Henry Albert Goodright

Private Henry Albert Goodright (25281) of the 11th Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment died on 24 March 1917 according to the records of the CWGC (although his obituary in The Surrey Comet dated 28 April 1917 gives his date of death as 29 March 1917). He is buried at Faubourg D’Amiens Cemetery, Arras. According to his entry in UK Soldiers who Died in the Great War, he enlisted in Kingston.

Henry Albert Goodright was born in Surbiton between January and March 1889 (Source: Register of Birth, Death & Marriages). He first appears in the 1891 Census living at 6 Brighton Road, Surbiton with his parents, John (39) and Frances Goodright (38). He shared his home also with six elder siblings. These comprised: William J (15), garden boy; Louie Elizabeth (14), domestic servant; George R (10); Walter E (8); Lily S (6) and Laura Phoebe (4). The five younger children had been born in Surbiton. The older two were born in Long Ditton which was also the birthplace of their father. Henry Albert Goodright was the youngest son of the family.

By 1901, the residents at the family home had altered slightly. William, George, Walter and Lily are not included in the Census return. However, two younger children have appeared: Rose Frances and Daisy Isabel. Family members were continuing to move out as they grew older. In the 1911 Census only six members remained at the family residence at 3 Chelsea Villas, Portsmouth Road, Surbiton. His father worked as an engine driver at Surbiton Pumping station. Henry Albert still unmarried at 22 was an assistant at a Boot shop. Laura Phoebe (26) worked at home whilst her younger sisters, Rose Frances (19) and Daisy Isabel (17) both worked as book binders. We know of the nine children who survived. However, the 1911 Census revealed that by that date in 36 years of marriage the couple had produced ten children, one of whom had died.

The Mormon survey of marriages (English Select Marriages) reveals that Henry Albert Goodright married Rosetta Court at St Mark’s, Surbiton on 28 November 1915. They moved to Hampton Wick after their marriage as Private Goodright was living at 10 Park Road, Hampton Wick when he volunteered in March 1916 according to his obituary. Before enlisting he had been employed for two years by Messrs W Hart & Son, boot manufacturers of Thames St, Kingston. He was wounded in the neck in August 1916 possibly at the Battle of the Somme. Having recovered from his wound he returned to France in December 1916 where he was killed in March 1917 in the build up to the Spring Offensive known as the Battle of Arras.

His widow had, according to the obituary in The Surrey Comet, four brothers serving in the army. One of Private Goodright’s officers tried to comfort his grieving widow by an assurance in his letter of condolence that :“His end was very sudden..he could not have felt much pain.” The officer said he mourned his loss, not only as a good soldier but as a comrade and assured her that he gave his life for a great cause.