Edward was the son of Thomas and Honor Sergeant (also 'Sargeant').
Edward's father Thomas was born at Fordham, Cambridgshire, and his mother Honor was born at Heacham, near Hunstanton, Norfolk. Thomas and Honor had six children of whom five were still living at the time of the 1911 census; Edward Nelson, Minnie Lavinia (b. 1890, Newmarket), Fanny (b. 1892, Newmarket), Bertha (b. 1893, Hopton, Suffolk) and Victoria (b. 1897, Hunstanton, Norfolk). Although Edward was born in 1889 he was not baptised until 16 March 1894 (Garholdisham, Norfolk).
In 1901 the family was living at 1 Horns Market, Horns Road, Ilford, near Romford, Essex, where Thomas was a self-employed hairdresser and tobacconist. However, by 1911 Thomas and Honor were living at 1 Salisbury Terrace, Heacham, near Hunstanton, and only their youngest child, Victoria (14) was still at home.
Edward had joined the Royal Navy in 1910 and in 1911 was serving in HMS Agamemnon at Chatham. He deserted in May 1911.
On 25 August 1914, Edward married Ethel Smith; they were married in the registration district of Boston, Lincolnshire. Ethel was the daughter of William Smith, a railway platelayer, and his wife, Hannah, who lived on Launder Street, Orston.
Edward and Ethel's daughter, Florence Ethel, was born in Southwell on 15 August 1915, a year after their marriage. Edward attested three months later giving his address as Westgate, Southwell.
His widow, Ethel, completed a form for the army in May 1919 listing her husband's surviving blood relatives and named herself and their daughter who were living at High Street, Orston, and Edward's father, Thomas, and his two unmarried sisters, Bertha (24) and Fanny (26), all of whom were living at Alexandra Road, Grantham.