Haveringland – St. Peter’s Church (Cecil Albert Mace)

This is the grave of Cecil Albert Mace, located at St. Peter’s Church in Haveringland. Cecil was born on 21 February 1907 and was the son of Henry Mace and Alice Mace (nee Hawkins). The family lived at 48 Canterbury Place, later moving to 61 Exeter Street, with Cecil going to Heigham Street Infants School and then St Stephen’s Infants School.

At the 1911 census, the family were living at 61 Exeter Street, with Henry and his wife both being 31 and he was working in the boot trade. The children were Henry (aged 9), Ernest (aged 6), Cecil (aged 4), Walter (aged 2) and Alice (new-born). This census listed how many children had died, which was relatively high at the time, but Henry and Alice hadn’t lost any. I can imagine they were pleased with Alice to at least get a girl in the family, after four boys.

At the age of 18, Cecil joined the Royal Tanks Corps on 24 January 1924, enlisting at St. Stephen’s in Norwich and being given service number 2208658.

Cecil married Eva Mary Harrison in 1933 at St. Stephen’s Church in Norwich, although sadly his father had died by this time. Eva was aged 23, having been born in 1910, and she was working as a domestic servant, whilst Cecil’s occupation was listed as a motor driver. The couple were living at 28 Shadwell Street in the city and the marriage was witnessed by Albert Harrison and George William Hensley. As an aside here, I wrote briefly about Shadwell Street a few days ago.

Cecil joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, service number 902706, assisting the war effort given his previous military experience. Cecil died on 23 August 1947 at the age of 40. Unfortunately, none of the usual databases give any information as to what happened and it’s rare not to have a cause of death for an airman. There don’t seem to be any media reports of the death, which means it’s probably more likely a death from natural causes rather than being killed in a military accident. I’m also unsure why he was buried at St. Peter’s, which at the time was effectively the church on the airfield, given that he was married, but perhaps it all just felt more appropriate to the family.

The grave registration form for Cecil and Jeffrey Edwards.