John Victor Penford

John Victor Penford was the son of John and Mary Anne Penford née Ratcliffe. He was born on 27 June 1887 at Hulme, Lancashire, and baptised (private baptism) at St George's Church, Hulme, on 18 July 1887. His father John was born in Newark in 1844 (J/A/S Newark), the son of Henry Penford, a miller, and his wife Ann (née Guy). In 1881 John (36), a corn miller, was lodging on Church Street, Hulme. His mother Mary Anne Ratcliffe was born in 1859 in Shropshire. In 1881 she was working as a waitress and was a boarder on Fern Street, Chorlton. John and Mary were married at the Primitive Methodist Chapel, Moss Lane, Hulme, in 1885 (A/M/J Chorlton Lancashire), and had two sons, John Victor and Harold who was born in Hulme on 29 November 1890 (reg. 1891 J/F/M Chorlton) and baptised at Hulme St Stephen on 25 February 1891. In 1891 John and Mary were living at 13 Northumberland Street, Hulme, with their sons John (3) and Harold (4m). Also in the household on the night of the census were a boarder, Eliza Hyde (30) and a visitor, Jane Penford (30), a domestic servant. By 1901 the family had returned to Nottinghamshire and living at the Mill House on Main Street, Blidworth. John was a farmer/miller on his own account. John Victor joined the army in 1907 and was serving in India with the 1st Bn Sherwood Foresters in 1911. His parents and brother Harold, a coal miner hewer, were still living in Blidworth. His mother probably died in 1924 (O/N/D Chorlton) and his father in 1929 (A/M/J Mansfield). His brother Harold married Jennie Green (b. 12 February 1889) in 1923 (O/N/D Mansfield). They probably had three daughters: Brenda b. 1925 (A/M/J Mansfield), Norma Penford b.1926 (A/m/J Mansfield) and Freda b. 1932 (J/A/S Mansfield). In 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled, Harold, a coal miner hewer, and Jennie were living in Manchester; the records of three members of the household remain closed. Harold died in 1977 (J/A/S Mansfield).

He was a railway porter when he attested in the Militia (4th Battalion Sherwood Foresters). In 1911 he was serving with the 1st Bn Sherwood Foresters in India.

Attested 1907, residence Mill House, Mansfield

Served as Victor Penford. John Victor Penford enlisted in the Militia on 4 January 1907 and joined the 4th Bn Sherwood Foresters (1746 Private). He was 19 years 7 months old and a [railway] porter at Sutton Junction near Mansfield. He transferred to the regular army, probably the following month, February 1907. In 1911 he was serving with the 1st battalion Sherwood Foresters in India in 1911. The battalion was drafted to France on 4 November 1914 and on 8 November John was admitted to No. 10 General Hospital suffering from frostbite. Then on 19 January 1915 he was slightly wounded in action and treated at 25 Field Ambulance for a bullet wound to the head. He was discharged to duty on 22 January 1915. John Victor was killed in actiom at Neuve Chapelle two months later on 13 March 1915. He has no known grave and his name is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial, France (Panel 26 and 27). He qualified for the 1914 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. CWGC Le Touret Memorial (extract): The Le Touret Memorial commemorates over 13,400 British soldiers who were killed in this sector of the Western Front from the beginning of October 1914 to the eve of the Battle of Loos in late September 1915 and who have no known grave ... Almost all of the men commemorated on the Memorial served with regular or territorial regiments from across the United Kingdom and were killed in actions that took place along a section of the front line that stretched from Estaires in the north to Grenay in the south. This part of the Western Front was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting of the first year of the war, including the battles of La Bassée (10 October – 2 November 1914), Neuve Chapelle (10 – 12 March 1915), Aubers Ridge (9 – 10 May 1915), and Festubert (15 – 25 May 1915).'

John Victor was related to William Henry Penford and Arthur Henry Penford who also died in the war. John's father, John Penford, and William's father, Frederick Penford, were brothers. Arthur's grandfather, Henry Penford was brother to John and Frederick. William Henry Penford, 7th Bn East Yorkshire Regiment (36674 Private), died of wounds on 28 April 1917 (Mansfield St Lawrence and Mansfield St Peter memorials). Arthur Henry Penford, 1/8th Bn Sherwood Foresters (305335 Lance Corporal), died of wounds on 9 October 1918. (Mansfield St Mark memorial). Probate: Penford John Victor of Mill House Blidworth Nottinghamshire died 13 March 1915 Neuve Chapelle France Administration Nottingham 19 March [1937] to Harold Penford miner. Effects £366 13s. 3d. His personal belongings, listed as disc, Xmas cards and letters, were returned to his father in July 1915. Registers of Soldiers' Effects: the record gave the date of his death in action as 'on or about 12 (sic) March 1915'. His father John was his legatee.