Edward Thomas Thorpe, the son of Thomas and Violet Thorpe of Edith Weston, was the eldest of a family of nine, and born on 17 February 1889. He left school at the age of 12 and started work training to be a gamekeeper at the Earl of Ancaster's estate at Normanton Park. But at the age of 16 his father was seriously injured in an accident and Edward was called on to help in the family carting business and helping to bring up his younger brothers and sisters. Before the outbreak of the war he had been a member of the Oakham Territorials and on 12 September 1914, he joined the 1/5th Leicestershire Regiment with his brother John. He experienced many narrow escapes in the fighting in Belgium, where he was sent on 27 February 1915, but was ultimately killed by an explosive bullet which entered his chest, and he died in hospital near Ypres on 24 July 1915. His Commanding Officer wrote: "He was at the time he was hit, nobly defending his trench. He was much liked by everyone. I personally always looked upon him as one of my best soldiers. He was always cheerful and very popular amongst his comrades." Edward is buried at Hop Store Cemetery, near Ypres, grave I.C.27, and is remembered on Edith Weston's war memorial.