A Family At War

Born in 1872, Alfred Henry was the oldest son of the oldest son, Alfred Henry who, following the early death of his father Peter, had taken on the patriarchal role of the family. When war was declared, Alfred was 42, considerably older than many enlisting, however, this didn’t stop him from joining his brothers and cousins who had also enlisted to fight for their country.  Married to Bridget, with four children, in December 1915, the bridge builder filled out his first batch of enlistment forms. Dropping several years off his age, Alfred’s enlistment forms state that he was 35 years and 5 months.   Sent to the Military Camp at Royal Park, he would be assigned to the 24 th Battalion, forming part of the 6 th Brigade and assigned to the 2 nd division. Three weeks later Alfred would be transferred to the Headquarters Company and on June 9, to the 21 st Battalion, getting closer to being sent overseas.   But then on June 30, 1916, Alfred would be discharge...

Nicholas was born in 1473, son of Sir John Appleyard and Margaret Bracken who had married in 1466, residing in Bracken Hall, not far out of Norwich In Norfolk.  As the son a man of title and coming from a line of titles, Nicholas would have lived comfortably in comparison to many of the time.  Members of their family had held various offices including Mayor of Norwich and had represented Norwich in Parliament and they were associated with various Kings of England including Richard II and Henry IV. England and Scotland’s history of fighting each other over borders and religion date back over 1,000 years with one of the earliest known battles dating back to 937ad with the Battle of Brunanburh.   With Appleyard’s in the royal courts from the 1100’s, it can be assumed that they, along with their tenants, would have played a role in many of those battles. In September 1513, England and Scotland would come together in the biggest battle of their history, the Battl...