Norrieston Kirkyard, Thornhill, Stirlingshire

Having driven through Thornhill, Stirlingshire many, many times but never taking the time to stop and look around the kirkyard. Well, it was a beautiful sunny day in early November, so why not stop and pay a visit.

Norriston Kirk, Thornhill © Carol Sklinar 2015

I know the village is Thornhill as I photographed the war memorial years ago, but the sign on the kirk says Norrieston.  Anyway, the car was parked a short walk away.  I grabbed my bag and my camera, walked a few hundred yards and entered by a small gate.

As a family and local historian I have always taken great store in how much information can be gleaned from a piece of stone, granite or marble.  A small glimpse into the lives of those who have gone before, but whose names are still visible for those who pass by and care to look.   Whose name is foremost on the marker?  Who remembered that loved one?  When they were born, if you were lucky, but nearly always when they died.  Some tell of occupations, abodes, and how many children may have been lost in childhood.  While others remember loved ones who have died in foreign lands and others remember father’s, sons, brothers, daughters and sisters who fought in their own way for their country.

Many years ago, when I first started researching my family history, I could not understand why women in Scotland sometimes had two names.  I now know that in Scotland a woman ‘keeps her name from cradle to grave’, and are sometimes recorded with both names, how easy is that?  For example: In loving memory of John Riach and his wife Ann Hay.    A headstone will have a husbands name and a wife’s maiden name, making looking for a marriage that much easier. Resulting in a lot less time to search for the marriage. Initially, I thought how many people just did not marry.

Anyway, back to seeing who rests or is remembered within the boundary walls of this Scottish kirk.

 In loving memory of Robert Dick, Farmer of Munnieston, who died on 3rd February 1937 aged 88 years.  And his wife Margaret Mackieson who died on 21st January 1940 aged 88 years.  And their eldest son James Dick Private, 8th Cameronians presumed killed in Gallipoli on 28th June 1915 aged 35 years.

Dick family headstone © Carol Sklinar 2015

From this headstone we know  a little about Robert.  We know his wife’s maiden name. We know that James was their eldest son and he was presumed killed at Gallipoli – quite a bit of information for someone who may just beginning their family history research.

James Dick will be the main focus here. He lived at Thornhill, enlisting into the army in Glasgow.  He died on the 28th of June 1915 and the CWGC confirm this but also give details of his service number, 143, his rank of private and his place of remembrance, the Helles Memorial.  A look for James on the Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects, confirms the service number, regiment.  In addition to the already known information this web information details that James  died ‘on or since 28.6.15’ also Robert, his father, was the recipient of monies owed to his son.

Another resource available to researchers is the Medal Rolls Index Cards.  The card for J Dick, amended to James, gives details of his regiment, his rank, his qualifying service dates, theatre of war, how he ‘met his maker’ and a note for the disposal of his medals.  So, James entered the Balkans in mid June 1915 and had ‘died’  two short weeks later.

Ferguson family headstone © Carol Sklinar 2015

Have you ever ‘lost’ a relative during research, they simply disappear?  Then one day you visit the churchyard where the family rest and eureka! The headstone gives a clue as to why they disappeared.

Erected by Janet & Helen Ferguson in memory of their father, John Ferguson, died 6th May 1885(?) aged *7 years and their mother Helen Morrison, died 9th June 188* aged 80 years.  Their sisters, Mary, died 9th Decr 1878 aged 38 years.  Elizabeth wife of Edward Webb, died at Ararat, Australia, February 1879 aged 45 years.

 This headstone did  not only give Helen’s maiden name, it also told where one of her daughters lived and died.  Another family history box ticked

Black family headstone © Carol Sklinar

Names of crofts, villages, towns and occupations are also found on headstones thus pinning your research down to smaller areas.

Erected by John Black in loving memory of his wife Ann McFarlane, who died at Causeway End 28th June 1908 aged 79 years.  Also the above John Black, who died at Whitehill, Greenloaning 6th February 1908 aged 66 years.  David Black who died at South Africa, September 1908 aged 29 and their daughter, Janet, who died at Greenloaning, April 5th 1917 aged 67 years.

Then there are headstones to whom we are very grateful to those who told the monumental mason in great detail what to include.  The family of Robert Thomas Downie chose a unique design for his headstone along with full dates of birth and death for most of those remembered upon it.

MacLaren family headstone © Carol Sklinar 2015

Robert was born in April of 1826 ad died in December 1886. Others remembered on the headstone in Thornhill Kirkyard are:- William Downie, Janet Gardner Downie, Wm Downie MacLaren who died in France, Janet Downie, Robert Alexander, Janet Marjorie Banks, Margaret Forrester.  Lichen has taken its toll on some of the dates but a closer inspection could solve that problem.

Wm Downie MacLaren stands out for me on the names listed.  Who was he, which regiment did he serve in and where did he die?  Firstly, William was the son of W G and Mrs F  MacLaren of Drummore, Doune.  The CWGC entry for him gives his regiment as the Canadian Infantry, his service number as 437495 and hi rank was, private.  He died on the 8th of August 1918 aged 24 resting in Toronto Cemetery, Demuin, which is in the Somme region of France.

As William served in the Canadian Infantry, a look at the Canadian Archives came up with his entry, but sadly, his records have not been scanned yet!  But, it can be seen that his name is spelt McLaren.  His reference for the records is RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 7019 – 12 with an item number of 157791.

After a pleasant walk around Norrieston kirkyard I now know a little more about who rests or is remembered within its walls.

Epsom College men at war

If you have read my previous blog about the college, you may be interested to know about one more Epsom College man who fought for their King and Country.

There are many men recorded within the pages of the Epsom College Register 1855-1905. Many followed in their father’s footsteps and joined the family firm or joined the political services, or even worked for international banks or businesses, while others joined the military as a career. But it is not a career man who is the focus of this entry but a man who was an architect.

Who is this man, with a name that seemed so interesting as to tempt me to tell you about him? William Leonard Boghurst Leech, a name that doesn’t seem to trip off the tongue but still commands attention.

William, for short, had his birth registered in the last quarter of 1887, in the Stow Registration District of Suffolk, being born in Woolpit, Suffolk. He was the son of Albert H Leech, a Registered General Medical Practitioner, also born in Woolpit, while Annie M was his mother.  In the 1891 census William is three years old and his younger sister, Emily M is one year old.   I had been looking for a marriage for Albert and Annie M, but after a few searches, gave up – it was not that important.  But, what do they say about people who wait?  Well, I waited and the 1891 census handed me her maiden name upon a plate or a census sheet!  Also living in the house, ‘White House’, Woolpit are two other ladies, listed after three servants.  Who are these ladies?  Frances Boghurst, widow, are you getting a clue now?  Frances was Annie M’s mother. Also in the house was Agnes J Boghurst, Annie M’s sister. Don’t you love it when everything just comes into place!

“Epsom College main building and lawn” by Naveed Barakzai/Maxal Photography, via Wikepedia

Ten years later Master Leech was 13 years old and what a merry chase he led me while looking for him in the census.  Eventually, he gave in and there he was, Leech, Wm. Leonard Boghurst, as a pupil in Epsom College, College Road, Epsom.

The enumerator’s book describes the institution as ‘Epsom College, A School with Masters & Pensioners detached Houses’. At the time of the census, Thos. Northmore Hart-Smith was the Head Master, who gave his occupation as ‘Head Master, Clerk in H O, Ch of E’ (Clerk in Holy Order, Church of England).  The college was founded in 1855 with the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Victoria.  The founder, Dr. John Propert raised funds to help orphans and widows of the medical profession.  The Royal Medical Benevolent College opened its doors and gave education to more than 100 boys in its first year.  William’s entry in the College Register list his parent as Mrs Leech, Seven View, Coalport, Trowbridge, Salop., so it looks Albert had died prior to 1905 when he left the establishment.

By 1911, William has left Epsom College (he left in 1905), and can be found by his full name, living at 5 Waverley Street, Nottingham, in the home of Mr Walter Snushall and his wife Sarah Anne.  Walter is a brewer’s agent but also in the house is Kenneth, his son; Noel Hartley West an insurance inspector and his wife, Dorothy; Henry Alderman Dickman and William, who are both architect’s assistants, followed by Bridget Mary Doyle, a 21-year-old servant from Dublin.  The house on Waverley Street had 10 rooms, so there may only be a little bit of sharing!  We know William was an architect’s assistant but he eventually became an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

It was just over three years later that war was declared and men volunteered to fight for King and Country as ‘it would be all over by Christmas’.  William at this time was living in Ealing and enlisted in London, joining the 9th (County of London) Battalion (Queen Victorias Rifles), becoming Rifleman 3407.

Southend-on-Sea cemetery via CWGC

William’s regiment had served in France from late 1914, but it was only May of 1915 when he had been wounded in Flanders and sent home to England.  William died of wounds received in action on the 14th of May 1915 in Fort Pitt Military Hospital, Chatham.  He rests in Sutton Road Cemetery, Southend-on-Sea along with 280 identified casualties.

The Medal Card for William was also not as simple to find as you might think, and was only found by using his service number as he was

William Leonard Boghurst Leech headstone via findagrave

recorded and transcribed as LEACH W.L.V.   Anyway, his service number was correct, as we know as was his regiment and his date of death.  The card did not have much more information to tell, but there was a note from the regiment asking how to dispose of the 1914-15 Star.

Record No. 189636, Registry No. E(?)/84872/1 in the Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects tells confirms his full name, regiment, date and place of death and confirms that all his outstanding monies from the army will go to his mother, Annie M.

Probate for William of 28 Edgerton Gardens, West Ealing, was granted in London on the 17th of June to Annie Madaline Leach, widow (we now know his mother’s middle name), with effects of £1951 18s 1d.  This was revoked on the 18th of November the same year and further granted on the 8th of February 1916.

I had looked for Albert and Annie M’s marriage but seemed to fall short of an entry, now I had the information of Annie’s surname and middle name, all fell into place.  Annie Madaline Boghurst married Albert Herbert Leech in the late summer of 1886 in the Tendring Registration District.

Heritage Weekend, September seems such a long time ago!

It was now until I was transferring the photographs from my camera to get ready for another outing that I found the photographs  I had taken during Heritage Weekend.

During that weekend up and down the country, places that are not normally  open to the public, throw open their doors for us to peek inside. These buildings organise volunteers, some provide refreshments and talks. While others just leave their buildings, mainly churches, open – how wonderful is that?

Wakefield Cathedral during Heritage Weekend 2015

What did I get up to?  Normally I plan where I want to go, sometimes it seems like a military operation!  This year, due to limited time, I was hoping to ‘kill two birds with one stone’.  Well, that was the plan. So, I headed off to Wakefield Cathedral.  I’m not a great lover of the ‘new’ layout, but I can understand why all the pews have been removed and replaced with chairs.

The building was partially closed due to a continuing programme of work behind the rood screen. But guided tours of behind the scenes were being offered and that fell in nicely with my need to photograph a memorial, as additional information for a project……….looks like everything would go to plan.  What do they say about the best laid plans?

Behind the Cathedral

After signing our life away, opps, waver, myself and two others donned our fashionable hardhats and followed our guide outside the building, behind Treacey Hall and entered by the side door that takes up into to the Cathedral or down to the rooms below.

As we entered the closed area there was scaffolding everywhere.  The stonework and woodwork had been completely covered for protection in either sheet board or thick plastic.  To our right we could

Excavated floor showing one of the coffins

see that part of the floor had been removed and excavated exposing three coffins.  One was quite close, the coffin was not in a bad condition to say where it had been and now long it had lain beneath the floor.  Another coffin lay had been protected by wood sheeting as a pipe had been placed over it for the duration of the work.  But, beside the pipe a small room had been found.  Sadly, due to good old health and safety, we were not allowed to venture inside.

Our guide explaining modern conservation techniques

Our guide certainly knew his stuff, keeping his audience captive while he told us about the building work and the differences between the old renovation techniques, which must stay, and the modern sympathetic ways of preserving.

Our tour ended, but there were not many questions to be asked, as we were a small group it was easy to just chip in and ask questions as we went along. The tour lasted just under an hour and was well worth venturing into Wakefield on that September Saturday afternoon.

Headstones stored outside ready for putting back inside

If you remember I was also going to look for a memorial.  Did I find that memorial, you might ask. Well, remember the best laid plans of mice and men…………..No, the memorial remains unfound, hidden behind sheet board or plastic and will remain so until around Easter 2016, when another visit is needed.

E. Stead on Drighlington’s War Memorial………                                                                                                                          a surprise for the researcher.

The recent Remembrance Day commemorations will no doubt have seen an increase in people attending services at churches and war memorials throughout the country. Unsurprisingly at this time much of the interest will probably have been shown in the high numbers of service personnel who lost their lives in the First World War.

Drighlington War Memorial

The village of Drighlington lost 62 men according to the list of names on the war memorial in Whitehall Road, but there are some names missing from the memorial, as indeed there will be on many village memorials of the time. All of the stories behind the 62 names on the memorial can be found in a 200 page file to be found in the reference section of Drighlington Library.

Because of the commemoration of the one hundred years since the start of the First World War the names on memorials for the Second World War have tended to be left behind in terms of research into their lives and where they met their sad demise. There are not as many names on the Second World War panel on Drighlington’s memorial in fact, but at least one name tells an intriguing story that will surprise many who have looked at the name, E. Stead, and wondered what regiment they served in or what ship they went away in.

With the help of the extensive databases now online at ancestry.com and now the 1939 register at Findmypast.com the story of E. Stead can be revealed, at least in part. The recent release of the 1939 register gives historians a snapshot of where people were at the outbreak of the Second World War. It was really a census in all but name and gave details of families and where they lived and what work they did in the first year of the Second World War.

Researchers looking at the First World War are greatly helped in their quest to tell the soldier’s stories by the release of the 1911 census. Unfortunately, it will be many years before we can see the 1931 census, which will help in finding out about the lives of servicemen of the Second World War.

One name, that of E. Stead, on the village war memorial shows what fascinating stories lay behind these names, often forgotten in family histories. Surprisingly, the E. on this panel did not stand for Ernest or Edgar, it signified the name of ‘Edith’. For Edith Stead’s name is included on the Second World War panel of the Drighlington War Memorial. There are of course other memorials which include women as part of their commemorations, but probably not too many. So, who was Edith Stead, and why is her name on the panel of the memorial?

Edith was a Drighlington lass and was the daughter of Samuel Stead, who lived at 43 Spring Gardens in Drighlington. Samuel is shown on the 1939 register as living with his wife Christine, who was too young to be Edith’s mother, and so Samuel had been married before it seems. Edith had a brother, Harry, who was three years younger than she was but there were three other siblings in the family household at the time as well. Edith herself was born in 1912.

At some stage Edith decided to go to London to work. Whether this was a long time before the start of the Second World War or not only family historians can clarify. However, Edith takes up residence at 166 Southwark Bridge Road and starts to work in a homeless shelter in nearby Elephant and Castle.

Keyworth Street area from bombsight.org

It is this job that seals her fate, as on the night of December 29^th 1940 she was killed when the Luftwaffe bombed London once more and the shelter in which she was working, Keyworth Street Shelter, suffered a direct hit. Several casualties are known to have occurred in this same bombing incident but current information about the actual numbers is sparse.

Edith Stead’s name was recorded in the records of ‘Civilian Casualties of the Second World War’ and for that reason her name has found its way on to the Drighlington War Memorial. She was not a soldier, sailor or airman, but a young girl who went to London to do her bit and found herself working with the homeless. At the same time as she was working in the shelter her father Samuel was ironically working as part time Air Raid Warden in Drighlington, in addition to his job as a weighing machine repairer.

The news of his daughter’s death must have been a great shock for Samuel Stead and it is quite fitting that he decided that her name should be put forward for inclusion on the village war memorial, which it has been on now for many years. Many people will be surprised to learn the true story behind the name of E. Stead on the village memorial I am sure.

Additonal information:-

Civilian War Dead Registers via CWGC

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission gives information that her death was reported to the Metropolitan Borough Cemetery, Southwark, and gives the impression  she may be one of the   1007 civilian war dead resting there.

The Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour, commemorating some 67,092 men, women and children whose deaths were due to enemy action during WWII is displayed in St. George’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey.

Civilian War Dead WWII entry for Edith Stead

Note: WWII Civilian War Dead can be searched on the Ancestry website.

Wakefield Express WW1 – widow’s complaint of cruelty

Another extract from the pages of the Wakefield Express for the Great War period, this time from the West Riding Court, 24th of August 1918:

A soldier’s widows unhappy marriage – William  Dallow(?), miner, Methley, a discharged soldier with two wound stripes, was summoned by his wife for persistent cruelty. – Mr. Benson Bailey, of Leeds, who prosecuted, stated that the applicant formerly lived at Rawdon, and when she met the defendant she was a soldier’s widow, with three children, her husband having been killed in July 7th 1916. Complainant and defendant were married on December 22nd 1916, and Mr. Bailey suggested that defendant married this woman in order that he could get the money she had received from the Government in respect of the death of her first husband. Owing to defendant’s assaults and threats complainant was compelled to leave him on August 8th. – Complainant said defendant was not only unkind to her, but he was unkind to the children.  He wanted her first husband’s medal, and when she would not give him it he struck her.  Defendant had a pension of 11/- a week, and he was also working as a miner. – Evidence was given by two neighbours and P. S. Pearson.  The sergeant said the parties appeared to have lived unhappily.  Defendant admitted to him that he had struck his wife and that he was sorry for what he had done. – Defendant denied ill-using his wife. – The Bench granted complainant a separation order, and defendant was ordered to pay her 15/- a week. He had also £2 4s costs to pay.

Scanned Yorkshire map

 I have been looking for a William Dallow in and around the Methley area and in Army records as we have been told he was in receipt of a pension of 11/- per week. The newspaper does not give the name of his wife, so she remains a mystery.

A look through the G.R.O and a search of Freebmd sheds not even a faint glimmer of light on who William was, even his date of marriage is known.

Have I read the newspaper article correctly when transcribing his name? Probably not!  There is a black line through his name due to photocopying directly from microfilm, making some of the letters a matter of chance. The only chance in this case was his name.

Do you know who William is?  Do you know his wife’s name and the name of her first husband? If you do know, why not let me know!