Nathaniel Partridge (Colbran) Baker-Colbran (1901 - 1977)

Born 27 Dec 1901 in Herstmonceux, Sussex, England

Ancestors

Died 27 Apr 1977 at age 75 in Eastbourne, East Sussex, England

Nathaniel (Colbran) Baker-Colbran was born in Sussex, England.

Biography

Nathaniel was born in 1902 in Herstmonceux, Sussex, England. Nathaniel Partridge Baker Colbran was the son of a journeyman basket maker of the same name and a housemaid/domestic Lilly Wood (Colbran). ^[1]

The name Baker was added to the Colbran surname in the eighteenth century creating a separate branch to a once numerous Sussex family. This tradition ceased in the early twentieth century.

My father Nat had three sisters, Lilly, Winnie, and Elsie. The family lived for a while on the edge of the Pevensey Levels, a huge area of recovered salt-marsh bordering Herstmonceux Parish, in a cottage with the curious name of Adams Hole where they were fairly self-sufficient, gardening and keeping poultry. Nat left school at the age of fourteen and joined the Royal Navy as soon as he was able as a boy sailor on HMS Ganges. He did not go to sea until after the armistice but served on several ships and shore bases in the short time he was in the navy, one such shore base was HMS Victory then used as a training base. His father was an 'Old Contemptible' (a soldier in the Royal Sussex Regiment from the outset of war). He was severely wounded in 1918 losing a leg and spending the best part of a year in recovery and rehabilitation. Nat jnr. came home with a compassionate discharge from the navy. I suspect this was due to the Spanish flu pandemic as hundreds of sailors died at Portsmouth between 1919 and 1821, a true figure may never be known. He soon married to Doris Coomber in Hailsham, Sussex. They had four sons, Eric John Colbran, (who died in infancy), Rodney Frank Colbran, myself Bernard Colbran and one other. Nat jr. joined the army (The Queen's Regiment) between wars and following discharge spent most of the rest of his working life with the Southdown Motor Service as a bus conductor. This was interrupted for a brief spell during the second world war when he enlisted in the Royal Air Force. He had an unusual military service record to say the least. Nat ended his days in the family cottage in Lower Dicker, Hellingly Parish, East Sussex.

Over the years Nat and 'Dolly' experienced hard times, living through two world wars, they were hard working and resourceful as with most of their generation and always managed to provide for the family, putting the welfare of their sons above everything else. B.C.

Nat. passed away in Eastbourne in 1977. ^[2]

Research Notes

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Sources

1. ↑ "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2F8P-6S3 : 1 October 2014), Nathaniel P B Colbran, 1902; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Hailsham, Sussex, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England
2. ↑ "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVCR-WD1D : 4 September 2014), Nathaniel Partridge B Colbran, 1977; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, Eastbourne, Sussex, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
3. ↑ Family Narrative; Military Records; B.D.M. Records; 1911 U.K. Census.
4. ↑ Bernard Colbran; Family Narrative; B.D.M. Records; Military Records; U.K. Census.