Remembered on both Blakeney War Memorials

Although the name H. Wright appears on both Blakeney War Memorials the memory of him has long since been lost to the village and despite extensive research, he remains an enigma.

Without knowing what the “H” stands for makes it just that much harder to solve. Was the “H” an initial for his first name, a middle name, or did “H” stand for a nickname? Then who was his next-of-kin who put his name forward to be included on the War Memorials? Was it his parents, a wife or even grandparents? Was H. Wright even born in Blakeney or just living here at the outbreak of war or was it where his next-of-kin was living? This is no more and no less than hunting for a needle in a haystack.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) lists several hundred H. Wrights in the army, 3 in the Merchant Navy and 13 in the Royal Navy, yet none of them indicate a Blakeney connection, even when using the CWGC’s ‘advanced search’ facility. Parish Registers, census returns, Electoral Rolls and Trade Directories have all been searched to no avail.

Hopefully the first Blakeney Parish Council Minute Book may just have thrown some light on our H. Wright, for an entry dated 5th August 1920 shows that a “Mrs H. Wright” was being considered as a tenant for the newly built War Memorial Cottages in New Road. Who was she? Could this mean that H. Wright was a married man and that his wife was living in the village? Was she the one with connections to Blakeney and not him?

A quick search of the Blakeney School Admission Register shows that they had no young children of school age. And there the trail goes cold again. Providing “Mrs H. Wright” neither left the village nor remarried then it may be possible to resolve this conundrum when the 1921 Census is released. Meanwhile the search continues.