Roll of Honour question

[KennethB]

Hi all,

Could someone please claifly for me, what in fact is a Roll of Honour. I had always thought of it as a listing of war dead. This could be in the form of a plaque or similar memorial for a town/village, organization, church etc. But now I have come across a church "Roll", listing the dead, the wounded, and the living that served from that parish.

Are both these cases a "Roll of Honour"? Now I'm confused more than normal! Help please.

Regards,

Ken

[John_Hartley]

Are both these cases a "Roll of Honour"?

Yes. I suppose the easiest way of defining it is to say a "roll of honour" is a roll of those people the organisation wishes to honour.

[David B]

Churches in my part of the world have "rolls of honour" listing all the parishenors who joined up with, generally, an asterisk after the name of

the member did not return.Quite a substantial scroll in many cases

David

[geraint]

During the early months of the war, local newspapers published 'Rolls of Honour' naming all those who had joined. By late 1916, the Rolls of Honour only published the names of the dead. A change of emphasis as the months and casualties rolled by.

[dfaulder]

I have seen photographs of "rolls of honour" in Northern Ireland Presbyterian Churches which alongside the dead also list "those who dared to die, survived". I think it was common practice, but NI members will be able to confirm. Was it also the case in Scotland?

I think it is a good practice. There is a tragedy behind the names of those who died, but in many cases the commitment motivation of those who survived was no different - it was often just fortune that separated them.

David

[Greyhound]

During the early months of the war, local newspapers published 'Rolls of Honour' naming all those who had joined. By late 1916, the Rolls of Honour only published the names of the dead. A change of emphasis as the months and casualties rolled by.

Conscription may have had something to do with that.

[Retlaw]

It depends on the church, Catholic Churches in my patch had two, a

Roll of Honour for those who served, and a Roll of Glory for those who died.

Most other church's had a Roll of honour with an asterisk for those who

didn't return. One of our local church's had two, one for those who died.

and another named as the Safe Return Roll of Honour, trouble with that one

there are several men named on both lists.

Then we have Parish Rolls of Honour, which included any one who took

the Kings Shilling, again numerous men never attended that particular

Parish Church, some had left the parish years before WW1 started.

Retlaw.

[KennethB]

Thanks!

This leads me to another question. Is there a online source that lists the Rolls that include the ones that survived the war? Seems to me that it would be a valuable thing, given that so many service records were lost. By knowing the area a possible soldier came from and religion (or other affiliation - Orangemen, Masons, School......) which the census can help provide you might be able to find your chap on a roll if his records are destroyed. Sorry just thinking out loud.

Best regards,

Ken

[Nigel Marshall]

David (Faulder) is correct in his statement that many churches which belong to the Presbyterian Church in Ireland do list those who served and returned alongside those who did not come back from the war.

Lots of War Memorials follow this convention too, and it has to be said that it can prove to be very useful indeed for researchers.

To address Ken's point, I (for my own purposes) refer to the rolls of the dead as a 'Roll of Honour' and those rolls which record all who served regardless of whether or not they survived as a 'Roll of Service'. I've found that this small distinction can remove much confusion once the definition is explained.

Cheers,

Nigel

[David B]

Ken,

Re post 8, I don't know of any online or otherwise listing of any church rolls of honour. Seems to me that these boards have become curios as most of the mens relatives have

either moved on or died and the remaining congregation only looks at them when the sermon is getting a bit boring. I can remember looking at them in my local church just to see

the names of my relatives and wondering what would eventually happen to them.

David

[Tom Morgan]

There are about 50 villages in England and Wales (haven't found one in Scotland yet) where all the men returned safely. It's not unusual for these communities to have Rolls of Honour, too, though of course, all those named were survivors.

For example:

Ousby, in Cumberland

Langton Herring, in Dorset

Colwinston, in Glamorgan

Tom

[Nigel Marshall]

Here is a link to the Presbyterian Church in Ireland Roll of Honour 1914 -1919 which lists those involved in war service by presbytery and then by congregation. It lists those who died and those who survived.

Cheers,

Nigel

[kenf48]

Posted this last year http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=118005&st=0&p=1129325entry1129325

The plaque lists the dead in the centre under the inscription 'to the Glory of God and in loving memory of the young men of Church and School who gave their lives in the Great War 1914- 1919' and at the bottom of the list of dead the inscription 'and as a tribute to those named in the side panels who served their country in its time of need'. It was described as a 'Memorial Tablet'.

The Methodist church in the village had a similar smaller 'tablet' erected 'in grateful appreciation of the men from this Church who served during the Great War' at the bottom under the inscription 'Our Glorious Dead' are inscribed the names of the six who did not return.

The Anglican Church, on the other hand only lists the dead, including some from the above memorials.

Ken