Ernest Cundy
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Ernest was the son of Amos and Maria Sisling Cundy (née Kirby). Amos was born in Nottingham in 1857 and Maria also in Nottingham in 1858. They were married in 1879 (reg. Nottingham) and had nine children, eight of whom survived infancy. All the children were born in Nottingham: Percy b. 1880, Claude William b. December 1881, Lilian b. 1884, Leonard birth registered 1886 (J/F/M), Ernest b. 1888, Clara Maria b. 1891, Leslie birth registered 1894 (J/F/M) d. 1894 (J/F/M), Bernard birth registered. 1895 (J/F/M) and Florence b. 1899. In 1881, two years after their marriage, Amos a lace draughtsman, Maria a dressmaker, and their son Percy (1) were living on Corporation Road, Notitngham. They had moved to Portland Road, Nottingham, by 1891. Amos was now emplloyed as a lace designer and draughtsman. He and Maria had five children Percy, Claude (9), Lilian (7), Leonard (5) and Ernest (2). Clara was born later that year. Amos and Maria were still at 55 Portland Road in 1901 with their children Percy a lace draughtsman, Claude a manufacturer's clerk, Lilian, Leonard a litho printer, Ernest, Clara (9), Bernard (6) and Florence (2). A fifth son, Leslie, born in 1894, had died the same year. By 1911 the family was living at 37 Stratford Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham: Amos (53), a lace curtain designer and draughtsman (employer), Maria and five of their eight children, Claude a clerk in the hosiery business, Ernest a grocer's assistant, Clara Marie a pattern girl (lace manufacturer), Bernard a clerk (lace manufacturer) and Florence who was still at school. Also in the home was Amos and Maria's granddaughter, Ruth Marion Cundy (6) who was born in the USA. Ruth was the daughter of Percy and his first wife Urania (née Kershaw) whom he had married in New Jersey in 1903. Urania had died in about 1905, the year of her daughter's birth. Percy was recorded on the USA Federal Census of 1910. He made several voyages between America and the UK but returned to America in June 1916, later crossing the border to Canada where he was recorded on the 1921 Census of Canada. Ruth went out to Canda to join her father in Winnipeg in 1923. However, Percy was recorded on the USA Federal Census of 1940 and took US citizenship. He died in America in 1947. (For further information see:www.findagrave.com, Percy Cundy.) Lilian had married Walter Henry Morton, a lace merchant, in 1906 and in 1911 they were living on Radcliffe Road, West Bridgford, with their son Ronald (4). Also in the household was Lilian's brother, Leonard, a telephone instrument fitter (Post Office), and his wife Rosetta Evelyn (née Wood) whom he had married in 1909. Rosetta died in May 1911. When Leonard joined the Territorial Force the following year he gave his address as Alfreton Road, Nottingham. Maria Sisling Cundy died in 1931 in Manitoba and was buried in Fairview Cemetery, Roland Pembina Valley. It is likely that this was where her son Percy, by now a minister, was living. Amos Cundy was living on Talbot Street, Nottingham, when he died in October 1939 (buried Southern Cemetery & Crematorium, West Bridgford). Ernest Cundy married Phoebe Dye at Hendon Register Office, London, on 7 July 1915. Their son Percival was born on 13 June 1916 in Pontefract, Yorkshire; it is unlikely that Ernest ever saw his son who was born five weeks before his death. Phoebe and her son lived at Marsh End, Knottingley, near Wakefield, Yorkshire. Neither Phoebe nor Percival have yet been traced on the 1939 Register of England and Wales, but Phoebe never remarried and died in August 1993 (reg. Bradford), the year following the death of her son, Percival. Four of the five brothers served in the war. Both Ernest and Bernard were killed in action on the Western Front in 1916 within three months of each other. Claude served in the 17th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment) as a second lieutenant/lieutenant. Leonard joined the Territorial Force in 1912 (Notts & Derby Regiment) but transferred to the Royal Engineers in 1913, embodied service from 5 August 1914, medically discharged 1915. (See 'Extra information') Their brother-in-law, Arthur D Noble, the husband of Clara Marie (m. 1914), served in the Army Service Corps Motor Transport (M2/634851); he was a chauffeur in civilian life. Arthur was discharged in May 1919.
20th Bn King's Royal Rifle Corps. The 20th (Service) Bn was raised in Green Park, London, in August 1915 and mobilised for service with the BEF France on 30 March 1916. Ernest (27) enlisted at Woolwich, London, on 4 November 1915 on a 'Duration of War' engagement. He was posted to the King’s Royal Rifle Corps. He was appointed unpaid lance corporal on 4 February 1916 and to paid lance corporal on 26 March 1916. He was promoted corporal on 29 May 1916 and to sergeant on 19 July 1916, three days before his death in action. He served on the home front until 29 March 1916 (147 days) and then with the British Expeditionary Force France on the Western Front from 30 March 1916. The battalion took part in the Action of the Bluff and St Eloi Craters on the Ypres Salient (27 March-16 April 1916) and in the Battle of Albert (1-13 July 1916) during the first two weeks of the Battle of the Somme. Ernest was killed in action on 22 July 1916 having served 115 days in France and a total of 262 days in the army. He is buried in Dantzig Alley British Cemetery Mametz, France (grave ref. VIII.M.7). The history of the cemetery (see below) indicates that Ernest's grave was brought in to the cemetery after the Armistice. Ernest qualified for the British War Medal and Victory Medal. CWGC - History of Dantzig Military Cemetery, Mametz (extract): 'Mametz is a village about 8 kilometres east of the town of Albert. The village of Mametz was carried by the 7th Division on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, after very hard fighting at Dantzig Alley (a German trench) and other points. The cemetery was begun later in the same month and was used by field ambulances and fighting units until the following November. The ground was lost during the great German advance in March 1918 but regained in August, and a few graves were added to the cemetery in August and September 1918. At the Armistice, the cemetery consisted of 183 graves, now in Plot I, but it was then very greatly increased by graves (almost all of 1916) brought in from the battlefields north and east of Mametz and from certain smaller burial grounds [listed].' (www.cwgc.org)
Ernest's brother Bernard also served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps (R/2916 Rifleman) and was killed in action on 10 October 1916. (See record on this Roll of Honour) Claude William served as a lieutenant in the 17th Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment). Nottingham Evening Post, 14 December 1914. ‘Tales of the Trenches. Advertising an ‘Xmas Guardian’ with stories by favourite writers including [listed] … and a screamingly funny Xmas ghost burlesque in verse by Claude W Cundy illustrated by ‘T.F.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Leonard joined the Territorial Force (Notts & Derby Regiment) in May 1912, but transferred to the Royal Engineers (Southern Command Air Line Telegraph Company) in 1913 (712 Sapper, promoted L/Cpl May 1914). Embodied service from 5 August 1914. He was discharged 'being medically unfit for further miitary service' in July 1915. Ernest is also commemorated on Knottingley Township War Memorial - E Cundy WMR 29153: Township of Knottingley,, St Botolph’s Church, Chapel Street, Knottingly, Wakefield WF11 9AW CWGC headstone personal inscription: 'To the Glory of God Peace Perfect Peace only loving memories left Phoebe' Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Roll of Honour’, 10 August 1916: 'Cundy. Killed in action, July 22nd 1916, Sergt. Ernest Cundy, KRR, in his 28th year. At rest. Sorrowing mother, sisters, and brothers.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, 'In Memoriam', 22 July 1918: “Cundy. In loving memory of our dear boys, Sergt. Ernest and Lance-Cpl. Bernard Cundy, killed in action July and October, 1916. The supreme sacrifice. – Mother, sisters, and brothers.” Above courtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918. Phoebe applied for a pension for herself and her son in August 1916, providing a witnessed declaration in support of her claim that gave her date of birth, date of marriage and the date of their son's birth. She and her son were then living at Marsh End, Knottingley. Peter Gillings
