used as a substitute for wheat. In 1914 the Ipswich
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market price for wheat was 40-42s (between £160 and £175 today) per quarter. By
1916 the price had increased by 90% to 78s per quarter (about £230 today). Prime
beef (live) was 16s (£47 today) per stone in 1916; this had increased by 31% to 21s
(over £50 today) by October 1917.
In December 1916 an Ipswich butcher was fined £10 (nearly £600 today) for selling
horsemeat as beef.
By late 1917 long queues were common at grocers’ shops and disorder broke out on
occasion and shops looted. Hoarding became a particularly serious offence. In
January 1918 rationing was introduced. The weekly amounts per person were: meat - 15 ounces, bacon – 5 ounces, margarine – 4 ounces, and sugar – 8 ounces
(1 ounce = 28.35g). Eventually a combination of rationing, increased food
production, and a system of convoys to protect ships kept starvation at bay.
Ironically soldiers were better fed by having a daily meat ration to maintain their
strength.
Air Raids
The Great War saw the first aerial attacks of
civilian populations when the Germans
launched their offensive with Zeppelin
airships and later with Gotha and Giant
aircraft. At the end of the war 1,414 people
had been killed, 3,416 were injured and an
estimated £2,962,111 (about £126 million
today) worth of material damage was caused
by German air raids (including casualties
from anti-aircraft debris). London and other
Figure 1 - Postcard entitled 'The Zeppelin Raid,
major towns were the principal targets, but
Bury St. Edmunds, April 1916'
the rudimentary technology of the time,
weather conditions, and poor navigation often led to random and indiscriminate
bombing of the countryside. East Anglia suffered in this respect as it sat on the route
between the enemy airfields in Germany and Belgium, and London. On 31 st March
1916 Bury St Edmunds was bombed; 7 people were killed including a soldier home
on leave. Sudbury was also bombed the same night, and 5 people were killed.
The number of casualties was negligible compared to the carnage at the Western
Front. More civilians were killed on a single night during the Blitz on London in the
Second World War than in the entire First World War. The effect of the air raids on
the public however was out of proportion to the actual damage caused. Zeppelins
were labelled ‘baby killers’ by the press. In the early years of the war, public anger
mounted at the authorities for the totally inadequacy of the country’s air defences.
As the war progressed air defences were greatly improved, eventually leading to the
creation of the Royal Air Force (RAF) in April 1918. In the end the air raids did not
induce mass panic and hysteria, but they did succeed in keeping troops, guns and
aircraft tied down on the Home Front.
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Casualties
In 1914 from a population of approximately 46 million people in the UK, 6 million men
enlisted for active service. Approximately 700,000 were killed, 300,000 more were
listed as missing, and a further 2 million men were listed as wounded. That is a
death rate of around 2.2% of the population as a whole and 17% of those who
enlisted.
From local records we can see that 188 men from Horringer enlisted and 39 were
listed as ‘Killed’ or ‘Missing’. The memorial to the fallen in World War 1 in Horringer
Church has 28 names on it, (approximately 7.5% of the population of the community).
There are 71 names and photographs on a memorial board at the Horringer Social
Club. Seventeen of these were killed in action or died of wounds. Some fifty men
who were employed on the Ickworth Estate went to war and seven of these died.
These figures need to be treated with a little caution, as some men were not counted
in local records and some duplicated on memorials.
The cold figures do not reflect the catastrophic effect on families, nor do they
measure the contribution and sacrifice of the many women who volunteered for
service in nursing, war goods manufacturing, food production, and filling in for men
who had gone to the Front.
The Ickworth Community
There are several stories of families within the Ickworth cum Horringer community
that provide a glimpse of the tragedy and loss that was suffered in the Great War,
and the joy for those who returned to their families. Some of the stories are: The Crack family
The story of the Crack family during the Great War is
remarkable, tragic, but by no means unusual.
Caroline Crack and her husband, John, lived in the
Street, Horringer. They had 11 children, 6 daughters
and 5 sons. Her 5 brothers all saw military service
during the Great War. Their father, John Crack,
received the letter opposite on 18th December 1915
from the Keeper of the Privy Purse (a position held by
previous Lords Bristol) expressing King George V’s
congratulations and the Crack family’s dedication and
loyalty to their ‘Sovereign and Empire’.
The stories of the five Crack sons, three of whom did
not survive the war, follow:
Image courtesy National Trust
Collection Archives
Edward Crack joined the army in 1905 at the age of
20. He spent the entire War in India as a Farrier
Sergeant with the Royal Field Artillery dying from heart disease at the age of 34 on
1st January 1917. He is buried in Peshawar (now in Pakistan) and remembered on
the Delhi Memorial - The India Gate.
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Lionel (Thomas) Crack enlisted in the 2/9th London Regiment
as a rifleman in November 1915. He saw active service in
France with A company, 3rd Platoon. In September 1917 his
unit took part in the Battle of Polygon Wood (3rd Battle of
Ypres). Lionel was killed with a wound to the head from
sniper fire on 26th September 1917, aged 27. His memorial
is at Tyne Cot.
Oliver Emmitt Crack, who worked in the
Ickworth Gardens, was in the 6th Suffolk Lionel Thomas Crack
Cyclist battalion, a Territorial unit, when war
broke out. He then joined the 7th Suffolk Regiment and was made a
corporal. In April 1918 the 7th Suffolks, having been shelled at
Hellencourt, were moved up to the front line at Albert. On 4 th April
German forces shelled British lines and mounted a heavy attack,
which was beaten off. Oliver was killed in action the following day on
5th April 1918, aged 24. He is remembered at the
war memorial at Pozieres.
Oliver Emmitt
Crack
Edgar Crack enlisted in the Army Service Corps
as a driver in 1915. He served in Greece and Bulgaria. Edgar
contracted malaria in in 1916 and suffered many relapses
throughout the rest of the war. He was transferred to the reserves
in 1919 and received a pension. Edgar married in 1921 and
became a smallholder near Sudbury, Suffolk. He died in 1955,
four years after his wife Henrietta. There were no surviving
children.
Albert David Crack, who worked in the Ickworth Gardens, enlisted
as a private in the 1/5th Hampshire Regiment. He was 17 years
old when the war started. His regiment served in India and
Afghanistan throughout the war. He fought in the Third Afghan
War of 1919. Albert returned home and married Ada in 1922.
They had one daughter Sheila in 1923.
Kate Crack
Their sister, Kate Crack, was
married to the Head Gardener at
Ickworth, William Rowles.
He
enlisted at the age of 37 in The Albert David Crack
Norfolk Regiment, and served in
France. During his time in the trenches he continued
to write horticultural books and articles for
publications back in England. He survived the war,
invalided out in 1918 and returned home to resume
gardening and writing.
The Kitcatt Family
James Kitcatt and his wife Eleanor were married in 1880 and had 11 children,
including 4 sons. James was from Dorset and after a very nomadic life finally arrived
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to live and work at Ickworth by June 1898. James and many of his children worked
on the Estate for the 3rd & 4th Marquesses. The 1901 census shows that James was
the Head Coachman, his son Charles was a Helper in the Stables, Fred was a Hall
Boy at the house, and Annie, one of the daughters, worked as a Kitchen Maid at The
Lodge for Frederick Hervey (later the 4th Marquess) and his wife Theodora. By 1911,
another son, Robert was married with 3 children and living at Church Row, Little
Saxham, which belonged to the Estate. He was working as a Coachman. His sister
Nellie was working at the house as a Young Ladies Maid for Frederick and Theodora,
who were by now the 4th Marquess and Marchioness of Bristol. Another daughter,
Mildred worked as Housekeeping Help, and a younger son, William, 17, was a
Chauffeur.
The Roll of Honour, printed each week in the Bury Free Press, lists 3 Kitcatt sons as
having joined the Army, William, Frederick and Robert. Another son Charles also
served.
Charles William Gladstone Kitcatt, then a Coachman,
joined the 9th Battalion Suffolk Regiment in September
1914. He arrived in France as a Sergeant with his
battalion in August 1915. He died on the Somme aged 30
on 27th September 1916. He is remembered among the
72,000 dead at Thiepval. He left one little daughter and
his wife Edith who remarried after the war. Records show
Charles was awarded the 1915 Star, the Victory Medal
and the British Medal.
Charles William Gladstone
Kitcatt
Frederick James A Kitcatt began with the Territorials in
January 1915 but became a Corporal in the Royal Field
Artillery (RA). He went to France with the RA in August
1915. He returned safely from the War and married in
1921 but had no children. He died locally in 1982 aged 94.
On 24th September 1914 William Arthur Kitcatt, a chauffeur
at Ickworth House, went to the barracks in Bury St Edmunds to enlist in the
Territorials as a Private in the Divisional Supply Column of the Army Service Corps
(ASC), East Anglian Division. Four months later he was transferred to the
Mechanical Transport Company of the ASC as a Motor Driver, and posted to the
Grove Park Depot in London. William spent more than 4 years in the Army serving
with Motor Companies 605, 779, and 708 as a Section Sergeant. He served
overseas with the British Adriatic Mission in Salonika, Greece. He was ‘Mentioned in
Despatches’. He arrived home in June 1919 suffering from chronic bronchitis and
malaria. He received a pension of 9s 9d (about 50p, but worth £20 today) per week.
He later married Mary Johnson and had a son and a daughter. Like his brother Fred,
he lived till age 94 and died in 1988.
The Bevan Family
The Bevan family were an affluent middle class family who lived on the Ickworth
estate. The father, Algernon, was managing director of a local bank. Their 5 sons
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all volunteered; four achieved senior ranks in the army and navy, but Clement was
killed in France.
The eldest son, Gilbert John Bevan was 31 in 1914. The Horringer parish record
shows him as going to war. He was a civil engineer and served in the Indian Army in
the Burma Railway Volunteer Corps and was part of the Mesopotamia Expeditionary
Force. He finished the war as a Temporary Captain and was ‘Mentioned in
Despatches’. In 1920 he married Miss Elizabeth Scott-Moncrieff, third daughter of
Major-General Sir George K. Scott. Gilbert subsequently entered the Colonial
Service and was posted to Burma and then to India. A daughter was born at
Rangoon, Burma, in 1930. Gilbert died in 1958, and is buried in Great Finborough,
Stowmarket.
Edward Bevan joined the 3rd
Battalion Suffolk Regiment, a
territorial reserve battalion, in
1902 as a 2nd Lieutenant. After
working in Australia he returned
to Ickworth and in 1914 he was
re-commissioned into the 6th
Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.
He was seconded to the King’s
African Rifles (KAR) and
promoted to Captain. In 1917
The DSO
he transferred to the Norfolk
Regiment, and was promoted
to Major and continued his services with the
KAR.
In 1918 he was ‘Mentioned in
Despatches’. In September 1918 he was
made a Lieutenant Colonel. He was awarded
the Distinguished Service Order (DSO),
which is given to more senior officers for
service under fire, or under conditions
equivalent to service in actual combat with
the enemy. He resigned his commission in
1922. He died in 1925 aged 41.
Edward Bevan’s medal card courtesy National
Archives
Louis Horatio Bevan joined the Royal Navy as a Midshipman in 1904; by 1906 he
was confirmed as a Sub-Lieutenant. In 1908 he was appointed as a Lieutenant and
in served in a Cruiser Squadron. In 1916 he was promoted to Lieutenant
Commander and spent much of his war service on HMS Courageous. He was
‘Mentioned in Despatches’ in 1919. He continued his career in the Royal Navy and
died in Valparaiso in 1930 whilst serving as Captain of HMS Dragon.
Clement Beckford Bevan was educated at Haileybury public school in Hertfordshire
and then at Clare College, Cambridge where in 1912 he enrolled with the Suffolk
Regiment Reserve as a motorcycle dispatch rider. At the outbreak of war in August
1914 he received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 2nd Battalion of the
Suffolk Regiment. By January 1915 he was fighting in France on the Western Front.
In June he was promoted to Lieutenant and was subsequently wounded and
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invalided home. In January 1916 he was back in France and was again wounded in
May, but remained with his unit. In July he was promoted to Acting Captain with the
3rd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.
In the early hours of the 20th July 1916 the Battalion took part in an attack on
Longueval and Delville Wood. In the morning darkness Clement led his men in the
attack. At the end of the day he was reported as ‘Missing’ and subsequently
declared ‘Killed in Action’. His body was never found. Nine other officers from the
battalion were killed in the same action.
Bernard Bevan was the youngest son and at the age of 16 joined the Royal Navy
Reserve as a Midshipman in 1913. After training at HMS St Vincent, Gosport, he
was promoted to Sub Lieutenant in March
1916.
He served on HMS Seymour.
Bernard retired from the Active List and in
June 1925 married Joan Royce Tomkin.
They had 3 children.
Bernard, still a
reservist was recalled to duty during the
Second World War. He finally left the Navy
in 1949. He died in 1981.
Red Cross record card for Katherine Beckford
Bevan
Katherine Beckford Bevan served as an
Assistant Nurse (VAD) with the Red Cross
in Kent.
Charles Leach
Charles Leach was the Postmaster in the village of Horringer when the war began in
August 1914. He was married and had two young daughters. The Post Office,
which was almost opposite the gates to Ickworth Park, was both his home and his
place of work. The property was rented from the Hervey Estate, as were many of
the other cottages in the village. He had some land adjoining the property and kept
animals and grew vegetables to supplement his income and help feed his family.
Born in Suffolk he had also lived and worked in Ilford as a clerk on the railway before
becoming the Postmaster at Horringer. At 34 he was a mature, reasonably well
educated and experienced man.
Following the Zeppelin raid on Bury St Edmunds in 1915, described earlier, he went
with a friend into Bury to see for himself the devastation caused by the bombing. He
was incensed at what he saw and set about volunteering for the army. He went to
the recruiting post but he was turned down as his eyesight was below the prescribed
limit. His friend was accepted. To ease his disappointment he was told that in
addition to his eyesight being a problem, he had an important job as Postmaster and
his family responsibilities, which included two elderly and disabled female relatives,
meant he would be better off staying at home.
He was disconsolate but determined to enlist. In 1916 he again applied and this time
he was accepted into a Labour Battalion, the 14th Royal West Surrey Regiment and
initially went to France. His regiment were subsequently posted to Salonika in
Greece.
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Before departing, Charles sold off all his animals and arranged for his wife, Eleanor,
to continue the work of the Post Office. This she did with the help of their two
daughters, Zoe and Molly, who were both under 10 at the time. Mrs Leech also
enlisted anyone who happened to be on hand when telegrams or parcels had to be
delivered. This was not a popular activity as telegrams were more often than not the
bearer of sad news.
Charles Leech survived the trenches and barbed wire but his company was one of
the last to be de-mobbed, not arriving home until 1919. On his return Charles again
took up his role as Postmaster. His daughter, Zoe, later became the local
headmistress, and wrote the book, ‘Curtsey to the Lady’ about life in Horringer at the
start of the 20th century.
The Last Family
John Last was a gamekeeper on the estate and lived with his wife Emma and their 9
sons and two daughters in The Round House. No less than five of their nine sons
enlisted in the army. Two of them, Herbert and Thomas, earned the Military Medal
for gallantry, sadly Edward and Herbert, were killed in France.
Edward Last was a Lance Corporal with the 7th Battalion of the
Suffolk Regiment. He died on the 24th October 1915 aged 25.
On 13th October 1915 at the battle of Loos the Battalion attacked
the German lines along a broad front. The Battalion lost 150 men
killed and wounded as they came under heavy machine gun fire.
Edward is buried at Lillers Cemetery. Lillers was a hospital centre
and had 6 casualty clearing stations. It is likely that Edward died
from his wounds at Lillers.
Herbert Last joined the 10th Battalion of the Worcester Regiment Military Medal (MM),
and arrived in France on the 19th July 1915. He saw service as a awarded to both
Herbert and Thomas
dispatch runner in the trenches for two years. He died on the 19th Last
January 1917 aged 30 and is commemorated on the Thiepval
Memorial. Herbert was posthumously awarded the Military Medal (MM) on 21 st
September 1917. The MM was the other ranks’ equivalent of the Military Cross and
is awarded for bravery on the battlefield.
Thomas Last was married to Hilda and worked on the Ickworth Estate as an
Oddman. He served with the 9th Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment. He embarked
with the Battalion to France in August 1915 and was later promoted to sergeant in
the Transport Section. On 20th September 1917 a shell fell into the transport lines at
Les Brebis killing two men and wounding seven others. Telegraph wires, cut and
twisted, had fallen about the horse lines and a stampede was imminent. For gallant
conduct on this occasion Sgt Last was awarded the Military Medal.
William Last was a hurdle maker on the Ickworth Estate. He enlisted in the Royal
Garrison Artillery and went to France in September 1915. On 5 th October 1915
William was severely wounded at Cambrai, his elbow was smashed and an artery
severed. He was shipped back to England and admitted to Hackney Infirmary where
he lay in a critical condition for some time. He later recovered.
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The Hervey Family
Although the Marquess and his immediate family did not see active service, his wider
family did.
Walter J Hervey: At the outbreak of war the Marquess’ younger brother, Walter, was
an officer in the Suffolk Imperial Yeomanry, which was a Territorial Reserve
Regiment. He was 41 and married and so outside the scope of enlistment criteria for
front line duties. He volunteered for the Army Remount Service and was appointed
Major in 1916. At that time his service was incorporated into the Army Service Corps
(ASC). The Army used over a million horses and mules; the ASC
was responsible for procurement, training, and delivery of the
animals. In this role Walter went to serve in France. During this
period he suffered from ‘Neurasthenia’ a medical term used to
describe the condition more commonly known as ‘Shell Shock’. He
remained in the army until 1920. He then resumed his career as a
chemist and served as a Justice of the Peace. He died in Wiltshire in
1948.
Gerald Arthur Hervey was a second cousin to the 4th Marquis of
Bristol.
In 1914 he was a schoolmaster at Mount Arlington
Preparatory School in Hindhead Surrey. He enlisted as a private in
the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps (Territorial). He then joined
the 1st Wessex (Hampshire) Heavy Battery of the Royal Garrison
Artillery as a Lieutenant. His regiment moved to France in April 1916.
On 8th August 1917 during the Third battle of Ypres, a shell landed on
the Battery Commander’s position, killing Gerald. He was 35. He left
behind a wife, Dorothy, and two children. He is buried in Huts
Cemetery near Ypres. There is a window dedicated to his memory in
the nave of St. Edmund King and Martyr Church in Tendring (left).
After the War
Society changes: Many men returned from the war to pick up their lives in a world
very different from that which they left. The hierarchical nature of British Society had
begun to change; less deference would be shown to the old aristocratic families.
The 1918 Representation of The Peoples Act extended the vote to an additional
12,900,000 men, and for the first time, to 8,400,000 women over the age of 30.
Thus by 1918 the voting population had been trebled. Other legislation was
introduced to improve education for the general public, increase housing, and
provide limited unemployment benefit.
Shell Shock or Neurasthenia: Now known as ‘Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder’ had
not yet been recognised as a distinct debilitating condition in Britain. In 1918 there
was a high prevalence of mental illness amongst returned servicemen. By the end
of the war, 80,000 cases of ‘Shell Shock’ had been treated. The Army was forced to
set up a chain of treatment centres for shell shock cases, including 6 mental
hospitals for officers and 13 hospitals for ‘other ranks’ in Britain. Treatment for war
related mental disorders was basic, if not crude, and often administered in an
unsympathetic environment.
15
Widows: A War Widows Pension Scheme was introduced in 1916. At the end of the
war the standard amount paid to widows was 13s 9d (68.75p, worth just under £30
today) per week. At the time, the statutory minimum wage for an agricultural worker
was 30s 6d (£1.52.½p, nearly £64 today). A further allowance was available for
each child under the age of 16 maintained by the widow. 5s (about £10 today) per
week was paid to the first child, 4s 2d (nearly £9 today) to the second, 3s 4d (just
over £7 today) to the third, and 2s 6d (just over £5 today) to each child thereafter. If
a widow remarried she forfeited her pension, but the children’s allowance could
continue to be paid until age 16. The pensions were however discretionary and not
a right, strict rules were imposed and payments could be reduced or terminated if a
widow was considered ‘unworthy’.
Unsurprisingly some widows eschewed
remarriage for fear of losing a steady income.
Celebration: On 19th July 1919 the Marquess of Bristol entertained to dinner 66
former officers and men who had fought in the war. The dinner was held in Ickworth
House before the host and guests attended the ‘Peace Celebrations’ in Ickworth
Park. The guests included Edward and Lewis Bevan, Edgar Crack, Edward Last,
Charles Leech, and William Rowles. A full list of their names is at Appendix A.
Monuments: The Great War has been memorialized more than any other war; it
produced more monuments in Britain than any other previous event. During the war
small street shrines appeared spontaneously, later permanent memorials were
erected in virtually every city, town and village. Soldiers bodies were not returned to
Britain but were buried near were they fell. After the war they were reinterred in war
grave cemeteries on land gifted to Britain by Belgium and France. 557,520 identified
and 180,861 unidentified bodies were given individual burials each marked with a
uniform headstone. The missing are remembered with inscriptions on great
monuments such as the one at Theipval, near the Somme battlefield, which bears
the names of more than 73,000 missing British soldiers.
Cenotaphs and memorials are to be found across
the UK in city parks, town squares, village greens,
cathedrals, churches and attached to municipal and
company buildings. The memorials bear the names
of servicemen who died in the war.
Some
servicemen’s names appear on more than one
monument, others do not appear on any. A soldier
may have been commemorated in his hometown,
and adopted town, or perhaps on a company or
municipal memorial plaque. For the same reasons
a serviceman may have been excluded on the
assumption he would be remembered on another
monument elsewhere. Private memorials appeared
too. For the wealthier families this may have been a
stained glass window or stone tablet in a church, for
poorer families it may have been a simple ‘mantel
shrine’ a framed photo and black ribbon on the
mantelpiece.
16
Memorial Tablet in St Lawrence’s
Church Horringer
The monuments provided a focal point for remembrance in the absence of graves.
They also provide a record of individual detail for a global event that touched every
community in Britain. The stone monument (pictured above) can be found inside St
Leonard’s church at Horringer that lists several names mentioned earlier in this text.
Great War Artefacts at Ickworth House
Princess Mary Christmas Box – 1914
In 1914 Princess Mary lent her name to a
public fund to provide all soldiers and sailors
with a Christmas gift. The decision was
made to send specially made tins containing
gifts such as cigarettes, tobacco, pipes, tinder
lighters, a photo of Princess Mary and a
Christmas card. Variations of content were
made for non-smokers and some Indian
troops. 426,724 boxes were despatched for
the Christmas of 1914.
Many soldiers
repackaged them and sent them home to
their families. It is not known who received this particular box, but there was a
possible clue inside (see below).
Railway Ticket and Army Leave Pass – 1918
This is part of a leave and railway travel warrant
issued by the British Army in France in 1918. It is a
First Class ticket and therefore was issued to an
officer. It was found inside the ‘Princess Mary Box’
at Ickworth House. Research suggests the ticket
was issued to Lord John Francis Ashley Erskine,
who served in the Scots Guards and the Argyll &
Sutherland Highlanders during the war.
The
Erskine family home is in Alloa Scotland, and the
destination on the ticket is ‘Alloa’. Lord Erskine
eventually married Lady Marjorie Hervey, the elder
daughter of the 4th Marquess, on 2nd December
1919 at Ickworth.
‘Zeppelin’ Relic – 1916
This souvenir disc is typical of many such relics created from
the wreckage of German Airships shot down during the war.
Many were sold to provide funds for Red Cross activities.
The inscription states “Part of Zeppelin L 21 destroyed at
Cuffley Sept 2 1916”. In fact the inscription is not strictly
correct. The incident on the night of 2nd/3rd September 1916
was famous because it involved the first destruction of a
German Airship over Britain, and the pilot, Lt. William Leefe
Robinson was awarded the VC and became a national hero.
17
The Airship was not a Zeppelin but a Schutte-Lanz craft, and its number was SL 11;
it did crash at Cuffley, a village in Hertfordshire. The press reported the incorrect
make and designation, and the authorities never corrected this at the time, even
though they knew the actual details. Similar souvenirs of the time bear the same
incorrect information.
Handrup Silhouette 1915
This framed set of silhouettes created by Handrup is dated 2 nd August 1915. It
shows the profiles of Frederick William Fane Hervey, 4th Marquess of Bristol; Lady
Alice Frances Theodora Wythes, 4th Marchioness of Bristol; Lady Marjorie Fane
Hervey eldest daughter to the 4th Marquess; Lady Phyllis Hervey, 2nd daughter of 4th
Marquess; Lady Augustus Hervey, mother of the 4th Marquess; Eric George Hervey,
2nd cousin to 4th Marquess; and Major Henry Hoare, son-in-law of Lady Augustus
Hervey. It is likely that these portraits were produced at a Fête held at Ickworth
House on 2nd August 1915 to raise funds for the ‘War Waifs and Strays’. The House
was opened up to the public on the day between 2pm and 7pm.
Charles Handrup was a Danish silhouettist, who ran a silhouette parlour at DH
Evans Department store in Oxford Street, London, from about 1910 onwards.
Silhouettes were popular at the time and artists operated in Department stores and
at seasides.
Bibliography and Sources
The information in this summary is supported by various research documents
produced by the team. Sources include Local Public records (particularly the Hervey
family papers at Bury Records Office), The National Archives at Kew, The Suffolk
Regiment Museum, National Trust Papers, and research documents, various
genealogy and history websites, the BBC, the Commonwealth War Graves
Commission, and the Ickworth Oral History archives.
Bury Records Office
Suffolk Regiment Archives
Suffolk County Handbook and Directory – 1914, 1915, 1917, 1918
Parish Records Ickworth / Horringer – lists of men enlisting 1914 – 1918
Hervey records – Letter book HA 558/3/13/53 – 65 (compilation by Jenny Troll
& Glenys Proctor)
Hervey Estate Records – HA 507/3/371, 469, 558, 559, 611, 622, 845
Museums
The Wessex (Hants) RGA 1914 –1919
Suffolk Regiment Museum
18
Private Sources
Crack family – private papers
Horringer Social Club (Memorial Corner Photo Board)
Publications
HMSO Soldiers died in The Great War 1914 – 1918
National Trust Handbook
Robb, George, British Culture and the First World War, New York’ 2002
Ward, Zoe, Curtsy to the Lady, London, 1985
National Trust collection: Ickworth House
Online Sources
1901, 1911 Census
www.1914-1918.org
www.ancestry.co.uk
www.bbc.co.uk/historywww.cwgc.org
www.flickr.com/search/?text=St%20Edmunds%20Tendring
www.freebmd.org.uk
www.iwm.org.ukflikr
www.nationalarchives.org.uk
www.westernfrontassociation.com
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Appendix A
Names of officers and men who were entertained to dinner in Front Hall of Ickworth
before attending Peace Celebrations in Ickworth Park.
19th July 1919
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
Arthur Arbon
Chevington
Fred Arbon
Ickworth
William Arbon
Ronald Alston*
Horringer
Sidney Boreham
Horringer
Fred Bugg
Little Horringer Hall
David Bumstead
Horringer
Edward Bevan*
Ickworth Lodge
Lewis Bevan*
Ickworth Lodge
Latimer Bloomfield
Horringer
Alfred Burgess
Horringer
Arthur Bugg
Horringer
Bedingfield
Great Horringer Hall
William Bumstead
Horringer
James Cater
Horringer
Joseph Clarke
Chevington
Edgar Crack
Horringer
Sidney Curtis
Horringer
George Curtis*
Horringer
Willoughby Cooke
Horringer
William Cooke
Horringer
Crawley
Horringer
Albert Frost
Horringer
Robert Finch
Horringer
Frederick Finch
Horringer
Gallihawk
Horringer
F. Garwood
Whepstead
Fred Gooch
Horringer
W. Gotts
Horringer
Keefe
Ickworth
Kemish
Ickworth
William Hart
Horringer
Ezra Hart
Horringer
34
34
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
Ernest Herod
Ickworth
Haskins
Horringer
William Howlett
Ickworth
Thomas Last
Ickworth
John Last
Ickworth
Frank Last
Ickworth
Benjamin Last
Horringer
Ed Last
Horringer
William Lloyd
Horringer
Charles Leech
Horringer
Fred Marriot
Horringer
H. Mitchell
Horringer
Percy Newman
Horringer
Oliver Prewer
Horringer
Herbert Pask
Horringer
Alfred Parker
Horringer
Albert F. Peake
Westley Bottom
Priestley
Ickworth Lodge
Charles Quantril
Chevington
Hatherley Ramsey
Horringer
William Rowles
Horringer
Rackham
Horringer
Percy Smith
Chevington
Sidney Smith
Ickworth
W. Smith
Ickworth
Fred Sargeant
Horringer
Searle
William Simpson*
Horringer
Frank Sturgeon
Horringer
Hon. Mortimer Tollemache* Hopleys
Ernest Vincent
Ickworth
Whiting
Horringer
Willis
* Officers
(Extracted from the Journal of Manners Hervey, Rector of St Leonard’s church,
Horringer)
20
Appendix B
Lord and Lady Bristol of Ickworth House
Frederick William the 4th Marquess of Bristol and Alice Frances Theodora the 4 th
Marchioness (both these pictures are currently on display in the Dining Room)
Picture courtesy of National Trust Collections
21