A Lost Love – The Misfortunes of War
A great variety of subjects arrive as queries and comments through the Forncett History website and they quite often concern the stories of families who lived in the village at some time in the past. One such recent story was of the Lawn family who, like many families, came to Forncett as employees of the Great Eastern Railway.
The arrival of the railway in Forncett, in 1849, brought huge changes to the community, not least because the Great Eastern Railway (G.E.R.) became a major employer in the village. William Lawn was born in Broome in 1867 and by 1891 he had married a girl called Alice and was working as a plate layer, repairing and maintaining the railway tracks. William and Alice had five children but sadly Alice died in April 1902 at the age of 32. By 1911 William Lawn had moved to Forncett and he and his four youngest children were living near the station. One of the family photos that I was sent by William's great grandson, Mark, shows William's daughter Alice, then aged 19, with her fiancée who had clearly recently joined the army.
So, who was Alice's fiancée? In 2014, Forncett History Group launched a project, led by Jackie Scully (now Jackie Lanaway), to mark the centenary of the First World War, with a focus on the impact of the war on the parishes of Forncett St. Mary and Forncett St. Peter. Jackie's work led to the production of a Book of Remembrance which documents the stories of all the Forncett men who gave their lives in WWI and WWII. This magnificent resource meant that within minutes I could identify Alice's man as 20 year-old William Edward Ludkin from Forncett St. Mary.
William Ludkin – 1st Battalion, Norfolk Regiment
William's father, John, had also worked as a platelayer for the G.E.R. and was tragically killed, aged just 32, in November 1902, when he was hit by a train. So, Alice and William had a lot in common; they had both lost a parent within six months of each other and both their fathers worked on the railway.
Extract from Norfolk Chronicle, 22 November 1902
William Ludkin enlisted in the 1st Battalion, Norfolk Regiment, on 6th September 1914, just a month after war was declared. In June 1916 the 1st Battalion was north east of Arras, near Bailleul, and, shortly afterwards, a number of German bombardments wrecked the left trench on the Norfolks' front and killed four men. Then the Germans exploded three large mines, two being on the Norfolks' front, the third to the left. This was followed by an infantry attack on the Bailleul to Arras road. The attack was repulsed by the Norfolks, but 21 men were killed. The Norfolk Regiment Casualty List records William's death as on 2nd June 1916. He was 21 years old. William is buried at the Faubourg D'Amiens Cemetery in Arras.
William's death in France must have devastated Alice Lawn, just as so many young women mourned the loss of their husbands, fiancées or boyfriends in that terrible war.
Alice moved to Handsworth, Birmingham to live with her older sister, Amy, who had married a Birmingham man, George Spencer, some years earlier. In 1926 Alice, now aged 31, also married. Her husband, David George Randall (always known as George), was a press tool maker and the couple lived in Birmingham until at least 1957, although they visited Forncett often during that time.
George Randall and his great nephew, Jack Lawn, in Forncett about 1939.
Alice's father, William Lawn, became a permanent way inspector with the G.E.R. He remarried in 1920 and moved to live at Fairview in Spicers Lane, Forncett St. Mary. Then, in the late 50s or early 60s, Alice and her husband, George, moved from Birmingham back to Norfolk. They came to live at Maryvale (now Walnut Tree Cottage) in Low Road, Forncett St. Mary where Alice died in 1985, aged 90.
With many thanks to Mark Lawn for help in researching this story and for the Lawn family photos.