Ernest William Branston

Ernest William was the only child of John Thomas and Ada Branston. Neither of his parents came from the Stamford area and it’s not known when he moved to the town. He was born in Uffington in 1894 but in 1901 the family was living in Buckinghamshire.

At some time between 1901 and 1911 his father, a blacksmith, was injured at work. In 1911 John Thomas Branston was only 41 years old but ‘retired under compensation’. Living at 30 Reform St as well as Ernest William and his parents was his uncle, Charles Betts an Engine Fitter and two cousins; Charles Betts Jr, a Naval Pensioner aged 27 and Mary Kate Wade, a Dressmaker aged 20. (In December 1911, Mary Kate married Archibald Alderman, brother of William of 11 Torkington Street.)

By the time of the census Ernest William, a fitter’s apprentice at the New Pick Motor Company on St Martin’s had already joined the Territorials. He signed an Attestation with the 4th East Anglian Brigade on 20th January 1911 and trained as a gunner with the Northants Field Artillery for a couple of weeks each summer.

The family had moved to 52a St Leonard’s Street by the beginning of the war when Ernest William was immediately called to full time service. He continued to serve at home until November 1915 then was with the Expeditionary Force in France until January 1916 earning the 1914-15 Star. In March 1916 he went to Alexandria where he was wounded. This led to his discharge in April when his term of service expired.

In 1919 Ernest William married Alma Bond. He was still living in the Stamford area when he died in 1959.