W. Fuller
Linton
Camb
DEC 1, 1910
Linton, Camb? Reading it, I immediately wanted to add "Great Britain, The World, The Universe..." It had to be the work of a child.
According to the 1911 census, William Robert Fuller lived on Green Lane in Linton, the only child of older parents. His dad, William Henry Fuller from Newton, was a domestic gardener - perhaps at the house where this graffiti appears. Little William's ma was called Emily and came from Trumpington (mis-recorded as Kumpington on the census) where William himself was born in 1903.*
So in December 1910 William was about seven years old, and he would have been attending Linton National Church of England School - now the Infant School. On this site I found a 1910 photo of the infant class II (I hope it's OK to reproduce it here). I think our William must be one of these children:
An age of innocence, 1910. At least the boys in this picture would still have been too young to serve in the Great War, when it came. I have tried to trace William Robert Fuller to find out what became of him, but have not come up with anything solid - did he grow up and marry? Did he serve in World War II? Did he emigrate? It's difficult to trace someone when all you really have is a few words scratched on a wall.
*See comments
Of course, since posting this I've discovered that he was probably born in Impington, not Trumpington, and more likely 1902 than 1903, so he probably isn't in this photo after all - but he would have looked much like this and must have known some of these kids.
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