Alfred Bryan
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Alfred was the son of Joshua and Matilda Bryan (née Flatters). His father Joshua, was born in Coddington, Nottinghamshire, in 1848, the son of William and Anne Bryan, and baptised at Coddington All Saints on 2 July 1848. His mother Matilda was born in Newark, Nottinghamshire, on 11 June 1858, the daughter of Thomas and Maria Flatters. Her father, a plaster pit labourer, and mother were living with their children, including two year old Matilda, in Cross Guns Yard, Newark, in 1861. Joshua and Matilda were married at Coddington All Saints on 25 May 1875 and had 15 children of whom 13 survived infancy. Fourteen children have been traced on the census and birth registrations including Arthur who died young. All the children were born in Coddington and, with the exception of the youngest child, Margaret, baptised at the parish church of All Saints: Harriet b. 1876 (reg. J/F/M) bap. 5 February 1876; Hetty b. 1877 bap. 7 October 1877; John b. 1879 (reg. J/F/M) bap. 13 April 1879; Thomas b. 1881 (J/F/M) bap. 3 April 1881; Hannah Maria b. 1882 bap. 12 November 1882; Ellen b. 1884 bap. 16 November 1884; Joshua Flatters b. 19 August 1886 bap. 17 October 1886; Arthur b. 1888 (J/F/M) bap. 27 February 1888 d. 1888 (J/F/M); Alice Esther b. 1889 (J/F/M) bap. 29 May 1889; Ursula b. 6 June 1890 bap. 21 September 1890; Alfred b. 1892 (J/F/M) bap. 13 November 1892; Mary Ann b. 1894 bap. 19 August 1894; Walter Leonard (Leonard) b. 1899 (J/F/M) bap. 5 March 1899 and Margaret b. 10 April 1901. In 1881 Joshua, an agricultural labourer, and Matilda were living in Codding with their four children Harriet (5), Hetty (3), John (2) and Thomas (4 months). They had six more children in the next ten years one of whom, Arthur, died in infancy. The family was recorded living on Church Lane in 1891 and from their addresses on subsequent census records Joshua and Matilda probably continued to live in the village for the whole of their married life. In 1891 seven of their nine surviving children were still living at home: John, Thomas, Hannah (8), Ellen (6), Joshua (4), Alice (2) and Ursula (under one year). Alfred, Mary and Leonard had been born by 1901 and on the census of that year they and five other siblings - Thomas a malster, Hannah (18), Joshua a farm boy, Alice and Ursula - were living with their parents. Also in the home was Frank Bryan (4 months), Joshua and Matilda's grandson. In 1911 only Thomas a labourer in an ironworks, Leonard and Margaret were still in the family home. Joshua snr. died in 1917 and his sons Alfred and Leonard were killed in France within a month of each other in 1918. Their brother Joshua Flatters (b. 1886) may have served in the Yorkshire Regiment (8006 Sergeant). Matilda completed a form for the army in 1920 listing her son Alfred's surviving blood relatives. Mother: Matilda, 28 Church Lane, Coddington. Brothers: John (41), Wormsley near Doncaster. Thomas (39), [28 CHurch Lane] Coddington. Joshua (34), Swallow Beck Lincoln. Married Kate Smalley 1916. 1939: Scorer Street Lincoln. Died December 1952. Sisters: Harriet Kirkbright (44), Kirk Burton nr. Huddersfield. Married Sam Kirkbright 1900 (Wetherby Yorks). Hetty Wright (42), 182 North Gate Newark. Married Samuel Wright 1900. Hannah Richards (37), William Street Newark. Married Tom Richards 1902. Ellen Rushley (36), Elton nr. Newark. Married Thomas William Rushby 1902. Alice Redford (32), Mill Gate Newark. Married George Redford 1914. Ursula Barratt (30), Little Carlton Newark. Married Thomas W Barratt 1912. 1939: Crown Inn North Muskham. Died 1963. Mary Ann [Tregidgo], 20 Rhodesia Road Stockwell London. Married Frederick H Tregidgo 1915. Margaret Bryan (18), 20 Rhodesia Road Stockwell. Married James R Asher 1935. 1939: Main Street Balderton. Died 1965 When the 1939 England & Wales Register was compiled the widowed Matilda was living at The Firs, Mills Drive, Newark; the register records that she was an old age pensioner and blind. Among those recorded in the household were her son Thomas and her married daughter Alice Redford and her husband George. Matilda died in 1941
Alfred attested on 29 June 1910 at the age of 18 years 5 months and joined the Lincolnshire Regiment. He served at home from 29 June to 27 December 1911 and then at Gibraltar from 28 December followed by Bermuda from 5 August 1914 to 19 October 1914. On 1 July 1914 he was in confinement awaiting trial and on 8 July he was sentenced by Field Court Martial to 56 days detention 'for using violence to his superior officer being in the execution of his office.' Part of the sentence was remitted and he returned to duty on 25 August 1914. A period of home service from 20 October 1914 was followed by a posting to the BEF France on 5 November. Alfred was medically evacuated to a hospital in Belfast, Ireland, on 18 February 1915 for treatment for a bullet wound to the ear. He was discharged from hospital on 11 May 1915. He was posted to the 3rd Bn in May and then the 1st Bn in July 1915. Following a period of home service he returned to France but was awarded leave in England from 21-28 May 1916. He was admitted to hospital sick on 19 December, rejoining his battalion on 21 December. Alfred was appointed acting sergeant in September 1916 and to segeant on 11 October the same year. Alfred was killed in action on 21 March 1918, the first day of the German spring offensive. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France (Panel 23 and 24). He was awarded the Military Medal (London Gazette, 9 March 1917) and the Silver Medal for Military Valour (Montenegro). He qualified for the 1914 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. CWGC - History of Pozieres Memorial (extract): The Pozieres Memorial relates to the period of crisis in March and April 1918 when the Allied Fifth Army was driven back by overwhelming numbers across the former Somme battlefields, and the months that followed before the Advance to Victory, which began on 8 August 1918. The Memorial commemorates over 14,000 casualties of the United Kingdom and 300 of the South African Forces who have no known grave and who died on the Somme from 21 March to 7 August 1918 ... The memorial encloses Pozieres British Cemetery.' (www.cwgc.org)
His brother, Walter Leonard, served with the 2nd Bn Durham Light Infantry (78838 Private) and was killed on 22 April 1918. He is buried in Brandhoek New Military Cemetery, Belgium. (See record on this Roll of Honour) Alfred named his parents of Church Lane, Coddington, his brother Thomas and two other brothers (names illegible) and his sister Mary of the same address and his sister Ellen Wright of 82 North Gate, Newark, as his next of kin when he enlisted in 1910.