Emily was born in Wales in 1881. Her parents were William Henry Pearn, a baker
from Penarth, and his wife Emma Jane, nee Sadler.
Emily became a music teacher and Sundayschool teacher. In 1907 she married Ernest Fergusson Pickford
and they went to live in Windsor Rd., Penarth, Glamorgan.
Emily joined Lena Ashwell's Concert Party during the First
World War. Lena, an actress, theatre
owner and producer, set up these touring groups to go and entertain the troops
in the Western Front from 1915 – 1919, under the auspices of the YMCA (Young Men's
Christian Association) and with the patronage of Princess Helena Victoria of
Schleswig-Holstein, one of Queen Victoria’s grandchildren.
Concert party groups usually consisted of between six and
seven people - singers, a musician and an entertainer such as a
ventriloquist. On the night of 7th
February 1919 one of the groups had been entertaining troops in Guoy, a village
in the north of France in the Departement of Aisne. The group were in two cars travelling back to
their headquarters in Abeville along the tow-path beside the River Somme, when
there was an unfortunate accident. One
of the cars slid on the icy tow-path and Emily and Frederick Taylor, a baritone
singer with the group, drowned. It is
worth remembering that cars, tyres and brakes were not as sophisticated in 1919
as they are in the 21st Century.
Emily was buried in Abeville Communal Cemetery Extension,
Abeville, Somme, France. The Grave
Reference is V. G. 23. She is also
remembered on the Memorial to the Men of Penarth who died in the First World
War in Alexandra Park, Penarth.
When you have time, do look at this more extensive account
of the accident: http://www.powell76.talktalk.net/mrsemilypickford.htmOriginal source: The Commonwealth War Graves Commission List of Female Casualties of the First World war
