Charles James Ernest Jessop

Rank 
Private
Regiment 
Suffolk Regiment
Date of death 
21 March 1918
Age of death 
30
Address 
Monkhams Lane
Woodford Green
Woodford
IG8 0NJ
Address source 
1901 Census
Cemetery / Memorial 
France
Biography 

Born in 1898 at Woodford, second son of William (Farm Labourer) and Zillah Jessop. 1901: At 3 Monkhams Lane, Woodford Green with his family. 1911: A Scholar with his grandparents George (Parish Clerk) and Charlotte Smith at Queen Street, Gotham, Nottinghamshire. His mother came from Gotham, and his sister Moira was also staying at Gotham with their Plaster Dresser uncle William Smith and his wife Elizabeth.

Charles enlisted at Epping, becoming a member of 25 Training Reserve Battalion before moving on to 12 Suffolk.

The morning of 21st March 1918 saw the Kaiserschlacht, a German Spring offensive aimed at forcing breaches in British lines and advancing towards Amiens. Among the many casualties that day was Charles Jessop. While initially reported Missing, he was Killed in Action during frantic fighting and a British retreat.

With his brother George, Charles is commemorated on the gravestone of his uncle John Smith at St Lawrence Churchyard Gotham, and on the war memorial inside. His initial on the latter is given as E, in keeping with the 1911 Census in which his grandparents recorded him as Ernest.

X/R: Rifleman George William Jessop (Brother)

Research by Adrian Lee, Local Historian

Sources:

Ancestry.com

Woodford Times