Cecil Boyce Grundy
Cecil was working in Argentina when war was declared. He returned shortly after and enlisted on 23rd October 1914 at the Honorary Artillery Company in Finsbury as Private 2511. His attestation paper describes him as 20 years 7 months, 5’11” tall, 35” chest with 3½” expansion and physical development fair.
He served 118 days and was then discharged to enter Sandhurst on 16 April 1915 and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant into the 6th Batt Duke of Cambridge Reg. but attached to 1st Batt Middlesex Reg. He was shot in the thigh, and died of his wounds aged 21, and is buried in Betune Town Cemetery. Some of his correspondence survived and was featured in a Sunday Mail article for Remembrance Day. The letters were auctioned and are now privately owned. More recently the BBC did a short radio documentary, about Emmanuel School which features Cecil and brother Ronald.
John Francis Edwin Grundy (born Allahabad, India) and Emily (nee Brownsdon) Grundy, who married in Liverpool, had at least 4 sons; Cecil Boyce born April 1894, Ronald Edwin born 1897, John Brownsdon Clowes born 21 April 1902 and Rupert Francis Brooks born 6 September 1903 (baptised 25 October at SMM). They lived at 33 St James Road having previously lived at 55 Balham Park Road. The family were to move to 25 Riggensdale Road Streatham.
CWGC record their address after the war as 24 Buckingham Street Charring Cross but this appears to be John’s business address. John was a fine Art publisher who was master of the fine art trade guild from 1918-20 and 1922/3. He had previously worked from 4/5 Adam Street which is also in the Charing Cross area. Items he published still appear in quality fine art sales.
All four boys attended Emanuel School. The younger two were too young for the war and went on to lead the full lives denied their brothers. John got an Exhibition to Cambridge, did research at University College London and took up a teaching career which would take him to the Headship of Emanuel from 1953-63 and two years as head of Modern Languages at the University of Sierra Leone. He served as an intelligence Major during WW2. Among his publications was “Brush up your German”. He retired to Llansantffraid in Wales and died 17 July 1987. Rupert took an engineering degree at University College London and had a career in public and municipal engineering which included Wandsworth Borough Engineer and surveyor 1949-50 General Manager of the Corby Development Corporation. He died in Kettering 13 January 1988.
The elder two, Cecil and Ronald. are commemorated on the Emmanuel Roll of Honour and the SMM Memorial.
