Rifleman Frederick Martin

Frederick who was the eldest son of Eliza Jane Leigh and William Martin, he was born in East Greenwich in 1895. His father William was employed as a London City missionary. The London City Mission's early work centred on the poor and destitute, developing a wide range of charitable help including ragged schools and ministering to working people.

LCM was established as a joint venture by members of different Protestant denominations.

• Its aim was to “go to the people of London, especially the poor, to bring them to an acquaintance with Jesus Christ as Saviour, and to do them good by every means in their power.”
• Its method was to recruit and pay full-time workers (all men at that time), assigning to each a “district” that he was to visit frequently, going from door to door.
• Its goal was to draw people into local churches.

According to the 1901 Census, the Martin family resided at 4 Hornshay Place in Deptford with the Newman family.

The 1911 Census reveals that Elizabeth Jane and Frederick Martin had been married for 25 years and that the couple had 4 children, all of whom had survived into adulthood. Their eldest son Frederick who was now 25 years old was now employed as a painter. The Martin family in a 5-room house at 57 Caithness Road in Mitcham.

0n 23rd November 1916 at St Michael’s Church in Lambeth, Frederick married 25-year-old Blanche Mabel Lovesay. Thirty-year-old Frederick was now employed as a draughtsman. The couple resided at 8 Knowle Road in Lambeth.

Frederick’s service record is not available through Ancestry. He served in the 23rd battalion Rifle Brigade in India and was killed in action on the 7th of November 1918 and was buried in Bareilly Cemetery in India.