Regimental Sergeant Major Arthur Frederick Ridout
| Date of Birth | c. 1883 |
|---|---|
| Age at Death | 33 |
| Date of Death | 15 September 1916 |
| Service Number | 2624 |
| Military Service | |
| Merton Address | 136 Links Road |
| Local Memorial | Mitcham War Memorial |
Additional Information
Arthur Ridout was born between April and June 1883 and was baptised on 19 August 1883. His parents were Frederick and Elizabeth Ridout of Okeford Fitzpaine, Dorset.
By the 1891 census, Arthur’s father had died and his widowed mother was running the family farm with the help of her older children William, Maurice, Nellie and Walter Trent. Arthur and his six year old sister Minnie had a governess, Alice Dominy, and the family also had a farm worker/servant called Alfred Fudge living with them.
Arthur got married in 1908 to Ella and they lived at 14 Balham Park Road, Balham.
The Electoral Register records him as living at 70 Robinson Road, Tooting by 1911 but the census refers to him as a “Visitor” and shows that he was a railway clerk. He moved to 132 Links Road Mitcham in 1912 and then 136 Links Road in 1914. At the time of his death Ella was back at 14 Balham Park Road, so it may have been her parents’ home.
Arthur enlisted in 1914 and served with the London Regiment, initially as a Transport Warrant Officer Class 2, as a Lance Corporal and, by 1916 as a Regimental Sergeant Major. He died on 15 September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. He is buried in London Cemetery and Extension, Longueval and commemorated on the Mitcham War Memorial.