Yesterday, on Social media, I shared this wonderful seaside photo of a happy couple sitting in their deckchairs on the beach or promenade at Hove or Brighton.

Not unusual, but what was on the back was indeed unusual. Some kind person had written ‘Mr A Trufitt. Born 1881. Died 31.1.1952.‘ Were the couple on holiday or just on a day trip?

Three of my followers were quick on the mark with lots more information about Mr A Trufitt.

Sarah from Twitter, Dave on Bluesky and Tina on my Facebook page.

Information from Sarah, @EastMarple1: “Albert Trufitt. Death registered Croydon, qtr 1 1952. Age 70. The 1939 Register surname was Truffitt. Living 3 Donald Rd, Croydon. B. 16.7.1881. Married to Ellen C. Daughter Nellie, married name Crouch. Albert was a carpenter. First wife, Frances, died qtr 4, 1921, age 39. Albert remarried in 1923 to Ellen C. Searle“.

Information From Dave, @davelifelines.bsky.social‬: “Albert Trufitt, a native of Croydon, presumably on holiday in Hove, with (I believe) his second wife, Ellen, his first wife, Frances having died in 1921. Albert was a carpenter, and he and Ellen were living at 3 Donald Road, Croydon, when the National Register was compiled in September 1939“.

Information from Tina via my Facebook Page:

“Albert married twice. His first marriage was to Frances Lake in Croydon in 1906. When he married his second wife, Ellen Clara Searle, in 1923, he says he was a widower. On this cert, his father is listed as Albert Trufitt (dec), but there is only one marriage for Trufitt/Gardner in the index, and that is Edward Trufitt! Albert and Frances had 6 children in the Croydon area; Edward 1907, Frances Alice 1908, Henry Alfred 1910, William 1911, Nellie 1914 and Mabel 1915! All taken from Ancestry“

“Albert Trufitt – Sept quarter 1881 Croydon 2a 242 (Gardner) birth entry. Death entry Albert Trufitt Mar 1952 Croydon 5g 114.

“Administration will entry: “Albert Trufitt of 3 Donald Road, Croydon, died 31 January 1952 at Mayday Hospital, Croydon. Administration London 7 March to Henry Alfred Trufitt, park keeper & Frances Alice Clarke, married woman. Effects £609 4s 7d. I found an entry for possible parents of Alberts; Edward Trufitt married Elizabeth Gardner Dec 1866 Poplar 1c 1354. Hope this helps! Mind you, Trufitt isn’t a very common name, so much easier to research!  I’d guess the lady in the photos must definitely be Albert’s second wife, Ellen Clara Searle. Albert’s first wife, Frances, died at age 39 in 1921 in Croydon. Ellen Clara, his second wife, died at age 66 in Surrey, Mid Eastern in 1949“.

Huge thanks to all three of you! I compiled a very small tree with everyone’s information and wanted to check out the names of his children and found he actually had seven, the eldest, Richard, was born before he and Frances were married and was registered under the surname LAKE, Frances’s maiden name.

Albert Trufitt had many siblings. I’ve found nine so far! His parents were Edward Alexander Trufitt, 1838-1920 and Mary Elizabeth Gardner, 1843-1903; the couple married on 23 Dec 1866.

Frederick Alexander Trufitt.

A little of my research on just one of Albert’s brothers, who was killed in WW1 at the age of 46. Here we find Frederick firstly on the 1911 census. He has his unmarried sister Alice living with him as his housekeeper; she also has a child, a daughter aged 14, Gertrude Edith Trufitt.

It’s quite astonishing sometimes just how many different records you can find relating to one person, and this is just from one online site, Ancestry. They each give you slightly different and extra little bits of information, so it’s always worth searching around and following all links.

Name	Frederick Alexander Trufitt
Birth Date	7 Jan 1869
Enlistment Date	7 Jun 1887
Division	Royal Marine Light Infantry: Portsmouth Division
Register Number	3865

Name	Frederick Alexander Trufitt
Gender	Male
Initiation Age	30
Birth Year	1870
Initiation Date	11 Nov 1900
First Payment Year on Register	1901
Year range	1887-1909
Profession	Sergt R M L I
Lodge	Union Of Malta Lodge
Lodge Location	Malta
Lodge Number	407
Folio Number	252

The Royal Marine Light Infantry (R.M.L.I.) was a branch of the Royal Marines, specifically focused on infantry roles within naval operations and landings.

Name	Frederick Alexander Trufitt
Rank	Sgt
Birth Date	7 Jan 1869
Birth Place	Bromley-by-bow, London, England
Branch of Service	Royal Marine Light Infantry
Cause of Death	Killed or died as a direct result of enemy action
Official Number Port Division	Po/3865 (R.M.R.,612)
Death Date	3 May 1915
Ship or Unit	Portsmouth Battalion Royal Naval Division
Location of Grave	Not recorded
Name and Address of Cemetery	No Information Received As To Location of Grave
Relatives Notified and Address	Sister: A, 77 High Street, Peckham, SE

Name	Frederick Alexander Trufitt
Service Branch	Royal Marine Light Infantry
Unit	Portsmouth Bn.
Rank	Sergeant
Death Date	3 May 1915
Cause of Death	Wounded & Missing, assumed killed in action
Burial	Helles Memorial (MR 4)
Service History	Portsmouth Bn. at Ostend, Dunkirk & Antwerp 1914MEF 28/2/15-3/5/15 DD.
Service Number	PO/3865(RFR/A/612)
Notes	Born in 1869 in Poplar, Middlesex, the second son of Edward and Mary Trufitt, of 53 Parsons Mead, Croydon, Surrey.1914 Star issued to Miss A. Trufitt 15/7/19.

Alice and her daughter Gertrude, a Dressmaker, continued to live at 77 High Street, Peckham, which is where they were in 1921, by 1939 they had moved to 3 Hamlet Road, Penge. Gertrude had remained single and was still a Dressmaker.

In 1943, Gertrude married Frederick E Lock; she died in 1977. Her mother, Alice, had died in 1958, never being married.

Are you a descendant of this Trufitt family? If you are, please do get in touch either with a comment on here or via email to lynnswaffles@gmail.com. 

Till next time then…….