Laurence was born on Halloween, 31st October, 1892. His father, George, was an accountant and the family lived at 9 Green Lane Gardens. He joined Ilford County High School on 1st September 1904 and left the Ilford County High School on 16th December 1908. Before he left, he achieved a 3rd Hons pass in the Oxford Senior Local Examination for Mathematics, Stage II. He took up a career as a commercial clerk, following in the footsteps of his father.
His family lived at 21 Valentines Road, in Ilford and his father’s name was George. He was one of seven children. His younger brother, John, also studied at Ilford County High School between 1908 and 1912. The Christmas 1914 Chronicles reported on the wedding of his brother, Alan, which was, ‘shorn of much of the traditional pomp of a wedding, the ceremony was all the more impressive in its quiet dignity.’ Soon after his brothers Alan and John both joined the British Expeditionary Force and left for France.
Laurence’s death was reported within the Autumn 1916 edition of Chronicles, the school’s magazine, along with the following fascinating details from the editor;
“A deplorable loss is that of 2nd Lieut. L. D. Stapley, of the Suffolks. Knowing what he was at School, we can faintly appreciate the gap he will leave in his home. He wrote an article on “A Draft-conducting Officer’s day in France” for this number of the Magazine a few days before he was killed, but I did not receive it. I received instead a curt note from the enemy of all editors, the Censor, saying: “This article was regarded as unsuitable for publication, and could not be forwarded.”
His brother, Alan, made a surprise visit to the school in the summer term, 1915, despite still having a bullet lodged in his chest.
Research by Andrew Emeny, History Teacher at ICHS
Sources:
Ancestry.com
ICHS school records and magazines
Note
Ilford County High School started life as the Park Higher Grade School in 1901 in Balfour Road, Ilford. It was renamed Ilford County High School (or initially County High School, Ilford) in the years after the school’s management was transferred from Ilford School Board to Essex Education Committee in 1904.