Sidney Horn

Family and Home ^{1, 2, 3, 4}

Sidney Charles Horn was born in Dagnall, Buckinghamshire, the youngest of the twelve children of George Horn and Judith née Munn.

His siblings were:

• Brother: George born in 1861
• Brother: Henry born in 1863
• Brother: Fred born 31st December 1865
• Sister: Susan born 1st May 1868
• Sister: Catharine born 24th August 1870
• Sister: Sarah Ann born 10th September 1873
• Sister: Miriam born 9th February 1876
• Sister: Annie born 5th December 1877
• Brother: Walter born 11th November 1879
• Brother: Jeffrey William born 1st March 1882
• Brother: Ernest born 21st May 1884

Sidney’s family lived at Lower Farm, Studham Road, Dagnall where his father was a Dealer and Farmer. In the 1891 Census, Sidney and six of his siblings were at home with their parents. 4 year old Sidney and his brothers Walter, 11, Jeffrey, 8 and Ernest, 6, were all at school. However, Catherine, 20, was a Dressmaker and Annie, 13, a School Monitress. Sarah, 17 has no occupation recorded.

Education ⁴

It is very probable that Sidney and his siblings attended Dagnall School, but no records have been found.

Employment ⁴

The 1901 Census shows 14 year old Sidney as a General Helper on his father’s farm, Lower Farm, Studham Road, Dagnall, where he then lived with his parents George, 60 and Judith, 57. His 21 year old brother Walter also worked on the farm; 19 year old Jeffrey was an Ironmonger and 16 year old Ernest and assistant in an Iron Foundry. Sarah, 27 was engaged in housework.

However, by 1911, Sidney’s 70 year old widowed mother Judith was the Farmer at Lower Farm, Dagnall with Walter, 30 and Sidney, 24, both working on the farm. Annie, also living at home, was a School Teacher.

Marriage and Birth of a Daughter ^{1, 3, 4, 5}

In the 1st Quarter of 1915, Sidney Charles Horn married Daisy Kate Garrett of 17 Ringshall, daughter of William Garrett, Bricklayer. Their daughter Eileen Joan Horn was then born on 16th October 1915 and her birth was registered in Berkhamsted.

Military Service ^{6, 7}

The only evidence of Sidney’s War Service are his entries on Absent Voters’ lists. These show him serving as an Acting Staff Sergeant Major in W Company, Army Service Corps, Forage Department. The Forage Department was part of the Horse Transport section of the Army Service Corps, hence the prefix “T” in his Service Number.  Formed in late 1915 and engaged in Home Service, this unit organised the collection of hay and other forage for horses during the First World War. Sidney’s civilian occupation as a farmer’s son was good background for this. However, he may also have been insufficiently fit for overseas service.

An addition to the Little Gaddesden Roll of Honour ⁸

The original, pre-Second World War, wording on the left hand panel of the Little Gaddesden War Memorial on the village green, read:

This memorial is erected in honour of the one hundred and thirty six men who went from the villages of Little Gaddesden, Hudnall and Ringshall and served in the war of 1914 = 1918. The names of those who gave their lives for their country are cut on the stones here. The names of those who returned to England are preserved in the Church.

However, the Church Roll of Honour lists only 119 men; one of those omitted is Sidney Charles Horn, possibly because his association with the village was the result of his marriage rather than his upbringing. 17 Ringshall was his wife’s address when their daughter Eileen Joan was born in 1915 and his address on the Absent Voters’ lists of 1918 and Spring 1919. His name has been added to the 2018 Centenary Revision of the Roll of Honour. Sidney’s brother-in-law, Alfred Ernest Bail, husband of Daisy Garrett’s sister Margaret Eliza, has also been added to the Centenary Revision.

Birth of two more Children ^{1, 2, 4, 9}

On 1st April 1919 Sidney and Daisy’s second daughter, Violet Dorothy Horn was born. Sidney returned to farming and, from Autumn 1919, Electoral Registers give their address as Dagnall Hill. Their son Russell Sidney Horn was born there on 1st May 1926 and the family lived at Dagnall Hill until at least 1931.

Moving to Croxley Green ³

However, the 1939 Register shows Sidney, Daisy and their children living at 97 Kenilworth Drive, Croxley Green where Sidney was a Jam Factory Foreman. Daisy had “Unpaid Domestic Duties”, Eileen was a Timber Merchant’s Clerk and Violet a Clerical Officer in the Civil Service; 13 year old Russell was a schoolboy.

Deaths of Daisy and Sidney ^{10, 11}

On 11th January 1959, Daisy Kate Horn of 97 Kenilworth Drive, Croxley Green died, aged 73, in Watford Peace Memorial Hospital. Her National Probate Calendar entry shows Sidney as a Jam Manufacturer’s Traveller. However, only ten months later, on 26th November 1959, 73 year old Sidney Charles Horn of 97 Kenilworth Drive, Croxley Green also died.

References

1. https://www.findmypast.co.uk England & Wales births 1837-2006 Transcriptions

2. https://www.ancestry.co.uk  England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975

3. https://www.ancestry.co.uk The 1939 Register

4. https://www.findmypast.co.uk 1871 – 1921 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcriptions

5. https://www.findmypast.co.uk England & Wales marriages 1837-2005 Transcriptions

6. 1918-1919 Absent Voters’ Lists Parliamentary County of Hertford, Hemel Hempstead Division, Little Gaddesden

7. https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/1713-army-service-corps/

8. Leonhardt, John (ed), 2002, A Century Remembered – a celebration of the Millennium in Little Gaddesden, Rural Heritage Society of Little Gaddesden, Ringshall and Ashridge

9. https://www.findmypast.co.uk Electoral Registers 1832 – 1932

10. https://www.findmypast.co.uk England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007

11. https://www.ancestry.co.uk National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) 1858 – 1995