ALFRED WILLIAM HORN
The 1911 census lists Alfred William Horn living with his family at 149 St. Augustine Road, Southsea. Both his parents and all four children are recorded as having been born in Portsmouth and yet there is no birth record for either parent in the Borough though there is for each child.
The earliest record for the Horn family in Portsmouth was in 1889 when Alfred William's sister Rhoda was born and at the census of 1891, Alfred's father, also called Alfred, his mother Elizabeth and two sisters, Rhoda and Lilian were living at 58 Boulton Road, Southsea. They were born in 1867, 1866, 1889 and 1890 respectively. Alfred snr. was described as a Signalman for the Royal Albert Yacht Club, an occupation he followed for the next 20 years.
1901 saw the family still in Boulton Road but further along at No. 37. In the census that year Elizabeth declared her birthplace as in Chelsea. Two more children had been born by then - Elsie in 1894 and Arthur William in 1898.
At the outbreak of the Great War Alfred William was 16 years old and so not eligible to enlist, but he did so later, probably after his 18th birthday. He joined the 6th Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry which had been in France since May 1915 so he must have been sent to make up numbers. Alfred William lost his life on 23rd August 1917 during the 3rd Battle of Ypres, commonly known as Passchendaele.
FURTHER INFORMATION
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) list Private Alfred William Horn, (260128), 6th Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, died 23/08/1917, age 19. Buried at Hooge Crater Cemetery (Grave Ref: IV.E.2.). Son of Alfred and Elizabeth Sarah Horn, of 149, St. Augustine Rd., Southsea, Portsmouth.
Alfred Horn is commemorated on the Trinity Methodist Church WW1 Memorial and the Cenotaph. He is not listed in "The National Roll of the Great War", Section X.
Tim Backhouse
September 2014