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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

St Werburghs RC Church Chester - War Memorial Project


Harper

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A team at St Werburghs in Chester are researching the stories behind the 67 names on the Great War Memorial. In due course we hope to publish a book about the fallen parishioners, and also a second book which will cover a wide range of topics including Chester in 1913, stories about those who survived the War, and life in the parish during the conflict.

We would appreciate any information, stories or photographs that are relevant.

The memorial remembers the following parishioners and benefactors:

AIRTH Edward Pte Durham LI 1915

BARTLETT George Sgt K O Lancs 1917

BEATLY Hugh Pte 5th Cheshire 1916

BEATTY Peter AB Royal Navy 1915

BEATTY Richard Sapper RE 1917

BODEN Thomas Sgt 5th Cheshire 1917

BROWN Philip Sgt Maj RAMC 1918

CALDWELL Alexander Cpl 5th Cheshire 1915

CAMPBELL Stanley Sgt 16th KRR 1916

CONDON James Pte 8th Kings Liv 1916

CREAN Theodore Capt 1st Northants 1914

CUNNIFFE Patrick Pte Ks Shropshire 1917

CURRIVAN Patrick Sgt Maj 1917

D'ARCY Joseph Pte R Welch Fus 1916

DOBSON Thomas L Cpl R Welch Fus 1916

DODSWORTH Francis Pte 1916

DONNELLY Richard Lcp RMP 1917

DRAYCOTT John Pte 11th Cheshire 1918

DRAYCOTT William Pte 9th Cheshire 1917

FARRELL George Pte R Welch Fus 1915

FARRELL Joseph Pte R Welch Fus 1915

FEENEY Thomas Pte 5th Cheshire 1915

FEENEY Thomas Pte RASC 1916

GARVEY James Pte R Def Corps 1915

GIBSON Alfred Cpl Live Guards 1915

GOUGH Joseph Pte 3rd Dragoon G 1915

GOULDING Thomas Pte 5th Cheshire 1916

HALL Joseph Merchant Navy 1915

HEANEY Thomas Sgt RE 1918

HENNESSY Richard Pte S Lancs 1915

HUDSON William Pte R Welch Fus 1917

HUGHES John Pte S Lancs 1917

JANKINSON John Pte R Welch Fus 1915

JOINSON Michael Pte 9th Cheshire 1916

JOINSON Peter Pte 2nd Cheshire 1915

JONES Edward Pte Duke of Corn 1915

JONES Frederick Pte 1st Cheshire 1914

JONES Walter Pte 2nd Cheshire 1915

KELLY J Sullivan L Cpl 1st Leinster 1915

KELLY Phillip Sgt Maj R Welch Fus 1916

KENNEDY William Pte 1916

KIRBY James Pte R Welch Fus 1915

LOWE Thomas 2nd Lt 7th Border 1917

LUDDEN John Pte 1916

McCORMACH Ian Pte 1st Cheshire 1914

McCORMACH James Pte R Lancaster 1914

McDONALD Patrick Pte Grenadier Gds 1916

McGROGAN John Bomb RA

MULLINS Alfred Pte 1st Cheshire 1917

O'HARA John Pte 1916

PATTERSON Michael Pte 2nd Cheshire 1915

PEET John H 1917

ROGERS Michael Pte 1st Cheshire 1918

SHARKEY James Pte 2nd Cheshire 1915

SPROSTON Robert Pte 11th Cheshire 1916

STACEY Vincent Pte D of Wellington 1915

STACEY William Rifleman 8th London 1917

SUMPTER Andrew Pte 2nd Cheshire 1917 T

ATLER John Cpl 21st Manchester 1917

THOMPSON Alex Pte 2nd Cheshire 1915

VICKERS H Pte 1916

VICKERS L Pte 1916

VICKERS Percy Pte R Lancs Fus 1916

WALSH Michael Pte RE 1915

WARD Thomas Pte R Welch Fus 1916

WARREN Wilfred Sgt 1917

WAUTERS Constantins Pte Belgian Army 1915

WHITLEY William Pte 12 Cheshire 1917

If you are interested in any of these people or can help in any way with the project, please let me know.

Many thanks

Harper Wright

Edited by Harper
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I intend no disrespect whatsoever and I wish you well with your project. However it saddens me that certainly on this forum there is a great emphasis on the dead when it comes to remembering those who served in the Great War, It would be very refreshing to see more of the stories of those who came through and how their lives developed after the conflict in particular when you consider that just 20 years later the whole world was plunged into a blood-letting much worse than WW1. Perhaps such stories will be much more difficult to research but in my opinion would be well worth the effort.

Regards

Norman

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Well done Harper on your project - and by including the list of all the names to be researched, hopefully anyone doing an internet search for one of the men will find this thread and be able to contact you if they have information.

Regarding Norman's post, it strikes me as puzzling that he should make his point following your comment about your second book covering stories of those who survived the war. He is of course very welcome to discuss the issue on the forum but perhaps in its own thread

Alan

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Just a typo I think but ATLER, John Cpl 21st Manchester 1917 should be

TATLER, JOHN Rank: Corporal Service No: 19816 Date of Death: Between 04/10/1917 and 07/10/1917 Age: 28 Regiment/Service: Manchester Regiment 21st Bn.

Son of Charles Tattler. of 12, Love St., Chester.

Good luck with your project - it's the first time I have seen a Private of the Belgian Army remembered.

Ken

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Sad to see that the Vickers were brothers, two of whom were killed on the same day:

VICKERS, HARRY Rank: Private Service No: 10265 Date of Death: 01/07/1916 Age: 24 Regiment/Service: Lancashire Fusiliers 15th Bn. Son of Joseph and Mary Vickers, of 15, Milford St., Seedley, Manchester. Enlisted Nov., 1914. One of three brothers who fell. VICKERS, LOUIS Rank: Private Service No: 7321 Date of Death: 01/07/1916 Age: 20 Regiment/Service: Royal Warwickshire Regiment 2nd/5th Bn.

Son of Joseph and Mary Vickers, of 15, Milford St., Seedley, Manchester. Born at Chester.

VICKERS, PERCY Rank: Private Service No: 2003 Date of Death: 20/12/1915 Age: 22 Regiment/Service: Lancashire Fusiliers "A" Coy. 1st/7th Bn.

Son of Joseph and Mary Vickers, of 15, Milford St., Seedley, Manchester.

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Ken

Thank you for pointing out my typo - apologies to members who read it.

Yes the 3 Vickers were brothers and they are remembered in the "Two Brothers" and "Three Sons" threads on the forum.

Chester welcomed a large number of Belgian refugees during the War, many of whom became parishioners. One of the 10 or so topics to be covered in the second book will be the Belgian refugees, so again any information would be gladly received.

We have researched all the names using CWGC and Ancestress sites, and are trawling through local newspapers in the Cheshire Archives and parish magazines. After Christmas I'll post the names on our "brick wall".

Thanks again

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  • 1 month later...

Bit late in seeing this but John and William Draycott were my Great Great uncles, and William (Bill) Wasn't in the Cheshires he was 1st Grenadier Guards. I have a few details on him and John, I came here to hopefully find out more about them and the other 3 draycott brothers who served. Ask on here or message me if you need to know anything more

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Gaz

Many thanks for your posts. We have gathered some information on the Draycott brothers and been in contact with another relative.

Could you please send a PM to me with your email address and I'll send our results to you?

Thanks for your interest and help.

Harper

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Where exactly in the church is the memorial?

Cannot see it anywhere on the church's website Photo Gallery.

Was hoping to come in and take a look.

Cheers,

Mark

EDIT: here's the War Memorial altar at the head of the South Aisle, but I'm unsure where the framed list of names is mounted.

war_memorial.jpg

Edited by MBrockway
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Harper,

You have no regiment listed for the following ...

CURRIVAN Patrick Sgt Maj 1917
DODSWORTH Francis Pte 1916
KENNEDY William Pte 1916
LUDDEN John Pte 1916
O'HARA John Pte 1916
PEET John H 1917
VICKERS H Pte 1916
VICKERS L Pte 1916
WARREN Wilfred Sgt 1917

... though you also report you have researched the Vickers brothers and have looked everyone up on CWGC etc.

Can you confirm you do not know the regiments for any of these men?

These should be low-hanging fruit for the Pals here ;-)

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Mark

The memorial is on the north wall in the small chapel to the right of the high altar.

The list of names above in my first posting are as shown on the memorial. We have made a lot of progress since then. We have identified many of the names, as well as finding omissions and errors.

Over the weekend I'll look through our files and provide details of the missing regiments. There are some interesting stories - for example Currivan was 89 years of age. It appears at the moment that he died during the war, but not because of it.

This link has some more details of the memorial and also the names from WW2, Korea and Northern Ireland.

Thanks for your interest.

Harper

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If you have access to findmypast, there is a British Army Service Record for Patrick Currivan.

To summarise, he was born in Dundalk, County Louth, and served in the 86th Foot, having joined as a Boy in October 1841, and served until April 1867.

Andrewr

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I've got a good bit on Sjt Stanley Campbell, 16/KRRC. KiA in the Hazy Trench action in the later stages of the Somme, 1916. He was a pawnbroker from Newtown (Black Diamond Street). I won't have time to write it up properly for a few days though.

Interestingly, he was CofE and is highly likely to have been active in the Church Lads' Brigade before joining the KRRC's CLB battalion. Probably not a parishioner of St Werburgh's therefore, but presumably connected to the church through a relative - possibly his father.

More on that when I get time to write it all up properly ;-)

Mark

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  • 4 weeks later...

Mark

Thanks for your comments and kind offer in #14 about Sjt Stanley Campbell, 16/KRRC.

We have now established that he was baptised as an adult at St Werburgh's in 1912, and therefore was a parishioner.

We would be grateful for any information about Sjt Stanley Campbell, including the action at Hazy Trench.

Thanks again

Harper

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  • 2 weeks later...

Mark

No worries mate.

Yes Carl's Cam is very useful site with many different memorials. We have found a few of the men on other local memorials including C of E parishes.

I'll look forward to receiving your notes in due course.

Thanks

Harper

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Harper,

You have no regiment listed for the following ...

CURRIVAN Patrick Sgt Maj 1917

DODSWORTH Francis Pte 1916

KENNEDY William Pte 1916

LUDDEN John Pte 1916

O'HARA John Pte 1916

PEET John H 1917

VICKERS H Pte 1916

VICKERS L Pte 1916

WARREN Wilfred Sgt 1917

... though you also report you have researched the Vickers brothers and have looked everyone up on CWGC etc.

Can you confirm you do not know the regiments for any of these men?

These should be low-hanging fruit for the Pals here ;-)

Mark

I too have been dilatory in responding and to answer your query about the names on the memorial without regiments, here is a summary of what we have found:

CURRIVAN Patrick Sgt Maj 1917 - ASC & Cheshire Militia

DODSWORTH Francis Pte 1916 - London Regt 5th Bn London Rifle Brigade

KENNEDY William Pte 1916 - 16th Bn Rifle Brigade Prince Consort's Own

LUDDEN John Pte 1916 - Pioneers RE

O'HARA John Pte 1916 - 12th Bn Manchester Rgt

PEET John H 1917 - London Rgt Royal Fusiliers

VICKERS H Pte 1/7/1916 - Lancashire Fusiliers 15th Bn or 1st Salford Pals

VICKERS L Pte 1/7/1916 - 2 -5th Royal Warwicks attached from Lancashire Fusiliers

WARREN Wilfred Sgt 1917 - Royal Engineers

Thanks for your help and interest.

Harper

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  • 1 month later...

I am pleased to report that the first fruits of our research have been posted on St Werburgh's website.

The first page gives general information about the project, and at the bottom of the page is a link to our list of war dead.

You can now click on any one of the first 27 names on the list, to bring up information about that person.

In the coming weeks we shall add more about the other men on the memorial.

Later, pictures and memorabilia will be added and also the information concerning about 10 individuals who are not on the present board but who should and will be! Two books will also be published; one will be about the fallen and the second about life in the parish during the war and the men who survived.

Finally, we would greatly appreciate any details about the following men:

    [

    Broken links removed]

     

    Thanks

    Harper

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    • 2 weeks later...

    Just been looking through the site and it's fascinating to see how many men from Steven street died. Huge thanks to all that helped make this possible.

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    • 4 weeks later...

    Great War Discovery Day on Saturday 14 June 2014.

    On on Saturday 14 June 2014 St Werburgh's Great War Group shall be holding a Great War Discovery Day from noon to 4.00 PM at the Catholic Social Club - St Werburgh's Parish Centre, 26 Brook Street, Chester CH1 3DZ.

    This will be an opportunity for parishioners and other members of the local community to find out about any World War 1 memorabilia that they might have.

    We shall also have some of the results of our research available for browsing. Please feel free to come along if you are in the Chester area on Saturday afternoon.

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    • 4 months later...

    St Werburgh's Great War Group is pleased to invite forum members, and the public at large, to visit the church every afternoon in November from 1.00 pm to 4.00 pm.

    Visitors will be able to see:

    • Display of Parish Life during World War 1
    • Pictures of the Fallen
    • Great War Memorial Chapel
    • Interim Commemoration Book

    The church is at Grosvenor Park Road, Chester CH1 1QJ, near the gate to Grosvenor Park.

    Members of the Great War Group will try to be at the church on most afternoons, but we can't guarantee to be there every afternoon.

    Please come along if you are in the area.

    post-17542-0-33268100-1414935099_thumb.j

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    The Memorial Chapel with the memorial Book open displaying a picture and biography of a fallen Soldier.

    post-17542-0-02748700-1415033003_thumb.j

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    Photos of the fallen soldiers have been displayed around the walls of the church. Visitors can view the photos as they move between the display boards .

    post-17542-0-21745700-1415033147_thumb.j

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