Family and Friends of Edward Packe
Edward Packe was the youngest child of The Rev. William James Packe, Vicar of Feering, a small village in Essex. Both both parents were dead by 1914. These were the children:
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 The Packe family when young James, Beats, Pen, Sis, Algy and Rufus |
This very closely united family was already centred on the oldest daughter, "Sis". She was unmarried and lived in the family home at Wickham Bishops, another small Essex village quite near Feering. Christopher, the oldest, had served in the South African War and was now a Divisional Staff Officer. Edward carried on an extensive correspondence with all of them during the war, and saw them constantly during his periods of leave. |
 24 April 1919 "Capt. E. A. Packe, R.A.F., and his bride, Miss Claudia Lillian Barclay, daughter of Florence Barclay, the novelist, married at Holy Trinity, Hertford Heath." (Daily Mirror) |
His other main correspondents were the Barclay family, whom he had known since he was 13 and first went to Haileybury. The Rev. Charles Barclay, a friend of Edward's father, was the Vicar of Hertford Heath, very near the school, and had been asked to keep an eye on Edward during his first term. His wife was Florence Barclay, a very successful romantic novelist. One of the daughters, Claudia, was the same age as Edward and is mentioned continuously throughout the diary. She is also referred to as "Wogg" and, later, "Bob" (see Feb 27 1917). She had been running a Girl Guide Company and in 1914 became a V.A.D. at a hospital in Hertford near her home. Her next older sister "Bay" also worked there. Later, both the girls nursed at Netley Hospital, but by 1917 Claudia was helping her elder brother Guy and his wife Marjorie on their farm near Hendon. Early in 1918 she returned to nursing and went to France. Edward and Claudia were married soon after the war ended. Two of Claudia's other sisters are also mentioned, "Ula" (older) and "Angel" (younger).
Mr Hollins was another correspondent. He was Edward Packe's old prep school headmaster at The Grange, Eastbourne. His brothers went there as well, and they all went onto Haileybury. The reason for this school being chosen was that the headmaster, Lyttelton, was a great friend of their father. Lyttelton went on to be headmaster of Eton.
There is another friend who is not mentioned in his correspondence. Roger Morton (1893-1961) of Hyde, Cheshire was at Exeter College Oxford in 1914 with Edward Packe. He also joined up promptly, in September 1914, taking a commission as a regular in the Cheshire Regiment, seeing action at Loos and then in Salonika. The army remained his career until retirement. By WW2 he was a Lt.Col and sometime acting brigadier, and EAP's diaries mention running into him in Amiens on 5th April 1940, prior to the Dunkirk evacuation.
These photos are in a photo album belonging to Roger Morton, and show Edward Packe at Oxford. Click on photo for larger version.
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 Edward Packe diving |
 Edward Packe (Algie) on left Roger Morton on right |
 Edward Packe in Roger Morton's room |