Colin McMillan has provided the following:
The birth of George Cecil Crake was registered in the Apr-May-Jun quarter of 1891 and he was baptised on 18th June that year. (The CWGC are incorrect when giving his age at death in 1915 as 26, as this would imply a year of birth of 1889 and he would therefore have appeared on the 1891 census, which he did not). He was the son of Edward Crake who, in 1891,was a 37 year old leather and boot dealer married to 35 year old Margaret Crake. They had three children and were living at Bridge Street, Morpeth. All members of the family were born in Morpeth.
By 1901, when George was 9, his father was no longer there and his mother was now head of the household. She was described as married, NOT widowed and was a boot, shoe and leather shop keeper, employed on her “own account”. George’s older siblings were still living with the family. Emily Crake was 23, John William Crake was 21 and a student of chemistry, and Blanche Crake was 19. Their address was given as 16 Bridge Street, Morpeth which may have been the same residence they inhabited ten years previously.
George does not appear on the 1911 census and it is possible that he had emigrated to Australia by then. He served as 199 Trooper Crake, G.C. in the 1st Australian Horse and was killed on 14th May 1915.
Morpeth Herald 11/06/1915 carries a brief obituary:
"Pte. [sic] George Cecil Crake, of the Australian Squadron, was killed in action at the Dardanelles on May 14th. Deceased was the youngest son of the late Mr Edward Crake, Morpeth, and also an old Grammar School boy."
George Cecil Crake is remembered at Morpeth on M17.01 M17.06 M17.09 M17.12 and M17.29
