Gunner
H Blackman, RGA first appears in Chailey Parish Magazine in July 1918 and then every month until the final entry in July 1919.
I
believe him to be Horace Blackman who was born in Barcombe, Sussex on 6th December 1886. The
1901 census lists the following family members: Horace Blackman, head, aged 43 and working as a carter on a farm; his wife,
51 year old Ann Blackman (nee Miles) and three children: Horace Blackman (14), a carter boy on a farm, Caroline Blackman (aged
11) and Thomas Blackman (aged nine). A boarder, 58 year old Thomas Moon, is also noted as living with the family in their house at Mount Pleasant in Barcombe.
Horace also had other siblings
who must have moved on by the time the 1901 census was taken. In aged order they were: William Blackman (born 1874),
George Blackman (born 1878), Henry Blackman (born 1879) and Emily Blackman (born 1882).
Horace
married Elizabeth (surname unknown) and the couple had two children:
Dorothy Blackman, born in 1909 and Thomas Blackman, born in 1913.
The
National Archives notes 156507 Gunner Horace W Blackman serving with the Royal Garrison Artillery and later as a Gunner, number
74522, serving with the Royal Defence Corps.
Sources
and Acknowledgements
-
1901
Census of England and Wales
-
Chailey
Parish Magazine
-
The
National Archives: Medal Index Card
-
Thanks
to Nikki Ayling, Neville Daniels and Frances White for assistance with Horace Blackman and his family
