Alexander Christie ARIS

Alexander Christie Aris served as Private SE/33581 in the Army Veterinary Corps. His father was Philip Aris.

He served with Wessel Deal Veterinary Hospital at Romsey. He died on 31 October 1918. He was buried in a family plot in Strensall (St Mary) Churchyard, East G. 19.

The surviving Commission correspondence follows the history of the grave long after his death. A later official account states that his sister, Mrs Carr, paid for its upkeep before asking the Commission to take responsibility in September 1929. That account is retrospective; her original request is not among the pages supplied to the project.

In 1953, Mrs M. C. May returned to Britain after years abroad and found the grave neglected. She arranged for it to be cleaned before the church authorities inspected it. Their subsequent report that it was tidy therefore described the result of her intervention. Correspondence in 1954 settled an arrangement for care of the turf, while excluding the private memorial itself.

Mrs May raised the matter again in 1961, after the verger’s retirement. An inspection confirmed that attention was needed, and a new sexton undertook the work. By 1972, however, the Commission explained that the double family grave had been removed from its maintenance agreement following a classification change in 1970. It continued to commemorate Aris in its records.

Mrs May signed her letters “née Aris”.