Leyton & Leytonstone

Historical Society

Albert Austin was born in Leyton in 1895. His father Frank was a tennis racquet maker, his mother Charlotte had been born in Stepney  and the family, which in 1901 included four sons and three daughters, lived at 163 Church Road, Leyton.  By 1911 there were ten living children listed in the household census and they had moved just round the corner in Leyton to 1 Palamos Road. Both Albert and his elder brother Frank attended Church Road school in Leyton.  In 1911 the sixteen year old Albert was an apprentice tennis racquet maker and his younger brother Percy was a wire worker  at an electrical works. The oldest child in the family, Frank, worked as a clerk for the African Mining Company and their seventeen year old sister worked as  a waitress.

First World War stories from St Mary’s Leyton churchyard

Albert Edward Austin (1895-1918)                   

image from Wikipedia

Albert Austin (service number: 207735) served as a rigger/air mechanic 1st class at the 59th Training Depot Station (TDS) at the RAF base in Scopwick, a small village in North Lincolnshire, six miles south of Lincoln. A rigger was a member of the ground crew responsible for maintenance of the aircraft  frame. He had joined the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in December 1916 and was a Sergeant in 1918, paid 4 shillings per day. The 59th Training Depot Station was formed in July 1918 having previously been the 28th wing at  Portholme Meadow, Cambridgeshire. The range of aircraft that were maintained for  training purposes included DH8; DH9; F2b; BE2c and Avro 504.