Alfred John Paling
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Alfred John was the second son of Alfred and Eliza Ann Paling (née Wilkinson). His father Alfred was born in Strelley, Nottinghamshire, in 1858 (reg. J/F/M), the son of John and Harriet Paling. He was baptised at Trowell St Helen on 24 January 1858. His mother Eliza Ann was born in Cossall in 1859, the daughter of John and Mary Wilkinson. She was baptised at Cossall St Catherine on 27 November the same year. Alfred and Eliza were married at Strelley All Saints on 18 December 1880 and had four children who were all born in Strelley and baptised at All Saints: Edwin James b. 1881, Edith b. abt 1884 (bap. August 1884), Mary Ann b. 1889 and Alfred John birth registered 1895 (J/F/M) bap. 13 January 1895. The year after their marriage, Alfred, a coal miner, and Eliza were living with her parents in Strelley. Alfred and Eliza and their three children Edwin (9), Edith (6) and Mary (1) were still in the village in 1891. Alfred was born four years later. The couple were at Robinet Cottage, Strelley, in 1901 but only three of their four children were living at home: Edith (16), Mary (11) and Alfred (6), Also in the household was Eliza's widowed father, John Wilkinson, a retired coal miner hewer. The eldest son, Edwin, was a domestic gardener and one of two boarders in the household of Eli and Elizabeth Ashworth in Brierfield, Lancashire. By 1911 only two children, Mary a lace mender and Alfred (16) a coal ganger, were in the family home at Strelley Fields, Strelley. Also in the household was Alfred and Eliza's grandson, five-year old Herbert James Paling (reg. 1906 J/F/M). Herbert had been born before their eldest daughter Edith's marriage to Herbert Edward Stephenson in 1906 (reg. A/M/J). Edith and Herbert, a railway labourer, were living on Station Road, Ilkeston Junction, in 1911 with their two other children Albert Leslie (4) and Frederick Alfred (2 months). Edwin, domestic gardener, was still living in Lancashire and was one of three boarders in the household of Ann Stafford, a widow, in Nelson. Edwin continued to live in Lancashire until his death. Alfred snr. died in 1916 some months after his son Alfred was killed in France. Eliza Ann died in 1926.
'A' Bty 112th Bde Royal Field Artillery Alfred John was killed on 3 May 1916 and was buried in Ecoivres Military Cemetery, Mont-St Eloi (grave ref I.A.26). He qualified for the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. CWGC - History of Ecoivres Military Cemetery (extract): 'This cemetery is really the extension of the communal cemetery, were the French army had buried over 1,000 men. The 46th (North Midland) Division took over the extension with this part of the line in March 1916, and their graves are in Rows A to F of Plot I. Successive divisions used the French military tramway to bring their dead in from the front line trenches and, from the first row to the last, burials were made almost exactly in the order of date of death. The attack of the 25th Division on Vimy Ridge in May 1916 is recalled in Plots I and II. The 60th (2nd/2nd London) Division burials (July to October 1916) are in Plot III, Rows A to H, and Canadian graves are an overwhelming majority in the rest of the cemetery, Plots V and VI containing the graves of men killed in the capture of Vimy Ridge in April 1917.' (www.cwgc.org)
Inscription Strelley War Memorial: 'John Alfred Palin. Bombardier A/112 Battery RFA 25th Division killed in France May 3rd 1916 age 22. Buried Ecoivres French Military Cemetery NW Arras.' CWGC gave age as 21 (birth registered 1895 J/F/M). NOTE: Surname Palin on Edwin and Alfred's baptismal records but Paling on Edith and Mary's records. CWGC: surname PALING. 'Son of Mrs. E. A. Paling, of Strelley, Notts.' CWGC headstone personal inscription: 'Peace perfect peace' Register of Soldiers' Effects: first payment (July 1916) to his father, Alfred, and subsequent payment (1919) to his mother Eliza. WW1 Pension Ledgers Index Cards: mother Eliza Ann Paling, residence Nottingham
