Friends of Hastings Cemetery

Edward Victor Tassell was the elder son of Edward and Mary Tassell.  His father was born in Hastings and his mother at Wartling.  He was born in 1889 in Hastings.  In 1891 the family lived in Old Humphrey Avenue.  His father was a fishmonger and his mother a dressmaker.

In 1901 the family was living in Windmill Hill, Herstmonceaux. In 1911 they were living in the All Saints area where he listed his occupation as piano repairer & tuner. Prior to his voluntary enlistment he was a piano tuner at Messrs Honeywell and Sons, Kingston upon Thames.

He married Caroline Millicent Harman in Hastings in the spring of 1916.  In the same year he enlisted in Putney, joining the 25th County of London Cyclists, later transferring to the Royal Inniskilling  Fusiliers.

He died of wounds on 23rd March 1918 aged 28.  At the time of his death he was in an Entrenching Battalion (presumably digging and repairing trenches).  He is remembered on the Pozieres Memorial and the date suggests he was killed during the period of crisis in

March and April 1918 when the Allied Fifth Army was driven back by overwhelming numbers across the former Somme battlefields.

At this time his parents were living in Vicarage Rd and his wife in Milward Rd.

Probate was granted to his widow in the sum of £165 19s 6d.

His brother was also serving in the army and was also in France at the time of Edward’s death.