Introduction

Edward Reed was a Royal Marine pensioner who lived in the High Street at Hardington from the 1880s until he died in 1908. Originally from Essex, he married Eliza Purchase, the sister-in-law of a fellow Marine, at Hardington in 1870.

Childhood

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.

Marriage

Edward was a Royal Marine gunner when he married Eliza Purchase of Hardington in 1870. They probably met through Eliza’s sister, Kezia, who had married James Milton, a fellow Royal Marine gunner, in 1869.

Military career

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 on 26 May 1872. Their second son, Charles, was born at Portsea in 1876 and was 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.

Hardington

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.

Death

Edward died in 1908, aged 67.

Eliza’s later life

After Edward’s death, Eliza left the village and joined her son, Charles, and his family at West Ham, where she died in November 1912, aged 72.

Children

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