In April 1891, Edward Reed, aged 58, was a pensioner living in the High Street. In March 1901, he was a disabled pensioner at 319 Cottage.

Born at Rickling, near Saffron Walden in Essex, in about 1841, Edward was the son of a carpenter named Thomas and his wife, Sarah. His mother died when he was only eight years old.

He was a Royal Marine gunner when he married Eliza Purchase of Hardington in 1870. They probably met because Eliza’s sister, Kezia, had married James Milton, a fellow Royal Marine gunner, in 1869, and Eliza went to stay with her.

In April 1871, Edward was a patient at the Royal Naval Hospital, Alverstoke, while his wife stayed with her sister at Portsea.

Their son, Albert Edward, was born at Portsea later that year and baptised at Hardington in May 1872. Their second, son, Charles, was born at Portsea in 1876 and baptised at Hardington on Christmas Day 1877.

 In April 1881, the family lived at Eastney Royal Marine Artillery barracks, where Edward was a gunner in the Royal Marine Artillery. By April 1891, they had moved to Hardington, living in the High Street, probably at No. 319. The census of 1901 describes Edward as infirm and rheumatic.

Edward died in 1908, aged 67. In April 1911, Eliza lived in West Ham with her son, Charles. She died at East Ham in November 1912, aged 72.

Their sons, Albert and Charles, became constables in the Metropolitan Police.