Albert Agate was
born in Keymer, Sussex in 1870. His birth was
recorded on page 149 of the Cuckfield (Sussex) register
(2b) in June of that year.
By the time the
1881 census was taken, he was living at 2 Shaftesbury Cottages, Lye Lane, Keymer. His father, Alfred, aged 33, was noted as a Bricklayer Journeyman
and his mother (also 33), as a Bricklayer’s wife. The couple had five children:
Mary (aged 13), Albert (aged 11), Henry (aged six), Ellen (aged four) and Alfred (age one).
The census gives Albert’s birth year as 1871.
Twenty years later,
the 1901 census records 29 year old Albert as a Farm Labourer and the head of his own household at Glebe Cottage in Streat, Sussex. With him are his 26
year old wife, Sarah Louisa and their four children: Alfred Albert Agate (aged six), Daisy May Agate (aged three), Florence Esther Agate (aged two) and Henry Robert Agate (aged
five months).
In October 1914,
Chailey Parish Magazine notes an Alfred Agate serving his King and Country. It
is unclear however, whether this is Albert Agate or his son Alfred Albert as Chailey Parish Magazine, where it lists a forename,
refers to Albert as Alfred. By October 1914, Albert would have been 44 years
old and it is therefore probable that the Alfred Agate referred to in the parish magazine is in fact his son. Nevertheless, by July 1915, Albert was also doing his bit, Chailey Parish Magazine noting that Alfred Agate sen was serving King and Country.
In October 1915
the magazine adds the additional information that Pte Agate (sen) is serving with
the Royal Sussex Regiment in England and by January 1916 the magazine notes that he is with the 3rd Battalion.
In April 1916,
the magazine notes that Driver Agate senior is with the 3rd Royal Sussex MG in
England and the following month that information is updated to note that he
is in France. As the 3rd Royal Sussex
remained a reserve battalion in England, Albert
certainly would not have served abroad with them but was probably transferred to one of the service, territorial or regular
battalions of that regiment shortly prior to going overseas.
The next information
update in Chailey’s Parish appears in December 1917 when it states that Driver Agate (senior) is now serving with the
62nd Machine Gun Corps. This information is repeated over the ensuing months
until the list of Chailey serving men ceased to appear in July 1919.
As noted above,
Albert’s oldest son Alfred also served in the First World War and died eight days after the Armistice on 19th November 1918 at the age of 23. Alfred’s
entry in the Commonwealth War Graves Register record that he was the son of Albert and Sarah Louisa Agate who, at the time
of the entry, were now living at Godley’s Green, Chailey.
Sources & Acknowledgments
- Births, Marriages & Deaths
- 1881 Census of England &
Wales
- 1901 Census of England &
Wales
- Chailey Parish Magazine
