Gunner Edward Luxford
Edward James Luxford, the son of the builder, Job Luxford, was born in Forest Row 1875. Edward was Job's only son as his brother, Maurice, died in 1886.
By the early 1900s Job Luxford was a prosperous businessman. In 1904 he purchased Highfields House in Forest Row. Soon afterwards he bought Little Parrock Farm and its brickyard on Shepherd's Hill. Job Luxford served on both the Parish and County Councils. He was also Chairman of the Guardians of East Grinstead Union.
Job was a staunch Conservative and used to describe Liberals as the "scum of the earth". When Charles Corbett, the Liberal candidate won East Grinstead in the 1906 General Election, Job accused all his men of voting for the Liberals and dismissed them when they reported for work the morning after the election. As good workers were not easy to find he later gave his men their jobs back.
On the outbreak of war in 1914, Job Luxford had reached his seventieth birthday. Like most leading Conservatives in the town, Job urged local young men to join the army. One of those who joined was his only son, Edward, who was now thirty-nine years old. Edward joined the Royal Garrison Artillery. Edward Luxford was killed in action at Ypres on 8th May, 1918.
Primary Sources
(1) The book St Barnabas Pilgrimages was found amongst Job Luxford possessions when he died in 1932. The book, published in 1923, includes a section called: 'A Visit to War Grave by an East Grinstead Resident'.
I was one of a party which has just returned from as visit to our boy's grave in France under the organization of St. Barnabas Pilgrimage. How beautiful it was! A flower bed about 80 or more yards long by 6 ft. wide and a row of tombstones on it. Then between each row is a walk about 10 to 12 ft. wide of the most beautiful green turf as smooth and as level as a billiard table. It was beautiful. I counted forty-eight stones in a row and it looked to me like a battalion in column of platoons. I said to myself, "My boy, I have often wished you were buried near us. But now if I could I would not have you moved under any consideration. You are in a beautiful place among your comrades, who fought and died with you."