Paul was the elder son of Henry and Sylvia Torpey. He had two older sisters Ruth (born 1916) and Joan (born 1918). They moved into a new house 29, St George’s Avenue, built under the ‘Homes for Heroes programme after WW1.

Paul was always sickly and had spent some time in Newbury District Hospital before he died there in October 1927. His father used to cycle to visit him every morning on his way to work. His death certificate reveals that he died of ‘tuberculous meningitis’.
We know more than usual about Paul and his life as his sister Joan wrote an excellent book about her childhood, in which she refers to herself as Jane and Paul as Peter. Joan’s mother Sylvia went on to have another son Patrick in 1928, but having had TB herself for many years never fully recovered and died in 1930. Paul and Sylvia are buried in our cemetery.

Henry Torpey was a gifted amateur photographer and many of his photographs appear in Joan’s book.

Further reading:
Booker, J. (1982) A Newbury Childhood. Newbury; Berkshire County Library

Sources: