Arthur Allport was a railway accounts clerk, born in Derby abt 1864. His parents were James Allport and Hannah (nee Horobin). In 1884 Arthur married Elizabeth Woodings and they lived in Derby before moving to Sawley in the mid-1890s. Their children included:
- Nellie (abt 1885 Derby)
- Hannah (abt 1888 Derby)
- Mabel Marian (abt 1891 Derby)
- Harold (abt 1894 Sawley
- Edmund Horatio (abt 1896 Sawley)
In 1901 they were living in Plant Lane. Arthur died in 1910. The following year Elizabeth and the children were at 11 Hawthorne Ave where Hannah was a dressmaker, Mabel was an assistant in a sweet shop, Harold was a lace draftsman and Edmund (age 15) had become a Midland Railway clerk.
By 1914 Edmund was working in the Midland Railway Chief Accountant’s Divisional Office in Derby when he volunteered for the Grenadier Guards. He served as a guardsman with 1st Battalion. They took part in the Battle of Loos, which started on 21 Sep 1915. By 14 Oct it was mostly over, but minor fighting continued for some weeks. Edmund disappeared on 17th Oct and was later presumed dead. He is one of the 20,000 British soldiers with no known grave listed on the Loos Memorial.