Harry (Henry) Graver
The Soldier:
Harry (Henry) Graver enlisted into the army in Norwich, Norfolk. He joined the first Battalion of the Norfolk Regiment and was assigned regimental number 3/7514.
He was ‘killed in action’ on the 28th April 1915, aged just 20.
He is commemorated on panel 4 at the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial and is on Snettisham’s ‘Roll of Honour’ and both its memorials alongside his brothers George and Bertie who also died serving their country in the war.
The man:
Harry (Henry) Graver was born on the 2nd September 1894 in Snettisham, Norfolk. His parents were John and Charlotte (nee Beales) who had moved to the village from North Creake.
He was baptised as Henry Graver (Harry being a common alternative of the more formal ‘Henry’) on the 23rd September 1894 in St. Mary’s Church, Snettisham.
He had seven older siblings; Orpha (15th December 1874), Selina (9th December 1876), Ruth (25th Nov. 1878), George (7th April 1884), Arthur John (7th April 1886), Ernest (16th June 1888) and Bertie (27th July 1890).
His mother had also given birth to sisters Maud and May and brother Frederick who died in infancy.
Tragically his sister Ruth died at the age of 12 and was buried in St. Mary’s Church cemetery on the 6th February 1890.
His younger sister Ellen Sarah was born on the 21st April 1897 but died later the same year.
His mother Charlotte later gave birth to two younger brothers; Walter (born 21st April 1898) and Sydney (born 14th February 1900).
By the 1901 census the entire family except for Orpha and Selina (parents and seven children) were living in Station Road (The Row), Snettisham. Harry’s father’s job was described as ‘horseman on farm’. Orpha had married Thomas Down in 1898 and they were later to settle in Putney, London and have a family there. Selina had married Ernest Grief, also of Snettisham, on the 9th August 1896 and they were living elsewhere in the village with their son (they went on to have several more children).
Harry enrolled in Snettisham school on the 1st June 1902 (This is still the village’s primary school). He went there for his entire schooling with all his siblings.
In the 1911 census Harry was living with his parents John (now 60) and Charlotte (now 48), elder brothers Arthur John (25) and Ernest (23) and younger brothers Walter (14) and Sidney (11). The family were still in the Station Road address. Harry ha by now left school, his occupation was listed as ‘Brick Labourer’. He was now aged 17 and single.
Following his death, Private 3/7514 Harry Graver’s personal belongings were forwarded to his father John.
After Harry’s death the Graver family was beset by a series of further tragedies. His mother died 11 months later in March 1916 and his brothers George and Bertie were killed in the war on the 27th July 1916 and 23rd March 1918 respectively.
Pictures: Picture of John and Charlotte Graver (Harry, George and Bertie’s parents), picture of Selina Graver (Harry, George and Bertie’s sister), her husband Ernest Grief and several of their children – both kindly provided by Herbert Raven of Snettisham (Selina’s grandson and John and Charlotte’s great grandson)
