Catforth, Lancashire

[BereniceUK]

Its full title is Catforth Village Memorial Hall. The rather faded inscription on the foundation stone says that that was laid by the Earl of Derby in May 1922.

https://www.catforthvillagehall.co.uk/the-hall-its-history/

 

The two William Porters have SLI and WYR after their names - Somerset Light Infantry is correct, but I think WYR should be 35516 Private William Porter, 2nd Yorkshire Regiment. Died 8th May 1918, aged 18; Son of Henry and Elizabeth Porter, of Running Pump Cottage, Catforth.

The last name is James R. Brierley, who I assume is Sub-Lieutenant James Roger Ingham Brierley, Royal Navy. H.M. Submarine "J6" Died 15th October 1918, aged 22; Son of Walter and Elizabeth E. Brierley, of 7, Station Road, Merton Park, London.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 8 September , 2020 by BereniceUK

[PhilB]

I’m surprised how many names are there for a sparsely populated place as Catforth would have been. How do you reckon Brierley got on there?

[Gardenerbill]

I believe it includes men from Inskip and Woodplumpton, most of the mames also appear on the Woodplumpton war memorial.

[Gardenerbill]

My Mum lives in Woodplumpton and on a recent visit I took these pictures of the Woodplumpton memorial panels.

Second panel

 

[Gardenerbill]

And two names on the back

 

[PhilB]

Catforth is (was?) part of Woodplumpton:-

Catforth is a village in the English civil parish of Woodplumpton and the City of Prestondistrict, in Lancashire, England.^[
 

So Woodplumpton memorial should have Catforth names but not vice versa?

[BereniceUK]

20 hours ago, PhilB said:

I’m surprised how many names are there for a sparsely populated place as Catforth would have been. How do you reckon Brierley got on there?

 

19 hours ago, Gardenerbill said:

I believe it includes men from Inskip and Woodplumpton, most of the mames also appear on the Woodplumpton war memorial.

 

I think the duplication of names - and I think some names from Inskip, Catforth and Woodplumpton may also be on the Broughton and Barton memorials - is because some of them were agricultural workers who hired themselves out to different farms in that area at harvest time etc.

 

Perhaps Brierley had been the local school teacher? Maybe twenty-two is a bit young for that.

Edited 9 September , 2020 by BereniceUK

[BereniceUK]

Charles Catterall and Walter Helm are on both the Woodplumpton and Barton (in the parish church) memorials.

 

Edited 8 September , 2020 by BereniceUK

[Gardenerbill]

Hi Berenice, 

Are you local to the area? A Woodplumpton resident, Stephen Heywood, has researched the men on the Catforth memorial list and my Mum has serialised them in the parish magazine.

[PRC]

2 hours ago, BereniceUK said:

The last name is James R. Brierley, who I assume is Sub-Lieutenant James Roger Ingham Brierley, Royal Navy. H.M. Submarine "J6" Died 15th October 1918, aged 22; Son of Walter and Elizabeth E. Brierley, of 7, Station Road, Merton Park, London.

 

The rest of the additional information on his CWGC webpage shows he was a "Native of Bury".

 

Bury Grammar School also has a piece on him:- http://bgsarchive.co.uk/Filename.ashx?tableName=ta_boys_rollofhonour&columnName=filename&recordId=95

He was born Bury, Lancashire on the 13th April, 1896.

 

On the 1901 Census of England & Wales,  James R, aged 4, born Bury, Lancashire, was recorded in one of five households shown as Starkies, Manchester Road, Bury. His parents were Walter, (aged 42, born Bury, Auctioneer), and Elizabeth E., (aged 36, born Bury). James had two older brothers and an older sister.

 

On the 1911 Census of England & Wales, the family were at 28 Hermitage Road, Crumpsall, Manchester. James Roger Brierley, aged 14, was then a schoolboy. Walter and Elizabeth Eilen(?) have been married 23 years and have had 5 children, all then still alive.

 

The additional information on CWGC reflects contact information from the early to mid-1920's, sometimes later, and as probab;y in this case may never have been an address the man lived at. Hopefully the worked done on the Catforth memorial list was able to establish the link to the village.

 

Cheers,

Peter

[PhilB]

I recall reading, in a local paper, the sad obituary of a soldier who drowned himself in the picturesque Lancaster Canal during WW1. He was previously a farmer from Woodplumpton/Catforth. Does anyone know his name or if he’s on the memorial?

[Gardenerbill]

8 hours ago, PhilB said:

I recall reading, in a local paper, the sad obituary of a soldier who drowned himself in the picturesque Lancaster Canal during WW1. He was previously a farmer from Woodplumpton/Catforth. Does anyone know his name or if he’s on the memorial?

Asked my Mum about this, she hadn't heard the story.

On the subject of 2nd Lt Brierley the local researcher couldn't find a link with the area. Here's a page on Brierley from the Parish magazine.

 

 

[PhilB]

"On 15 October 1918 J6 was on patrol off the Northumberland coast when she was spotted by the Q-ship Cymric. The captain of the Cymric Lieutenant F Peterson RNR mistook the identity lettering on the conning tower of J6 for U6. Assuming U6 to indicate a German U-boat, Peterson raised the White ensign and opened fire on J6.^[3] After a number of direct hits, J6 sank. It was only after the survivors were seen in the water that Peterson and the crew of Cymric realised their mistake and recovered the survivors. Of the crew of J6 15 were lost; a subsequent court of enquiry found that no action should be taken against Peterson.^[4]

Late in 2011 it was announced that divers had discovered her wreck off Seahouses.^[5] In the summer of 2013, the Polish Navy salvage ship ORP Lech, searching for the wreck of the Polish submarine ORP Orzeł, surveyed and officially confirmed an identity of J6.^[6]"

 

[BereniceUK]

8 hours ago, PhilB said:

I recall reading, in a local paper, the sad obituary of a soldier who drowned himself in the picturesque Lancaster Canal during WW1. He was previously a farmer from Woodplumpton/Catforth. Does anyone know his name or if he’s on the memorial?

 

Accidental death, not suicide. It was Stephen Hargreaves.

 

Both articles appeared in the Lancashire Daily Post, the first on Monday, 5th June 1916, and the second on the following day.

 

 

Edited 9 September , 2020 by BereniceUK