Harry Alvey
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
CWGC: 'Son of Sam and Elizabeth Alvey, of Nottingham; husband of Elsie B. Alvey, of 55, Sherwin St., Nottingham.' Harry married Elsie Brady Waddington in 1915 (J/F/M Nottingham) and they had one child, Alicia Winifred b. 16 September 1915. Elsie was born in Nottingham in 1892 (O/N/D Nottingham) - other records give her date of birth as 2 December 1893 (sic) - the daughter of Arthur and Alicia Waddington. At the time of Harry's death in 1918 his wife and child were living at 55 Sherwin Street, Nottingham. In 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled, Elsie, described on the register as a war widow, was living with her widowed mother Alicia Waddington (b. 1868) at 3 Hill Crest Grove Nottingham. Also in the household was John Aslinot (b. 1885), a widower, who was a builder's labourer. Elsie's daughter, Alicia, married Thomas L Murden (b. 4 March 1913) in 1938 and the following year she and Thomas, a wholesale grocery buyer, were living at 27 Hill Crest Grove. They probably had a son, Michael D. in 1945 (J/F/M, Alvey). Elsie has not been traced after 1939 but may have emigrated to New Zealand as there is a record of the death of an Elsie Brady Alvey on 13 June 1973, cremated 15 June at Waikumete Crematorium, Auckland.
Harry was killed in action on 22 April 1918. He is buried in Martinsart British Cemetery (grave ref. 1.C.46). CWGC - History of Martinsart British Cemetery (extract): 'Martinsart was close to the Allied front line until September 1916, and again from March to August 1918. Martinsart British Cemetery was begun at the end of June 1916, when 14 men of the 13th Royal Irish Rifles, killed by a shell, were buried in what is now Plot I, Row A. It was used as a front-line cemetery until October 1916 and again in September 1918, when bodies were brought in from the battlefields for burial by V Corps. After the Armistice, the cemetery was enlarged when more graves were brought in from the area north, east and south of the village ... The cemetery is unusual in that the graves are marked by stones made from red Corsehill or Locharbriggs sandstone, rather than the more usual Portland stone.' (www.cwgc.org)
Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Roll of Honour’, 13 May 1918: ‘Alvey. Killed in action, April 22nd 1918, Sergt. Harry Alvey, aged 26, Sherwood Foresters, the dearly loved husband of Elsie Alvey, 55, Sherwin-street. The great sacrfice. RIP. Sorrowing wife and baby.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) WW1 Pension Ledgers: widow Elsie Brady Alvey b. 2 December 1893-sic and child Alicia Winifred Alvey b. 16 September 1915. Registers of Soldiers' Effects: his widow Elsie was his sole legatee.
