Arthur Page

LIFE GOES ON: AN INTRODUCTION

MY GRANDPARENTS - I - MY GREAT-GRANDPARENTS - I - MY GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS - I - MY GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS

THE SIXTEEN FAMILIES

KNOTT - I - BOWLES - I - WATERS - I - HARRALL - I - PAGE - I - WISEMAN - I - CROSS - I - CARTER

CORNWELL - I - HUCKLE - I - MORTLOCK - I - MANSFIELD - I - REYNOLDS - I - CARTER - I - ANABLE - I - STEARN

CHRONOLOGY - I - DRAMATIS PERSONAE - I - WHERE PEOPLE CAME FROM - I - CALENDAR

MAP OF ELY - I - MAP OF MEDWAY
MAP OF CAMBRIDGE AND DISTRICT

THE WORKHOUSE

WORLD WAR I - I - WORLD WAR II

simonknott.co.uk I home I e-mail

LIFE GOES ON

Arthur Page
born Ely, Cambridgeshire 31st March 1879
died Delville Wood near Albert, France 20th July 1916

on the Page family tree
part of the Page and Wiseman family stories

married to Sophia Cross

father of Phyllis Page

son of
Henry Page
and Alice Wiseman

Arthur Page (1879-1916). My Father's Mother's Father. My Great-Grandfather.

The Pages were a large family - Arthur was one of at least eleven - and lived in the Back Hill area of Ely. Arthur was married by the age of 22, and worked first as a baker's labourer and then as a general labourer. During WWI, Arthur enlisted in the Suffolk Regiment, and was killed at the Battle of the Somme on 20th July 1916. He was 37 years old.

Arthur was a Serjeant in the 2nd Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment. On the 20th July 1916, the 2nd Suffolks were engaged at Delville Wood outside the village of Longueval to the east of the town of Albert on the Somme. The Wikipedia entry for the battle at Delville Wood observes that fighting for Delville Wood commenced on 14 July 1916 when the South African Infantry Brigade of the 9th Division captured Longueval and gained a foothold in the neighbouring wood. The wood lay on the right flank of the British line and, along with nearby Waterlot Farm, protected the villages of Guillemont and Ginchy. The Germans resisted strongly in Delville Wood and every gain made by the British was subjected to repeated counter-attack. Consequently the wood changed hands a number of times before it was finally secured by the British on 3 September during the Battle of Guillemont. The 9th Division fought in Delville Wood until 20 July when it was relieved by the 3rd Division and a brigade of the 18th (Eastern) Division.

The 2nd Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment was part of the 3rd Division of the British Army which relieved the South African brigade of the 9th Division on the 20th of July - that is to say, Arthur Page was killed on the first day of his battalion's engagement. Arthur's body was recovered, identified, and buried at Delville Wood cemetery in Longueval, just outside of the town of Albert. We visited Albert in the summer of 2006, but I did not know about Arthur Page at that time, and so we did not go to Longueval. We will have to go back.

His brother Herbert was also killed in WWI, as was his brother-in-law, also called Herbert.

1879: Arthur was born on the 31st March at Annesdale, Ely, Cambridgeshire. His father's occupation is given as farm labourer. His mother's maiden name was Wiseman. The informant was his mother, who signed with a cross.

1881 census:

Arthur was two years old at the time of the 1881 census. . The Page family were living in Annesdale, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Arthur's father Henry is shown as an agricultural labourer. He was 26 years old. His mother Alice was also 26 years old.

Arthur was the fourth of five children at the time of the 1881 census. Henry was 7, William 5, Emma 3, and John less than 1.

Arthur was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, as were his siblings and his mother. His father Henry's place of birth is given as Great Chesterford, Cambridgeshire. Other sources give Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire (Great Chesterford is actually just over the Essex border). The transcript for their entry is here.

1891 census:

Arthur was twelve years old at the time of the 1891 census. The Page family were living in Broad Street, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Arthur's father Henry is shown as a labourer. He was 38 years old. His mother Alice was 36 years old.

Arthur was the second of seven children at the time of the 1891 census. Henry was 16, John was 9, Herbert was 7, Robert was 5, Susan was 3 and Thomas was 10 months. However, William, now 15, and Emma, now 13, who were recorded on the 1881 census, are no longer recorded at home.

Arthur was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, as were his siblings and his mother. His father Henry's place of birth is given as Shelford, Cambridgeshire. The transcript for their entry is here.

1901: Arthur married Sophia Chapman Cross on 12th January in the Lady Chapel of Ely Cathedral, which served as the parish church of Holy Trinity, Ely. He gave his age as 22 and she as 20: in fact, they were 21 and his occupation as labourer. His home address was in Bull Lane, while hers was in Potters Lane. The witnesses were Robert John Dewsbery and Alice Cross. Alice was Sophia's younger sister by nine months. Alice would marry Robert Dewsbery.

1901 census:

Arthur was twenty-two years old at the time of the 1901 census. His birth year is given as 1879. The Page family were living on west side of Bull Lane, Ely, Cambridgeshire. Today, this is known as Lisle Lane.

Arthur is shown as a baker's labourer. His wife, Sophia Chapman, was 20 years old. Her birth year is given as 1881.

Arthur had no children at the time of the census.

Arthur was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, as was his wife Sophia. The transcript for their entry is here.

Arthur's mother Alice was forty-four years old at the time of the 1901 census. This Page family were living in Broad Street, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Alice is shown as a charwoman. Her husband Henry is not shown at home on the 1901 census. She is described as married, and her relationship to the head of household is noted as wife, indicating that Henry is not dead, in which case she would have been described as widow and head.

Alice had seven children at home at the time of the 1901 census. John, an agricultural labourer, was 20, Herbert, an errand boy, was 18, Susan was 14, Thomas was 10 (suggesting that the Thomas who appeared on the 1891 census was ten months, not ten years old), Charles was 8, Sarah 6 and Helen 1.

Alice was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, as were all the children. The transcript for their entry is here.

1907: When Arthur's daughter Florence was baptised in Holy Trinity parish on the 28th May, Arthur's occupation was recorded as a labourer on the Great Eastern Railway.

1911 census:

Arthur was thirty-two years old at the time of the 1911 census. The Page family were living on Back Hill, Ely, Cambridgeshire. Back Hill still exists, and has been largely gentrified.

Arthur is shown as a general labourer. His wife, Sophia Chapman, was 29 years old. They had been married for ten years.

Arthur had four children at the time of the census: Arthur aged 9, Violet aged 6, Beatrice aged 5 and Percy aged 1. Another child, Florence, is entered on the form and then crossed out because she was living and sleeping at Mrs Sophia Stubbins Back Hill. I remember my father's Uncle Arthur and Aunt Violet well. Arthur was a very gentle man who, when I moved to Sheffield in 1980, told me about how he had also lived in Sheffield in the 1930s, working on road construction schemes. Violet I remember as slightly eccentric - she often wore extraordinary hats. They were all born in Ely, with the exception of Beatrice, who was born in Peterborough.

Arthur was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, as was his wife Sophia. The transcript for their entry is here. You can view the original form here. The form for the household where Florence was staying is here.

1916:On 20th July, Arthur was killed at Delville Wood in the Battle of the Somme, France. He was 37 years old.