Memorial Plaque
LCE CPL A. WELLS M.M
ROYL W. SURREYS
5 OCT. 1917
The details on this plaque do not wholly correlate with his surviving military records (see below), two of which give his rank as Private. His medal record gives his date of death as the 4th, not the 5th.
Connection with Effingham
He was born in the village, as were his father and grandfather, and was evidently still living there at the time he enlisted.
Genealogy
His father was Arthur (Snr.) whose own father was William Wells. William married in 1853 to Elizabeth (Snr.) (née) Dench [GRO Ref: Guildford 2a 59, 1853 (Q2)]. Their wedding took place at West Horsley on June 6th [IGI: Batch M040391]. Elizabeth (Snr.)’s parents were Thomas Dench and Sarah. She had been baptised at West Horsley on November 4th 1832 [IGI: Batch C040391]. Among her siblings was a younger brother John Dench, baptised on March 1st 1835 [IGI: Batch C040391].
Arthur (Snr.) was born in Effingham in 1866 [GRO Ref: Dorking 2a 131, 1866 (Q4)]. Here he is with his parents in the 1871 Census: