FREDERICK ERNEST DOWNING
Image from the Suffolk Chronicle And Mercury – 1916
Born: 12th April 1880, Ipswich.
Baptised: 11th July 1895, at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Ipswich. On the 10th July 1895, at St. Batholomew’s Church, Frederick’s siblings were baptised – Lily Ethel Caroline Downing, born 12th February 1890, Gertrude Kate Downing, born 3rd March 1885, Rose Julia Downing, born 31st July 1878, Edith Maud Downing, born 10th October 1883, Albert Edward Downing, 2nd November 1891, Henry William Downing, born 10th December 1881, Arthur Robert Downing, born 3rd December 1876, and Alma George Jubilee Downing, born 16th January 1887 – family home Chestnut Tree Cottages, Salisbury Road, Ipswich.
Died: 19th September 1918; age 38; KiA at Salonika.
Residence: 48, Levington Road, Ipswich.
Enlistment Location: Ipswich.
Served in part of the South African War. Frederick left the Service, rejoining at the beginning of the present war. He was not long in training before he was sent to France.
Date of Entry Therein: 4th September 1915 – France.
Rank: Sergeant; Service Number: 41906.
Regiment: Royal Engineers, 99th Field Coy.
Medals Awarded: Victory, British War & 1915 Star + Italian Bronze Medal + Military Medal – for gallantry and good conduct in the field.
Gazetted – Military Medal – 31st August 1917.
Italian Bronze Medal – Conferred by His Majesty, The King of Italy, 4th September 1917.
Grave Reference:
V.E.19.
Greece.
Relatives Notified & Address: Son of Robert Downing & the late Caroline Downing.
CENSUS
1881 22, White Elm Street, Ipswich.
Frederick was 11 months old and living with his parents & siblings.
Robert Downing, 29, an Iron Moulder, born Ipswich.
Caroline Downing (nee Rose), 30, born Ipswich.
Edmund Charles Downing, 9, born Ipswich.
Mahala Downing, 8, born Ipswich.
Alice Beatrice Downing, 5, born Ipswich.
Arthur Robert Downing, 4, born Ipswich.
Rose Julia Downey, 2, born Ipswich.
1891 91, Alan Road, Ipswich.
Frederick was 10 years old and living with his parents & siblings.
Robert, 39, an Iron Moulder.
Caroline, 40.
Edmund, 19, an Iron Moulder.
Mahala, 18, a Stay Maker.
Alice, 15, a Tailoress.
Rose, 12.
Henry William Downing, 8, born Ipswich.
Edith Maud Downing, 7, born Ipswich.
Gertrude Kate Downing, 6, born Ipswich.
Alma George Jubilee Downing, 4, born Ipswich.
Lily Ethel Caroline Downing, 1, born Ipswich.
1911 48, Levington Road, Ipswich.
Frederick was 31 years old, a Moulder – Agricultural Engineers. He was living with his widowed father & siblings.
Robert, 59, a Moulder – Agricultural Engineers.
Ethel, 26, a Housekeeper.
George, 25, Royal Navy – H.M.S. Thunder.
Lily, 21, a Housekeeper.
Albert Edward Downing, 19, born Ipswich.
Frederick’s mother, Caroline Downing, died on the 19th December 1894, at her residence of Chestnut Trees Coattages, Salisbury Road, Ipswich.
Soldiers’ Effects to Edith Downing – sister.
Probate to Miss Edith Maud Downing – sister.
Family Note: Arthur Robert Downing was living at King’s Cross, London, in 1918. After he married war widow Annie Button in 1924, they named their second son Frederick Ernest Downing in honour of their brother Fred.
Frederick is also remembered on the war memorial at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Ipswich, and on the Orwell Works Memorial, Ransomes Sims & Jefferies, Ipswich. Now sited at The Museum of East Anglian Life, Stowmarket, Suffolk.
One Comment
Fred’s brother Arthur Robert Downing was living at King’s Cross, London in 1918. After he married war widow Annie Button in 1924 they named their second son Frederick Ernest Downing in brother Fred’s honour.