Photograph
Memorial Plaque
PTE A. PATTEN
E. SURREY REGT
13 OCT 1915
Connection with Effingham
He was not native to Effingham but was residing here at High Barn in 1911.
Genealogy
Archibald’s Patten ancestors are straightforwardly traceable back to the 1780s. From that time, successive generations of them lived in the village of Long Load, four miles west of Ilchester in Somerset until, a century later, Archibald’s grandfather William Walter Patten moved to Muchelney, three miles from Long Load, and raised his family there. The 1891 Census finds William with his wife Sarah (née Mitchell) and their eight children – including Archibald’s future father Frederick – living on Thorney Farm near Muchelney:
1891 Census
Thorneys [sic], Muchelney : PRO Ref: RG12 Piece 1889 Folio 121 Page 7
William Patten : head : mar : 39 : farm labourer : Long Load, Martock, Somerset
Sarah Patten : wife : mar : 36 : — : Long Load, Martock, Somerset
Frederick Patten : son : unm : 16 : farm labourer : Muchelney, Somerset
Joseph Patten : son : unm : 14 : farm labourer : Muchelney, Somerset
Effie Patten : dau : unm : 10 : scholar : Muchelney, Somerset
Hagget Patten : son : unm : 8 : scholar : Muchelney, Somerset
Henry Patten : son : unm : 6 : scholar : Muchelney, Somerset
Robert Patten : son : unm : 4 : scholar : Muchelney, Somerset
Edith Patten : dau : unm : 3 : scholar : Muchelney, Somerset
Albert Patten : son : unm : 1 : — : Muchelney, Somerset
Frederick the eldest child had been born in 1875 [GRO Ref: Langport 5c 438, 1875 (Q1)]. He married in 1895 to Elizabeth Ann (née) Margery [GRO Ref: Yeovil 5c 607, 1895 (Q1)]. She was born in Tintinhull, six miles SE of Muchelney, in 1873 [GRO Ref: Yeovil 5c 458, 1873 (Q4)].
Their first child Archibald was born in 1895 [GRO Ref: Langport 5c 563, 1895 (Q3)] in Muchelney but the family subsequently moved briefly to Sussex and then to Leatherhead, as the 1901 Census indicates:
1901 Census
Highland Farm Cottages, Leatherhead : PRO Ref: RG13 Piece 585 Folio 22 Page 36
Frederick Patten : head : mar : 26 : carter on farm : Muchelney, Somerset
Elizabeth Patten : wife : mar : 28 : — : Tintinhull, Somerset
Archibald Patten : son : unm : 5 : scholar : Muchelney, Somerset
Charles Patten : son : unm : 2 : — : Langford, Sussex
Frederick Beckey : boarder : unm : 26 : general farm labourer : Muchelney, Somerset
Haggitt [sic – Hagget] Patten : boarder [and brother] : unm : 19 : carter on farm : Muchelney, Somerset
The 1911 Census shows that the family lived subsequently in Oxshott before moving to Effingham:
1911 Census
High Barn, Effingham : PRO Ref: RG14 Piece 3193 Schedule 81
Fred Pattern [sic] : head : mar : 35 : farm carter : Muchelney, Somerset
Elizabeth Ann Patten : wife : mar : 37 : — : Tintinhull, Somerset
Archibald Patten : son : unm : 15 : garden boy domestic : Muchelney, Somerset
Charles Patten : son : unm : 12 : school : Langford, Sussex
Louisa Patten : dau : unm : 9 : school : Leatherhead, Surrey
Frank Patten : son : unm : 7 : school : Leatherhead, Surrey
Edith Patten : dau : unm : 4 : — : Oxshott, Surrey
Herbert Biddlecombe : boarder : unm : 25 : shepherd on farm : Redlynch, Wiltshire
Archibald joined the 7th Bn., East Surrey Regiment with Service No. 163. His medal record (see below) says that he served in France from June 1st 1915 and was “presumed dead” on October 13th.
Military Records
1. Service Record – not found
2. Commonwealth War Graves Commission Record
Name
Rank
Regiment
Age
Date of Death
Service No.
Grave/Memorial Ref.
Cemetery
PATTEN, ARCHIBALD
Private
East Surrey Regiment, 7th Bn
not stated [but was about 20]
13/10/1915
163
Panel 65 to 67
LOOS MEMORIAL
3. “Soldiers Died in the Great War” Record
This adds that he was born at [but actually, near] Yeovil, enlisted at Kingston in Surrey and was killed in action in France/Flanders in the Western European Theatre of war.
4. Medal Record
