Edward Robert Buzzing 1888 – 1979
Edward, known as Ted, was born on 24th February 1888, in the Lambeth district of London. His parents were Edward Robert and Sarah Elizabeth (née Coghlan).
He was baptised at St Barnabas, Kennington on 1st April the same year, when his father’s occupation was printer and they were living at 70 Wilcox Road.
Edward senior died at the end of 1892, when Ted was only four years old and his brother William only two. It is not clear what happened next, but on 22nd October 1894, Ted was admitted to the Berrington and Eye school in Herefordshire, with his address given as Moreton. In the column for parent or guardian, the word ‘none’ was written.
He left school on 8th February 1901, with the Census that year showing him living with the Powles family in Eye, Morton and Ashton parish in Herefordshire. At the age of 13 years, Ted was a boarder and already working as a mason’s labourer for Mr Powles who was a stonemason. He attested on the 1st November 1906, when he was 18 years old, giving his occupation as blacksmith.
He appeared to have originally joined the 3rd Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment and was noted as being 5ft 3ins tall, with grey eyes and dark brown hair. In 1911, the Battalion was stationed in the Shaft Barracks on the Western Heights in Dover, when his rank was given as a private. His wife-to-be, Emily Stroud (sometimes spelt Strood), was working in Dover, as shown in the Census, and it is likely that they met when he was off duty.
Emily was a Shepherdswell girl, and they married at St Andrew’s in the village on 5th October 1912, following reading of the Banns. Their first child, daughter Edith Hilda Mary, was born in November 1913. There is an address in the local directories for E Buzzing from 1914 at Fern Cottage, later Fern Villa, Shepherdswell.
It appears that Ted remained in the Army, later transferring to the 5th Company of the Machine Gun Corps, with the service no. P/17212. He saw service in France and was given a short leave from the Front to attend the funeral of his daughter on Saturday 5th February 1916 at St Andrew’s.
Later that same year, Ted was admitted to the 149th Field Ambulance on 13th November, when he had been in the Army for ten years. By this stage, he had reached the rank of lance corporal. He was not seriously injured as he was discharged back to his unit three days later. He was transferred again to the Royal Flying Corps on 7th August 1917 and subsequently to the Royal Air Force on 31st March 1919 as a reserve, finally being discharged on 30th April 1920.
During his service, a 2nd daughter was born in September 1918. On going into the Reserve, Ted joined the National Union of Railwaymen, Dover branch, on 22nd April 1919, with his occupation again as blacksmith. The family did not appear in the local directories after 1919, however another daughter was born in January 1920 and a son in the Dover district in the 3rd quarter of 1921.
By 1939, Ted was working as a blacksmith in the dockyard, with his address given as 10 Harris Road, Sheerness.
He died in November 1979 and was buried on the 26th at Sheppey Cemetery.