Alfred Henry Mince was born on 16 August 1890 to Henry Mince and Agnes Ann Mince (nee Wyndow). He was baptised at St Cyr’s Church on October 6th 1890.
The Mince family were living at Brickyard House, Ryeford, Stonehouse, which was somewhere near the Anchor Inn at the edge of the canal. Alfred’s father was a brickyard worker, probably at Jefferies brickyard just along the road from their house. Alfred had two sisters, Florence born in 1888 and Gladys, born in 1893.
In 1901, the family were living at Ryeford Pitch possibly in the same house as in 1891, next to the Anchor Inn. Henry was still a brick worker and his mother Agnes was a sweet shop keeper.
By 1911 they had moved to 28, Avenue Terrace and Alfred was a porter guard with the Midland Railway. His father was a labourer at the brickyard and his mother and sister Florence were laundresses. Gladys was a housemaid to an elderly gentleman in Kent with her aunt Sarah Wyndow.
Alfred was an Army reserve in December 1915. He entered service in July 1917 when he joined the Anson Battalion Royal Naval Division as an Able Seaman. This division was for naval volunteers not needed at sea. The battalion was drafted for the British Expeditionary Force in October 1917. Alfred went to France with the battalion in November 1917 and was killed in action on January 1st 1918. He died of his wounds in the 149th (RN) Field Ambulance. At first his mother was told he had been buried in an isolated grave somewhere in France. But he may have been buried at Thiepval Cemetery at the Somme and he is recorded on the Memorial there.
Alfred Henry Mince is mentioned in “Lest We Forget”, the book recording Stonehouse soldiers in WW1, as having died on active service. However, he is not included in the index and there is no photo. On Stonehouse War Memorial his name is spelled wrongly as Minge.
Recently we have been given a photo of Alfred which was kept by his former girlfriend Josephine Banks (later Shill) after his death, for the rest of her life.
Alfred Henry Mince