Stanley Arthur Thorn was born in Springfield and emigrated to Canada as a 'Barnardo's Boy' when aged ten. He joined the Canadian army under-age in December 1915, giving an incorrect year of birth. He was killed in action at Passchendaele near Ypres in October 1917.
Stanley was born in Springfield on 6th February 1899, the son of Arthur James Thorn and Evelyn Florence Thorn (nee Green). His father had been born c1878 in Great Dunmow; his mother c1878 in Chelmsford. His birth was registered under the surname 'Thorn' though he attested under the surname 'Thorne', with the latter being used on some official documents .
He had a brother, Harold Redvers Thorn, born in 1900 in Springfield.
The 1901 census found two year-old Stanley living with his parents and younger brother at 19 The Terrace, Springfield Road, Springfield (later number 119). His father was a grocer’s assistant.
In 1909, he emigrated to Canada as a 'Barnardo's Boy' his parents by then having separated.
The 1911 Canadian Census found him aged twelve boarding with 50 year-old Scottish-born widow Margaret Roans at Dunn Township, Haldimand, Ontario. The household also included Margaret’s children Annie (aged 24, born in Ontario in March 1888), William (aged 20, born in Ontario in June 1890), Stanley’s brother Harold (aged 11, also a boarder), Frederick Fisher (aged 17, a servant , born in England in March 1894, who had emigrated in 1906) and Ida Taylor (aged 22, born in Ontario in January 1889).
He enlisted into the Canadian Over-Seas Expedition Force army on 7th December 1915, stating his age as 18, when in fact it was 16, at Cayuga, Ontario in Canada. At the time of enlistment he was an unmarried farmer living at Cayuga, while his next of kin was his father Arthur Thorn of 372 Braintree Street, London, England. He had no previous military service. He was tall for his age - five feet seven and three-quarters of an inch - with an expanded chest of 37 inches, had a red complexion, brown eyes, brown hair, and was a member of the Church of England.
THORN, STANLEY ARTHUR,
Private, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (Eastern Ontario Regiment)
He was killed in action at Passchendaele on 30th October 1917, aged 18, while serving as Private 738155 in the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (Eastern Ontario Regiment). Stanley is commemorated on the Civic Centre Memorial, Chelmsford and at the Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial, in Belgium.
His mother later lived at 57 Mount Pleasant Lane, Upper Clapton, London.
His brother Harold Redvers Thorn crossed from Canada to the United States on 26th January 1923 at Niagara Falls. His destination was Buffalo in New York State. He became a naturalised United States’ citizen on 19th August 1960 in New York State, and died on 2nd December 1980 at Mount Lake Terrace in Washington, aged 75.
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