Edward Maddison Dove (1895-1918)

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This page is part of a project by David Verguson to research the lives of those who appear on war memorials and rolls of honour in the Lindley area.

Biography

The Dove brothers (Sydney Ernest and Edward Maddison) were not strictly speaking "Lindley men" but their father, Charles Dove, was the minister of the Methodist Church on the Gledholt circuit which included the church on East Street. The fact that they were included on the memorial in that Church suggests their father was highly thought of in his parish. It implies too, that the family was particularly happy during their period in the Huddersfield area.

The life of a Wesleyan minister meant that Charles had to move around the country: he came from Lincolnshire, his wife, Frances, from Sunderland. Edward Maddison was born in Liverpool in 1896, and Sydney Ernest and Charles Kingsley, the oldest son, were both born in Addingham, near Ilkley, in 1889 and 1887.

Both boys in their turn attended Kingswood School in Bath, Somerset, which was founded in 1748 by John Wesley and is the world's oldest Methodist school. Established to educate the children of clergymen, it was inevitable that the Dove boys would attend. Edward was a pupil at the time of the 1911 census.

By 1901 the family were living in Newton-in-Makerfield, near Warrington in Lancashire. Between 1903 and 1906 Charles served in the Huddersfield area and brought his wife and of three sons to live at number 27 Temple Street, Lindley, which served as a manse for the Gledholt circuit.[1]

By 1911 Charles vocation as a minister had taken him and his family to Leytonstone, then Essex, now north-east London. The eldest son, also Charles, was working as an assistant tutor in a Wesleyan college in Didsbury, south Manchester, and married in the summer of 1913. In 1911 Edward was at boarding school in Bath, and Sydney worked as a clerk for the Joint Stock Bank. Sydney was a keen athlete and played football and cricket. By the time the war began the family were living in Ilford where Charles was the Superintendent Minister.

Sydney seems to have enlisted very early in the war and was in France by the end of December 1914, serving with the 28 Battalion, the London Regiment (the Artists Rifles). He was commission on 2 October 1915 and ultimately served with the Royal West Kent Regiment and was acting company commander, his captain having been wounded on the previous day, when he was killed by a shell burst on 16 August 1916, in the Battle of the Somme.

Edward enlisted in the Officer Training Corps at Cambridge University and was commissioned into the 12 Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, on 29 December 1915. He arrived in France on 22 March of the following year. He was killed in action almost a year to the day, on 23 March 1918, during the German offensive when the regiment was engaged in attempting to halt the enemy's advance and eventually had to withdraw. Many officers were killed when Battalion HQ was shelled. Sometime during his year in action, Edward was awarded the MC.

The boy's older brother, Charles enlisted with Cambridge County School Contingent and was serving as a Lieutenant with Royal Garrison Artillery in France by 28 July 1916. He survived the War.

Edward has no known grave and is remembered on the Poziers memorial which contains the names of over 14,000 men who died in the Somme area and have no known grave.

Sydney is buried on the Somme battlefield in a small village just 12kms east of Albert.

Both are remembered in the memorial at East Street Church. Sydney is also remembered on the London Joint City and Midland Bank Memorial, now located on Canary Wharf, London.[2]

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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Notes and References

  1. ↑ In 1909, Hubert and Albert Day, sons of the Rev. John and Mrs Day, lived in the same house; both also died in the War. In all, five pairs of brothers from Lindley died.
  2. ↑ Hubert Day, also at one time a resident of 27 Temple Street, is also remembered on this memorial.