Miss May Mole, Eastbourne, Sussex- COMPLETED.

[Francesanne]

Wonder if anyone might be able to offer any assistance. Many years ago my husband discovered a letter that had slipped between the floorboards of an old house he was working in. The house was in London & not Eastbourne.He brought the letter home & we'd forgotten all about it until recently. We were having a major sort out and we rediscovered the old letter. It was addressed to a MISS MAY MOLE, "Sylvan Tor" 12, Ashburnham Gardens, Eastbourne, England from a friend named Evy or Ivy from Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It was dated the 22nd May 1916 and it's just a very nice little letter to a friend. The writer refers to May's brother Clifford who's fighting in the Great War. I would love to pass it on to any surviving family members of May but really don't know where to start.  Can't bring myself to destroy the letter without trying to find any relatives who might like to have it.

[CaroleW]

Freebmd has very few entries for a Clifford Mole who would have been old enough to serve in WW1

1886 Basford and 1896 Dudley neither of whom has a sister called May in the 1901 census

There is no WW1 medal roll entry for Clifford which makes me wonder whether Clifford was a second christian name

There is an 1888 birth for Daniel Clifford Mole in Stourbridge but he didn't have a sister called May in 1901 either

Perhaps somebody could lookup the Sussex address for you on the electoral register

[stanmapstone]

A Walter Mole was living in 6 Ashburnham Gardens, Eastbourne in 1915. http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/


Stan

[Dazey999]

Are you sure the surname is Mole?  Could it perhaps be Hole?  It's just that a Douglas Kercheval Hole was living at No. 12 when he died in 1933.  He married Daisy Eleanor Clark in Hampstead in 1903, but I can't see that they had any children.  Neither can I see that he was previously married (as Clifford would have been born before 1903).  I've even tried brothers, incase May was a niece, but no luck. 
Dazey

[heywood]

There is a Mole family - father is Walter in 1901 in Cheshunt Hertfordshire. There are several children -some born in Scotland. Amongst them there is Clifford 9 yrs and Daisy M 11 yrs and Evelyn M 7 yrs.

[Annette7]

1901 Census shows the following:

Hammond Street, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire (ref.RG13 - 1278 - 93 - 37)

Walter Mole 36     Civil Service Tutor Publisher    b. Bridgewater, Somerset
Florence Mole 36                                               b . Bromfield, Salop
Daisy M. Mole 11                                               b. Scotland
Clifford G. Mole 9                                                 ditto
Evelyn M. Mole 7                                                  ditto
Ernest W. Mole 5                                                  ditto
Arnold D. Mole 1                                               b. Cheshunt, Herts.
Maud M. Page  niece    22                                  b. Moreton in the Marsh, Glos.

It would seem that by 1911 family had moved to Hampshire - they clearly moved around so was Sussex their next stop?

So, with a Walter Mole in Ashburnham Gardens in 1915, the one above had a son Clifford, I discovered that Daisy M. was Daisy Mabel but Evelyn M. was Evelyn May so she may have been known by family/friends as just May.

Annette

[Dazey999]

Yay!!! You just beat me to it, heywood.  

Clifford George Mole, born Edinburgh, father Walter Mole, enlisted in the Australian Army in 1914 at GEELONG.
His service papers on the Australian Archives website include a letter addressed to him at "Sylvan Lor" Ashburnham Gardens, Eastbourne

Dazey

[Dazey999]

Looks as though Evelyn never married and died in 1977 in Barnet, Middlesex.  Where in London was the house where the letter was found, Francesanne?

[Annette7]

Just for continuance, Clifford George Mole shown on ER's at Corio, Victoria 1914 and 1919.

On 2/6/1920 he arrived in New York as part of the crew of the SS 'Canadian Raider', 3rd. Officer.

He died 20/10/1962 in Saanich, British Columbia, Canada.

Annette