King's Lynn man's search for answers on First World War relative

A man from West Lynn is appealing for help in finding out more about a relative of his who died during the First World War.

Alan Marshall is hoping to learn more about Horace Bertie Emmerson, who was from Ingoldisthorpe, but whose name appears on a roll of honour in a church in Haveringland near Norwich.

Mr Marshall said: “It is a mystery why this should be. He appears on no other memorial other than a private one in Ingoldisthorpe church that his widow and his parents had placed there.”

He said he was contacted by historian Mike Hillier in January who is researching the lives of those whose names are on the First World War roll of honour at St Peter’s Church in Haveringland for the centenary of the conflict.

Mr Marshall said Horace appears in his family tree as his mother Charlotte (née Shorten) and one of his first cousin’s wife were sisters.

“In 1911 Horace was a gardener working at the Sandringham Estate and he enlisted in the army at some point after that in the Bedfordshire Regiment.”

Horace married Mary Ann Harriett Sadler (aka Harriet), a school teacher, in Ingoldisthorpe in 1915.

“After that the trail goes cold and we lose track of him until he was killed.”

Horace died a couple of days before the end of the Battle of the Somme, Mr Marshall said.

“He was killed in action in November 1916, aged 26. He was probably killed during the Battle of the Ancres – the last major offensive of the Battle of the Somme during an assault on the Munich Trench.”

The connection Horace had to Haveringland is unknown, and no records have been able to solve the mystery.

“I have tried to research the wider Emmerson family around Ingoldisthorpe and surrounding villages with the hope of finding someone with some knowledge of Horace that could have been handed down through the generations,” Mr Marshall added.

If you can help, contact him on 01553 764774 or alroymarshall@bthotmail.com.