EDGOOSE:
In search of Ancestry
EDGOOSE, Frederick
1899 - 1980 (80 years) Has 33 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.
1865 - 1954 (88 years)-
Name EDGOOSE, Frederick Birth 11 Aug 1899 Poplar, Middlesex 
Gender Male Death 1980 Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England Person ID I423 Edgoose Last Modified 1 Feb 2026
Father EDGOOSE, Arthur, b. 11 May 1865, Poplar, Middlesex d. 29 Nov 1902, Poplar, Middlesex (Age 37 years) Mother HEATH, Elizabeth, b. 3 Oct 1865, Poplar, Middlesex d. 9 Jul 1954, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England (Age 88 years) Marriage 21 Mar 1887 St. James the Great, Bethnal Green, Middlesex Family ID F277 Group Sheet | Family Chart
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Biographies 
EDGOOSE, Frederick (1899-1980)
According to Frederick EDGOOSE's birth certificate he was born at 2 Strafford Street, Poplar, Middlesex, on 11 August 1899, son of Arthur and Elizabeth EDGOOSE. His father Arthur, the informant, did not tell the truth. See the baptismal entry below.
(GRO September Q 1899 [HEATH] Poplar 01C 658)
Arthur EDGOOSE had married Elizabeth HEATH at Bethnal Green, Middlesex, on 21 March 1887.
He was baptised at St. Luke's Church, Millwall, London, on 30 July 1899. The register of baptisms gives his date of birth as 22 June 1899 and describes his father Arthur EDGOOSE as a stevedore.
(PR)
The 1901 census of 32 Newcastle Street, Poplar:
Arthur EDGOOSE, aged 36, dock labourer, born at Poplar;
Elizabeth EDGOOSE, aged 34, born at Poplar;
Hilda EDGOOSE, daughter, aged 7, born at Poplar;
Arthur EDGOOSE, son, aged 3, born at Poplar;
*Frederick EDGOOSE, son, aged 1, born at Poplar.
The family were boarding with an Irish Dock Labourer James SWEENEY and his wife Margaret.
(RG13/356/169/57)
The 1911 census of 38 Wellington Place, Canning Town E., Essex:
Elizabeth EDGOOSE, head, widow, aged 46, charwoman, born at Poplar, London;
Arthur EDGOOSE, son, aged 13, at school, born at Millwall, London;
*Fred EDGOOSE, son, aged 11, at school, born at Millwall, London.
(RG14/PN9467/RG78PN507B/RD188/SD3/ED57/SN326)
He enlisted for the duration of the war at The Green, Stratford, London, on 11 August 1917. He was described as an 18 year old labourer of 130 Pond Road, East Ham, London E15. His last employer was The Midland Railway of Durban Road, West Ham. He was five feet two inches tall and had an expanded chest measurement of thirty three and a half inches.
As 46370 Private Frederick EDGOOSE he was posted to the Rifle Brigade Training Reserve on 17 August 1917. He was found to be a carrier of C.S.F. and was confined to the Contacts Compound at Halton Camp East from 29 September until 22 October 1917.
He was posted to the Rifle Brigade 52nd Grad on 15 February 1918 and
transferred to the 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade on 2 April. On 28 August he was severely wounded in the right leg and was admitted to Southport Infirmary on 11 September where he remained until 10 October. He served with the British Expeditionary Force in France for a total of 162 days.
His next posting was to the Command Depot, Perham Down, on the edge of Salisbury Plain on 17 October 1918, and then to the Command Depot, Sutton Coldfield, on 22 November 1918. Command Depots had been created early in 1916 for the rehabilitative training of soldiers too fit for Convalescent Camp, but not yet fit enough to be returned to unit. He remained in hospital there until 3 January 1919.
His address on discharge on 31 January 1919 was 106 Eve Road, West Ham, London E15. He received a gratuity of £ 7.
He was awarded the British War and Victory medals.
His name appears in an index to Merchant Navy Seamen 1835-1941. Card CR1 (stamped Victoria Dock 29 APR 1923) gives his description: Height 5-3.1/2; Colour Eyes: Grey blue; Hair: Lt brown; Complexion: Fair. The reverse of the card has his signature and the name of a ship, s/s Marconi.
(National Archives BT349)
In 1927, at the age of 28, he joined the Camden 2 branch of the National Union of Railwaymen as a porter.
(Modern Records Centre MSS.127/NU/OR/2/96, General Register page 69 July 1927-Feb. 1928)
For most of his life he worked as a railway labourer. He lived in Poplar until he was bombed out and moved to Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire in 1940.
He was a keen amateur boxer for sixteen or seventeen years in his youth and, according to him, his name was frequently to be seen in the newspapers. He mentioned in particular a cartoon which appeared in the Westminster Gazette at the time of a match between the business houses and the Civil Service, possibly in 1922 or 1923. Unfortunately, no trace of this report has been found.
A report appeared in The Scotsman dated 14 April 1924 of a series of encounters in Glasgow between Scottish and English railwaymen which the London centre of the L.M.S. won 8 matches to 7, F. EDGOOSE of London beating G. HUNTER of Glasgow on points.
The Daily Mirror reported on 24 February 1928 that the London Business Houses A.S.A. Championships had been held at the Stadium Club the previous evening. The winner of the 8 st. category was F. EDGOOSE.
(Daily Mirror 24.02.1928 page 27)
There is a reference in The Times dated 15 March 1928 to the the A.B.A. Divisional Championships held at Kentish Town Baths in which F. EDGOOSE of London Midland beat E.H. HINGSTON on the referee's casting vote to qualify for the Amateur Boxing Association Championships to be held at the Albert Hall on 28 March. At the Championships he was defeated on points by A. MINTZ in the first series of the fly-weight bouts.
(The Times 29 March 1928).
There is a reference to F. EDGOOSE of the London Midland BC in the Daily Mirror of 5 March 1929, page 30.
From the 1939 Register of 102 Eve Road, West Ham C.B., Essex:
Elizabeth EDGOOSE, born 3 October 1870, widowed, retired
*Frederick EDGOOSE, born 11 August 1899, single, railway shunter
(RG101/1031J/015/10)
In 1968 he was living with his unmarried sister Hilda EDGOOSE at 40 Applecroft Road, Welwyn Garden City.
Hilda BURTON told of how a brother and sister Hilda EDGOOSE and Fred EDGOOSE visited her in Frampton shortly after a newspaper report of a thunderbolt striking Frank W. EDGOOSE's house.
Michael James EDGOOSE remembers: He visited me at Fernhurst on 1 March 1968. He arrived at 7pm without warning, without an invitation, had supper and showed us his unattractive table manners, and was driven to the station under protest at 8.15pm. He said he thought he was one of 9 children and he spoke of his married sister Emily. He talked of his father's brother James and of his father's sister Polly who married someone by the name of READ. He said that his father died in Poplar HHospital in 1902 following an accident which he suffered in the hold of a ship whilst working as a docker. The death certificate is at variance with this story. He said that his Aunt Carrie married twice, first to HANSEN. She (or they) went to America and returned just too late for Arthur EDGOOSE's funeral.
He was described as a retired head shunter when granted probate of the will of his sister Elizabeth who died on 17 August 1970.
Frederick Edgoose died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Welwyn Garden City, on 21 November 1980. His usual address was 101A Mill Green Road, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. The informant on 1 December 1980 was Vernon Patrick HIGGINS, "The Occupier", whose usual address was Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, Welwyn Garden City.
Cause of death was I(a) Renal Failure and (b) Abdominal Obstruction.
(GRO December Q 1980 Hatfield 10 375)
NOTES & QUERIES:
When did the cartoon mentioned above appear? 1922 or 1923. Apparently a caricature of Frederick Edgoose (1899-1980) appeared in the newspaper alongside their report of the boxing match between the civil service and the business houses.
The Westminster Gazette was a Liberal newspaper based in London which started publishing on January 31, 1893. It merged with the Daily News on February 1, 1928. It was known for publishing sketches and short stories, including early works by Antony Hope and Saki, and travel writing by Rupert Brooke.
Please help us to find this photograph.
CSF = Cerebrospinal Fluid (Analysis)
(revised 19.06.2026)