Ernest was the youngest child of Edward Armitage (1839-80), who was an elder brother of Robert Melton Armitage (1846-1910), my great grandfather. There is an article about Edward’s life on this blog. Edward’s children were first cousins of my grandmother, Emma Ivall nee Armitage (1883-1970).
Ernest’s birth was registered in Q1 1879 in Hackney. There
are no other Ernest Henry Armitage births in FreeBMD. His father Edward (then a
police constable) died in 1880, when Ernest was aged 1. The 1881 census shows
Edward’s widow Mary (aged 42, a laundress) with her children John (6) and
Ernest (2) living at 5 Gainsboro Square, Hackney.
I can’t find Ernest in the 1891, 1901, 1911 or 1921
censuses. However, he is listed in Metropolitan Police records as a Constable
(warrant number 91064) who joined on 5 Sep 1904 and left on 20 May 1919.
Freemasonry records show that Ernest, a Constable in the
Metropolitan Police, was initiated into the Carnavon Lodge, Havant on 1 Oct
1912 age 33 and continued to pay his annual subscription there until 1921.
Ernest married Frances Carey on 1 Jun 1913 in Southsea.
The First World War began in August 1914. Ernest volunteered
to join the army on 23 Apr 1915. He gave his address as 8 Peel Terrace, Stoke
Road, Gosport and his occupation as motor lorry driver. He was assigned to the
Army Service Corps, 268 Company and was sent to France arriving on 21 Jul 1915.
Ernest was seriously injured in an accident on 8 Mar 1917 and invalidated to
the UK on 12 Mar 1917. A Court of Enquiry into the accident decided that Ernest
was in no way to blame. Ernest was sent back to France after he recovered and
demobilised on 10 Feb 1919. He was assessed as 5% disabled and assigned a
payment of 6s a week. He gave his address for this as 48 Cambridge St, Victoria,
which is where Ernest’s sister Mary Emma Armitage lived.
Ernest married again in 1924. His second wife was Elizabeth
Jones and they were married in Steyning (in Sussex). Electoral registers show
them living at 58 Woodville Road, Hendon between 1929 and 1934. In 1938 and
1939 they were at 636A Finchley Road, Hendon. Birth records indicate that
Ernest did not have children with either of his wives.
I can’t find Ernest in the 1939 register. He died in 1942 in
Hendon aged 63. He doesn't seem to be listed in probate records.
