Peterborough & The Great War

Biography

John Edward Stringer was born in Great Yarmouth on 14 September 1884, to parents John and Jemima (nee Stone).  John was one of eleven children and in 1901, was living with his parents and nine siblings at 26 Southtown Street, Marys Lane, Great Yarmouth.  John was listed as Edward on this census, maybe to differentiate between him and his father, John.  Edward worked as a porter, possibly in the corn trade where both his father and elder brother, Herbert, were employed.

John Edward married Miriam Howes in Great Yarmouth in the winter of 1904.  They had six children: Gladys Miriam (1905), Edward Herbert (1906), Henrietta Virtue (1908), Stanley (1911), Kenneth (1913) and Douglas (1916).  In 1911, John and Miriam were living at 75 Garfield Road, Great Yarmouth with Miriam’s father, Herbert Howes and  their children Miriam (6), Edward (4), Henrietta (2) and Stanley (2 months).  By this time John was employed as a tram conductor.

John Edward enlisted on 8 August 1914, and served with the 10th Norfolk Regiment and the Machine Gun Corps.  His service record has not survived, so we have no details of his military career.  Following the end of World War 1, John Edward joined the Royal Air Force on 5 June 1919.  He served with No 7 (B) Squadron as an aircraft hand and was discharged from RAF Manston, Kent on 11 April 1931.  He was awarded the British War and Allied Victory Medals.

In 1939, John Edward and Miriam were living at Rides, Leysdown Road, Sheppey, Kent with children Edward and Henrietta and daughter-in-law, Ivy.  John Edward was listed as a police warden with the Air Ministry.

John Edward died in Aylesbury, Bucks in March 1976, aged 91.

Please get in touch if you can tell us more about John Edward.