Edward Manville first appears in Chailey Parish Magazine in August 1916 where he is noted quite simply
as Manville, Pte E, England.
In November 1916 that information is updated to note the fact that he is serving with the 2nd Queen’s
Royal West Surrey Regiment in England. The following month it is noted that he has been invalided and discharged and this
information is repeated up to and including March 1917 after which there are no further entries for this man.
Edward was born in Brighton in 1882 and appears on the 1901 census living
at 2 Plough Cottages, Plumpton near Chailey and working as an eighteen year old labourer for Mr Wells (builder). The rest of the family comprised John Manville (head, aged 44, also working as a labourer for Mr Wells).
Elizabeth Manville (wife, aged 41), Laura Maria Manville (aged 12), Annie Manville (aged eight), Charles Manville (aged seven)
John Manville (aged five), Albert Richard Manville (also aged five) and Jesse Joseph Manville (aged two).
There were also other siblings who had left home by 1901. Alfred
William Manville, born in 1878, was a serving private with the Yorkshire regiment. He would go to South Africa the following year and from
there to India. Arthur George Manville was the next in line, and then Henry Manville.
Henry too, would go on to be a career soldier and would join the Royal Sussex Regiment in 1906. Then there were two older sisters, Ellen Elizabeth Manville and Edith Manville; 14 children in total.
Ewdard was conscripted into the Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment on 4th July 1916 when he was
34 years old. He gave his trade as farm labourer and his address as Warren Market
Gardens, North Common, Chailey. His next of kin is noted as his wife, Lily May
Manville (nee Hatfield), whom he had married at Chailey Parish Church on 5th August 1905. Two children are also recorded: Edward Joseph Manville (born 19th September 1908) and an adopted son, Alfred
William Tanner, who was born on 25th November 1908.
Edward was posted to the Queen’s Depot on 5th July 1916 and given the number G/16794. On 3rd October that year he was transferred to the Royal Army Medical Corps and remained with the regiment
until his discharge from the 8th Provisional Field Ambulance at Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex
the following month.
Surviving papers at the National Archives in Kew note that the cause of his discharge was Vascular Disease
of the Heart (VDH) which, “originated March 1903 in Sussex. Says he has always had a weak chest. Had
measles when 21, went deaf after it and was worse generally after that.” A
medical board held on 1st November 1916 noted that his condition was permanent albeit not the result of and not aggravated
by service. However, a second Medical Board convened three weeks later, noted
that his condition had been aggravated by military service. He was awarded a lump sum gratuity of £10.
Edward was discharged from the army on 22nd November 1916 and later received a silver war badge. A subsequent appeal for an army pension was disallowed by a pension appeal tribunal
in June 1919.
The war years were not kind to the Manville family. The patriarch,
John Manville, died in 1917 but by then, three of his children were already dead.
Alfred William, died in 1916. He’d been recalled to
the colours in August 1914 but was discharged the following month as no longer physically fit for war service. Henry Manville died of wounds on 20th November 1914 and is buried in Hazebrouck Military cemetery. Ellen Elizabeth died in 1914 and it is her son, Alfred Tanner, whom Edward adopted
after his sister’s death. I don’t know what became of Ellen’s
husband Thomas William Tanner whom she had married in 1907.
Frederick Manville served with the Royal Sussex regiment and the Royal Fusiliers but was invalided out
of the army in 1915. Albert Richard and Jesse Joseph both died in October 1918.
Sources and Acknowledgements
- 1901 Census of England
and Wales
- Chailey Parish Magazine
- The National Archive: WO 364 pension series
- Julie Manville for additional information about
Edward and his siblings
