John Greenfield
was born in late 1883 or early 1884, his birth being registered in the March 1884 quarter at Lewes, Sussex. He appears on the 1901 census for England and Wales as a 17
year old farm labourer living in the rural parish of St John’s
Entire, Chailey, with his family. The family comprised John Greenfield senior
(aged 51 and working as a general cowman contractor), his 42 year old wife Mary Ann and their three children: John, Minnie
Greenfield (aged 11) and Harry Greenfield (aged six).
Ten years earlier,
the 1891 census reveals that the Greenfield family was living at 52 Bevenbridge, Lewes and comprised the parents, John and
Mary Ann and four children: John (aged seven), Annie Greenfield (aged five), Emma [Mary] Greenfield (aged three) and Minnie
(aged one). By the time the 1901 census was taken, Annie Greenfield would be
working as a fifteen year old domestic servant in Brighton. Emma Greenfield had died in infancy in 1892, her death recorded at Lewes in the March quarter of that year.
John Greenfield
first appears in Chailey Parish Magazine in a special list of attested men in March 1916.
By July 1916 he is: Greenfield, Pte J, 14th Royal Sussex, England but by December 1917 has transferred from the 14th Royal Sussex to the 12th Hampshire Regiment.
This information is then repeated up to and including the final published roll call in July 1919.
The National Archives
reveals one John Greenfield with Hampshire connections and gives his army number with the Hampshire Regiment as 32454. This
man's only service in a theatre of war was with the 12th Hampshire's in Salonika.
John’s brother,
Harry Greenfield, also served his King and Country during the First World War.
Sources and Acknowledgements
- 1891 Census of England and Wales
- 1901 Census of England and Wales
- England
and Wales, Civil Registration
Index: 1837-1983
- Chailey Parish Magazine
- The National Archives:
Medal Index Card
- Malory of the Lost Generation 1418 forum for assistance with John Greenfield's service record
