Captain Albert Ball, Nottingham's "Flying Ace" was a volunteer member of the Robin Hoods and the Royal Flying Corps. He was killed in action in 1917, aged 20. Said to have shot down 43 enemy planes, Albert, a dedicated Christian, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. His grave is in Annoeullin, France, but the family grave and his memorial stone are at Holy Trinity.

A living legacy survives in the Albert Ball Memorial Homes, built by his parents for the widows and mothers of those who had lost their lives. These homes can be seen with Lenton's war memorial at the corner of Church Street and Sherwin Road.

See the memorial window and tablet

A strong faith led Dorothea Crewdson to become a Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse. In 1914 she volunteered for war duty and spent four years nursing soldiers in France. She died at No. 46 Stationary Hospital on 12 March 1919, aged 32, and was buried nearby. A memorial service was held at this church on 21 March. She is commemorated on a tablet in the church and also on Lenton’s war memorial.

Dorothea was awarded the Military Medal in 1918 for bravery. She posthumously received a Royal Red Cross Class 2 for her devotion to duty and outstanding service. Her diaries, written during her war service, have been published.

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Lenton Vicarage was once home to Helen Kirkpatrick Watts, daughter of Revd. Watts and Ethelinda. Believing that women's suffrage "will not be won by drawing-room chatter... it has got to be fought for in the market-places and if we don't fight for it, no-one else will", Helen was twice imprisoned in 1909, receiving the Women's Social and Political Union medal for valour.

By 1911 she had left the vicarage but four of her siblings remained. These included Ethelinda, a schoolteacher, and Alice, described in the census as ‘Secretary to Suffragist Society’.
Image courtesy of Bath in Time

Francis Wright (1806-73), Esquire, was the founder of Holy Trinity and is commemorated in the east window

Wright donated the land, set between Old and New Lenton and valued at £800, on which the church, churchyard, vicarage, school and homes for its master and mistress would be built. He also gave £3,000 towards the building costs, the remaining £3,000 coming from public subscriptions and a grant from the Incorporated Society for Building and Enlarging Churches. Wright also imported a number of exotic trees, to be planted in the new churchyard.

Justice of the Peace for Nottinghamshire, Derby and Stafford, High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, and Deputy Lieutenant for Derby, Francis was part of the eminent Wright banking family. He served as a churchwarden and his family’s involvement in the church continued for many generations. In 1828 his father, John, who was involved in the creation of the Nottingham Canal and also built Lenton Hall, created the family vault at the Priory Church (now Grade II listed).

See the memorial east window