Individual Details
Henry (Harry) Aloysius HUSSEY
(27 Jul 1872 - 13 Jun 1916)
Harry's baptismal sponsors were Henry John [surname illegible] amd Louisa Sarah [surname illegible but same as other sponsor].
Like his brothers before him, Harry attended St. Edmund's College in Hertfordshire (from 1886 until 1889) where he was a keen cricketer. It is known that he was working as a builder's clerk at the time of the 1891 census, and sometime in the early 1890s he attended King's College in London (course unknown), where he represented the school in cricket. By the time of the 1901 census he was a coffee dealer. He later moved to Canada, having lived in South Africa at some point because he stated on his attestation paper for service in the Canadian Overseas Expedition Force that he had been a member of the "Civil S. Force in South Africa". A record for the departure of a Harry Hussey to Canada has been located on the Find My Past website, www.findmypast.co.uk. This Henry Hussey was a labourer and left Liverpool for Halifax, Nova Scotia on 19 March 1909. It is possible that he is our Harry.
Harry's name appears in the Alberta Homestead Records which means that he had applied to "homestead a quarter section (160 acres)" in Alberta. If Harry had occupied his land for at least three years and performed certain improvements, he would have been able to apply for patent (title) to that land. It is not known if Harry ever reached the stage of owning his property but it is known, from his obituary in 'The Edmundian' (the St. Edmund's College magazine), that he was living in Canada when World War I broke out. According to 'The Edmundian' he thereupon enlisted in the Canadian army. He would have been in his early forties at this point and, following a period of training in Shorncliffe in England, was sent to France in August 1915 with the 4th Battalion of the 1st Canadian Brigade.
Harry was killed in action at the age of 43 near Ieper (Ypres) in June 1916. The Passchendaele Archives website (www.archives.passchendaele.be) gives his place of death as Sanctuary Wood in Zillebeke. According to a letter from his captain to the Hussey family after Harry's death in Ieper (Ypres), Belgium in 1916, "It was before daybreak on June 13th, that my company was ordered to advance and take and consolidate the enemy's front line. Pte. Hussey came through the barrage of artillery fire safely, and was consolidating the taken position with three other man in a small section of trench, when all four were killed by a large shell which landed amongst them".
Harry does not have a marked grave but is named on the Menin Gate Memorial (Panel 18-24-26-30), one of four memorials to the missing in that part of Belgian Flanders which covers the area known as the Ypres Salient. The Menin Gate Memorial bears the names of more than 54,000 Commonwealth soldiers whose graves are unknown. Harry's name also appears on a war memorial in King's College.
Notes:
1. We know from Harry's attestation paper for Canadian army service, dated January 1915, that he wasn't married. The paper also states that Harry was a builder's clerk.
2. From his army medical examination report (January 1915), we know that Harry was 5ft 7ins tall, had a dark complexion, brown eyes, and black hair which was turning grey. His medical exam was carried out in Edmonton, so it is possible that that is where Harry was living at the time.
3. According to information from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website, www.cwgc.org, Harry's nationality was Canadian.
4. Ursula Staszynski has put together a tribute to her Hussey and Bishop relatives (including Harry) who served in World War I. It contains biographical information, stories and photographs and can be viewed at http://youtu.be/N_YXbvPOT4E
Like his brothers before him, Harry attended St. Edmund's College in Hertfordshire (from 1886 until 1889) where he was a keen cricketer. It is known that he was working as a builder's clerk at the time of the 1891 census, and sometime in the early 1890s he attended King's College in London (course unknown), where he represented the school in cricket. By the time of the 1901 census he was a coffee dealer. He later moved to Canada, having lived in South Africa at some point because he stated on his attestation paper for service in the Canadian Overseas Expedition Force that he had been a member of the "Civil S. Force in South Africa". A record for the departure of a Harry Hussey to Canada has been located on the Find My Past website, www.findmypast.co.uk. This Henry Hussey was a labourer and left Liverpool for Halifax, Nova Scotia on 19 March 1909. It is possible that he is our Harry.
Harry's name appears in the Alberta Homestead Records which means that he had applied to "homestead a quarter section (160 acres)" in Alberta. If Harry had occupied his land for at least three years and performed certain improvements, he would have been able to apply for patent (title) to that land. It is not known if Harry ever reached the stage of owning his property but it is known, from his obituary in 'The Edmundian' (the St. Edmund's College magazine), that he was living in Canada when World War I broke out. According to 'The Edmundian' he thereupon enlisted in the Canadian army. He would have been in his early forties at this point and, following a period of training in Shorncliffe in England, was sent to France in August 1915 with the 4th Battalion of the 1st Canadian Brigade.
Harry was killed in action at the age of 43 near Ieper (Ypres) in June 1916. The Passchendaele Archives website (www.archives.passchendaele.be) gives his place of death as Sanctuary Wood in Zillebeke. According to a letter from his captain to the Hussey family after Harry's death in Ieper (Ypres), Belgium in 1916, "It was before daybreak on June 13th, that my company was ordered to advance and take and consolidate the enemy's front line. Pte. Hussey came through the barrage of artillery fire safely, and was consolidating the taken position with three other man in a small section of trench, when all four were killed by a large shell which landed amongst them".
Harry does not have a marked grave but is named on the Menin Gate Memorial (Panel 18-24-26-30), one of four memorials to the missing in that part of Belgian Flanders which covers the area known as the Ypres Salient. The Menin Gate Memorial bears the names of more than 54,000 Commonwealth soldiers whose graves are unknown. Harry's name also appears on a war memorial in King's College.
Notes:
1. We know from Harry's attestation paper for Canadian army service, dated January 1915, that he wasn't married. The paper also states that Harry was a builder's clerk.
2. From his army medical examination report (January 1915), we know that Harry was 5ft 7ins tall, had a dark complexion, brown eyes, and black hair which was turning grey. His medical exam was carried out in Edmonton, so it is possible that that is where Harry was living at the time.
3. According to information from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website, www.cwgc.org, Harry's nationality was Canadian.
4. Ursula Staszynski has put together a tribute to her Hussey and Bishop relatives (including Harry) who served in World War I. It contains biographical information, stories and photographs and can be viewed at http://youtu.be/N_YXbvPOT4E
Events
| Birth | 27 Jul 1872 | 96 High St., Kensington, London | |||
| Christen | 18 Aug 1872 | Our Lady of Victories, High St., Kensington | |||
| Death | 13 Jun 1916 | Ieper (Ypres), Belgium | |||
| Burial | unknown place (commemorated on Menin Gate Memorial, Ieper, Belgium) |
Families
| Father | Thomas HUSSEY (1834 - 1919) |
| Mother | Agnes DEVINE (1834 - 1913) |
| Sibling | Agnes Ellen HUSSEY (1858 - 1860) |
| Sibling | William HUSSEY (1860 - 1866) |
| Sibling | Agnes HUSSEY (1861 - 1935) |
| Sibling | James/Thomas Joseph HUSSEY (1863 - 1863) |
| Sibling | Thomas Aloysius HUSSEY (1864 - 1916) |
| Sibling | James HUSSEY (1865 - 1936) |
| Sibling | William (Will) HUSSEY (1866 - 1939) |
| Sibling | John (Jack) Thomas HUSSEY (1867 - 1922) |
| Sibling | Alfred HUSSEY (1869 - 1899) |
| Sibling | Elizabeth Josephine Mary HUSSEY (1871 - 1941) |
| Sibling | Edmund HUSSEY (1874 - 1955) |
| Sibling | Catherine (Kate) HUSSEY (1875 - 1944) |