The Great War: A–M · Story 25

Albert Ambrose Fensome (1883-1969)

The tragedy of a young man’s violent death is not confined to warzones. In the 1911 Census for Ringstead, widowed Charlotte Fensome, now living with her son, had mistakenly put down that she had been married 50 years and had had 12 children, 4 of whom had died. As she was not the wife of the “Head” or the Head herself, this information was not required and has been crossed out. Nevertheless, it gives us a picture of many couple’s family lives. One of these four children had been Albert who had died with other young men in his own parish.

On January 27th 1858, Charlotte Ann Saddington had married Stephen Fensom, (the “e” seems to have come later) in Denford, where they both lived. Stephen worked as a shoemaker, probably at home, and his wife and older children would have helped him produce his handsewn boots and shoes. By 1871 the family had moved to Spring Gardens in Ringstead and there are five children shown: Thomas (12); Albert (8); Herbert (5); Amelia (3) and Joseph just four months old. More children followed by 1881 but Albert is missing.

On the morning of 30th January 1877 Albert, aged just 14 was working with other boys and men in one of the fields in Ringstead when the wind and rain increased in intensity. All the workers hurried for shelter and huddled together in a small hovel. Some of the boys decided that this was unsafe and dashed for a thatched stone-built barn nearby. It looked more solid, but when a whirlwind hit it, the roof was ripped off and the gable ends and walls fell in burying some of the boys. Three died, and Albert Fensome was one of these. Their gravestone still stands to the left of the short path to the north door of the church.

Another son was born later and, as was often the custom, he was also called Albert, in remembrance of his dead brother. He was christened Albert Ambrose Fensom, with his sister Kate, on 5th February 1894 in Ringstead Church although he had been born on 21st May 1883. By the time of the christening there had been further tragedy for Charlotte for, on 5th May 1887, her husband Stephen had been buried in the churchyard, aged 47 years.

By 1891, living in Carlow Street, Charlotte was working as a shoehand with son Joseph (30) also in the trade. Albert was still at school and there was also a female lodger. In the 1911 Census the family were still living in Leveratt’s Row as Spring Rise or Gardens was later known. It became derelict and was demolished in the 1970s. “Ambrose” Fensome aged 27, was now given as the head of the family. He was still single and was working, doing “Army Welt Sewing”. His mother, Charlotte, 72 years old, was living with him and there was a young boarder, Maggie Horsford, from Stowe in Huntingdonshire (probably Stow Longa 11 miles east of Ringstead), who was a lift (heel) maker.

Charlotte died in the third quarter of 1914 and it may be that she lived long enough to see the marriage of her youngest son, Albert, who had married Minnie Jane Hobbes in the second quarter of that same year. Minnie had been born in Woodford on 13th January 1884 and in the 1911 Census for Woodford had been living with her family in Pigs Lane there and working as a “Sewing Machinist, Tailoring”. Bride and groom would both have been about thirty years old. At about the same time the Great War began and on 4th August 1914 Great Britain entered that war.

The belief by many, that the Germans would be quickly defeated, was soon shattered when the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), consisting of Regular Army Battalions, was knocked back and nearly destroyed by the well-organised and planned German offensive. At first local bigwigs, cajoled and hectored young men, to join up to fill the gaps in the old Battalions or the the new Pals’ Battalions. At first these were volunteer units were like private armies but they became a part of the War Office’s responsibility. It was soon clear that this would not be enough and, despite opposition from many MPs, conscription began in early 1916. The 1914 and 1914/15 Star Medals were for men who had entered the war before conscription and we know that Albert was not awarded either medal so he must have entered the Western Front, in 1916 or after, as a conscript.

Unfortunately, as is often the case, Albert’s military records have largely been destroyed. The Medal and Awards Roll show that he served in four battalions. The Ringstead Roll of Honour states that he served in France, had been wounded, and probably ended his military career in 1918 in the 2/5th Gloucestershire Regiment as part of the Army of Occupation. Finally, from the Absent Voters List of 1918, prepared for the December 1918 General Election, when newly enfranchised men and women would vote for the first time, we can see that he was with the 7th Bedfordshires near or at the end of the war in November 1918.

There is one further record, for the Northamptonshire Military Tribunals 1916-18, which adjudicated on whether a conscripted soldier should be exempted from service because of his work or other circumstances. On 1st April 1917 an A. A. Fensome who worked for Eaton and Company of Rushden on a Pounding Machine came up before a tribunal. Eaton and Company were a well-known boot and shoe maker and a pounding machine forced the uppers down on the last as flat to the insole as possible. We know that at in 1911 Albert had been in the shoe trade but on a different process. Unfortunately there is no further information on A. A. Fensome to be certain he is our man and no decision is reported. Rushden is only some six miles from Ringstead and it seems likely, although not certain, that he is our Albert and that he had to accept conscription at this or a future tribunal.

We know, thanks to the knowledge, of the Northamptonshire Regiment and its Regimental Numbers, of Steve (Stebie173) on the Great War Forum, that Albert would have enlisted with the 5th Battalion in mid-July 1917. He was given Regimental Number 39554. This Battalion had been formed as part of the Kitchener’s first New Army made up of volunteers. At first these had been for home defence but quickly they were needed on the Western Front and almost all of the men volunteered. The 5th had first seen service on the Western Front at the end of May 1915 and it remained there until the end of the war.

After training, however, Albert Fensome was sent to the 17th Infantry Base Depot at Étaples in France. On arrival there, in early November, he was part of a batch of men from the Northamptonshires who were transferred to the 4th Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment and was given the number 41257.

At first, the 4th Bedfordshires had also provided Home defence as a “Reserve Battalion” but were sent to France in July 1916 and spent the rest of the war on the Western Front.

Albert, however, made a further transfer to the 7th Battalion which also served on the Western Front until May 1918. At this point, Other Ranks were transferred to the 2nd Battalion of the Bedfordshires and some Officers and NCOs were given the task of training the newly arrived American troops.

We know that Albert was not in the 2nd Battalion but we also know that the May 9th Daily List of Casualties had a long list of wounded men in the Bedfordshires, and among them was Pte. A. Fensome (41257) of Thrapston. These lists could be published upto six weeks after the actual event so it was probably in March or April 1918 that Albert was wounded, possibly in the German “Michael” Offensive. We can only surmise that he was wounded while in the 7th Battalion and was hospitalised for some time. When he was fit again the 7th had disappeared and he joined the 2/5th Gloucestershires and stayed with them into the Army of Occupation.

Finally, he was demobilised, probably in early 1919, and returned to his life in Ringstead. The Electoral Registers of England and Wales for 1920 to 1932 show that Albert and his family lived in the Sivers Buildings in Ringstead. In 1939 they are still there. By now Albert was working as a Slag Filler in an iron furnace, probably at Islip. Living with them was daughter Gladys, born on 2nd November 1916.

The Islip Parish Council website reports that:

During the war [WW2] it was essential to keep the [furnace] site hidden from the eyes of the German bomber pilots, and the escaping burning gas was a problem, as it lit up the night sky. This surplus gas was allowed to lift an escape valve at the top of a small chimney on the working platform and burn off. It was decided the best way to hide this was to erect corrugated roofing over the working platform and `pig’ bays. The result of this was many of the men suffered the effects of gassing and extreme heat.

It would have been a sad fate for someone who had survived the poison gas of the Western Front to be gassed so close to home. Luckily he survived into old age and in 1942 the production of pig iron finally ended at Islip.

Minnie died on 1st August 1955 and Albert on 13th February 1969. He was 85 years old and was living at 66 High Street at the time of his death.