Frank Smith was born in Hambledon in 1892, the son of Emma Agnes Smith and grandson of William and Keziah Smith. He grew up largely in his grandparents’ household at Green Lane, part of a long established village family. Like many boys of rural background he entered military service at a young age rather than agricultural work, and by 1911 he was already serving as a soldier with the 1st Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment at Alma Barracks, Farnborough.
John Searle was born at Denmead in 1874 and later became closely connected with Hambledon through work and family life. He married Emily Jessie Searle of Church Lane, Hambledon and before the First World War the couple lived with his parents at Soberton, sharing the family home after his return from military service overseas.
Charles Frederick Noel Prince Sealy was born on 2nd April 1892 at Southsea, the only son of Lieutenant Colonel Charles William Henry Sealy and Helena Louisa Sealy. His family background was firmly rooted in the professional and military class. His father had served in the Royal Artillery and held an administrative appointment in India, while his grandfather had also been a general officer. The family lived at Hambledon House, one of the principal residences in the village, and his upbringing differed greatly from that of most of the men later commemorated beside him.
Fred Alban Samways was born in Hambledon in 1894, the son of Frederick and Elizabeth Samways. He grew up at The Vine public house in West Street, kept by his grandmother Emma Furber who was also the village grocer. The building was part home and part centre of village life, and he spent his childhood in surroundings familiar to many in the parish.
William Robert Rippon was born on 8th September 1890 at Heage near Belper in Derbyshire. At the age of seventeen he enlisted in the Royal Marine Artillery on 16th March 1908 and began a seagoing career that took him from ship to ship around the fleet in the years before the First World War.
While serving aboard HMS Vanguard, when the ship was in port at Portsmouth, he met Daisy Ellen Dennett whose family lived in Hambledon. The couple married in April 1911 and their first child, Reginald, was born later that year, followed by a daughter, Marjorie, in January 1914. His life was that of a regular serviceman, frequently away at sea while his young family remained ashore.
Arthur Edmund Parvin was born in Hambledon on 30th April 1880, the son of William and Catherine Parvin of Green Lane. He grew up in the village in a typical agricultural household, his father working as a labourer, and was baptised in the parish church on 29th June 1880. Like many boys from rural families he sought opportunity beyond farm work and entered naval service while still a teenager, enlisting in the Royal Navy on 1st December 1898.
Walter Moreton was born in 1893, the son of Edward and Elizabeth Moreton. The family followed agricultural work across Hampshire before settling in Hambledon, where by 1911 they were living at Beckless Cottages. Like many village families they relied on rural labour, and William grew up in a close farming household whose sons reached adulthood just as the country entered war.
Budd Moreton was born in West Tisted in 1888 and later moved with his parents, Edward and Elizabeth Moreton, to Hambledon where the family became part of the agricultural workforce of the parish. By 1911 he was living at Beckless Cottages and working as a farm labourer, part of a close rural household whose sons all reached adulthood just as Europe moved toward war.
Henry John Moon was born in Hambledon in 1889, the son of John and Harriet Louisa Moon of Green Lane. He grew up in the village within a long established local family and spent his childhood in the rural surroundings that shaped much of Hambledon life. Baptised in January 1889, he remained at home into adulthood and worked as a farm labourer with horses, part of the agricultural workforce on which the parish depended.
George Moon was born in Hambledon about 1889, the son of George and Emily Moon of East Street. He spent his entire life in the village and grew up within the rural community that would later remember him on its war memorial. Baptised in Hambledon in March 1889, he was raised among a large family and attended school locally before entering working life.
