Arthur was born in Sevenoaks in 1896. By the time of the 1911 Census, Arthur was going by his middle name of Humphrey, and had moved with his mother to Strood. His mother, Susan, had married Humphrey’s stepfather, Christopher George Chambers, around 1904, and Humphrey had a younger sister, Doris Gwendoline, who was 4 in 1911. His stepfather worked as a waterside labourer, whilst Humphrey, then aged 15, was working as a core maker in a local iron foundry. The iron foundry was probably Aveling and Porter, as the De Caville Index indicates that Humphrey is listed on the firm’s roll of honour. Susan’s occupation was not listed. The family’s address was given as High View, Moore Street, Strood. His mother was still living there in the years immediately after Humphrey’s death.
Susannah died in 1930 at the age of 61, in Strood.
Arthur enlisted in Chatham, and began his service as a Private in the Royal West Surrey Regiment, between 4 and 21 November 1916 (regimental number 16036), transferring to the London London Regiment of the 22nd Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers (regimental number 61526).
Arthur died on 23 February 1917, and is buried in the St Sever Cemetery (Extension Part II UK A-D). His page on Every Man Remembered can be found here.
Sources:
1911 Census: Class: RG14; Piece: 3869; Schedule Number: 239
Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011..
Peter Singlehurst; The War Dead of the Commonwealth St. Sever Cemetery Extension Rouen, France Part Two Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen and Civilians From the United Kingdom A-D
Ancestry.com. UK, Commonwealth War Graves, 1914-1921 and 1939-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission,Commonwealth War Graves Registers. London, United Kingdom: Peter Singlehurst.
Military-Genealogy.com, comp. UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.
Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.
FreeBMD. England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.