A History of Preston
in Hertfordshire
Ernest Wray was born in the June Quarter of 1892 at Back Lane, Preston, Herts.
He was four when he started school and was so young that he needed ‘a time longer in the baby class’. He was able to write well but sometimes found school a little tedious. On a summer’s day on 26 July 1899 he was punished along with his cousin Willie Currell ‘for truant playing on Friday afternoon. This is a rare fault in this school’.
He left school on 26 June 1903, aged eleven and, like some of his brothers, he found work as a gardener.
Almost as soon as World War One broke out, on 5 September 1914, Ern quickly enlisted in the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Bedfordshire Regiment No 17002. The entry in his soldier’s Small Book shows him as 5’ 8 3/4’’ tall, with a fresh complexion, blue eyes and dark brown hair. He gave his religion as Church of England.
One can only imagine how his parents, Alfred and Emily, felt when the notification of their son’s death was received (see below). Ernest had been killed in action on 24 August 1915 and was buried at the Military Cemetery, Bethune (Map Ref X6A72).
Above, Ern aged 22
Hitchin war memorial
Sources: Preston Scholl log book by kind permission of Hertfordshire Archives and
Local Studies (Ref -
