Thank you to Jane Anthony for the following research.
Albert Hayter was the eldest son and second child of Frank and Eliza Hayter. At the time of his birth in 1892, they were living in Epping and his father was working as a coachman. When his eldest sister was born, the family lived in Yarmouth.
By 1911 he had left the family home, and was working as a footman in a large house, Hawksmoor, in Chislehurst Kent. Both of his sisters were also working as servants. On 2nd January 1913, Albert married Lily Copeland at St Mary Magdalene, Peckham. She was six years older than her husband who was 21 at the time. Her father was already dead and she had lived with her uncle and aunt, who had connections to Norfolk. The address of Albert’s father was given as being Marie Cottage, Holmbury St Mary. In 1911 the family had still been in Epping so they must have moved to Surrey at sometime between the census and the marriage at the beginning of 1913. It is possible that the move was motivated by their eldest daughter Violet moving to the area, she married at Guilford in 1914. Certainly one of the two younger boys, Stanley, remained in the area.
Although he enlisted at Chelsea, he joined the 7th Battalion. Norfolk Regiment. The Battalion was formed in Norwich and landed in France on 31st May 1915. Albert Hayter was wounded and taken to the casualty clearing station at Heilley which is about two kilometres from Albert, where he later died. Fighting in the area was heavy through the period of the battle of the Somme and the burials in this cemetery were carried out under extreme pressure. Many of the graves are either too close together to be marked individually, or they contain multiple burials. Some headstones carry as many as three sets of casualty details, and in these cases, regimental badges have had to be omitted. Instead, these badges, 117 in all, have been carved on a cloister wall on the north side of the cemetery. The details of next of kin are given as his wife Lily, who by this time was living near Norwich and his parents Frank and Eliza whose address was given as being Loughton Essex, whether this is incorrect, or whether they had returned to Essex, is not known. There is no trace of Albert and Lily having any children.
| Lived | Epping, Essex | |
| Son of | Frank and Eliza Hayter | |
| Husband of | Lily Hayter (nee Copeland) | |
| Brother of | Sergeant Sidney Hayter | |
| Regiment | 7th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment | |
| Number | 12377 | |
| Date of Death | 19th October 1916 | |
| Place of Death | Albert, France | |
| Cause of Death | Died of Wounds | |
| Age | 24 | |
| Cemetery | Heilly Station Cemetery, Mericourt l’Abbe, France |
