Albert was born in Hackney in 1883, the son of John Thomas Poke and Sarah Cousina (nee Jackson). His father was a furrier and he was the third of seven children of this marriage. By 1901 he had left school and was living at home with the family in Edmonton whilst working as a sugar boiler. In 1911 he was still employed as a sugar boiler but was living with his elder, married brother, William Poke. His mother had died in 1909 and his father had moved to Manchester where he had married again and started a new family.
Albert married Mary Jessie Baldry in Edmonton in 1916. They had no children and it is likely that Albert was called up to serve in the army around this time. He joined the Kings Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment as a private and was sent to Flanders. He was killed in action on 26th September 1917  during the Third Battle of Ypres and has no known grave. He is commemorated on the Memorial at the Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium. His younger brother, John Henry Poke, a regular soldier,  had previously died in action during the second Battle of Ypres in 1915.