Archibald Patten

 

Memorial Plaque

PTE A. PATTEN

E. SURREY REGT

13 OCT 1915

 

 

 

Connection with Effingham

He was not native to Effingham but was residing here at High Barn in 1911.

Genealogy

Archibald's Patten ancestors are straightforwardly traceable back to the 1780s. From that time, successive generations of them lived in the village of Long Load, four miles west of Ilchester in Somerset until, a century later, Archibald's grandfather William Walter Patten moved to Muchelney, three miles from Long Load, and raised his family there. The 1891 Census finds William with his wife Sarah (née Mitchell) and their eight children - including Archibald's future father Frederick - living on Thorney Farm near Muchelney: 

 

1891 Census

Thorneys [sic], Muchelney : PRO Ref: RG12 Piece 1889 Folio 121 Page 7

 

William Patten : head : mar : 39 : farm labourer : Long Load, Martock, Somerset

Sarah Patten : wife : mar : 36 : --- : Long Load, Martock, Somerset

Frederick Patten : son : unm : 16 : farm labourer : Muchelney, Somerset

Joseph Patten : son : unm : 14 : farm labourer : Muchelney, Somerset

Effie Patten : dau : unm : 10 : scholar : Muchelney, Somerset

Hagget Patten : son : unm : 8 : scholar : Muchelney, Somerset

Henry Patten : son : unm : 6 : scholar : Muchelney, Somerset

Robert Patten : son : unm : 4 : scholar : Muchelney, Somerset

Edith Patten : dau : unm : 3 : scholar : Muchelney, Somerset

Albert Patten : son : unm : 1 : --- : Muchelney, Somerset

 

Frederick the eldest child had been born in 1875 [GRO Ref: Langport 5c 438, 1875 (Q1)]. He married in 1895 to Elizabeth Ann (née) Margery [GRO Ref: Yeovil 5c 607, 1895 (Q1)]. She was born in Tintinhull, six miles SE of Muchelney, in 1873 [GRO Ref: Yeovil 5c 458, 1873 (Q4)]. 

Their first child Archibald was born in 1895 [GRO Ref: Langport 5c 563, 1895 (Q3)] in Muchelney but the family subsequently moved briefly to Sussex and then to Leatherhead, as the 1901 Census indicates:


1901 Census

Highland Farm Cottages, Leatherhead : PRO Ref: RG13 Piece 585 Folio 22 Page 36

 

Frederick Patten : head : mar : 26 : carter on farm : Muchelney, Somerset

Elizabeth Patten : wife : mar : 28 : --- : Tintinhull, Somerset

Archibald Patten : son : unm : 5 : scholar : Muchelney, Somerset

Charles Patten : son : unm : 2 : --- : Langford, Sussex

Frederick Beckey : boarder : unm : 26 : general farm labourer : Muchelney, Somerset

Haggitt [sic - Hagget] Patten : boarder [and brother] : unm : 19 : carter on farm : Muchelney, Somerset

 

The 1911 Census shows that the family lived subsequently in Oxshott before moving to Effingham:

 

1911 Census

High Barn, Effingham : PRO Ref: RG14 RD36 SD2 ED12 SN61

 

Fred Pattern [sic] : head : mar : 35 : farm carter : Muchelney, Somerset

Elizabeth Ann Patten : wife : mar : 37 : --- : Tintinhull, Somerset

Archibald Patten : son : unm : 15 : garden boy domestic : Muchelney, Somerset

Charles Patten : son : unm : 12 : school : Langford, Sussex

Louisa Patten : dau : unm : 9 : school : Leatherhead, Surrey

Frank Patten : son : unm : 7 : school : Leatherhead, Surrey

Edith Patten : dau : unm : 4 : --- : Oxshott, Surrey

Herbert Biddlecombe : boarder : unm : 25 : shepherd on farm : Redlynch, Wiltshire

 

Archibald joined the 7th Bn., East Surrey Regiment with Service No. 163. His medal record (see below) says that he served in France from June 1st 1915 and was "presumed dead" on October 13th.

Military Records

1. Service Record - not found

2. Commonwealth War Graves Commission Record

Name PATTEN, ARCHIBALD
Rank Private
Regiment & Unit East Surrey Regiment, 7th Bn
Age not stated [but was about 20]
Date of Death 13/10/1915
Service No. 163
Grave/Memorial Ref. Panel 65 to 67
Memorial LOOS MEMORIAL

3. "Soldiers Died in the Great War" Record

This adds that he was born at [but actually, near] Yeovil, enlisted at Kingston in Surrey and was killed in action in France/Flanders in the Western European Theatre of war.

4. Medal Record