| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Herbert Norris was born in Hornsea on 9 Jul 1884, the son of Henry Norris of Beverley, a shoemaker, and his wife Eliza Ann (nee Nelson). Herbert had six sisters and two younger brothers. After leaving school Herbert trained as a cabinet maker and was employed by Hasslewood Taylor and Son, furniture makers of North Bar, Beverley. On 12 Jan 1903, Herbert went to Hull and enlisted in the Army Ordnance Corps. Private Herbert Norris.
Herbert went to Canada in 1908, Ernest, his brother, followed in 1910 and when the Canadian Census was taken on 1 Jun 1911, the two brothers were living in Camrose, Strathcona, Alberta. Herbert and Ernest both served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
Sapper Herbert Norris enlisted in the 14th Field Company, 4th Division, Canadian Engineers, at Winnipeg, Manitoba on 2 Mar 1916. He embarked with his unit for England on the SS 'Baltic' on 16 May 1916 and was posted to 10th Field Company, Canadian Engineers at Bramshott, Hampshire on 1 Jun 1916. With regimental permission, Herbert Norris married Angelina Fairbrother at Chatham on 22 Jul 1916.
The 4th Canadian Division embarked for France on 12 Aug 1916 where they were involved in the later Battles of the Somme. In Nov 1916, at Grandcourt, Battle of the Ancre, the Canadians fought in terrible weather conditions - sleet, snow and nil visibility. Afterwards, Herbert was promoted to corporal. Corporal Norris was posted for 'instructional duties' to the Canadian Engineers Training Depot at Crowborough in Jun 1917 and served the following year in England. In Jul 1918, with the rank of Acting Sergeant, he transferred to the Canadian Corps Reinforcement Camp in France. Ernest was granted eighteen days 'home' leave to England following the birth of his daughter, Joyce Ivey Norris, at Chatham on 1 Oct 1918. The 4th Canadian Division returned to England on 4 Feb 1919. Herbert embarked with Canadian troops on the SS 'Adriatic' at Southampton on 3 Sep 1919. His wife and baby daughter, as military dependants, travelled on the same ship. They arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia on 10 Sep and Herbert was discharged from the Army ten days later.
At the time of the 1921 Canadian Census the Norris family lived at 826 Vine Street, Saanach, Nanaimo,Vancouver Island. British Columbia. Herbert and Angelina's second daughter, Virginia Mae Norris, was born on 15 Jul 1923. Herbert died at Saanich on 16 Nov 1956. He was aged seventy-one. He was buried in the Veterans Cemetery, (known as Gods Acre), Esquimalt, Vancouver Island.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |