Edward Arthur Eyre Milthorp

Edward Arthur Eyre Milthorp was born in 1878 in Newark and was the son of Maj. Edward Fairburn Milthorp, a maltster of Balderton Old Hall, Newark, Nottinghamshire and his first wife Catherine Alice Black. His father was born in 1854 in Newark and his mother Catherine Alice Black was born in 1854 in Kings Lynne, Norfolk , they were married on 5th April 1877 in Hunstanton, Norfolk and went on to have the following children, Edward Arthur Eyre b1878, Harold William Weir b1880 and Agnes b1886 , all were born in Newark. His mother died in 1895 aged 37 yrs the death was recorded in the Bedford Registration area. His father remarried in 1907 when he married his second wife Agnes Eyre Miller in Newark In the 1911 census they are shown living at Clarendon House, Newark and are shown as Edward Fairbain Milthorp 57 yrs a maltster, he is living with his wife Agnes Eyre Milthorp 46 yrs (b1865 King's Lynne) , also living with them at the address is Alice Brewster 32 yrs a domestic servant, they state they have been married for 3 yrs and have no children.

Sergeant Edward Arthur Eyre Milthorp, enlisted at Kingston upon Thames and served with “B” Company, 7th Battalion East Surrey Regiment, he was killed in action in a night attack near Ovillers on 12th/13th August 1916. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. He had a varied career, serving with the United States' Army in the Spanish-American War and returned from Java to enlist.

A roll of honour compiled by the British Legion (Newark Branch) records that he 'travelled 10,000 miles to join the army', joining in November 1915. (Nottinghamshire Archives, ref DD2632,1/1) Article published 26th August 1916 in the Nottingham Evening Post :- “NEWARK SERGEANTS DEATH. “A ROMANTIC MILITARY CAREER. “Edward Arthur Eyre Milthorp, East Surreys, was killed action August 13th. Sergt. Milthorp was the eldest son of Major E. F. Milthorp, A.S.C., of Newark, county magistrate, and exhibited a singular instance of patriotism shortly after the outbreak of the war, when he travelled, at his own expanse, from Java to the barracks at Kingston-on-Thames — a distance of 9,200 miles — to enlist into the East Surreys, in which regiment his brother [1] was serving as a sergeant. “The military career of this gallant sergeant is possibly unique. Being in America in 1898 he joined the American army, and served for seven years. During that period he took part in the Spanish-American war, and was awarded the Cuban medal with four clasps for the battles of Lae Guasimao, San Juan, El Caney, and Santiago. In 1899 he proceeded with the American army to the Philippines, and went through the whole of the insurrection, for which he was awarded the medal with nine clasps. On the outbreak of the Boxer rising in China he was sent thither, and for this he received the medal with two clasps. Returning to the Philippines he remained there till 1903. Through all these engagements, with the exception of one, he had the good fortune to pass unscathed, the exception being at Baliuag, in the Philippines, where he was shot through the arm. In 1904 he decided to return to England, but the call to military life being still strong, he joined the ranks of the R.A.M.C. at Scarborough, and served until 1909. Having obtained an important berth in Singapore he proceeded to the Far East, and while there the present war broke out. During his stay in Singapore Sergeant Milthorp was appointed resident magistrate.” [1] His brother, Harold William Weir Milthorp, was later commissioned into the Machine Gun Corps, attached to the 3rd King's African Rifles serving in German East Africa. Above article and information is courtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918