Jeremiah Barker

[fathippy]

Hi

Researching my great grandfather Lance Sergeant Jeremiah Barker of the 8th battalion of the North Staffordshire regiment (12075) who was killed in action on 13th October 1915 in France.

 

Any help appreciated

 

Julie

[Ron Clifton]

Hello Julie, and welcome to the Forum!

 

The battalion's War Diary is available online in this file:

WO 95/2085 8 Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment 1915 July - 1918 Jan.  

It can be downloaded from the Kew website, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk for about £3.50. You may need to add a suffix such as /1, /2 etc as there are more diaries in the same file. If you have access to Ancestry you may be able to get it free.

 

War Diaries rarely mention individuals by name other than officers, but numbers of casualties each day are nearly always given, and the location of the unit, with a short description of its activities, is given on each day.

 

At the time of his death, the battalion was engaged in the Battle of Loos as part of 57 Infantry Brigade, 19th (Western) Division, Indian Corps, on the north side of the La Bassee Canal.

[Acknown]

Julie,

Here is the battalion's War Diary on Ancestry: click here. It tells you what the battalion was up to each day; written at the time and quite brief. If you don't have Ancestry, you may be able to access it for free at your local library. It seems that the battalion was not in action on that day and no deaths are reported. His entry on the CWGC website states 'died' rather than 'KIA' (click here), so he may have been wounded earlier and died of his wounds. However, his Medal Index Card (MIC) (click here) states 'KIA'. If that is so, he may have been on detached duty elsewhere, or the incident in which he was killed was simply not recorded.

Acknown

 

[clk]

Hi Julie,

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Unfortunately, I didn't see a surviving service record for Jeremiah, most were lost in WW2 - see here. There are some other records that may help though.

 

His Soldiers Died record says that he enlisted in Longton, Staffs.

 

There are some surviving service papers for some other 'near number' North Staffs men which show:

 

12011 Wilshaw - attested and posted to the North Staffs Depot on 2.9.1914. Posted to the 8th Bn 5.9.1914

12029 Beardmore - attested and posted to the North Staffs Depot on 2.9.1914. Posted to the 7th Bn 5.9.1914. Posted 8th 10.9.1914

12041 Bourne - attested 3.9.1914

12062 Allen - attested and posted to the North Staffs Depot on 3.9.1914. Posted to the 8th Bn 7.9.1914

12075 ??

 

A couple of the records have "New Battalion" marked on them. There is a potted history of the 8th Bn here. The date for their arrival in France on 18.7.1915 matches that of the dis-embarkation date shown on his medal roll records.

 

In addition to the Battalion and Brigade diaries being available from the National Archives (search page), they are also available on Ancestry (albeit more difficult/time consuming to download) - they are here, and here.

 

His Soldiers Effects record names his wife (Annie) as his 'sole legatee'. The associated will is available from here (£10). Please be aware though that it may only consist of a very few words, and would come a couple of days after ordering as a low resolution B&W scan of the original, attached to an email.

 

His CWGC records are here. If you would like a decent quality image of his gravestone, it looks like the good folk at British War Graves would hopefully be able to send you one on a FOC basis.

 

Good luck with your research.

 

Regards

Chris

 

Edited 17 July , 2019 by clk

[Michelle Young]

If all else fails, I will be visiting Le Touret in September , and  can visit his grave for you.

 

Michelle 

 

 

[HarryBrook]

A brief obituary was published in The Staffordshire Sentinel on 2 November 1915, it gives his address and former place of employment. Image from Brtitish Newspaper Archive via findmypast. 

Edit to add: His employers were Messrs. Stirrup and Pye (Pye being lost in the closeness of the binding of the archive portfolio)

 

Edited 18 July , 2019 by HarryBrook

[fathippy]

Thanks everyone for all the help and guidance. He is remembered on the Longton Cenotaph near to Longton Park. We used to visit when I was little but of course at that age you take little notice. I wish I had listened to my grandfather a little more.

 

Thanks for the offer of taking a photo much appreciated.

 

Julie

[Michelle Young]

I have put his details in my notebook Julie.  I won't be visiting Thiepval so can't get a photo of Samuel.

 

Michelle 

[fathippy]

Pleased to get anything at all. I have health problems so visiting for me, although it breaks my heart, is not an option. So thank you very much.

 

Julie

[Guest]

Hi Julie, I stumbled across this (I know it’s a couple of years on) he was also my great grandfather and we went to visit Jermemiah’s grave at le Touret in October 2015 pretty much 100 years since he died. It’s a lovely quiet little place, I can remember us asking for directions in a little pub as it wasn’t really sign posted. We have some photos too somewhere. Simon. 

[Matlock1418]

On 17/07/2019 at 20:23, fathippy said:

Researching my great grandfather Lance Sergeant Jeremiah Barker of the 8th battalion of the North Staffordshire regiment (12075) who was killed in action on 13th October 1915 in France.

 

1 hour ago, Eclat79 said:

he was also my great grandfather and we went to visit Jermemiah’s grave at le Touret in October 2015 pretty much 100 years since he died. It’s a lovely quiet little place,

Julie & Simon,

CWGC which you are likely to have seen: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/261441/JEREMIAH BARKER - Widow: Annie Mill Barker/Lockett

This may interest you - His widow's pension card as Annie Mill [main one - two others available with her name as Annie Nell ]- From WFA/Fold3

Image courtesy of WFA/Fold3

Another address for you.

The DEAD stamp from means the claim went dead - which would seem probably to have been the year their youngest child, Leonora, reached 16 and her allowance would have ceased, in 1930.

Her DoB is important for pension purposes [as she would potentially, at reaching 35, have been eligible for a pension supplement]

Original pension [std <35 widow's] and children's allowances of 20/6 is 10/0 + 5/0 + 3/6 + 2/0 - was subsequently increased but her portion stopped on remarriage and a re-marriage gratuity was paid, as you can see - children continued to get an allowance to age 16]

The W. S. Certs mentioned are War Savings Certificates [Government-backed saving with interest] - for further info you might like to look at this other thread I started on the subject https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/286451-pension-card-wsc-war-savings-certificates/?tab=comments#comment-2951897

Find a Grave also have an image of his headstone https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56494417/jeremiah-barker

:-) M

Edited 25 July , 2021 by Matlock1418
additional interpretation

[Michelle Young]

12 hours ago, Eclat79 said:

Hi Julie, I stumbled across this (I know it’s a couple of years on) he was also my great grandfather and we went to visit Jermemiah’s grave at le Touret in October 2015 pretty much 100 years since he died. It’s a lovely quiet little place, I can remember us asking for directions in a little pub as it wasn’t really sign posted. We have some photos too somewhere. Simon. 

I visited Jeremiah in February 2020 and sent Julie a photo. 

[Michelle Young]

@Eclat79@fathippySaid hello today