| Birth | No information currently available. | |
| Parents | ||
| Residence | ||
| Occupation | ||
| Enlisted | ||
| Regiment | ||
| Regimental No: | ||
| Rank | ||
| Service Record | ||
| Death | ||
| Theatre of War | ||
| Commemoration | ||
| Medals | ||
| We have searched for almost two years for information about Albert Ward, but, to date, have found no-one that we can definitely link to Froyle. This makes us wonder if the name in the report about the dedication of the memorial in the Alton Gazette of 22nd April 1921 was correct. There was already one mistake - naming Walter Pinnells as William - so could this be the reason we cannot find an Albert Ward? Perhaps he was Alfred or Arthur or Andrew - there were quite a few popular names that could fit the bill. So, all we can really say is that the file is still open. Included here are a couple of possibilities, but with no proof whatsoever, we can only wonder! The 1911 Census brings up two Albert Wards living in the area. The first was a young man, aged 16, living in Alton, a student of Leather Bag Making at Treloars Hospital & College. We would think it unlikely that he would have been fit enough to even consider go to war. Secondly, there is an Albert Ward boarding with a Mr and Mrs William Childs in South Warnborough. He is a 30 year old man described as a labourer on farm. Now, William Childs had been living in Froyle, as he married Florence Gladness (I love the name!) Keeling in St Mary’s Church on 28th November 1908 and their son, William John Childs, was baptised there on 10th October 1909. I just wonder if the Childs came back to work in Froyle and Albert came with them. I would say that this is our best lead, but it is all supposition! There was certainly a B Childs (could that be Bill?) working for the Summers family in 1925, as he was part of the party who wheeled Mr Summers’ coffin to the church. The 1911 Census does also tell us that there is a Frances Ward, who was a single woman, working as a servant at Froyle Place. Could she have had a relative who came to work at the big house? We simply do not know and would be most grateful to hear from anyone who does! |
||
| Interestingly, we found four Wards living in the Froyle area in the 1930s. Two were brothers and the other two were a married couple, with no children, but I could see no relationship between them and the brothers. The interesting fact is that they all died within a few years of each other. Firstly we have William Henry Ward, who was caught in a threshing machine in Froyle in June 1936. He had lived in Upper Froyle and was 66. Then a year later, both Georgina and William passed away; Georgina in January 1937 and her husband, William in the August. They were both in their 80s and lived at Nedfield, Lower Froyle. Two years later, in November 1939, William Henry’s brother, Matthew, who lived at Isington Farm, died ‘at Bentley Station’. |
||