Alice Whiting 1893-1973

Parents: William Whiting and Elizabeth Davy.(1)
Born: 1st November 1893 in Haverhill.(1,6)
Baptised: ?
Married: Ernest Dyson, 25, bachelor, farm labourer, of Castle Camps, son of Charles Dyson, farm labourer, on 2nd March 1918 at St Mary's Parish Church, Haverhill. Witnessed by H F Thake and Ada Barber.(2,3)
Children: Living Relatives
Died: 1973 in Newmarket District.(7)

Bio: Alice was the third child of William Whiting and Elizabeth Davy, and the first to survive beyond infancy. She was born in 1893(1) and later censuses record her birthplace as Haverhill, although a baptism record cannot be found for her. On the 1901 census, she is living at 57 Burton End, Haverhill, with her parents and younger sister Nelly. Her father is working as a horseman on a farm.

The 1911 census sees the family at the same address, but there are now five children. Alice, 17, is the oldest. She is working as a machinist at a cloth factory (almost certainly Gurteens) along with her mother. She has younger sisters Nellie, 13, Ivy, 9, and Elsie May, 3, and a brother, John William, 6.

On 2nd March 1918, Alice married Ernest Dyson, a farm labourer of Castle Camps who was the son of Charles Dyson, a shepherd, and Eliza Dockerill. He was baptised at Castle Camps church on 29th December 1894.(4)

Ernest had joined the Suffolk Regiment as Private 13041 at the onset of the First World War, but had been discharged as unfit for service as the result of a heart problem on 9th June 1915. His service records give a brief description of him. He was 5ft 4ins, weighed 112 lbs, chest measurement of 36 ins, with blue eyes and brown hair.(6)

Alice and Ernest had children who are still living, so won't be named here.

It seems that Alice died in 1973, with Ernest following the year after.(8) The death entry places her birth date as 1st November 1893.(7)

Sources:

(1) Birth Register. 4th Quarter 1893, Risbridge District, Volume 4a Page 672
(2) Marriage Register. 1st Quarter 1918, Risbridge District, Volume 4a Page 1611
(3) Suffolk Records Office, Bury St Edmunds, Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Haverhill. Ref: 578/4/19
(4) SFHS, Castle Camps Baptisms 1563-1950.
(5) SFHS, Horseheath Burials 1558-1950
(6) Ancestry.com, British Army War Pension Records, WO364, Piece 1089
(7) Death Register. 2nd Quarter 1973, Newmarket District, Volume 4b Page 2846
(8) Death Register. 4th Quarter 1974, Newmarket District, Volume 10 Page 2828