Walter John Eugene Elliott (1890- 1977): Biographical Entry

227 ELLIOTT, Walter John Eugene, Untitled, TS, pp.100 (c.70,000 words). BruneI University Library.

Born 27 Feb 1890 at Little Common, near Bexhill, Sussex. Died 1977. Father: master grocer and draper, running own village store. Youngest of 4 children. Educated at St. Marks Church of England School (to age 14) and Sunday School. Married, 1915, with 2 sons. Lived at Little Common (1890-1914); Horsham, Sussex (1919-77).

Post Office telegraph messenger-boy (1904-5); assistant in cycle shop (1905-14); soldier (1914-19); cycle mechanic (1919-72; part-time from 1959).

No details of interests or activities.

Written between 1968 and 1970, the author recounts in finely-remembered detail various aspects of his childhood, schooling, village life, employments, and army experiences. The narrative can be divided into 2 sections, with pages 1-40 covering the years 1890-1914 and pages 41-100 the years 1914-19. The author also provides a lengthy account of ancestry and family history.

Bibliography

Walter J.E Elliott in John Burnett, David Vincent and David Mayall (eds) The Autobiography of the Working Class: An Annotated, Critical Bibliography1790-1945, 3 vols. (Brighton: Harvester, 1984, 1987, 1989): 1:227