Trooper Leslie Seymour Edgley
| Date of Birth | 11 January 1891 |
|---|---|
| Age at Death | 24 |
| Date of Death | 13 May 1915 |
| Service Number | 1708 |
| Military Service | Royal Horse Guards |
| Merton Address | 8 Arnold Road, Mitcham |
| Local Memorial | Mitcham War Memorial |
Additional Information
The son of Robert and Leopoldine Edgley, Leslie was born on 11 January 1891 and baptised at St. Matthew’s Church, Newington. He had five older siblings - Ernest, Daisy, Cecil, Annie and Harold, plus three younger siblings Elsie, Percy, and Lawrence. His father worked as a builder and house decorator.
After leaving school, Leslie completed an apprenticeship with Rotherham and Co (a retail and wholesale draper) based in Shoreditch. By the age of 20, he had left the family home in Southwark and was boarding in Dalston, North London. The 1911 census shows that he was working as a warehouseman. While Leslie was boarding in Dalston, his mother had moved to Mitcham, where she resided at 8 Arnold Road.
Barely a month after the outbreak of war, Leslie travelled to the Regents Park area, where he volunteered for military service on 7 September, 1914. His enlistment papers describe him as being 5 feet, eleven inches tall, and weighing 172 lbs, with dark brown hair, grey eyes, and a fair complexion.
Leslie became a trooper in the Royal Horse Guards and his unit was sent to Flanders (as part of the British Expeditionary Force). He was reported missing on 13 May, 1915, whilst fighting in the Second Battle of Ypres. His body was never found and he was eventually declared dead. Amongst his effects he left £136 to his mother.
Leslie’s name appears on the Menin Gate at Ypres, which commemorates the thousands of British and Commonwealth troops killed and missing in Flanders. He is also commemorated locally on the Mitcham War Memorial on Lower Green West, and on a wooden memorial panel in St. Barnabas Church.