Ernest Peck250 Hills Road, Halesowen
History of 250 Hills Road
1911
Ernest Saville Peck, 44, pharmaceutical chemist, born Cambridge
Rachel Brenda 27, wife, born Nottingham
John Portway Saville, 2, born Trumpington
Rachel Helen Saville, 1 month, born Trumpington
Elizabeth Cavell 27, cook, born Saffron Walden
Constance Grace Gifford, 17, nurse, born Cambridge
Sarah May Hammond, 15, housemaid, born Cambridge
Ernest Saville Peck (1866-1955) was the son of chemist George Peck and attended The Perse School and Fitzwilliam House. He became an apprentic at his father’s pharmacy at 30 Trumpington Street and then studied chemistry at Cambridge University.
He was a member of the Territorial Division of the Cambridgeshire Regiment and at the outbreak of war, as a captain, was instrumental in the formation of a 2nd Reserve Battalion to replace casualties in the 1st battalion in France. Promoted to Major in 1915, he became an expert in chemical warfare and established the Anti-Gas school at Halton Camp. In 1918 he travelled to the USA and advised the US Army Gas School on training troops.
(Source Fitzwilliam Museum web site. Follow link above for pictures and more information).
There is also more detail on his involvement with the Cambridgeshire Regiment on the following website:
http://www.cambridgeshireregiment1914-18.co.uk/peck.html
A Florence Treadgold of this address volunteered for the Red Cross and worked from 1914-1919 as a ward help at the Cintra Terrace and Wordsworth VAD hospitals.