Albert Edward Headington was born on 5th December 1876 in Keynsham, near Bristol, in Somerset. The ninth of eleven children, his parents were Joseph and Jemima Headington. Joseph was a stonemason and, while he seems not to have had his father’s talents, Albert worked with the same material, becoming a bricklayer’s labourer when he left school.

On 29th May 1899, Albert married Ellen Gray. She was a mason’s daughter from Semley in Wiltshire, and it seems that he was either working there or had some connection with the family through his father’s work. The couple settled down in Keynsham, and went on to have two children, Harold, who was born in 1900, and Edith, who was born in 1912.

By the time of the 1911 census, the family had settled in a small house in the middle of Keynsham. Albert had, by this point, found other employment, and was working for Great Western Railways as a packer.

When war broke out, Albert stepped up to play his part. He enlisted on 22nd June 1915, joining the Royal Engineers as a Sapper. Sent for initial training in Chatham, Kent, he returned home on leave at the end of August. Tragically, he had fallen ill by this point, and died at home on 4th September 1915, having contracted cerebrospinal meningitis. He was 38 years of age.

Albert Edward Headington was laid to rest in the quiet cemetery of his home town of Keynsham.

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Ellen went on to live a full life. She and Edith emigrated to Canada in 1921, following Harold, who had made the same move a year earlier. They all settled in the town of Welland, Ontario, not far from Niagara Falls.

Both of Albert and Ellen’s children married and had children of their own. Ellen never remarried, and passed away on 4th November 1956, at the age of 80 years old. She was laid to rest in the Holy Trinity Anglican Cemetery in Welland.

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