Grindon, Thomas Edward

GRINDON,

THOMAS EDWARD

BORN 28 JULY 1888

Thomas Edward Grindon

was born on 28 July 1888, in Penzance, Cornwall, son of William Henry (b 1829 in Bristol) and Mary Ellen Grindon, (née Boxer b 1859 in Bognor, Sussex).

William and Ellen were married in Cornwall in 1880 and census records show the family living in St Columb, Cornwall in 1881 and 1891. Thomas had a younger brother William Henry, (b 1890 in Penzance). William Henry died in 1895 and is buried in Newquay, Cornwall.

Thomas entered Form III of the School on 25 September 1902, aged 14. While at school he boarded at Thorne Lodge, the School’s boarding house. His widowed mother at that time lived at Delafosse, Newquay, Cornwall.

Thomas excelled at School and on several occasions was top of his year in the end of year examinations in French, English and divinity. He was also a cadet in the Officer Training Corps (OTC) and won a prize for shooting in 1904, scoring 62 points out of a maximum of 84. He left School in December 1904, aged 16.

In 1914 he joined the Army, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, Devonshire Regiment, 8th Battalion. In 1916, less than a year before he was killed, he married Dora Eastlake in Cornwall.

Thomas died at the battle of Passchendaele on 26 October 1917, aged 29. He is buried at Hooge Crater Cemetery, near Ypres, (Grave Reference VII A 3).

Fifth Panel 38

Fifth Panel 39