Ernest Finch was born in Nash Mills near Apsley End, Hertfordshire on Friday, 16th January 1885. He was the youngest child born to Alfred Finch and Elizabeth Cheshire Martha who had a total of nine children together. The children were: William, Mary Ann, Harry, Charles, Alfred, Emily, Arthur, Walter and Ernest.

Ernest’s family lived in Nash Mills when he was born, before moving to 89 Cotterells in Hemel Hempstead in the early 1890s. His father and older brother Charles worked as ‘Gardeners’ at Nash House, the original home of John Dickinson in Apsley. Ernest started his education at Nash Mills school before moving to Boxmoor JMI in March 1895. He was at the school for just a year before moving to Apsley Boys school where his education was completed in 1898. On leaving, he started work with John Dickinson & Co Limited in Apsley Mills.

By 1901 the Finch family had moved to ‘Ashleigh Villas’ on Weymouth Street in Apsley where Ernest would remain until he joined the Colours and went to war. His mother Elizabeth had died at the age of sixty-one in 1899, and his widowed father Alfred lived with Ernest and another son Charles and Charles’ wife Alice.

Ten years later the only change to these living arrangements was the presence of Ernest’s five young nephews and nieces in the small terraced home. His father Alfred died in 1915 aged eighty-five, leaving Ernest at home with his brother Charles, sister-in-law Alice and their young family.

After war had broken out Ernest attempted to enlist, but was rejected on several occasions until finally, on the 28th February 1917, he was at last successful and joined the Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) at Watford. Less than two weeks after joining up he caught a chill and when his condition quickly deteriorated he was admitted to the Duston Military Hospital at Upton in Northampton. The hospital had previously been the Berrywood Asylum, but on the outbreak of war it was handed over as a military hospital and covered East Anglia and the East Midlands.

Ernest’s chill had turned to pneumonia and only days after his admission to hospital he sadly died on Tuesday, 13th March 1917. His death and funeral were reported in the Hemel Gazette in the days following his death. His funeral service was conducted by the Rev. J.H.R Lendrum who would be killed in August 1918. His biography also appears on this site.

He is commemorated on a memorial plaque in St Mary’s Church, Apsley End.

Ernest is Remembered with Honour in Apsley End (St. Mary) Churchyard, Apsley, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, where he is interred in Grave NE Churchyard.

He was 32 years old when he died.

Ernest was entitled to the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.