Arthur Stanley Munns 1886 – 1980
Arthur was born on 18th April 1896 in Bekesbourne, to James and Julia Eliza (née Whale), when his father, an agricultural labourer, was 55.
In 1903, James died and Julia remarried to Thomas James Munns in 1904. He was 12 years her junior. By 1909, they were living in the village. Arthur was a member of the Shepherdswell Junior Cricket Club, and the 1911 Census said he was a “Page Boy in the mansion”; the family were living in Connaught Villas and moved to Westcourt Cottages by 1914.
Arthur joined the Royal Navy on 26th November 1912, Service No J21245, as a Boy II. He had fair hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion, with a scar on his left leg; later he had scars on both knees and a tattoo of an anchor and a lifebuoy on his right forearm.
In 1914, he signed up for 12 years and saw service on over 14 ships, being present at the Battle of Jutland in 1916. When he left the Navy, he had attained the rank of Leading Seaman.
He married Kate Matilda Cramp in October 1923, at St Mary’s in Dover. They had a son born in 1924 and a daughter in 1926. In 1939, he was living in Ashford and described as “incapacitated”.
His death is registered in Canterbury district in 1980.