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HONLEY VILLAGE HISTORY - FAMILY HISTORY - LOCAL PEOPLE - WARTIME SERVICE
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HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of Honley Civic Society, or as expressly permitted by law.
Published in England by Honley Civic Society
Printed by Enterprise Print, Honley
© Peter Marshall and Honley Civic Society Text by Peter Marshall Design PFM First published 2019
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
o commemorate the outbreak of war in 1914, Honley Civic Society produced its then most ambitious publication, Honley in the Great War. As part of the Honley Remembers centenary celebration of Peace Day 1919, we offer this completely new volume which focuses on the lives and life of the village, 100 years ago. Since the earlier publication, we have had many
Martin Hirst Tracey Crutchley Holmfirth Express files Huddersfield Examiner files Beryl Wilkinson Pauline Ainley Peter Bray John Murray Findmypast.co.uk British Newspaper Archives Sue Daggett Robert Atkinson British Red Cross Gillian Hartle Carol Roberts Huddersfield Local Studies Library Barbara Leach
offers of family memorabilia, which we have tried to incorporate in a sensitive way into this volume. We are very grateful for the generosity of everyone who has contributed material and photographs, without which the history of our village during the Great War would remain a little less complete. My thanks also go to my wife, Eileen, for her rigorous proof-reading of the text.
David Hutchinson Alan Brooke Peter Bray Val Javin Margaret Dodson's family Dave Pattern, Huddersfield Exposed Cyril Ford Ann Ellis Ancestry.co.uk Kirklees Library Services Isobel Holland Kirklees Council Local Studies Richard Hobson Martyn Gorman Kathleen Dyson Caroline Lee and Alan Hardy, Onet7 BBC WWI at Home
Some images in this volume have been digitally altered to remove blemishes and correct colour balance.
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HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR 3
HONLEY VILLAGE LIFE
1914 TO 1919
the armed forces from Honley who lost their lives during and after the conflict. In addition,
[i our earlier volume, Honley In the Great War 1914 - 1918, we highlighted the members of village life was reflected and other significant villagers and events were recorded.
In this volume, we hope to reveal village life in greater depth and acknowledge the contribution made by villagers, both at home and on the war front.
At the outbreak of war in 1914, the village was changing. Honley Urban District Council had determined that purpose-built council offices were essential, particularly since the council was now supplying both gas and electricity to the village. Prior to that meetings had been held in the old town hall at Cuckoo Lane, but the deterioration of that ancient building had meant that the councillors held their meetings in a variety of locations including the parish rooms.
Road traffic was beginning to make its mark and Eastgate was considered to be too narrow, outside the Coach and Horses public house, to be safe. Coal carts were known to topple over as the sharp bend was negotiated. The project, known as Widening the Gate, was undertaken around the time of the opening of the new Council Offices and the widening of Honley Bridge. The arrival of the motor car saw what was probably the first petrol pump, installed at the home of one of the village doctors.
Tramcars had begun to serve the village at the turn of the century and ran regularly from Honley Bridge to Huddersfield, opening up a wide range of opportunities previously only provided either by a train journey from the station half a mile away or a four mile walk to town. Motor buses had started services to Holmfirth and Hepworth. Urgent letters could be posted on the trams for an extra half-penny.
The lights of Huddersfield offered new attractions, but Honley had its own gleaming lights with the spread of gas lamps throughout the central streets and their equally rapid replacement by electric lighting from the village's own power station at Honley Bridge.
In addition, entertainment in Honley opened a new window on the world with the completion of a picture house just before the outbreak of war. Political clubs had been established in the previous decade (or earlier) with the Honley Liberal Club in 1906 and Honley Socialist Club which moved from cramped accommodation in New Street, opened in 1907, to more substantial premises at Enfield House in Jagger Lane in 1911. A wider range of local shops had also developed with all the needs of the community served by those in the centre of the village.
Despite the changes, the village in the early years of the 20° century would look familiar to today's inhabitants, with the exception perhaps of the streets behind Westgate. Streets with names such as Back Burhouse Street and Back School Street have disappeared, although short sections remain at Burhouse Street and High Street. The wholesale demolition of the 18" century housing was still 50 years off by the end of the Great War. Those houses had thrown people together, neighbour knew neighbour and probably all about their life and family as well. You might well find out more than you should through a shared outside toilet!
Community was strong, emphasised by the proximity of the workplace and social life which centred round the village church and chapels as well as several clubs and public houses. Traditions
above, The motor car, lorry and bus had barely made an appearance by 1914. This is the view at Towngate looking eastwards .
below, New Street, looking west in the zoth century.
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4 HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
above, Brooke Fold, in the centre of the village, looking towards the houses in Burhouse Street. Secondary streets remained unsurfaced and unlit for some time.
below, Honley was not just a textile village, but an agricultural one, with farms in the centre. This is Field End farm adjacent to the cricket field, viewed from the south. Thornton's ran a herd of dairy cattle and had a milk round in Honley.
remained strong, For example, Whit Sunday still brought out villagers in their new clothes to walk together through the village streets.
This strength showed itself in the commitment of villagers to the war effort right from the declaration of hostilities in August 1914. Fundraising, succour to refugees, comforts for the troops and the offer of accommodation for war wounded were all generously undertaken by Honleyers. They were not to know that almost 100 of their men would lose their lives in the following years, but volunteers and conscripts joined up to ‘do their bit’.
The radical nature of our valley revealed itself in a number of ways. Several men refused to join the colours for reasons of conscience or religion. Objectors to military service had first to apply to a local tribunal. These were held in Honley and were made up of members of the Urban District Council. If exemption was refused, petitioners had the right to be heard by an appeal tribunal. If they were still denied exemption and refused to withdraw their objections and report to their regiment, they were liable to arrest and imprisonment in either a military or a civilian prison. In September 1916, Honley tribunal expressed concern that 48 local men exempted from military service were not fulfilling the condition that they had to drill with the local volunteers. At the end of hostilities, Conscientious Objectors were usually welcomed back into village life.
A parliamentary by-election was held in the Colne Valley constituency in August 1916, when the unopposed candidate was Frederick Mallalieu although he went on to lose in 1922 to Phillip Snowden. Mallalieu's two sons later represented both Colne Valley and Huddersfield. The coalition government lead by Lloyd George lost no time after the Armistice in calling a general election on 14 December, 1918. This was the first time that certain women over the age of 30 and all men over the age of 21 could vote. Previously, all women and many men without property had been excluded from voting. The overseas voters including the armed forces were not counted until after Christmas. Women generally supported the coalition candidates. Mallalieu was re-elected as a coalition Liberal for Colne Valley.
When the war began there was no plan to ensure the nation had enough food. In fact, on 4° August 1914 Britain only had enough wheat to last 125 days. A poor harvest in 1916 made the problem worse and it became apparent action was needed to avoid a real crisis. Farming suffered a setback in 1916, when an outbreak of swine fever restricted the movement of animals. The year 1917 saw rationing, first voluntary then compulsory. This was followed by a shortage of imported fertilizers and lack of horses placing even greater strain on the growing of crops. In addition, by 1918, the British were sending over 67 million Ibs (30 million kg) of meat to the Western Front each month.
Pastures like those in Honley were turned over to arable, creating over two million acres for food production and resulting ina bumper harvest in 1918. Honley farmers in 1917 numbered at least 18, including Addy Brook, William Bunting, Joseph Clegg, Dransfield Durrance, Brock Haigh, Fenton Hobson, John Holdsworth, James Frederick Mellor, John Mellor, Jonas Moorhouse, Joe Mosley, Alfred Noble, Elizabeth Noble, Albert Oldfield, Harriet Rollinson, Ard Senior, Charles Sheard, William Thornton, Thomas Walker and Samuel Webster.
Employment for villagers, both male and female, was mainly in the local mills. Amongst the employers were James Beaumont, dyers at Honley Bridge, William Brook and Sons, dyers, Cooper, Liversidge and Wood, wool dyers, Eastwood Brothers of Thirstin Mills, Farrar and Co, Thirstin dye works, David France and Co, worsted manufacturers at Reins mill, Josiah France Ltd, worsted
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HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR 5
manufacturers at Queen's Square mill, Gledhill Brothers & Co Ltd, Victoria mills, Bradshaw Road, John Hodgkinson and Sons at Cocking Steps mill, Littlewood Company, cloth finishers, Grove mill, John Arthur Liversidge, Netherton, George W Oldham silk dyer Moll, Herbert Scholefield, Allen Thornton and Sons, Neiley and John Wrigley and Sons. In addition millwrights' firms included Beaumont's and Holmes Heaton.
Amongst other manufacturers were Kaye and Messenger, candle makers, Law and Harry Coldwell, wheelwrights, Waite and Sheard, pen-ruling machine makers in Long Lane as well as Gledhill and Roberts, who made essential components such as bobbins at Newtown. One specific wartime activity was the filling of munitions shells at Scotgate works, at Thirstin.
Work in the mill would require a thirst to be slaked, so a visit to one of the several pubs and beerhouses was probably called for. Suppliers of alcoholic beverages included, Ernest Dodson, Allied, Church Street; Emily Heap, Wheatsheaf, Southgate; Harold Hobson, Westgate Arms; Hannah Nichol, Coach and Horses, Eastgate; George Roberts, Jacobs Well; Cook Smith beer retailer, Bottom o' the Gate; Fanny Swift, Farmer's Boy, New Street; Tom Wimpenny, Railway Inn. Further afield were the Foresters Arms in Bradshaw Road, the Star of the Day at Oldfield and The Bird i’ the Hand on Meltham Road.
Shopping would have been the preserve of the women in the family and most could have been carried out within Honley, no need to travel far. Home baking and cooking were important domestic activities and all ingredients could be sourced from nearby. A full range of groceries was available at the many Honley Industrial Co-op outlets, Drakes in Westgate or Avison's in Church Street and there were butchers’ shops throughout the village, including Percy Fox in Westgate, Joe Greaves in Church Street and David Townend also in Church Street. Cakes and confectionery were to be found at Mrs Margaret Knutton's shop and Beaumont Robert's both in Church Street, Ben Fitton in Westgate or George Hanson in Market Place. The Misses Rowbotham were well known bakers in the village at that time. Fresh vegetables were on sale at Gilbert Avison in Church Street.
Fast food, in the form of fried fish and chips, was on sale along Westgate, from John Burhouse, Joe Graham or William Stocks. There were also several house-shops where business was carried out in one of the rooms in the proprietor's home.
Houses had to be heated and coal merchants at Honley railway station supplied this need, including William Tilburn and George Holmes. Drapery could be bought at Broadbent's in Westgate, Tom Chambers the tailor in Eastgate could make you a suit or just a pair of trousers. Walter Quarmby at 19 Westgate could make you a pair of boots or Fred Greensmith in Westgate could repair your old ones. A watch repair could be carried out at Walter Carrat's shop at the bottom of Church Street, Sam Green could cut your hair and Alice Maud Heaton in Southgate would sell you a hat.
Mrs Heaton sold stationery in Westgate and Willie Heeley sold magazines and newspapers as did Henry Bray at Reins. Amongst the tradesmen in Honley were painters (Spence and Co.), joiners, (Oldfield’s or Holdroyd's), plasterers (Oldfield’s) and plumbers (Tom Lockwood of Concorde Street).
Every need could be catered for in our self-sufficient village during wartime.
above, Honley had a rate office and registrar's in Church Street. Thomas Henry Smith, the registrar, lived at Kirkside, further up the street. Also visible is an early electric street light.
below, George Hanson stands on the step of his confectioner's shop in Market Place which displayed a variety of enamel advertising signs.
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top, A Honley constable watches the damping down. lower, The view of the remains of the mill from New Mill Road.
HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
HUDDERSFIELD DAILY EXAMINER THURSDAY JUNE 4, 1914
GREAT MILL FIRE AT HONLEY NEILEY MILLS GUTTED BIG BLAZE WITNESSED BY HUGE CROWD EXTENSIVE DAMAGE.
A very serious mill fire occurred at Honley last night as a result of which Neiley Mills were totally destroyed, and the damage was very extensive.
The mills, which are just beyond the Honley tram terminus on the Penistone Road, are among the oldest in the district. Until two years ago they were unoccupied, but at present the tenants are Messrs. Cooper, Liversidge and Wood, wool and cotton dyers; Messrs. Herbert Scholefield and Co., woollen manufacturers; and Messrs. B. T. Cave. Ltd., yarn spinners. The owners of the mills are Messrs. A. Thornton and Son Ltd., dyers and finishers, who carry on business in an adjacent factory, which is known as Crossley Mills.
Messrs. Cooper, Liversidge, and Wood occupied the dyehouse on the ground floor of the main building, which was five storeys high and about thirteen windows long. Messrs. Scholefield and Co., and Cave Ltd., were the tenants of the remaining storeys. The fire originated in Messrs. Scholefield's portion on the third floor. Portions of the machinery were being run both day and night and it was after the day staff had left at eight o' clock that the fire broke out. It is not known how the outbreak was caused and indeed, so many theories were advanced that it is almost impossible to ascertain the facts. It was stated that about 8-30pm, one of the piecers was lighting the gas and that a defective mantle caused a blaze among some waste. On more reliable authority, however, it was stated that the fire originated in one of the spinning mules.
As soon as the alarm had been raised the workpeople on the premises made an endeavour to extinguish the fire with chemical appliances, but these proved ineffective and the operatives were obliged to leave the building. The smoke was quickly seen outside and several men from Neiley assisted the employees in attaching three lengths of hose to the corporation mains. Several horses were in an adjoining stable, but they were quickly released.
Meanwhile someone had sent a communication to the Huddersfield fire brigade and the mill whistle at Crossley Mill sounded the alarm. There was a few minutes’ delay, we understand, before the Huddersfield brigade would respond owing to the point as who would be the guarantors. Cllrs. Crowther, Beaumont and Oldham were on the scene of the fire and stated that the Honley District Council would be the guarantors. This little delay accounts for the fact that it was 9-05pm before the Huddersfield motor engine, in charge of Inspector Wharfe and eight men arrived on the scene, but the journey from town occupied only seven minutes. The
Atlanta was followed one minute later by the Holmfirth Unity Brigade with the hand manual (their new motor engine not yet having been delivered).
There was a plentiful supply of water and the jets were soon in operation. All this time a dense volume of smoke had been issuing from the two top floors, but it soon changed to a bright red glare, showing that the flames had got a firm hold on the side of the building nearest to the road. The brigades tried to prevent the spread of the fire to the other end, but the flames had by this time got the mastery and gradually communicated themselves to all parts of the main building. The jets were then directed towards preventing the fire reaching the bottom rooms.
When the fire broke through the roof it was seen that the mill was doomed and at 9-45pm the roof fell in with a great crash and floor after floor followed until the walls enclosed one huge mass of burning material. By this time the fire had attracted thousands of spectators from all parts of the district and the trams from Huddersfield were uncomfortably crowded by those anxious to witness the blaze. All the efforts of the county police in the district were required to keep the crowds away from danger. The firemen stuck to their posts manfully, with the view of preventing the spread of the fire to the adjoining dyehouse and engine-house. One of the helpers fell into a tank of water, but was quickly pulled out, little the worse for the dip.
At the end nearest to the village are smaller buildings containing gas engines of about 100 horse power, and the jets saved this part of the premises. AS much material as was possible was fetched out from the dyeworks shed, as it was feared that the mill wall on that side might fall outwards. About some of the masonry fell from the mill wall on that side. But the objects of the brigades were achieved in restricting the fire to the main building and saving the dyehouse and enginehouse. The firemen worked hard until one o'clock this morning, when the Corporation brigade left, after a strenuous struggle. The Holmfirth Unity brigade's new engine had arrived about 11-30pm from the works at Brockholes and was brought into service.
This morning the smouldering debris is all that is left of the contents of the mill, which had included valuable chemicals and dyewares on the ground floor, about thirty looms, five sets of scribbling machines and mules to follow in the upper storey and yarns an the top floor.
About 110 workpeople will be thrown out of employment. The fire was the most serious that has occurred in the Holme Valley for some years. No reliable estimate of the damage can yet be ascertained, but it will amount to several thousands of pounds. We understand that the building as well as the contents is insured.
With commendable promptitude the management of the Huddersfield Corporation tramways caused a few extra cars to be run towards the close of the ordinary service, and their use was much appreciated by those who were unable to return by the earlier ordinary car.
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HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR 7
SOUTHGATE PRIMITIVE METHODIST SUNDAY SCHOOL
OPENED APRIL1915
was laid on Saturday 25" April, 1914. Honley Band played to a ‘large assembly’ and several stones were laid. The first by Richard Beaumont, a long term member of the choir and Sunday School, with the second laid by Alfred Hinchliffe, who was one of the Sunday School superintendents. The third stone was laid by Edgar Taylor and the fourth by Joe Taylor, Sunday School secretary for 21 years. Tom Green, choirmaster, laid the fifth and Joe Dyson, secretary of the building scheme, laid the sixth.
Mr O. White, the architect, presented Richard Beaumont with a silver trowel and then received a gift of a mason’'s mallet from the contractors. The remaining dignitaries were presented with a hymn book and tunes by Allen Boothroyd, a 73-year-old veteran teacher at the Sunday School, and Matthew Moorhouse. A children’s stone was also dedicated.
ak foundation stone of the Primitive Sunday School in Southgate
Several donations to the building fund were made by, amongst others, Arthur Drake, Elon Crowther, Thomas Thornton, George W Oldham, Mr J W Glendinning, James Sykes, Councillor Samuel Jagger and Dr Thomas Smailes.
The school was opened a year later on 3" April, 1915, built by a local contractor, Allen Hirst and Sons, with the roof by W E Jowett and joinery by Ben Oldfield and Co. The plumbing was by Harry Webster and plastering by Oldfield Brothers both of Honley. The cost was £1800 for construction and furniture.
The building was opened with a weekend of fundraising activities. Mabel Jagger, daughter of Mary and Samuel Jagger, who lived a few doors away at Lane House in Southgate, presided over the opening with the Methodist circuit minister Rev T A Brady and Honley Congregational minister George Gervis, who said the opening prayer. A contemporary newspaper report said that 'an energetic committee’ under Mr Tom Green, secretary and Mrs Anne Bricklebank, treasurer had set about raising £200 to reduce the debt. £500 had already been donated and a further £1000 had been raised as a loan.
There were many stalls over the three days of the Bazaar, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, with a service on the Sunday. There were plain and fancy goods stalls and a refreshment stall run by the ladies. The cafe was under the supervision of Anne Bricklebank and Miss Sarah Noble. The scholars ran the handkerchief and sweet stalls as well as a bran tub, an ice cream stall and post office. The general goods stall was run by the young men of the congregation.
above, The completed Sunday School sits snugly to the left of Southgate Chapel with the village nurse's home beyond.
Monday 27% April was children’s day with many of the young people taking part. The president was 7-year-old Frank Robinson, while Nellie Drake, aged 10, opened the proceedings and Mabel Barratt, seconded by Ivy Allen, proposed a vote of thanks.
The Sunday School had previously been held in a room beneath the chapel next door and this was in use over the period of the bazaar with entertainment from the scholars entitled Spring Triumphant, Nursery Rhymes and Discontented Peggy. The young men performed a sketch entitled The Absentminded Man.
The buildings were important to Primitive Methodism in Honley, which retained its own way of life even after a merger in 1932 with Wesleyan Methodists. A fall in chapel-going and a move in Honley to unite the non-conformist churches brought about the closure of Southgate chapel and Sunday School in 1969. The building, which had accommodated mother and baby clinics as well as chapel services in latter years, closed and was sold to Honley Amateur Dramatic Society, reopening as Honley Theatre.
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upper left, The Southgate Sunday School banner is raised opposite the chapel. upper right, The Sunday School was erected in the vacant land next to the chapel. lower left, Members of the congregation gathered in the ground dedicated to lower right, Members of the congregation gathered in the ground dedicated to the Sunday School. the Sunday School. Behind, the cricket field and pavilion can be seen.
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HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
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upper left and lower left , The foundation stone laying ceremony on 25" April, 1914.
above, The Hirst family, Frank, George, Allen and Jane in 1918. Allen Hirst was the builder of Southgate Sunday school. He can be seen, leaning on the rail, in the lower photograph opposite.
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HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
ALLEN HIRST AND SONS
THE MAN WHO BUILT HONLEY
e builders of the Southgate Sunday School had a long association with Honley. Allen Hirst was a Shepley man, born in 1885, who lived at Sovereign. He began work as an apprentice mason at Sovereign Quarry nearby and in 1908 moved to Honley, where he married Jane Hinchliffe the following year. They set up home at 37 Bradshaw Road and Allen began with a wheelbarrow, a shovel, two bags of Portland cement and some stone to create his building and contracting business. Allen's yard was at the end of High Street in Honley. His two sons, Frank and George eventually joined him, George taking over the business in later years.
Allen began to employ stone masons, including Beaumont Smith, from Lockwood's Buildings at Honley Bridge. Beaumont then joined the Transport Section of the West Yorkshire Regiment but did not return to Honley, dying ina military hospital in February 1917 aged 35. He is commemorated on the Honley War Memorial. Regular employees on the Southgate Sunday School construction
included Ben Peace and Richard Jenkinson. The latter lived at 37 Far Banks and married Matilda Durham in 1914. His late father Joe had
been a house builder like Allen Hirst and so Richard's credentials as a stone mason were set.
Another employee was Ben Roberts who lived in Lockwood with his wife Betty and three children. A third employee, Arnold Taylor, lived at 12 Scotgate with his wife Emma.
As well as Southgate Sunday School, A. Hirst and Sons contracted to build many houses in Honley including those in West Avenue after the war. The first were for private sale, but the remainder were for rent by the Urban District Council. He then went on to build the houses in Council Terrace, New Mill Road. In the second world war, the Hirst sons were considered to be in reserved occupations and took part in the construction of a POW camp at Cawthorne.
Allen Hirst died in September 1955 in his self-built bungalow in Marsh Gardens, Honley next door to his second builder's yard. His wife, Jane had died just six weeks earlier in Deanhouse hospital. Both are buried in Honley graveyard. Allen Hirst's business was carried on by his two sons who went on to build many more homes in Honley.
below left, West Avenue, Honley with the first of many post-war homes built by Allen Hirst and Sons. below right, Allen Hirst and two sons in his Humber 12/25 4-seat tourer in Back Bradshaw Road, behind their home at 37 Bradshaw Road.
Allen Hirst in 1912.
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HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR u
THE NEW COUNCIL OFFICES
AND WIDENING THE GATE IN1915
e Honley Urban District Council was formed as a result of the Local Government Act of 1894. Councillors were elected for three-year terms. The new UDC members met at first in a variety of rooms in the village. The Wesleyan Sunday School, offices at 18 Church Street and the Gas Works had all served as home as well as the Working Men’s Club in Westgate. Separate to this, the UDC registered office was at 17 Southgate, the premises of Taylor and Jones. However, a new civic building was the aim of the council. In 1914, tenders were sought for the construction of new offices to include rooms for both the gas and electricity undertakings. The site chosen was adjacent to Honley Bridge which would be widened along with Eastgate at the same time. This required the purchase of property, both at the river’s edge and along the opposite side of Eastgate from Lower Fold to Turnpike. The location was a peculiar triangular shape but the two-storey building would accommodate all the council’s needs. J Berry and Sons, the council architects, of 3 Market Place, Huddersfield, drew up the plans and the work, like that on Honley Bridge which was completed at the same time, was carried out by a variety of contractors. Alfred Firth was the main contractor with joinery being undertaken by J R Marsden and plumbing by local plumber Charles France. Other trades included Wilkinson the painter, Spence and Company, slaters and concreting by E S Jessop. The new building had central heating, in the form of hot water radiators, installed by C Watson and Sons. All the council departments were accommodated in the new building together with a workshop for the gas works and a boiler and coal storage in the basement.
In the ground floor vestibule was the rate collector’s office and the clerk to the council’s office. The gas department was situated at the right hand side with a showroom and three large display windows to Eastgate. On the first floor was the council chamber, two committee rooms and offices for the surveyor and the gas manager. The building also accommodated a laboratory and dark room.
The imposing facade employed hammer-dressed ashlar to the Eastgate elevation. With the two entrance doors beneath substantial arches and pediments, balustraded parapets and the words Council Offices carved in stone, the village could take pride in its new civic building. Councillor Elon Crowther opened the door of the new offices and addressed the crowd. He said that he had been waiting for this event for several years. Once the party had entered, County Councillor Samuel Jagger, husband of Mary Jagger, unveiled a plaque with a lengthy inscription in the vestibule,. Despite being at the Bottom o’ the Gate, the Council Offices soon became a focal point for the village. During the council’s years of existence, bills were paid there - rates, electricity and gas. New domestic appliances could be purchased. Once the Urban District Council began to build houses in the 1920s, the rents could be paid. At the end of its existence, in April 1938, the UDC members had a farewell meal and the decision-making was transferred to Holmfirth UDC.
top, Honley Bridge, before widening and erection of the Council Offices. below, The opening day celebrations with Councillor Elon Crowther (left) and William Brooke (right) in the doorway. Amongst the many locals in the photograph are Tom Smailes the clerk, Samuel and Mary Jagger, Emily Siddon, George T Oldham and his brother Harry. Police Sargeant Hanson keeps command of the proceedings.
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1915
THIS TABLET COMMEMORATES THE BUILDING OF THE HONLEY URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL OFFICES, THE WIDENING OF EASTGATE AND THE ENLARGEMENT OF HONLEY BRIDGE THE TOTAL COST £7,500
MEMBERS OF THE DISTRICT COUNCIL DURING THE IMPROVEMENTS WERE- CENTRAL WARD: J E HEAP, F OLDFIELD, S JAGGER, G PEARSON, T SMAILES MD EAST WARD: G H BARRACLOUGH, CHAIRMAN E CROWTHER JP, T E LITTLEWOOD SOUTH WARD: J A BEAUMONT, G T OLDHAM CLERK: T SMAILES, J BERRY AND SONS ARCHITECTS
upper left, The new Council Offices shortly after opening. upper right, Asimulation of the opening day plaque. lower left, The Coach and Horses Inn at the sharp corner in Eastgate. lower right, A horse and cart demonstrates the sharp corner.
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HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
THE PALLADIUM
HONLEY'S NEW PICTUREHOUSE
of the Palladium Picturehouse. Located in the newly widened Eastgate, the inema had a single screen and seating for 540 in comfort. The grand opening was on 14" May, 1914, despite the exterior being unfinished.
A n important event in Honley, just before the outbreak of war, was the opening
New regulations had come into effect in January 1910 to improve safety in picture houses. One novel feature was the ventilation in the fireproof main hall which could be fully evacuated, it was claimed, in 45 seconds. Nitrate filmstock was highly flammable in those days and such claims must have reassured the Honley audiences.
Many villagers had already experienced the combustion of film since, on Saturday 23" September, 191, when at a cinematograph show in the recreation ground by Lane Head, flames leapt from a projector during a coloured film show and set fire to the tent. The audience was lead to safety by Sargeant Hanson of Honley police and there was no one injured.
The picturehouse in Honley was an immediate success. Soldiers on leave would make for the Palladium to see the latest release perhaps witha pal ora girl friend. Otherwise, such entertainment meant a trip into town on a car (tramcar) to see a film at one of Huddersfield's growing number of picturehouses. With the programme changing on a Thursday, it was possible for local families to make two visits each week.
13
The Palladium remained popular until after the Second World War and closed in 1956 and has since become a squash club.
lower left, The Palladium Picture House in Eastgate Honley. The tall houses in Lower Fold dominate the background, but do not have many years left before demolition.
lower right, Feature films began to arrive around 1914 and those screened in the early months of the Palladium were recorded in the Huddersfield Daily Examiner.
October 1914 Rip, the Dog Detective, which was billed as a drama full of thrills, showing the dog’s sagacity and faithfulness. Amongst the war films were The Terror of the Air, Colonel Heeza, Liar, The Corporals Kiddies, How Mosha Came Back and From the Lions’ Jaws. The Evil We Do was a tale based in Alaska, while Ford Sterling starred in the farce, His Wedding Day. Ghosts and Oh, What a Day all added to the variety of an entertainment that was still novel to villagers in 1914. Also that month were Rocambole in the Mysterious Count, Sheltering an Ingrate, Circle of Adversity Ivy’s Elopement, The Mystery of the Ladder of Light, In the Days of Trafalgar, Through Trials to Victory, Risen ‘om the Ashes, How to Keep a Husband, and The Way to Happiness.
December 1914 films included The Express Messenger, A Telephone Strategy, The Stone in the Road, His Country’s Honour,
Santa Claus and the Clubman, Cameo of Yellowstone, While Shepherds Watch, The Girl at His Side, and The Pseudo Sultan.
January 1915 brought In Tune with the Wild, The Terrible Lesson, Susanne’s New Suit, Pimple and the Stolen Invention, The Heroine of Mons, The Mystery of the Amsterdam Diamonds, By the Sun’s Rays, The Fatal Mallet, Her Kid Sister, The World at War, The Old Curiosity Shop, When a Woman Loves, The Hand of Fate, Broncho Billy and the Gambler, Sammy at the Masked Ball, and Their Only Son, some of which were war films.
February 1915 Amongst the best known war films was It's a Long Way to Tipperary, which was popular for many years afterwards. The Horse Thief, A Canine Rival, A Race for Life, Two Little Britons, Our Spy, Jack’s Awakening, Fun on the Sands of Blackpool, Fatty’s Finish, and The Quarry Mystery were also shown to Honleyers that month.
Page 16
14 HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
HONLEY CRICKET CLUB
AND ITS FAMOUS PLAYER
ALONZO DRAKE (1884-1919)
lonzo Robson Drake was one of that rare breed of sportsmen Ae play both cricket and football at professional level and to a very high standard. He was born at Parkgate, Rotherham, on 16" April, 1884 and became a heavy-smoking yet talented forward in the football league, playing 95 times for Sheffield United
and 36 times for Doncaster Rovers.
During the autumn of 1909 Alonzo signed for Huddersfield Town who had recently joined the Midland League. His debut came on September that year and during his 21 appearances that season he was to score nine times. However, he was also playing in the Yorkshire County cricket side as a left-handed all-rounder. Alonzo had already been playing for Yorkshire’s second team before making his First XI debut. He left Huddersfield Town to concentrate on his cricket career.
He lived in Honley in 1910 at 5 Southgate with his wife Florence, whom he married in 21“ May, 1907, and played for Honley Cricket club with a batting average of 58. In 1912 Yorkshire won the County Championship with Alonzo at his best, four wickets in seven balls (including a hat-trick) against Essex at Fartown.
During the 1913 season, Alonzo Drake took 102 more wickets for the county as Yorkshire finished runners-up to Kent. In 1914 he surpassed his previous successes by
During the Great War, Honley Cricket club found that players were difficult to recruit. In the 1915 Annual Report, it was stated that a crisis point had been reached and that ‘practically all the eligible players’ had joined the army or navy, totalling around 60 in number. At the 1916 AGM it was decided to discontinue cricket and to inscribe a roll of honour to the men who had joined the forces during the war.
becoming the first Yorkshire player to take all ten wickets in an innings. During that match against Somerset, he actually took 15 wickets for just 51 runs. Yorkshire finished fourth in 1914 before cricket was halted by the Great War. Yorkshire lost Alonzo's pace bowling partner MW (Major) Booth tragically killed on the Somme. At the cessation of fighting, the county side reformed and won its nu County Championship in the first
aire
post-war season of 1919. As
Alonzo had tried to join up for military service, but was deemed medically unfit, due to a heart complaint exacerbated by his heavy smoking. He was to be increasingly dogged by poor health and died on 14" February, 1919 at his later home at Westgate, Honley, aged just 34, leaving a widow and a young son. He was buried in the graveyard, three days later in a ceremony conducted by the Reverend Arthur Kerr, vicar of St Mary's.
Lame ase Gertie
fie Siem! fon
The (EMAL, i Mowe
above right, The cricket ground in early days
below left, Honley Cricket Club accounts for the 1916 season
below right, Alonzo Drake's record in first class cricket.
HONLEY CRICKET CLUB.
BaALaNnce SHEET,
Tice jie: legen greed be
te tee of pe. Hee See
Ed BATTING, Runs. Average. I 1900 “TOR. Sec. 24.00 ROL Pe! cone eine LOLS we ee DOLD 707 26/95 a ae wooceee 1,056 1.5. 23.46 ee ea oe wines 828. «(29:71 TOME 4,816 21.69 BOWLING. Wickets, Average. a SOs + rab obeys sc 19: vec 20.78 We Mees 28 «vs 22.28 REE cb sed 79 22.43 1912 re errr 87 18.71 HOLS: Aun 116 16.93 ARES aa, 158 “i, (15.36 cit ee, 480 18.05
Page 17
HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR 15
HONLEY WORKING MEN'S CLUB
A CENTRE FOR INTELLECTUAL AND SOCIAL PROGRESS
onley Working Mens’ Club was formed in 1864 and had its premises in Westgate. The nnual report for 1913-14. reveals another activity in the village during wartime.
Sports which were common in Honley in the past, were often held at the George and Dragon race- ground. William Brooke (a life long teetotaller) purchased the inn and the race-ground, on 1* July, 1864. At this time property prices were high, so that the cost was relatively expensive. The inn was then transformed into the Working Man’s Club and the extensive grounds used as allotment gardens. The club was opened on 23" October, 1865.
As there was nothing like it in Honley, large numbers joined, membership not being limited to religious or political beliefs. Representative committees were formed and remained a feature of the club’s management. Facilities for all kinds of games were offered along with a large library, reading, smoking and lecture rooms. In the earlier years, hot coffee could be obtained at any hour of the day.
The club became a centre for intellectual and social progress in the village. Many members attended the series of penny readings, lectures and entertainments arranged by the club, when outside speakers from various walks of life came to Honley. One of the most enthusiastic members was John Dearden, one-time village schoolmaster at Honley.
William Brooke, as president, was always ready to give all the help he could. The 21* anniversary of the club was celebrated in October, 1886, and when members presented William Brooke with his portrait on May, 1884, he in turn presented it back to the club, where it hung in the large reading-room. Following the opening of the Working Men's Club, further political and otherclubs opened in Honley, eventually attracting members away. However, it remained popular and by the time of the Great War and at the beginning of 1914, its membership numbered over 200.
wOonLEY wort ern
port and Bal siete
to —
per men's ole.
ance Sheet
sn, te
left, The annual report and balance sheet of the Honley Working Men's Club for 1914.
above, Honley Working Men's Club was situated behind the group of men in the middle distance.
Page 18
16 HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
SERVING THEIR COUNTRY
VOLUNTEERS, CONSCRIPTS AND POWS
onley Urban District Council had a number of responsibilities placed on them at the outbreak f war. One of them was to promote Lord Derby's Recruiting Scheme. The concept was that men who voluntarily registered would be called upon for service only when necessary. Married men had an added incentive in that they would be called up only once the supply of single men was exhausted.
Dear Sir Lord Derby's Recruiting Scheme
I have to inform you that your name has been mentioned in the Council as being one of those who would probably be willing to assist in the work of canvassing in the Honley district under the above scheme. A meeting of Canvassers will be held at the Council offices on the evening of Monday next, the 15* inst, at 8.30pm when you are invited to be present.
Full particulars with reference to the canvassing along with all requisite cards, papers and information will be
Tom Smailes, solicitor and clerk to the council sent out a
number of letters to men in the village and surrounding area, requesting them to consider joining up. One letter was sent in November 1915 by Tom Smailes to Harry Oldham, a local millowner.
your va Yours faithfully,
Clerk to the Council
In the following pages, we offer a small selection of potted biographies of Honley men and women who served their
then supplicd to canvassers. It is hoped that you will lend uable assistance to their very important work.
country during the conflict. It is by no means exhaustive, nor is it comprehensive. It hopefully demonstrates the
variety of ways in which members of our community contributed to the war effort.
Huddersfield Examiner 16 October, 1914
HONLEY BOYS WITH THE COLOURS. ENCOURAGEMENT FROM HOME.
Honley residents take an interest in the welfare of the natives who have gone on active service, and recently a supper at Honley Liberal Club realised a profit of £1 2s., which amount was spent in tobacco and cigarettes and sent to the local soldiers.
Inreply Mr. George Borwell, School House, has received several interesting letters of thanks.
Private Ben Auty (who (fought in the Boer war) is with the 3rd Duke of Wellington's at Shiremoor Camp, Northumberland, and he writes: “I am pleased to tell you my health continues very good, in fact, a lot better than it was at home, I am looking forward to taking my part in defeating the Germans in their own country. My company is making very urgent preparations. It was target shooting yesterday, and I made 82 out of a possible 100 on the sea coast at Whitburn, about nine miles from here. We have seven hours’ parade per day, consisting of route marching, skirmishing etc., with the usual guards and pickets at night. As for the
present state of the war I can only say it is very much in our favour, and by the time we old ‘uns get out there the gallant lads at the front will have driven the ' blood curdlers’ into their own country for us old chaps to finish them off?
Private Harry Lindley is with the Northumberland Fusiliers, at Bullswater Camp at Woking, Surrey, and he writes that when he received his parcel his chums congratulated him on being so lucky. He adds “I am enjoying myself up to the mark. We have very few idle hours. We are up at 6 o'clock in the morning and go for about six miles’ march till breakfast time. Afterwards we go through the Swedish drill till dinner time. After dinner we have rifle drill and skirmishing that means the firing line. The authorities see there are no shirkers. When I enlisted at Huddersfield, I was first sent to Newcastle, where we stayed five days and from there we were drafted down here. It is a nice county, but the weather is very changeable”
Private Harry Jenkinson is also with Kitchener's Army in Northumberland, and he writes that their camp is about two miles distant from Private Ben Auty’s. They are lodged at a new school, which, he thinks the people there ought to be proud of, as Honley would be if they had one like it. Private A. Monro also sent a letter of thanks from Frencham Camp, Fareham.
Page 19
ily Fisher was born at Primrose Hill in 1887 and brought up in Honley. Her brothers and sisters were John Lee, Arthur, Annie Cissy, Mary and Amy. Their father, Reuben, was a butcher and originally from Oldham. He lived with his wife, Annie, in Newsome Road. Reuben died at an early age of 35 in January 1893 and was buried in Honley graveyard.
By 1901 Annie and family were living at 12 Lower Oldfield, although they later moved to Fisher Green in Honley. Lily (sometimes she was Lilly) was a laundress at Robinson's laundry, Newtown in Honley.
When the Honley Auxiliary Hospital was opened at Moorbottom chapel, Lily volunteered as a VAD nurse. She appears in the opening day photographs on page 44.
17
LILY AND ARTHUR FISHER
OF FISHER GREEN
Her brother, Arthur, was recorded as a cloth finisher in 19u, possibly at a local mill in Honley. His military service was with the 2°¢/5% West Riding Regiment, like so many of his contemporaries in Honley. He can be seen in uniform in the right hand of the pair of lockets below, owned by Mary.
Mary was to recall a time when Arthur came home from France on leave covered in mud and lousy. She stood him in a tin bath at the top of the cellar steps and scrubbed him clean.
Arthur married Kate Kenworthy and they lived at Pontey cottages on Meltham Road Honley. When Kate died, Arthur moved into the centre of the village and lived at Marsh. He died at home in 1973. Lily remained unmarried and died at Fisher Green on 22"! December, 1921 aged only 34.
above, Arthur is standing behind his mother Annie, with Lily on his right hand side. Also in the photograph of around 1912 are John Lee with his wife Edith (nee Shaw) on the far right and their two children Reuben and Edna and his sisters Annie, Mary and Amy. below, The reverse of the above photograph written by Amy to her brother Arthur. left, The pair of lockets owned by Mary with images of Lily and Arthur.
=
Des C Card ee
Ts 4 PSO fais BOPTION G8 USED ay THE ADDRESS ONLY TO BE ie I Fon ffs One he WHITTEN HERE es ~ POSTAGE Ghav) 7 = I I YORK Tee “1, 2 ot \ 2 LAMA ok MY . 4 a: %, * Lo a qo UW f40n'5 ( het et a) lS es ous . MAAS, ET NW er A von I 1
ra ait et Fi Ta te, Wales tas Palette Th ames 4 . "= Ft Weal \ c ‘ rh a at a,
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Page 20
18
EDWIN DAKIN
OF DYSON HILL
e first met Edwin in the list of soldiers, commemorated on Honley war memorial. He was born on 14% October, 1895 at Thongsbridge. In the early spring of 1915, he married Mabel Ford who lived at 8 Dyson Hill, Honley. They had a daughter, Eleanor Mary born on 11 July, 1916.
The whole Dakin family then lived at 7 Cold Hill Lane at Stirley Hill, near Castle Hill above Honley. Edwin's father, George was from Nottingham and worked on the railway. He married Sarah Jane from Meltham and Edwin had two sisters and a brother all born locally. He worked as an engine tender at John Brooke and Sons of Armitage Bridge.
He was conscripted as a private in the Durham Light Infantry but was killed in action later that year on 29% September. He is also commemorated at Grand-Seraucourt British Cemetery, Armitage Bridge War Memorial and in John Brooke & Sons Ltd. Roll of Honour 1914 - 1919.
The photograph, opposite, was taken in 1918 in a studio setting with Edwin's close family and an image of Edwin superimposed in the background, perhaps to indicate that he was not forgotten. From left to right the family members are:- 14-year-old Jack Ford, Edwin Dakin, Victoria Ford (who was known as Mary) aged 17 and William aged 15. The little girl is Edwin's daughter Nellie, who is sitting on her mother Mabel's knee and next to Mabel's mother, Mary Ann Ford, nee Evans, who was a Welsh speaker. She was from Newtown in Montgomeryshire (now Powis), where all her children had been born. She died in 1920, aged 55 years. William's son, Cyril (who was also Edwin's nephew), later provided all the research on the Honley War Memorial used in our previous volume. Another of Mary Ann's children was Joe Ford, who was killed in action on 9* April, 1918.
above, the Ford family photograph with Edwin Dakin and his wife Mabel (nee Ford) and daughter. It is clear that Edwin has been added to the back of the group, space having been left when the family posed at the photographer's studio. left, Dyson Hill, Honley where the Ford family lived, is under construction in this early hand- tinted photo.
Page 21
HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
THE CHARLESWORTH FAMILY
STANLEY, EMILY AND ROY
of the 20 century, lived in a modest cottage at 48 Scotgate. The family had lived at Woodbottom for many years before that and all were engaged in the woollen textile trade, although one was a silk throwster®. The family made a significant contribution to the war effort. Wright Charlesworth was a master weaver who married Sophia Jackson on 18" September, 1884. Wright and Sophia went on to have three children, Emily Frances, George Frederick and Stanley, who was born in 1893. George died in September 1891 and Sophia herself died in April 1893. Later that year, on 21* October, Wright married again, this time to Constance Mary Boothroyd. Henry Le Roy Charlesworth (known as Roy) was born to Constance and Wright in 1895.
All three surviving children went to the National School in Honley, Emily entering the woollen textile trade as a worsted knotter, whereas Stanley became an apprentice carpenter and Roy began his working life as an apprentice confectioner. The family attended St Mary's Parish Church where both Stanley and Roy were members of the choir. By the outbreak of war, the whole family was living at Fisher Green, in Bradshaw Road, Honley. Wright was still in work as a weaver, while Constance Mary kept house for all five members of the family. They would have known many of the families recorded in this volume. Roy was the head confectioner at A W Whiteley and Sons in Westgate Huddersfield as well being as treasurer for the St John’s Ambulance Brigade in Honley. After conscription was introduced, he enlisted in Huddersfield in September 1916. Formerly private 41513 of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, he embarked for France on the 21 March, 1918, by which time his regiment was the South Staffordshire and his service number was 42545.
Roy was promoted to lance corporal, but killed in action almost at the end of the war on 28" September, 1918 at Bellenglise, seven miles north of Saint Quentin. He is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial, as well as Honley War Memorial Emily Frances offered her services, a month after Roy had enlisted, as a nurse at the Auxiliary Hospital at Moorbottom. The hospital treated soldiers with less threatening injuries. She went on to marry Harry Senior at St Mary's in Honley on 27 January, 1923. The ceremony was conducted by Rev Arthur Kerr. Stanley enlisted on 2" October, 1915, many months before the Military Service Act of 1916 brought in conscription. He reported to Royds Hall,
Te Charlesworth family were true Honleyers and, at the beginning
which was a military hospital during the war and began his training there. Initially, the building was used as a reception centre for Belgian refugees, but, in June 1915, it was decided that the grounds would provide a suitable site for a military hospital. In June 1916, Stanley transferred to Ripon, where he volunteered for service with the Mesopotamia Draft. The camp was to the south west of Ripon and accommodated 30,000 troops with a military hospital with 670 beds. Stanley left there for Aldershot on 14% September and then for France ten days later, He was attached to the 15° Field Ambulance (5th Division) as 102968 Pte S Charlesworth, at the beginning of October. A field ambulance was a mobile front line medical unit operated by troops of the Royal Army Medical Corps. He went on to serve in France, Belgium and Italy (but not Mesopotamia) until March 1919. During this time he kept a diary and thanks to his daughter, we reveal some extracts below to give a feeling of the life of a soldier at that time. The diary began in 1916, when Stanley was still serving at Huddersfield War Hospital. Some early entries include:
4°March, Went home for half-day and to the Palladium. u** March, Went to Paddock Institute social, had a very good time, took Mary Sykes home.
14° March, Saw “Her Great Love” at the Hippodrome and went home with Dorothy Booth.
15" March, Went to Huddersfield Co-operative employees’ social and met Lucy Townend. Went to Birkby with her.
17" March, Operation of Pte Scott, who had foot taken off: 19" March, Half day pass to Honley.
After that Stanley met Lucy on a number of occasions but found time on Sunday 26% March to attend the memorial service for Ben Hanson and George Crosland at St Mary’s which was attended by civilians, nurses and scouts. Ben, the son of Sgt Hanson of Honley police, and George, from Thirstin, were both killed in action earlier in March. On Easter Sunday, 23" April, Stanley accompanied 20 patients from the hospital to Queen Street Mission for a service. In May, he had a series of inoculations, preparatory to departing overseas. This was followed by visits to his friends and family to say goodbye. On the first day of June, there was a farewell supper given by Colonel Marshall, who was in charge of the hospital and the following morning Stanley set off for Ripon camp on the 3.00pm train from Huddersfield, arriving at 6.oopm. Owing to a cancelled kit inspection on Saturday 3"¢ June, Stanley went rowing on the river (possibly the Laver) instead. The next week was spent
19
Stanley (above) Emily Frances and Roy
Page 22
20 HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
AW. WHITE LE Y.& SONS. 2
Pee I at eT ee
Peeeee 2
upper right, Roy Charlesworth sits (front right) with members of the 5"" platoon, B-Company, 14"" King's Own Yorkshire upper left, Whiteleys in Huddersfield, where Roy was head confectioner. Light Infantry. lower centre, Roy's Memorial card. lower left, Stanley Charlesworth (middle row right) and Roy (front row centre) in St Mary’s _ lower right, The crowds gather at Market Place on 2"! November, 1921 to make their way up Church Street to the Church choir early in the 20" century. unveiling of the war memorial. Stanley Charlesworth is one of the choir members to the left.
Page 23
HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR 21
exercising including a 16 mile march, squad drill and Swedish drill. This was a system of gymnastics invented at the turn of the 19 century by a fencing instructor in southern Sweden consisting of a series of stretching exercises like circuit training. While in Ripon, Stanley joined the cathedral choir, maintaining his interest in music away from Honley. He was granted a weekend pass in July and went back to Honley. He made a visit to St Mary's on Sunday 16th and attended bible class in the afternoon, something he did whenever he was home on leave, increasingly for a memorial service fora Honley serviceman. He then returned to Ripon travelling to town on the 7.30 tramcar from Honley Bridge. Later home visits included trips to Hope Bank Pleasure Ground. Stanley's entries include one for 1* September, recording the fire at Standard Fireworks at Crosland Hill in which Harry Berry of 24 Reins in Honley died. On Thursday, 1* September, the Mesopotamia draft, including Stanley, left for Aldershot. After three weeks there, with a visit to the Royal Flying Corps base at Farnborough, he set off for France sailing from Southampton on the SS King Edward, the world's first commercial turbine drive ship. After a journey of 22 hours, the party arrived at Rouen, where Stanley undertook poison gas training, walking through a tunnel wearing a gas mask. One man fatally took his mask off inside the tent. In October, he was at the dressing station of a Field Ambulance depot. His duties were various and included Officer's Mess fatigues, stretcher bearer and motor ambulance orderly. Letters from home were regular and included one from Ewart Ellis, who had a fruit and vegetable shop in Honley. Ewart was with 106 Field Ambulance.
However, being a soldier at the front meant that you had to perform any one of a number of tasks. Stanley recorded in mid-October that he had spent the day carting bricks from ruins to the dressing station, the following day was spent filling sand bags in a dug-out. This was followed by digging latrines, constructing drains and sweeping roads. There was time on Sunday 15 October to attend a YMCA service despite there being heavy bombardment to the north. November saw Stanley on stretcher-bearer duty and hospital work which had the added compensation of providing better food. Heavy casualties brought a very busy spell but the next day could be so quiet that it was spent playing cards. The YMCA continued to provide for the wellbeing of the men with sing-songs, debates and film shows.
Early December 1916 brought snow, an enemy aircraft and a large parcel for Stanley from home. Christmas Day saw Stanley going for a morning walk, watching a film in the afternoon and enjoying a concert in the evening. His observation, "we had a fine time”. January 1917 saw Stanley utilise his carpentry skills making bed frames and door frames. The conditions in the trenches were never good, but an outbreak of food poisoning (ptomaine, he called it) among patients put extra pressure on the medical corps. Blame was placed on the rissoles for breakfast. After a spell on baths and rations duties, which he enjoyed, Stanley returned to his carpentry with the arrival of a load of wood, He was joined by George Crabtree, from Conisborough, in setting up a workshop. Stanley made forms for the hospital wards and a table for the dining hall but mostly trestles as well as general repairs. One speciality was a flag distinguishing board which he made and painted. Other jobs included two vapour baths and the repair of a motor ambulance (No 17068) which had been in an accident. Sundays often gave an opportunity to attend a church service or visit the cinema (sometimes both) and the entertainment which Stanley enjoyed included a concert party called The Whizz Bangs and a film - The Cheshire Cats. He thought the latter was very poor and the curtain was dropped before the end, no doubt to a chorus of jeers from the servicemen. The former was ‘excellent entertainment’ and Stanley went to see them a second and third time.
He saw his first real action in April 1917 at Vimy Ridge and commented that stretcher bearing was a ‘dreadful job’. The next week was ‘hell’ and he was lucky not to have been hit. Considering the vast number of personnel from Britain serving in France, Stanley met a number of men whom he knew. In May, he met a neighbour from Bradshaw Road in Honley, Malcolm Burhouse, when they were both unloading a train of
top left, Stanley Charlesworth as a recruit in the Royal Army Medical Corps lower left, Stanley in RAMC uniform.
Page 24
22. HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
supplies. Malcolm was a similar age to Stanley and he was in the West Riding Regiment and later the Labour Corps. He too survived the war, marrying and settling in Huddersfield. At Whitsun 1917, and in acknowledgment of the village traditions, Stanley bought a brooch for his mother and sister. He sent them along with 50 francs for his account back home to Honley. In June he began an ambitious carpentry project making an officers’ mess. By September, Stanley and his group had moved north east into Belgium and the action at Ypres. In October, his description of stretcher bearing was once again ‘hell’. After the privations of life at the front, Stanley was issued with a full new uniform in November shortly followed by leave to the UK. He left Boulogne at and 12 hours later he was in Huddersfield. He met Lucy and went for a walk. A visit to the War Hospital, the Lockwood baths and a walk round Castle Hill came the next day. After six days he was telegraphed to rejoin his unit. This time he was sent south, through France to Ventimiglia on the northern coast of Italy. Wading in the Mediterranean Sea was a great pleasure to Stanley but more so was the welcome from the locals who showered the unit with flowers. Rome beckoned by 1918 and the diary at first records more tourist visits than action. However, amid the bombing in February and March, Stanley needed dental work and had five extractions. His unit returned to France in April and back to the routines near the front line. Amongst his duties, Stanley repaired and built stretcher cars for a narrow gauge railway. He anxiously sought letters from his brother Roy and was devastated to hear on 18 October, 1918 that he had been killed almost three weeks earlier. He went on leave to the UK just four days before the Armistice, which he heard about in Honley with 'Great Rejoicing’. He returned to active service in France at the end of the month, where he was able to cast his vote in the November general election. He then heard on 13" January, 1919 of the death of his father, Wright Charlesworth. Stanley returned to Honley for the final time and began a business as joiner, cabinet maker and funeral director. He married in 1931, but was widowed five years later. He remarried, had three children and lived a full life in the village, passing away on his 87° birthday in 1980.
above Stanley at Merville, near Dunkirk, on 1° March, 1917, tenes Sunday Feb 3rd ROME aged just 24. War has begun to take its toll.. The photograph
My Dear Mother cost three francs 75c. ?
i 5 or Torrie Te:
Fed te
|| xe inc Mei
Weare still having a jolly good time + am in the best of health. We have been to an English Church this morning and have seen a good few English people and we are invited out this afternoon to some Marchioness place. Yesterday we spent the day at a seaside resort sixty kilometres down south + we had a proper good time. 1 am at present in the Opera House seeing the opera entitled IL
Bohemia + although 1 do not understand the words, the music and singing is simply ‘fine. With much love to all, Stanley
far left, A postcard from Stanley to his mother in Fisher Green, Honley, written from Rome in February 1918. left. A transcription of the postcard. (The opera is better known as La Boheme.)
Page 25
BEN AND HENRY ELLAM
BOTTOM O! THE GATE
en Ellam was born on 3" March, 1895 to Joe and Ellen Ellam of Field's Yard, Lindley. The family moved to Blackmoorfoot at the turn of the century but had moved to No.11 Bottom of the Gate in Honley by the time of the 1gi1 census and later to New Road Side, opposite the Jacob's Well public house. Joe was a weaver and Ben became a finisher in the dyeing industry. He had three younger brothers Henry, Archie and Fred. Ben was in the naval reserve and, although he couldn't swim, he became an ordinary seaman, entering the service on 22™ November, 1915. He was just sft 4ins tall with brown hair and blue eyes. Being in the reserve, he joined his colleagues in one of eight battalions, named after naval commanders, Ben (service number Z/8756) being in Hawke found that these battalions were not fully equipped infantry battalions, but rather support for depleted ground forces. However, Ben spent a week training on the use of the Stokes mortar. He landed at Boulogne on 10% July, 1916 en route for the Somme, but was hospitalised in November 1916 before rejoining his unit in a week later. On 4" February, 1917, Ben was reported as missing and confirmed as a prisoner of war on 16" April. He was at the gefangenenlager or POW camp in Limburg. The Royal Naval Division comforts fund was notified a few days later and Ben would have benefitted from the occasional parcel from home.
He was released after the conflict ended and repatriated on 28 December, 1918. He remained on leave until 25 February the following year, with his discharge dated 20 March, 1919. Ben married Edith Taylor at St Mary's church in 1926 and they settled at 13 Moorbottom, Honley. Ben died in February 1990, Edith having pre-deceased him in 1970. His brother Henry served asa private in the Machine Gun Corps and was injured on 31 August, 1918 with a gunshot wound to his left thigh. He was taken toa nearby Casualty Clearing Station and given an anti- tetanus injection and a blood transfusion.
After the war, Henry returned to Honley and married Lillian Broadbent from New Mill in 1920. They set up home at 14 Victoria Place, Honley and had a daughter, Audrey and a son, Derek. The remaining brothers Archie and Fred were at school during the Great War. Archie was another choir member, this time a baritone. He married Edith, another of the Shaw sisters from Reins, in 1935.
23
above, Ben Ellam in his Royal Naval batallion Hawke uniform.
upper left, A studio image of Ben, (back left), and two of his colleagues in the Royal Naval Division.
lower left, Ben Ellam seated in a later group photograph, second from the left.
Page 26
24.
ERNEST BRAY
CO-OPERATIVE TERRACE AND REINS
erbert and Eliza Ann Bray lived at 6 Co-operative Terrace in Honley. They had one son, Ernest who was born in January 1899. Herbert was a silk dyer's labourer, but sadly both he and Eliza Ann died within five weeks of each other in the summer of 1912. Ernest was still at school and so was given into the care of his aunt Jane, who had lived with her widowed father at 16 Far Banks.
He joined the West Yorkshire Regiment on 2" July, 1918. His records show little service before he was demobilized in November 1919, although like others he was transferred to the army reserve, being required to rejoin if there was an emergency declared. On his return home he worked at Lancaster's mill in Smithy Place before moving to David Brown's at Lockwood. He was a well liked and respected employee at both companies.
Ernest married Marion Shaw at St Mary's church, in 1926 and they set up home at 78 Lower Reins. Although they had a happy life, they were not blessed with any family of their own.
He was a tenor in the St Mary's Choir and church operetta group and later a member of Honley Male Voice Choir. Ernest was a fun-loving and active man who enjoyed his tennis on the Reins tennis courts as well as being a player in the church football team. In the second world war Ernest was an air raid warden. He died on 6" April, 1960 and Marion outlived him and she died in 1983, aged 85. above right, Ernest and Marion are joined by Henrietta (Hettie) Bray from Reins, who married Willie Woodcock.
below, Ernest stands at the front of a group of potential recruits with one soldier and two others holding dummy rifles. below right, Ernest in uniform stands at the back left.
Page 27
25
above left, Ernest Bray in uniform. above centre left, Ernest and Marion ina studio photograph. lower left, Ernest and Marion on their wedding day in 1926. left, Ernest stands at the back of a group at Lancaster's mill.
above centre right, Willie Woodcock with his cycle. above right, Willie Woodcock in a studio pose. right, Willie and his wife Hettie.
Page 28
26
WILLIE WOODCOCK
REINS
illie was not a Honleyer by birth, having been born in 1880 in Plymouth. His father was from Holmbridge, a recruiting sergeant for the army and later a brassfounder. Among the places where the family lived were Anglesey, Salisbury, Tiverton and Falmouth. There, Willie began working as farm hand, but at the age of 14, the family moved to Honley and he began work at the silk mill at Moll Springs, run by George William Oldham.
At this time he met and married Hettie Bray, sister of Willie, at St Mary's Honley in 1907 and they celebrated their golden wedding in 1957. They set up home at 47 Reins Terrace, where he lived for the rest of his life. He was then employed as a dyer's labourer at Edwin Brook and Co, Woodroyd Dyeworks. He later went on to work for Josiah France at Queen's Square Mill. For many years, Willie was drummer in the Smith Bray orchestra and in younger days a keen cyclist, recalling a ride to Bridlington with pride. He became the oldest member of both Honley Liberal club and the British Legion. Willie celebrated his goth birthday with a family gathering at the parish rooms in 1970.
5 REA é “
a" ogi = ‘>
te
ee wine ee tee ee nt ee
a
left, Willie Woodcock in his 90" year. centre. Standing outside an army hut in France. upper right, Willie, standing second from the left at the back with
‘The Boys' of B Sub, Battery, Royal Field Artillery.
lower right, Willie standing at the centre of the back row with his
colleagues at Edwin Brook and Sons, Woodroyd dyeworks.
Page 29
HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR 27
FRED LITTLEWOOD AND THOMAS HINCHLIFFE
1892 to Joe and Jane Littlewood of New Street, Honley. The family address in 1901 was 3 Back New St, Honley. Joe was a weaver, born in 1866 at Smithy Place.
I YWred Littlewood was born on 24" April,
Fred had an older sister Eleanor who was born in September 1889 and younger sisters, Edith who came along in July 1900 and Mildred in May 1909, all four children being baptised at Southgate Methodist Chapel. Fred must have been quite ill in 1911 for, in the census of that year, he was a patient at Meltham Fever hospital. By this time the family lived at 4 Upper Fold.
He was mobilised on 15° January, 1917 at the age of 24, and recorded with a height of 5ft 64 ins. His occupation was skilled carpenter.
He joined the Royal Engineersas 230571 Sapper F. Littlewood. Fred was given permission to marry Lily Armitage at St Mary’s parish church in Honley on 7" July, 1917.
One of the witnesses was Allen Owen, an apprentice joiner, aged 22, of 27 Croft House, Oldfield. The other was Ada Boothroyd, a farmer's daughter, from 27 Lower Oldfield. At that time Fred seems to have been stationed in the far west of Ireland at Oughterard, Co Galway. He was demobilised on 8" July, 1919.
electrician by trade, somewhat unusual in the early 20" century. He lived at 34 New Street, Honley at the time of the 1901 census. His parents were George and Matilda and they had two sons, William and Thomas and two daughters, Mabel and Marion. George died in 1908 and
[sc Irvine Hinchliffe was born in 1892 and was an
it was probably then that the rest of the family moved to 2 St Mary's Square from New Street. Private 594 T I Hinchliffe joined up in 1914. He was awarded the Military Medal as well as the 1914-15 Star, the Victory Medal and the British War Medal.
Huddersfield Daily Examiner 10 November, 1915 BIVOUACKING AT THE FRONT
HONLEY AMBULANCE MAN'S GRAPHIC LETTER
A graphic description of life in Flanders is contained in a communication by Private T Irvine Hinchliffe (late of Honley), to a friend in Armitage Bridge. Hinchliffe is a private in the West Riding Field Ambulance (B section), 49th Division, now at the Front. "For four months since leaving Havre and Rouen} he writes, "I have been ‘here’ I cannot say where that is, except that the camp is ideally situated and although not far from the line, we are almost invisible to aircraft and observation balloons. We have not been without shells, though, by any means. The town of P---- behind our camp is continually shelled and, as many shells fall short, you can imagine our unenviable position. I shall never forget, August 9th - my birthday - when we had twenty-nine 18in shells over us. The row was positively hellish. A party of our fellows carried the lower part of one of the shells from a field nearby. When f tell you it took four of them to lift it, you can imagine the size of some we get. I am thankful that the special gun responsible for the delivery of these has now been put out of action.
"We are working the rest camp and hospital here. Our section occupied it for three months which is considered a record. Our patients live in ordinary bell tents though we live in bivouaecs which, although small, are fairly comfortable. Do you know what
a bivouac is? It is made of short hop poles and waterproof sheeting which sometimes admits the rain. There are five of us occupying this one; I claim one end, Robinson being at the other. Then there is Percy Harvey who is a good and quiet lad and who had the good fortune to be paraded before the King, the Prince of Wales, Sir John French, Sir Douglas Haig, a naval officer of rank and the usual retinue of gold-braided "red-taped" officers. Then there is Cook, a fair complexioned boy, who sports pince-nez and is enormously rich. Costello completes our interesting party and he resides at Hunslet. He is the soul of the party and keeps us all smiling. Our bivouac is at present in a shocking state. At my feet there is a box in which we store our eatables and piled high on the top is a curious medley of things. Dirty mess tins with remains of a meal, pots, plates, pans, pickles, jam. Nestle's milk, eggs, matches, a dirty rag, a piece of string and a bottle of anchovy sauce. Oh, dear, the placards at home say Belgium: Our lads say, "We shall never forget it’ I think not.
"I have encountered many fellows I know - Honley and Berry Brow lads, including Sanderson, Deakin, Potts, Borwell, Armitage and many more from Huddersfield. It is awfully nice to see faces one knows and bucks one up a treat?
Page 30
28 HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
BEN AUTY AND TOM FRANCE
_])
families at the beginning of the 20 Century. As a porter on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, he would have been seen busying himself on the platform at Honley station.
Bir Auty would have been well known to many Honley
However, Ben was not originally from Honley. He had been born in Batley in January 1871, the ninth of ten children of Joseph, an engine tenter (possibly at nearby Carlinghow Mills), and Hannah.
At the age of 17, Ben signed up for military service and joined the Royal Scots Fusiliers in Ayr, serving variously between 6" July, 1888 and 25" July, 1901. During that time he was sent to India and South Africa but was invalided out after an accident.
As a reservist, he moved to Honley where he married 26-year-old Ada Heatonat St Mary’s Church on 1" October, 1899, having begun work at the railway station. A week later he was back in uniform and off to South Africa where he was later awarded the South Africa Star. He returned to Honley at the end of the campaign and the couple settled into their home at 3 Lupton Square. By the end of the decade, Ben and Ada had three children, Harry Ben, Harold and Lewis.
At the outbreak of war in 1914, Ben signed up again. By this time he had changed jobs and was employed as a labourer by Honley Urban District Council.
Ben served with the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment in the famous charge for Hill 60 where he was wounded. Writing from the 45" Canadian Stationary Hospital at Boulogne, on 21% April, 1915 to his friends at Honley Liberal club, he said,
Iam avery lucky man to be able to let you know anything after what I had to go through last Sunday and I am not the only one here of my regiment who were in the taking of Hill 60 in Belgium. And right well the Canadian people - in whose hospital we are - are at looking after us; they are doing everything in their power to mend and cheer us. I am pleased to tell you that my wounds are not very serious and I hope soon to be better. Though I am not as young as I was in the South African war, I
did my little bit for the dear old land.
The whole of our brigade had a very hard fight for it from Saturday till Sunday night and many a brave officer and man
INJURED AT THE FRONT
fell in doing his little bit against the would-be world’s ruler. I don’t know how my friend Tom France went on not having heard anything about him, but I hope he is all right, for it was terrible... I hope soon there will be a bigger victory to hand and that the mad and mailed fist is no more, which would be a benefit to the whole world.
Ben's friend, Tom France, was injured with two bullets to his leg and, when Ben Auty was writing his letter home, was ina hospital in Southampton. Tom was a millwright who lived with his wife, Ellen and their two daughters, at 1 Back School Street, Honley. He had enlisted in November 1914 at the age of 38 and was discharged in September 1916, on account of being permanently physically unfit. Ben continued to serve but was granted a discharge on account of his wounds in December 1918.
above, Honley railway station around 1911.
The stationmaster in those days was Joseph Noble, possibly standing casually at the back of the group, which may also include Ben Auty.
Page 31
29
FRANK HOBSON
CO-OP GROCER'S ASSISTANT
e know much about Frank Hobson thanks to family records. He was born on 7“ January, 1891, the son of Harry and Emma, who lived in Exchange in the centre of Honley. He was baptised on 22"? March, 1891 at St Mary's Church, just across the road from home.
After leaving Honley National School, he became a grocer's assistant at the Co-op in Westgate, Honley. Frank's father was a beer retailer and greengrocer with a shop nearby, also in Westgate.
Frank enlisted in 1915, prior to conscription and joined the 2/5 West Riding Regiment, with service number 241937, at Honley on 12" December, at the age of 24. By that date he was living at 5 Newtown, Honley.
At first, his next of kin was his married sister Lizzie Whitehead, ten years his elder, but in 1916 Frank married 22-year-old Amy Bartlam, a mender from Berry Brow and she became his next of kin. Amy remained in her family home at 39 Bridge Street, Berry Brow when Frank was away and she carried on with her job. The nearest mill would have been John Brooke and Sons, a few hundred yards away in Armitage Bridge, so that may have been where she worked.
Frank initially spent his time training in Britain between 27 March, 1916 and 10% January, 1917. He then went to the front in France as a qualified signaller, but was wounded in his right thigh on 3"¢ May. His injuries were serious enough for him to be repatriated. He returned home on the 4" via Boulogne and then to England on HMHS St Denis the following day. The St.Denis had been a passenger ferry between Harwich and the Hook of Holland for the Great Eastern Railway Company. She was converted to a hospital ship in 1914 for use throughout the First World War.
He then spent 25 days at the Kings Heath Section of 1° Southern General Hospital in Birmingham, before being transferred to the Military Convalescent Hospital at the former racecourse at Clifton Park, Blackpool where he was treated for a further four months leaving on 24 October, 1917. From there he was transferred to Ripon and, back in good health, returned to France in May 1918.
It was an indication of the shortage of men that Frank was promoted to Lance Corporal in the field on 24 May and to full corporal on 25 June. He took ill with dysentery in October 1918 and was sent home for a second time, later that month. He recovered at a convalescent
hospital in Croydon specifically built for enteric diseases where he spent the remainder of the war. A week after the Armistice, Frank was posted to the 6" Reserve, Duke of Wellington West Riding Regiment at Westcliffe on Sea.
However, he was absent from an NCO class on 10 December, 1918 and again from parade the following day. He was severely reprimanded by Lt.Colonel Knight. Frank was discharged at the end of December and received a Statement of Disability at Southend. He was awarded the British War and Victory Medals which he eventually received on 12" January, 1922. below. Honley Co-op in Westgate, with (all male) staff at the door, perhaps including Frank.
Pes Perr r
Page 32
left, John Dawson standing on the left with his pal Freddie Earnshaw from Meltham. upper right, John poses with his comrades outside a wooden hut in France. lower right, John, bareheaded, sits with comrades of the 5" Battalion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment outside their tent.
Page 33
HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
JOHN EDWARD DAWSON
working life and military career of John Edward Dawson. He was orn in 1893 in Saddleworth, the son of Charley and Ruth, who later lived at 18 Sunny Woodhouse, Chandlers Lane, Honley.
I ike Frank Hobson, thanks to his family, we know about the
At the age of 17, John enlisted on13" March, 1911 to serve in the Territorial Force for the County of York and so would have been among the first men drafted into the regular army at the outbreak of the war.
His certificate of attestation showed that he was 5ft 3 ins tall witha chest measurement of 344 ins and he was signed fit for service on 30° March. He had blue eyes and fair hair and attended various camps each July, Ripon in 19, Flamborough in 1912, Aberystwyth in 1913 and Marske in 1913. The first three were for two weeks but the last coincided with the outbreak of war and as Private 1784 of the 5° West Riding Regiment, he was immediately embodied on 5th August, 1914. He became available for war service on 11° September, 1914.
John served for 5 years, including 333 days in France and Belgium. Although initially he was based in the United Kingdom, he joined the British Expeditionary Force on14" April, 1915 and spenta year in Europe. By March 1916 he had served his time (five years) and was demobbed.
John then returned to his prewar occupation as a silk dresser at Bent Ley Silk Mill, at Meltham Mills, by which time the family was living at 33 Wood Bottom on the edge of Honley in the Mag Valley. This was a reserved occupation, that was vital to the war effort. One use for silk was to line shell cases. In 1915 the production of munitions could not keep up with demand from the army. John’s skill as a silk dresser would have been more important for the war effort than his contribution as a machine gunner.
He wore a War Service Badge to show that he had served and was now in a reserved occupation. He was issued with a Scheduled Occupation Certificate in May 1917, but was medically examined at Huddersfield on 25" June, 1917 at the age of 23. From this medical we know that he was now 5 feet 4/4 ins with fair hair and was passed category Biii, which was suitable only for sedentary work. Honley Urban District Council registered John’s Certificate of Discharge in 18 May, 1917 and he was awarded the 1914-15 Star and the British War and Victory medals. John died from emphysema in 1949 at 33 Wood Bottom. His lungs had been bad for many years, perhaps a legacy of Ypres, exacerbated by the silk fibres at Bent Ley mill.
SILK DRESSER
His late daughter recorded some memories of her father in 2017.
My father did talk about the war sometimes — he would look at photographs and name his friends and where they had died. He talked about digging trenches at Ypres lined with out-of-date corned beef tins from Chicago.
He take his boots off for weeks when he was in the trenches and suffered with lice, just like everyone else. He used a candle to burn the lice in the seams of his clothes.
There were happier memories too - going to Talbot House in Poperinge, the base set up by army chaplain Tubby Clayton to give soldiers somewhere welcoming and homely to go in their free time. (Talbot House later became Toc H.) Machine gunners would have a daily early morning patrol — firing at the enemy — then use the coolant used by the gun to brew their morning tea. He also remembered with great fondness going to dances at Holmfirth Drill Hall in his red and blue uniform.
John Dawson
31
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upper right, Bent Ley Silk Mills, where John worked was near to his home in Woodbottom, Honley. lower right, John's authority to wear the War Service Badge. above, John Dawson's registration under the 1918 National Registration Act.
Ba. 15,
The BENT LEY SILK MILLS, Ltd.,
MANUFACTURERS OF ALL CLASSES OF
SILK YARN
Black and Coloured MACHINE S2WiNG BILKS and TWISTS on Becks ana Tubes fer ard! Clothing Factories and Woollen Marthanta.
BENT LEY, MELTHAM, HUDDERSFIELD.
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32 HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
FRED HOBSON AND WILLIE BRAY
FRED HOBSON WILLIE BRAY
eldest sister Annie had married Charles Senior Shaw in 1896 and they lived with Henry
cloth finisher who lived in Magdale, Honley. During his early years his parents lived in Swift's Fold, Church Street Honley. His father, John William was a woollen weaver who had married Hannah Bingley in 1880.
I Wed Hobson was a dyer's labourer and worsted
When they were first married, John William and Hannah lived with his parents in Back Lane, behind St Mary's Church, Honley. Fred was born at the end of 1881 and baptised at St Mary's on 19% March, 1882.
They became quite a large family of six children, Fred's brothers John, Harry, Bingley and George and his only sister Nellie. All would have attended the National School just a few yards from their door. Fred did as many young lads did, he took a job in the cloth trade. Fair haired and only sft. sins. tall, Fred weighed just over ten stones as he became part of the Army reserve in December 1915, when he enlisted in Honley.
Fred Hobson joined up at Halifax in March 1916 at the age of 34, just after conscription was introduced. He remained in the UK until January 1917, undertaking his training with the West Riding Regiment of the Duke of Wellington's. Overseas beckoned as he joined the British Expeditionary Force that month.
Fred Hobson's 1914-18 medal
He was injured in the second attack on Boullecourt, south east of Arras, at the beginning of May 1917 when the 2/5‘ West Yorkshire penetrated through to the northern outskirts of the settlement. However, Fred was declared missing. On 1 August, 1917, John William Hobson received a letter from his son who had been missing since 5“ May to say he was a prisoner in Germany. Fred had been sent to Limburg camp and then on to Friedrichsfeld, where he would have spent the remainder of the war.
Fred was released after the Armistice in November and repatriated on 30" December, 1918. He had survived the war but never fully recovered, suffering from a recurrence of trench foot for the remainder of his life.
Fred's younger brother Bingley was 27 years old when he enlisted in February 1916. Born he was a woollen weaver of short stature, being just five feet tall, with brown hair, grey eyes and, according to his medical examination, a swarthy appearance. He was demobilised in 1919.
WAVES Bray was born in 1883, the fourth son of Henry and Ann Bray of 54 Lower Reins. His
along with their daughters, Marion, Edith, Ellen and Hilda.
Willie was a weaver by trade and played the violin. His was a musical family - older brother Smith William had an orchestra, which played at many events throughout the district. Willie married Ann in 1913 and they set up home at 14 Thirstin in Honley. He enrolled with the West Riding regiment on 28 September, 1916 in Halifax. His records show that he was 5ft 6% ins and weighed just 9% stones.
He was posted to France in May 1917 and based at Etaples and in November of that year moved to the Italian front. In May 1918, Willie was subject to a punishment known as Field Punishment No.2 for conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline. This was a lesser punishment in the field but still entailed restraint and hard labour.
He was transferred to the York and Lancaster Regiment and then to the Suffolk Regiment in March 1919 and returned to the United Kingdom in November. His demobilization was not until January 1920, when he could return to Honley, his wife, Ann, and daughter, Mary. Ann had a son, Herbert in 1922.
upper right, Willie Bray is standing third left at the back with his regimental colleagues. middle right, Willie (seated third left) played the violin in the company orchestra. lower right, Smith Bray's orchestra .
Page 35
HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR 33
THE LONGDEN FAMILY
MARTHA, RUTH, GEORGE, HARRY, LOUIS, PERCY, TOM AND DORA
when the 1901 census was taken. They had three daughters and five sons. William was a newspaper agent and, with one exception, those family members who were old enough worked in the textile mills.
\ A illiam Henry and Sarah Jane Longden lived at 2 Upper Fold in the centre of the village
Martha, the eldest, was born in 1880 and Ruth, two years younger, was a twister. George, born in 1884 was a dresser and finisher while Harry, Lewis and Percy were at Honley National School. Tom and his baby sister Dora, who was born five months before the census, in 1900, were looked after by their mother. All the children were baptised at St Mary's church.
William Henry died in August 1906, leaving the widowed Sarah to bring up the family, including in due course a grandson. As her grown-up children were all earning, money would be coming in and the family moved to 2 New Street, Honley.
Martha had married Joe Gaukrodger from Hillhouse in Huddersfield in 1905, but he died tragically young in 1910 at the age of 27. They had a son Eric and the young widow with her infant son moved back in with her mother. By 1915, Sarah Jane was shown on the electoral roll as living at 5 Southgate.
With the advent of war, the family's young men joined up in turn. Louis was deemed to have enlisted on 24" June, 1916 but was not called up until he was recruited into the West Riding Regiment in March 1917. He married Charlotte Crosland at Rashcliffe Parish Church (St Stephen's) on 19% February, 1917 and the couple were resident briefly at the Crosland family home, 18 Victoria Road Lockwood with their infant daughter Vera, born just three days before Louis was called up.
After training at Ripon, 30692 Private Louis Longden was transferred to the Yorks and Lancs Regiment (as well as being docked six days’ pay for absence). He was sent to France in June 1917 and began writing a series of letters home. One of these was to his new teenage sister-in-law, Charlotte's young sister, Polly, saying not to worry about him and thanking his mother-in-law for the cake which she had sent. Polly was to die early in 1919, a victim of the influenza pandemic.
While serving at the front he received a serious gunshot wound which shattered the bone in his right arm on 10% October at the Battle of Poelcapelle. He came home five days later and spent ten months recuperating, The wound affected him for the rest of his life.
He spent some of the time at Huddersfield War Hospital and was fit enough to be granted ten days furlough in May 1918, time which he spent at home with his wife and daughter.
Returning to service, Louis was sent to France in August 1918, before he joined the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and was sent to Italy on 28 August, 1918 where he remained until May 1919.
His next assignment was for seven months in Egypt by which time Harry was serving in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. In Egypt Louis enrolled in a three week cookery course, learning about company cooking and constructing improvised ovens. Louis wrote in his note book the details of how to cook ona field kitchen for his army colleagues. He returned home on compassionate leave in
January 1920 to his family and his trade as a cloth finisher. right, Louis Longden
Page 36
34 HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
Louis’ older brother Harry married Violet Ellen Hampshire on 12" July, 1913. Violet, a mill hand, lived at Bunkers Hill in the centre of Holmfirth and the marriage took place in Holmfirth Parish Church.
Harry and Violet lived in the original Longden home at 2 Upper Fold with their daughter Phyllis, who was born in 1915. Harry was 5ft. 4% ins. and weighed just over 1 stones when he was conscripted into the Durham Light Infantry in July 1916. However, his military service was to be just 13 days. Harry was diagnosed with epilepsy in early August and discharged under King's Regulations on the sixth of the month. His discharge was under a ruling which said that the recruit was unlikely to become an efficient soldier. His commanding officer reported that he had seen Harry in an epileptic fit.
Harry returned to his job as a dyer's labourer at the Woodroyd works of Edwin Brook. His marriage was not to be a very long one for Violet died in February 1919, possibly a victim of the ‘flu pandemic. With a young daughter to look after, Harry remarried later that year, his second wife being Eliza Waddington from Gledholt Bank. Their marriage was solemnised at Paddock Church on 31% May, 1919.
The eldest Longden son was George, born in 1884. He married Gertrude Best from Bankfield Road Moldgreen at Christ Church Moldgreen on 22°¢ March, 1913. Gertrude's father Charles Henry, was a house and church painter but also a musician who played with Huddersfield Handbell Ringers. Their son, Charles or Charlie, was born in 1914 and became a well known figure in Honley.
Dora Aileen was born on 18" October, 1900. She married John Hawkyard of Netherthong in the spring of 1922. John was a bander in a sewing cotton factory. Dora died in 1974.
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Page 37
35
This Page above left, George's wife Gertrude. above centre, Percy and Lucy Longden, above right, Harry Longden. below left, Ruth Longden. below centre, A youthful Tom Longden. below right, Charlie Longden's poem to those who did not return.
above, Louis Longden, crouching in the centre of this photograph taken at Woodroyd Dye works. below, Harry Longden's house at Upper Fold.
AN ODE TO THOSE WHO NEVER CAME BACK A lonely grave ‘neath an old gnarled tree, Not visited for years, except by me, A soldier's grave, from the Great War, Who left our village to serve afar. Severely wounded, he came home to die, His tragic widow, left to mourn and cry, lonely grave, now all that's left Of that soldier's family, once so bereft. But at least he is here, where he was born, His regiment and name, his stone adorn, And at 11 o'clock, 1th of November, Only I was there to remember, Wreaths of poppies, from Sunday, still there, As I shed a tear and added my simple prayer. No bugles now, or tolling bell, ~ Just two lots of names added on as well, Names which my old eyes can plainly see, Of those who once went to school with me, My tears and prayer, let me explain: "Do not let them all have died in vain.” Let us strive for everlasting peace,
Opposite Page When ill-will and conflict will really cease, upper left, Louis Longden, standing, in hospital blues. upper right, Louis’ Where modern wisdom evolves a Super Plan certificate from the Army School of Cooking. To perpetuate a perfect Brothershood of Man, lower left, Louis, seated far left, with his right arm in a sling recuperating at a Perhaps then we really will all remember military hospital. All our lives and not just November.
OWD CHARLIE
lower centre, A letter of thanks to Louis before departure for Egypt. lower right, A page from Louis’ hand written instructions on field cookery.
Page 38
36
THE BORWELL FAMILY
GEORGE, HARRY, FRED, THOMAS, NORMAN
eorge and Etty Borwell moved to Honley from Rothwell in 1893, when he became head teacher at Honley National School. They had six children, three of whom were born in Honley. During the Great War, George Borwell served in the Honley and Meltham special constabulary. His daughter Kate taught at the school and she married Thomas Smailes on 29" April, 1915. The Smailes lived at Hawthorn House only a few yards away from the Borwells" home.
George served his adopted village well, including being superintendent of St Mary's Sunday School. He joined the Honley UDC in 1915 and served until 1928. During that time he was also on the finance committee from 1925 to 1927. His wartime service included district commander of Honley Special Constables. He sat on the local tribunal to consider who might be eligible for exemption from conscription and also on the food control committee. His final wartime contribution was as the marshal of the Honley Peace Celebrations in July 1919. When the news of the signing of the Armistice was received, George Borwell gave the school children the following Tuesday off, but no other celebrations were recorded, although it became a tradition to walk to the war memorial in the graveyard on Armistice day for many years thereafter. The Borwell sons, Harry, Fred, Thomas and Norman served during the Great War. but unfortunately, there is little evidence surviving of their contributions during that period. Harry was born in 1887 and was a textile designer at the outbreak of war. He married Edith Lancaster at St Mary's Honley on 27 April, 19. Edith was the daughter of James Lancaster, owner of a Brockholes woollen mill and they rented a house at Far Banks. He was a member of the United Grand Lodge of Freemasons. Prior to conscription being introduced, Harry enlisted on 6" December, 1915 and served with the Royal Fusiliers. He was discharged the day after the Armistice having been injured with a gun shot wound. After the war, Harry became chairman of the South Crosland Urban District Council.
When he was younger, Fred spent some time in Huddersfield Sanatorium for Infectious Diseases at Mill Hill in Dalton. He later joined the 5 West FF Riding Regiment. After the war, he lived [ in Brockholes Lane.
Norman married 26-year-old Carrie Thornton of Bradshaw Road in 1924. Carrie's father, John was book-keeper at Drakes, the corn millers and grocers of Westgate, Honley. Norman died in 1962.
Thomas was born on 23" June, 1896 and married Louisa Eleanor Liversidge from Bradshaw Road in 1924. He died in 1960, she too died that year.
above, George Borwell in Special Constabulary uniform with sons, Fred, Thomas and Harry. below far left, Honley's 191-12 football team with George Borwell (bowler) and Thomas middle row third from left. below left Thomas Borwell. below centre, Carrie Thornton. below right, George as Scoutmaster of Honley troop with his sons, Fred and Thomas.
Page 39
HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
GILBERT HEATON
who lived at 32 Thirstin, Honley. Hearl was a cloth fuller and one of the founder members of Honley Socialist Club. He married Elizabeth Jubb in 1897. Hearl died in November 1913, at the early age of 47, leaving Elizabeth to bring up their 15-year-old son. Elizabeth's sister, Edith May Jubb, lived with the family.
So keen was Gilbert to ‘do his bit’, that he reportedly offered himself for recruitment into the army while still under age. Family lore has it that Elizabeth went to the recruiting station and brought him back to the family home at 21 Westgate, Honley, under protest. She needed him at home as she had a newsagent and printer's business and Gilbert had learned to be a printer.
G" Heaton was born in 1898, the son of Hearl and Elizabeth,
He did eventually sign up, on 14" May, 1917, two months short of his 19" birthday. He joined the Royal Engineers and trained as a signaller at the signal service training centre at Bedford during the summer of 1917. Before going to the front, Gilbert went along to a local photographer, where he had his picture taken and made into a number of postcards. He joined his unit on 10% October, 1917 and was soon at the front.
By March 1918, Gilbert was at First Battle of Bapaume, where the Battle of the Somme would soon begin. In a now frail pencilled diary, Gilbert wrote that they were relieved by the Canadians on the 24" and after resting overnight proceeded to "Y' encampment. He was sent along with two others to the signals office there. The next day (26") they were plunged into a retreat near Achiet-le-Petit, but he was captured after a night on the lamp station at around 5 o'clock the next morning.
Gilbert and his colleagues were made to work for the Germans as stretcher bearers until three that afternoon. A day's march brought them to Denain, where lacking good food, they felt acute hunger. They were rationed to a small amount of black bread, coffee and thin watery soup. On 30% March, a roll-call was taken.
The men were then assembled into 15 squads of 100 soldiers and marched to a billet in an old sugar refinery at Prouvy, about four kilometres from Denain, south west of Valenciennes, where there was no bedding or rations. The prisoners remained there from Easter Sunday 31" March until 8 April, when at 8.30am, they left for a 74-hour march covering nearly 34 kilometres, before arriving at Cambrai. There accommodation was said to be ‘bad with no cookhouse' and poor sanitary conditions. Two days later the men were put to work on a dry canal - the Canal du Nord - setting off at 6.30am and returning at 4.30pm each day.
PRISONER OF WAR
By this time he had been reported missing and Elizabeth had been informed back in Honley. By June, she would have been relieved to learn that her son was now a prisoner of war and uninjured. Although Gilbert had written a letter home early in April, it had not been dispatched and a second epistle was sent on 1* June.
On 12 July, the prisoners were made ready to move again, leaving Cambrai at 2.00pm in trucks packed with between 30 and 40 men. The convoy reached Denainat 5.30 the next morning and Gilbert was billeted in a small third floor room with his friend Webb.
A few days later, the bread ration was reduced and on 22" July, the POWs were put to work again, this time in a machine gun factory. The men were weakening from the lack of healthy food (as, it appears, were the locals as well) so much so that by 1* August, Gilbert found difficulty in climbing stairs. A happier note appeared in Gilbert's pencil diary, when on Monday 5% August, he recorded that he met another Huddersfield prisoner, Joe Kaye of the 2/5" Duke of Wellington's. Prisoners were weighed for the first time the following day and to Gilbert's great surprise, he was only 7st 12|bs.
At the beginning of September, the sound of the approaching Allies could be heard and before the day was out, German wounded were arriving at a nearby hospital ‘in their hundreds’. This put pressure on food supplies and rations were reduced. However, bread returned after three weeks on biscuits.
The following day, he began a journey by train from Denain to St Amand- les-Eaux away) at 9.00am. Arriving at Valenciennes at 1.00pm, the train was shunted into a siding for a further nine hours. The party arrived at St Amand around 12.30pm next day, where they were kept ina confined building with no opportunity to exercise.
On 5" September, the group was marched to a canal and set to clear old workings. Gilbert's diary marks Sunday 8 September as a red letter day, stating 'no work’. The 10" was also a red letter day as an issue of French bread was made, consisting of loaf per week and a very small lump of lard for each person.
A minor emergency occurred on 25" September, when all the men went sick, although Gilbert and around half the men were declared fit by the doctor. He traded his watch with a guard for a loaf of bread and ‘one or two marks and a few spuds’.
37
3 fe upper, Gilbert Heaton in uniform in 1917. middle, in later life. lower, the family man.
Page 40
upper left, A young looking Gilbert Heaton poses at a studio sitting. upper centre, Gilbert Heaton in another studio portrait, this time at Bedford prior to going to France. upper right, Gilbert as a messenger in the Signals Corps. lower left, Gilbert at training camp. lower right, Gilbert and a colleague on messenger duties.
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Early in October 1918, the prisoners got word of British successes near Cambrai and Douai, which gave them pleasure. The prisoners could see that the Germans were preparing for retreat as the POWs were ordered to set fire to the stacks of wood which they had built.
On 14" October, they began marching to Mons (50km distant) at 8.ooam, carrying their blankets and on an old wagon, which proved very hard to pull. By 6.30pm they had reached an old barn near Condé-sur- l'Escaut, close to the Belgian border.
The next day saw the men march due east towards Mons and Jemappes arriving at 7.00pm, where the billet was described by Gilbert as ‘decent’. However, the following day, they were billeted in a power station. The group was set to work the next day (17" October), unloading timber from barges. In a stroke of good fortune, Gilbert was able to get bread from some refugees.
His diary entry for 23" October tells that Gilbert was selected with 49 other men to move some horses, covering 38 kilometres in the first day and ending up very footsore. One day (28° October), rations were not received until late in the evening and the men survived on what they had been given by Belgians along the road. A second long day's journey followed, with the men alternately riding and walking. So emaciated were the horses that their bony backs gave the men sores.
After a couple of days’ rest, the retreat continued on 1 November without horses, stopping for the night at Heron, south east of Brussels. Then they went further south east towards Bas Oha, on the left bank of the River Meuse and close to the German border. The hilly and wooded nature of the region appealed to Gilbert, who likened it to Scotland. He remarked that the people were very kind and supplied them with food, although their captors did not have any.
HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
By this time, the rains had come and the party was made to rest outdoors each night. The journey continued to Ampsin, where Gilbert noted the death, on Thursday 7" November, of one of his prisoner colleagues, Private A McPherson of the 1*/6 Black Watch. He was buried on un November, the day that the Armistice was declared and is commemorated at Ampsin, being the only war grave in the municipal cemetery.
The group reached Bas Oha on 13° November waiting there for the Allied troops, but they had not arrived over a week later. The Germans evacuated the area, leaving their prisoners. On the 23", Gilbert walked with the others to Wanze, where has able to have a shave. The following day the British arrived and the POWs were inspected by a British General. There Gilbert's diary ends.
He returned home to his unit at Bedford in early 1919 and almost immediately wrote to one of the friends he had made in Bas Oha including the gift of a parcel of cigarettes. He was medically examined in Rugeley in May and admitted to a military hospital for treatment for dysentery which he put down to the poor food when he was a POW. He suffered from this for the rest of his life. Gilbert was demobilised on 22"¢ October, 1919.
He returned to home Honley and later married 23- year-old Nellie Atkinson in the autumn of 1928, who lived at St Mary's Square, Honley. She was from a family of butchers, still well known in the district today.
Gilbert expanded the newsagent's business into the next door shop and began to sell electrical appliances. His son, Tom, continued to run the business in Honley after his father retired.
In World War IJ, Gilbert ‘did his bit’ a second time when he was a member of the Royal Observer Corps. He died in the spring of 1977.
upper, Gilbert Heaton on his motor bike. middle, Gilbert's home above the shop in Westgate. lower, Heaton's newsagent shop and new electrical shop in Westgate, Honley in the 1930s.
39
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40
THE EARNSHAWS OF CLITHEROE
HARRY, NORMAN, EDITH, LAURA, DYSON AND PHYLLIS
orn in 1896, Laura Earnshaw was a teenager at the outbreak of war. She was the daughter of Thomas and Sarah, who had three older children, Harry, Norman and Edith, a younger son, Dyson, and daughter Phyllis. The family lived at 52 Clitheroe, one of a pair of cottages at the farm of that name in Scotgate. The land had once been owned by Clitheroe Grammar School.
The family had moved from Upper Fold in the centre of Honley around the beginning of the 20% century. Thomas had been in textiles but was recorded as a stone delver in the 1911 census, perhaps at nearby Scotgate quarry. Norman was an engineer with a machine maker, Edith and Laura worked in a woollen mill and Dyson worked ina silk mill, the nearest being Oldham's at Moll Springs.
Laura's eldest brother, Harry, was a stoker with Huddersfield Corporation and had married Emma Cryer in 1908. They lived with her family at Higher Bent Ley Farm, where Emma helped out as the only woman. They had one son, Eric, born two years later.
Harry joined up on 6" September, 1916 to the West Riding Regiment reserve and was posted in December to France. On 5" June, 1918, he fell into a shell hole, while carrying a box of ammunition, breaking his ankle. He was sent to Wharnecliffe war hospital for recuperation, being discharged in November 1918. He left military service in the spring of 1919.
upper left, Laura and Vivian Oliver's wedding on 15" June, 1918. upper right, Dyson in uniform. below, Another photograph of Laura and Vivian's wedding with sisters Phyllis and Edith to the right and a wounded soldier in hospital blue to the left. below, centre & right, Dyson with members his family, including his parents, Thomas and Sarah.
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In the autumn of 1914, Norman married Emily Shore, who lived across the Magdale valley at Hill Top, Netherton.
Laura, known in the family as Lol, married a Welshman, Vivian Oliver from Cardiffa few months earlier, on 15" June, 1918. Vivian was a sapper in the Royal Engineers and was the same age as Laura. After their marriage, Laura and Vivian returned to Cardiff to live with his family at 42 Severn Grove, Canton. However, they later moved to their own home at Denbigh Street in nearby Llandaff.
Several wedding photographs exist of the day and are reproduced here. They prompt speculation as they appear to show a wounded soldier dressed in the blue suit worn by these men. This suggests that he was a patient at Honley Auxiliary Hospital - perhaps Vivian had been a patient there as well and Laura may well have been a VAD nurse. He is unlikely to be Harry, who was a patient at Wharncliffe war hospital, but had an injured ankle. The soldier in the photos has his hand bandaged.
We know more of Dyson, who was a private in the West Riding Regiment. He was injured on 10% November, 1917, returning to the UK in April 1918. He was in constant pain from his injury and wrote to his sister Laura in August 1919, "I'm so bad, I never get any rest now”. Dyson was never the less able to have a holiday, hoping to goto Cardiff.
After the war, he emigrated in 1924 to Australia (although he was still shown on the electoral roll at 52 Clitheroe in 1926, perhaps in the earnest hope that he might return), where he worked as a motor engineer and salesman in the Melbourne suburb of Coburg. Dyson married 20-year-old Winifred Baker from Essex in 1931. He died in Australia in 1951.
Youngest daughter, Phyllis, remained at school during the Great War, having been born in 1907.
HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
above, Dyson Earnshaw in uniform in a more formal pose to the photograph on the previous page. below, Harry's card to Laura in December 1917. opposite right, Lewis Cocking in the Home Guard in WWIL.
7 Sn et . rr 14 a 2 ae * a ™~ le ata Cal lt a ee aA eg) g A Fiend tes af & I
LEWIS COCKING
2
Road in Lockwood.
41
Beatrice Cocking. Fred was a brass finisher from Paddock and eatrice came from Thurstonland. They lived in Moor End
5 I ewis Cocking was born in Huddersfield in 1897 to Fred and
Lewis had a job as a page boy at the Liberal Club in Paddock. but became a finisher, like his father. He decided to join up without his parents’ approval and when he told his mother, she was surprised and instructed him to let his father know when he came home for his tea. Fred immediately gave his full support to his son, who joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, unlike many of his friends
who had joined the ‘Dukes’.
Lewis was wounded at Passchendaele and taken prisoner. He escaped froma military hospital and was given shelter by a Belgian family. On repatriation he convalesced in a military hospital at Beckett Park, Leeds.
Like so many soldiers who had experienced the war, Lewis never spoke to his family about his war time experiences. He eventually spoke in 1967, in a recording made by one of his sons, Geoff. Lewis didn’t talk about the sights that he would have witnessed
on the battlefield on the recording. He spoke about how his time as a soldier *
was an education and how he learned a lot ina very short time. After the Great War, he became a landscape gardener and met Ellen Hedley from Goole, whom he married on 4°° September, 1926. They settled in Honley and had three sons.
Lewis joined the local Home Guard in
World War Two, asacorporal. Hedied }
in 1970.
above, Lewis Cocking in Home Guard uniform.
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42 HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
‘eo « De a"he ers
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HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR 43
GETTING THERE
THE NEW AGE OF TRANSPORT
from Honley station numbered 18 to Huddersfield and 14 from Huddersfield. Some trains to or rom Bradford did not stop and required passengers to travel to Brockholes or Lockwood to make the connection. Southbound destinations included Holmfirth, Penistone, Clayton West and Sheffield. There were through carriages to London, Bristol and even Bournemouth from Brockholes. Sunday trains were much fewer, with only three to, and four from, Huddersfield.
N round this time, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway timetables showed that daily train services
The tram was the popular method of transport to town from Honley, with regular departures from Honley Bridge. The cars, as they were colloquially known, with their frequent service avoided the climb up Station Road for a much less frequent train service The service had been extended from Berry Brow in 1902 and continued to 1939. The route, which was given the number 10 in 1915, passed the GPO in Huddersfield and so, for an extra charge, Honleyers could post a letter at the rear of the departing tram and have it taken straight to the post office in the centre of Huddersfield. Trams were also employed in the war effort with recruitment being encouraged on a specially decorated tram. The celebration of the end of fighting was also deemed to require a tram decorated overall, with the words Peace and Progress’.
Huddersfield Town Council took the bold step in the summer of 1915 of engaging six women to begin training to be tram conductors. The matter became one of some contention as many councillors believed that there were still men of the right age to fulfil the vacant positions created by trained conductors signing up. This was strongly contested and the women began their training. The Council was told that if it had done nothing else, "it had set a good example". The private car had made an appearance by the outbreak of war and several of the leading villagers possessed the latest models. One of the first was Doctor Smailes at Townhead, but soon Charley Holdroyd at Banks had his own. Meanwhile the local gentry would have made use of a pony and trap, maintained by one of their servants.
A number of local entrepreneurs purchased charabanc bodies which could be lifted on to the chassis of a lorry and provide a suitable excursion vehicle. Among those in Honley were Beaumont of Scotgate and Kilner and Brooke of Honley Bridge.
Anew-fangled motor car could be purchased from John Littlewood or a charabanc trip organised by Kilner and Brooke. Trips could last for a day, a week-end or a week and take the intrepid travellers on scenic tours of the Lake District, Northumberland or even Scotland.
This Page above left, Tom Moorhouse with Sally prepared for Honley Show in 1917. below left, Charley Holdroyd's car at Far Banks in 1919. Opposite Page upper left, Fred Beaumont of Scotgate with his charabanc. upper right, Boys gather round a crowded charabanc in New Street Honley. lower left, Huddersfield Corporation's recruitment tram. lower right, At the end of the war, a tram was decorated to celebrate Victory.
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44
HONLEY Hoaplial.
eet eee OL
Hrport & Balance Steet a ee a PE
HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
ee eo , iti ee) me hee a
left, The nurses at the door of Honley Auxiliary Hospital on opening day, 1 November, 1916. The party is flanked by Dr William Smailes, (i), and Dr John Dyson (r). The music at the opening was provided by Honley Brass Band, seen at the rear. inset, HAH first three months’ accounts.
above, Doctor Smailes sits between Miss Emily Frances Siddon and Lt Col.. Holdich at the opening of the Auxiliary Hospital at Moorbottom.
below, The opening day party, with (from I to r) Mrs Crowther, Margaret Sykes, Hilda Smailes, Dr John Dyson, Emily Frances Siddon, William Brooke, Major Rowell, Lt Col.. Holdich, Lt Col.. Marshall of Huddersfield War Hospital, Mabel Jagger, hospital secretary, and Albert Robinson.
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HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR 45
HONLEY AUXILIARY HOSPITAL. STAFF
MOORBOTTOM
Margaret Sykes, wife of cloth manufacturer Oswald Sykes of Far Bank House,
F I There had been a convalescent hospital in Honley since November 1914, when provided a few beds for wounded servicemen within her home.
As the need grew, a committee was formed to establish an Auxiliary Hospital in Moorbottom Sunday School, next to the recently built Congregational Church. The opening ceremony was carried out on 1* November, 1916 by Lt. Col. Hilditch, son-in-law of William Brooke. Amongst the party were the two doctors, Smailes and Dyson and Mabel Jagger, who was the secretary. The driving force behind the new facility in the village was Emily Frances Siddon, along with Margaret Sykes who had the role of commandant and
Mrs Hilda Smailes, wife of Doctor Willie Smailes. Support for the hospital came from Lt Col Marshall, administrator of Huddersfield War Hospital at Royds Hall in Huddersfield.
Teams of volunteers set about raising funds as soon as the project was agreed and by February 1917, £1606 had been subscribed to either the equipment fund or the maintenance fund. In addition, a Christmas fund and cigarette fund (actually to provide a wide range of comforts) had raised almost £70.
Volunteer nurses numbered over 30 and by the day after opening, all 26 beds were in use. Mabel Jagger reported that 85 soldiers had been treated in the first three months.
Miss Eileen Mary Barter, The Vicarage, Meltham, daughter of the former vicar of Honley. Honley Auxiliary Hospital between October 1916 and July 1917. Full time VAD Acting Staff Nurse with general duties, including medical and surgical nursing.
Miss Caroline Gertrude Calvert, Cliff House, Honley. Honley Auxiliary Hospital between November 1916 and December 1918 Quarter Master of the Linen Stores.
Miss Phoebe Coldwell, Berry Croft House, Honley. Honley Auxiliary Hospital from 1* November, 1916 to 31* December, 1918. Sister in charge, with a pay of £1 1s.per week.
Miss Kathleen Mary Crosland, Moorside House, Honley. Huddersfield War Hospital, May 1916, with pay of £1.0s. per week, then Honley Auxiliary Hospital as quartermaster's shorthand typist.
Mrs. Edith Barton Dyson, Prospect House, Southgate, Honley. Honley Auxiliary Hospital between November 1916 and December 1918 Assistant Quartermaster (provisions only).
Dr John Richard Haigh Dyson, Prospect House, Southgate, Honley. Honley Auxiliary Hospital between November 1914 and December 1918. There were two doctors in attendance until January 1915. Dr Dyson carried on the work until the closing of the Hospital "at a value of 3d per occupied bed". He was awarded an M.B.E.
Miss Nellie Holdroyd, Banks, Honley. Honley Auxiliary Hospital between November 1916 and December 1918. 1year voluntarily, 1 year paid by St John's Ambulance Association County Director. Half time first year, whole time second year.
KNOWN MANAGEMENT AND STAFF AT HONLEY AUXILIARY HOSPITAL 1916 -1919
Miss Mabel Jagger, Lane House, Southgate, Honley. Honorary Secretary of Honley Convalescent Home from May 1915 and then Honley Auxiliary Hospital from 1 November, 1916 to 31* December, 1918.
Miss Mabel Oldroyd, Mountjoy Road, Huddersfield. Huddersfield War Hospital and Honley Auxiliary Hospital between October 1915 and March 1919. Ward work, whole time. VAD Nurse 24" October, 1915 £20-0-0 per annum Assistant Nurse to 24" March, 1919 £30-0-0.
Mrs Hilda Thomson Smailes, Hawthorn House, Honley. The Honley Convalescent Home (voluntary) from 1 November, 1914 to 1* November, 1916 and extension from 1** November, 1916 to 31% December, 1918. Mrs Smailes was part time quartermaster of the groceries and provisions for the last two years and was assisted by two other ladies.
Dr William Herbert Smailes, Hawthorn House, Honley. Honley Auxiliary Hospital from 1 November, 1916 to 31* December, 1918. Medical Officer
Mrs Margaret Sykes M.B.E. Far Bank, Honley. Organiser, Founder and Commandant, the Honley Convalescent Home (entirely voluntary) from u November, 1914 to 1* November, 1916 and extension as Honley Auxiliary Hospital (Class B) from 1** November, 1916 to 31* December, 1918.
Miss Annie Theaker, Green Cliff, Honley. Honley Auxiliary Hospital and Holmfirth Auxiliary Hospital from December 1917 to February 1919.
Miss Kate Thornton, Woodfield Cottage, Hassocks, Honley Moor, Honley. Honley Auxiliary Hospital part time and occasional temporary duty at Meltham Hospital between 1918 and 1919.
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HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
NOTABLE PEOPLE
SERVING THEIR COMMUNITY
EMILY FRANCIS SIDDON O.B.E. (1844-1923)
iss Siddon was born at Pleasley Hill, Mansfield, UX (Derbyshire at that time), the youngest daughter of Samuel and his wife Sarah, the daughter of John Jessop, a man with Honley connections. Miss Siddon’s association with the Huddersfield district began in her early years when she came to live with her great-uncle, George Jessop, a drysalter and Honley gentleman. She resided with him at Honley House, continuing there after his death for the rest of her life. Miss Siddon’s older cousin was Captain Thomas Jessop, J.P. of the Royal Scots Greys.
Emily Frances Siddon was one of the first lady Guardians in Britain, representing the township of Honley on the Huddersfield Board of Guardians almost continuously from April 1882. She was chairman of the Board when the war broke out in 1914. Miss Siddon devoted herself to various forms of war work. She helped in the recruiting campaigns and later in organising and supporting almost every local agency for the supply of comforts to the men in service and in the preparation for the reception and the care of the wounded at home.
She was one of the initiators of an arrangement by which the wives and families of the men on service received immediate financial assistance while they were waiting for government allowances to be paid. She had always been a supporter and administrator of hospitals, therefore her experience was invaluable in the organisation of firstly the war hospital at Royd’s Hall in Huddersfield and closer to home, Honley Auxiliary Hospital.
Her services were freely given in the local settlement of Belgian refugees and, in 1918, she was president of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Families Association. In addition Miss Siddon was vice-president of the War Pensions Committee, vice-president of the Women’s Society for Helping Soldiers and Sailors, a member of the Huddersfield War relief committee, president of the Honley Auxiliary Hospital and member of the Crosland Moor Hospital Committee, a formidable list. Through her links with the Women's Suffrage Society, Miss Siddon endowed wartime beds with an annual donation of £50 per bed between 1915 and 1919.
Miss Siddon’s war services were officially recognised in July, 1918, when she was made a member of the Order of the British Empire. In October 1920, her name was added to the roll of the Justices of Peace for the borough.
Miss Siddon was fully involved with the affairs of Honley. She helped in the work of the Honley Nursing Association and assisted in any work connected with the Honley Parish Church, and was formerly a manager of the day schools. She was a fluent public speaker, and a deep fund of humour and a neat capacity for epigram made her a ready and formidable opponent in debate. As she once confessed, “I have a great aptitude for enjoyment,’ and at one time she found great pleasure in travelling. She had visited many places in Europe as well as Egypt and the north coast of Africa. She once expressed the view “Travel is the best education any woman can have.”
Miss Siddon played an active part in the fight for the extension of the parliamentary franchise to women. She was for many years president of the Huddersfield branch of the National Union of Suffrage Societies, although she did not approve of militant protest.
An ardent believer in a good education, Miss Siddon was for 25 years a governor of Almondbury Grammar School as well as being for many years a governor of the Huddersfield Technical College. She was for nine years a member of the Board of the Royal Infirmary, was one of the founders of the Charity Organisation Society, a member of the committee of the Guild of Help and of the Deaf and Dumb Institute, a member of the committee of the Victoria Sick Poor Nurses’ Association, vice-president and also president of the Huddersfield Society for the Care of Friendless Girls.
She was also interested in friendly societies’ work, and was a member of the Order of Foresters. For many years she was a member of the Executive of the Yorkshire Association for the Care of the Feeble- minded.
She was particularly interested in the fight against tuberculosis and in 1905 attended the International Congress in Paris as a member of the Huddersfield Board of Guardians.
Emily Frances Siddon shared her life at Honley House with Sarah Brooke, sister of William Brooke of Northgate Mount. Miss Siddon had suffered from bronchitis and heart trouble in the latter years of her life and died suddenly at Honley House on Thursday 28% May,
1923, aged 79.
above, Emily Frances Siddon at the door of Honley House in an undated photograph.
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THE BROOKE FAMILY
WILLIAM AND SARAH
WILLIAM BROOKE (1834 — 1920)
illiam Brooke was the second of the five sons of Thomas Brooke of Northgate House and the great-great-grandson of the founder of John Brooke and Sons. At the age of 17, he literally went through the mill, learning its ways and becoming a member of the management. His dedication to his workforce and the people of Honley had a special place in the hearts. He was 80-years-old when war broke out in 1914. His concern for his employees was particularly apparent, when, on 9g February, 1912 to celebrate his 60 years with the family firm, he set up the William Brooke Benevolent Fund to help workers who had fallen on hard times. The fund is still in existence and runs the North Light Gallery at Armitage Bridge Mill. Also in 1912, he purchased the land that became the recreation ground and donated it to the village with a deed to ensure its use by the children of the village and the general public. His view on temperance had been demonstrated at an earlier date, when he bought the George and Dragon public house in Westgate Honley and the land behind it. The building was then given over as the abstemious Working Men’s Club.
William and two of his brothers, Thomas and John Arthur, shared a unique distinction in Huddersfield in that all three were created Freemen of the Borough of Huddersfield, William on 15 October, 1913. They might have shared another rare distinction, since it was said that William refused the offer of greater honours on more than one occasion. Both Thomas and John Arthur were knighted. However, William enjoyed another distinction when, on n July, 1912, a reigning monarch, King George V and Queen Mary, visited Northgate Mount for tea.
William Brooke was 85-years-old when he died on 18" February, 1920. He is buried, along with the many other members of his family, in Honley graveyard.
right, William Brooke, Mary Jagger and the Reverend Barter join Ff
the crowds in Eastgate on the Whit Monday Walk up on Monday 1 June, 1914, just a few weeks before the outbreak of war.
SARAH BROOKE (1837-1918)
iss Sarah Brooke was the sister of William Brooke. She devoted her life to helping the poor and sick of Honley and was remembered for her unstinting care and ministering to the needs of the people of the village. It was said that she was welcome in every home thanks to her kindly words and her smiling face.
She was a life long teacher at St Mary’s Sunday School, where she instructed the younger children at first. Later, she took charge of the large Bible class which she taught for over 30 years, until just before the Great War. In addition, she demonstrated her musical talent by singing in church and other services. From 1866 to 1888, she was lead soprano in the mixed choir. Many illuminated addresses were presented to Miss Brooke over the years in gratitude for her teaching, personal interest and help to the young women who had passed through her hands.
Sarah Brooke died just prior to the end of hostilities on 4° September, 1918 at the age of 80 at Honley House, where she lived with her close friend Emily Frances Siddon. She was buried in the Brooke family plot in Honley graveyard on 7° September.
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48 HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
HONLEY'S HISTORIAN
MARY JAGGER (1849 -1936)
rs Jagger is perhaps one of the best known onleyers, thanks to
her remarkable book, A History of Honley and its Hamlets. This was published in June 1914, just before the outbreak of war and reflected the author's memories and research into the growth of the village, its people and its customs up to that time.
However, this was not her only literary foray. In the 1880s, Mary had written two novels which received mixed reviews. She also wrote a lengthy history of St Mary's church to coincide with the improvement of the building in 1888.
Even the advent of war did not stop her from writing to the Huddersfield Daily Examiner to comment on the state of the war, the country or the village. She offered her comments on the way newspapers reported the war and, more locally, on old landmarks of Honley.
One strange correspondence is reproduced (left) and resulted in some condemnatory responses in the Examiner. Despite complaining that he could not comprehend Mrs Jagger's line of thought, one letter writer, George Hadley of Fartown heavily criticised Mary Jagger's apparent defence of the German Kaiser.
Mary lived at Lane House in Southgate with her husband Samuel, daughter Mabel and servant Mary Emma Haigh. When Mary died in 1936, Mary Emma Haigh went to live with Mabel and her husband William Lyon at their home in Kent. She died in June 1949 and was buried in Honley cemetery. Mabel paid for a brass memorial plaque to her parents to be erected in St Mary's church.
Reproduced (right) is an extract from the letter Mary Jagger had published just after the declaration of war. Present day readers may smile at the style and the stance which she took against the newspapers of the time.
OUTSPOKEN CHRONICLER
HUDDERSFIELD DAILY EXAMINER August 24 1914
WAR AGAINST GERMANY By Mrs JAGGER Lane House, Honley
War between nations is generally the outcome of the game of statecraft. If the pieces on the state chessboard are not moved warily, then follows general uproar. During the last few days, we have witnessed the sudden leaping forth of those primitive passions in humanity which are only hidden under a slight crust of modern civilisation. We will turn aside for a moment from a subject which for the time being is engrossing minds. The reading public in the true sense of the word has disappeared and contents itself with the easy reading provided by a cheap press, so that the question may be asked, "Do we any longer think? We do not want to go back to past hard times, but if they were days of anguish end suffering, they were also, amongst a section of the people, days of self culture, high thinking and the laying of the foundations of the blessings we now enjoy in such prodigal plenty. The newspapers, whether good, bad, or indifferent, are now our national educators. A certain portion of the London Press has deliberately been fostering for many years a bitter irritation in the minds of English readers against Germany.
When war was declared to exist between England and Germany from August 4th, then this section of the press spread itself out with a vengeance. In their eagerness to provoke in the minds of unthinking people a hatred of Germany, they sent forth rumours broadcasting inflaming the ignorant and ill-informed, terrifying people who jump to conclusions arousing vindictiveness in even the most lovable natures and altogether goading the English nation into a state of frenzied hate and alarm. Even John Willie, of Standard II or III, who is being given an education that will eventually cause national trouble, has suddenly developed into an experienced warrior. During the holidays, when not drilling his battalions at the street corner, he has been carrying, with the rapidity of lightning, bulletins to admiring parents of the piecemeal smash of the German Empire. If Doris Ann, his
sister, does not express the general readiness of the household to accept the accounts of these speedy English victories, John Willie, with the confidence of a trained statesman hurls pertinent remarks at her regarding the foolishness of the feminine in war-politics.
Reverting to the Jingo Press. During the early days we had the experience of our people being written up into various stages of hysterical disorder. Side by side with selfishness and greed we have seen men who with quiet dignity and simple faith in God, are giving of their best both in sacrifice of themselves and their money. Whilst the stir of valiant endeavour and patriotic self-sacrifice has been going on throughout the land, the press has informed us that two great nations have each declared that their cause was righteous in the sight of God, so that each could specially claim God's help in their endeavours to kill each other.
One day we were solemnly warned of future starvation and the next joyously informed that we still lived in a land of plenty. The next we went hounded on by sinister reports to grab and make profits out of the necessaries of life and the following day loftily reprimanded for our selfish dread of hunger.
We see in the columns of the daily newspapers that men are eager to blow each other to pieces, whilst we women are frantically entreated to hasten to mend them up again. Then there are the usual agitated appeals for all kinds of schemes for help, foolish or otherwise, with the result that, like more things done in a hurry, there was great danger of them being badly done. The idiotic suggestion also daily appearing under assumed names (which are always suspicious) were worthy of the inmates of Bedlam. When women are first gravely asked to put on black garments so as to add to the general gloom and then entreated to deck themselves with bright colours to brighten prevailing depression, the limit of folly has been reached. And thus the game goes on to these who have not the necessary scepticism which investigates before bettering.
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HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR 49
SAMUEL JAGGER (1856 - 1925)
ust five days before her 30% birthday, on 13° December, 1879, Samuel Jagger of Armitage Bridge married Mary Tilburn. He was younger than Mary, having been born in January 1856.
The wedding was held at St Mary’s, Honley. They went on to be one of the best known couples in the village.
Samuel appeared in census return over the decades as a postmaster, factory manager and representative. His contribution to local, Yorkshire and international life was remarkable.
In Honley he was an active member of the community, being a stalwart of St Mary’s both as a churchwarden and sidesman. He became a member of Honley Local Board and then Honley Urban District Council. He went on to be a West Yorkshire County Alderman.
Sam frequently travelled to the United States on many of the big liners from Liverpool such as the Victorian, the Carpathia and the Saxonia. He had a base in Philadelphia at 121 Arch Street, the offices of Samuel Jagger and Company, woollen merchants. Mary accompanied Sam on more than one occasion, the Ellis Island records showing Sam as a travelling salesman. He worked for George Brook at Larchfield mill in Firth Street, Huddersfield then moved in the 1890s to Marlings of Stroud as their representative.
Sam made many trips to the US and Canada, usually twice per year. In February 1924, he completed his 128" crossing of the Atlantic, having covered 400,000 miles in the process and at an estimated cost of £4,500. He reckoned to have covered an additional 350,000 miles overland, visiting over 20 cities in the USA and Canada.
He was a director of the House of Hobberlin, a high class Canadian tailoring company and on occasions, a member of the Hobberlin family would return to Honley with Samuel and participate in the local activities which occupied Sam's time at home, such as visits to Honley National School and talks about his travels.
At the outbreak of war, Samuel was in Canada with his daughter, Mabel, having set off on his 103" crossing in July 1914. Samuel reported that there was an outbreak of support in Quebec and Toronto for Britain, with young men volunteering for the army. He had booked a passage home on 5" August aboard the recently launched RMS Aquitania but was unable to sail. Sam had to search for another ship but by the end of the month was in attendance at the Huddersfield Board of Guardian's fortnightly meeting. The Aquitania was transformed into an auxiliary cruiser then a troop transport and finally a hospital ship, before being returned to passenger service in 1920.
He died on 9 November, 1925, at his home, Lane House in Southgate, aged 69. However, it was reported in the Lethbridge Daily Herald in Canada that he had had a heart attack on a train in Huddersfield. He and Mary are commemorated on a brass plaque in St Mary's church, Honley and ona striking stone cross at the entrance to Honley Graveyard.
ELON CROWTHER (1848 -1927)
well-known business man in the Huddersfield area, Elon Cowther oved to Rockleigh, in Brockholes
in 1891 from the Colne Valley and almost immediately took an interest in public affairs in Honley, as Brockholes was then still part of the Township of Honley.
With his brothers Joseph and William, he had joined his father's well-known Golcar firm of John Crowther and Sons. He and William then set up a separate company which ran for ten years. Elon went on to built an association with Alfred Sykes and took over the running of Rock Mill until 1920.
He had other directorial interests including chairman of Honley Gas Company and the Joint Sewage Board. For many years he was chairman of Honley Urban District Council including during the Great War. He was a JP and sat on the bench in Huddersfield. He died at home on Monday 4" April, 1927, aged 79.
below, Rock mill, Brockholes
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50 HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
DOCTORS IN THE COMMUNITY
TOM AND WILLIE SMAILES
DR. THOMAS SMAILES M.R.C.S, L.R.C.P, L.S. Sc, M.D. (1849 - 1915) De Tom, as he was fondly known, was a Honley surgeon,
medical officer of health, councillor and Justice of the Peace. He was born on 13 March, 1849 in Northamptonshire, to a Wesleyan minister Richard Smailes and his wife Jane (née Green), the oldest of their ten children.
The Smailes family lineage can be traced back to the 16" century, in North Yorkshire, when John Smailes, a yeoman of Thornton-le-Dale married Helen Thompson.
medicinein Leeds, becominga member of the Royal College of Surgeons and was appointed the medical officer in Honley in 1875 then the medical officer of South Crosland shortly afterwards. He went on studying and was awarded LRCP from Edinburgh in 1876 and LS Sc from Durham in 1891. He eventually was awarded an MD from St Andrews University in 1892.
He married Esther Mason on 19" April, 1876 at the Wesleyan Chapel in Pickering and they settled at Hawthorn House, Townhead, Honley, where he became one of the village doctors.
They had six children, Ethel (1877-1961), Richard (1878-1945), William Herbert (1881-1946), Marion (1883-1920), Thomas (1887-1955) and Winifred (1892-1974). William Smailes joined in partnership with his father and succeeded him in Honley (becoming Doctor Willie). After that, so did his son, Thomas William Smailes (1908-1971), thus earning the name of young Doctor Tom.
The elder Doctor Tom was the chairman of the Honley Local Board during 1889 to 1890. He tried to seek improvement to the sewers and river water quality in Honley but was blocked by other board members, who then voted him out of office. However, he was voted back into the role of chairman in 1892 and then re-elected unanimously the following year. By the end of 1894, it was reported that efficient new drains had been laid in the village. He was elected yet again as chairman in January 1895 and held the post until 1899, after which he became the vice- chairman. In 1895, he became a Justice of the Peace.
The Colne and Holme Joint Isolation Hospital at Meltham opened in September 1904. It was one of Doctor Tom's pet projects and he became first the Medical Officer then a member of the management committee.
Being a Methodist, he attended High Street Chapel in the village and twice was a steward in the Buxton Road circuit between 1897 and 1900. He played an active part in the running of the chapel and was treasurer for some years.
He said in 1915 that his interests included motoring and it is believed that the first petrol pump in the village was installed along with a tank in an outhouse which became the garage at Hawthorn House.
Esther Smailes died on 17“ February, 1911, aged 60 and Doctor Tom died of pneumonia on 24" June, 1915, aged 66, having been taken ill in his surgery on 15 February. He was buried on two days later at St Mary’s Church, alongside his wife.
left, Doctor Tom and his wife, Esther in the garden of Hawthorn House, Townhead, Honley, accompanied by their six children William Herbert, Ethel, Tom, Winifred, Richard and Marion.
Doctor Thomas Smailes and (below) his wife Esther.
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HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR 51
DR WILLIAM HERBERT SMAILES M.D. B.S. M.R.C.S. L.R.C.P. (1881-1946)
octor Willie was already a practitioner in Honley his father (Dr Tom) died in 1915. He was born on 6™ July, 1881 in Honley, probably at Hawthorn House, home of his parents. Doctor Willie studied medicine at London University and Sheffield. He qualified in 1904 and was awarded MD in 1910. He married Hilda Thomson in Goole on 5'* September, 1907. She was the daughter of a ship's chandler and worked as a telegraphist. In 1911 they lived in Ryecroft but by 1913, they lived in Bradshaw Road. The family later moved into the surgery at Hawthorn House.
Hilda was active throughout the war in the creation and running of the Auxiliary Hospital in Honley, working with Mrs Margaret Sykes from November 1914 up to its closure on 31st December, 1918.
Dr. Smailes became a lieutenant on 28'" December, 1914 in the Royal Army Medical Corps 2nd West Riding Field Ambulance, then was promoted to captain, earning Campaign, Gallantry & Long Service Medals at the end of the war. In Honley, he joined the Brooke Lodge on 12" February, 1915 along with his brother Thomas. He was medical officer of health for both South Crosland and Deanhouse Hospital and honorary pathologist at Huddersfield Infirmary. In September 1917 the Board of Guardians agreed to increase the salary of Dr. Smailes, the medical doctor at
Deanhouse, from £70 to £100. Later he became a governor of Holme Valley Grammar School. He was a member of Holmfirth Urban District Council from 1939 to his death and was chairman from 1939 to 1941. He was appointed a magistrate in 1944. Doctor Willie succeeded his father as Medical Officer of Health for South Crosland in July, 1915 and continued in that capacity until 31°* March, 1938.
Maintaining the family link to Methodism, he was a lay officer in the church. He and his wife Hilda later lived at Ellerburn, a large house on Northgate, Honley, which was built by Allen Hirst. He died aged 64 on 24'* March, 1946 in the Brotherton Wing of Leeds General Infirmary.
THOMAS SMAILES (1887-1955)
ister Thomas Smailes, as opposed to Doctor Thomas, son of Doctor Tom. He was admitted as a Solicitor in 1910 and was clerk to Honley Urban District Council between 1911 and 1921.
On 29" April, 1915, Thomas Smailes married local girl Kate, daughter of George Borwell, the schoolmaster who lived next door to Hawthorn House. Although Tom was Wesleyan, the bride's family attended the Parish Church and the ceremony was held in St Mary's conducted by Rev H T Barter with a large congregation. Tom's brother William, who was then serving with the RAMC, arrived just in time for the ceremony. The bridesmaids were Helen Borwell, the bride's sister, and Marion Smailes, the sister. The organist was Hubert Lunn who played a number of marches. After the ceremony the party walked to the school house under clouds of confetti, where George and Etty Borwell entertained friends and family. The newly-weds then set off by train for a honeymoon in Torquay.
Thomas becamea local councillor and the clerk to Huddersfield Town Council and clerk to the Huddersfield magistrates. He was senior partner in Smailes & Walker, Solicitors, then in partnership with Amos Brook Hirst and Thomas Philip Downey, practising as solicitors, under the name of Hirst Smailes and Downey, at 25, Market Place, Huddersfield. The partnership was dissolved by mutual consent from 12" February, 1927. On 29" October, 1937, he laid the foundation stone of the Central Library in Huddersfield as chairman of the Public Library and Art Gallery Committee. In 1946 he became mayor of the town. Thomas Smailes lived at Ashville, 201, Victoria Road, Lockwood and then at The Yews, Park Road, Crosland Moor.
Kate died in 1943 and Thomas married a second time in 1946, to Doctor Jessie Sheard from Huddersfield who had graduated from Leeds in 1923.
left, Thomas Smailes (left) and Doctor Willie (right) at the wedding of their sister Winifred to Harry Ingham on 1" August, 1912 and pictured in the garden of Hawthorn House. Four-year-old Thomas is standing at the front.
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52 HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
DR THOMAS W. SMAILES M.A. M.B. (1908-1971) D octor Thomas William Smailes was known in Honley for obvious
reasons as Young Doctor Tom and would have been just five- years-old when war broke out in 1914. Born on 16% December, 1908, he was the son of Doctor William Herbert Smailes and lived with his family at 5 Ryecroft, at Far End in Honley. He followed the family tradition as one of the village doctors.
In 1934, Young Doctor Tom married a Huddersfield girl, Mary, the daughter of woollen manufacturer George Glendinning. Their son, Colin was born in 1935 and went on to become yet another doctor. A daughter, Gillian, came along in 1939 and another son, Ian, on 1° February, 1946 just a few weeks before the death of Doctor Willie, his grandfather.
below left, the Smailes grave in Honley graveyard. below right, A very young Doctor Tom Smailes in his sailor's suit at a family gathering.
DR JOHN RICHARD HAIGH DYSON MBE (1865 - 1933)
ohn Dyson presented a formidable presence in Honley with his tall stature, severe moustache and straw boater. He came from generations of Honley doctors, or surgeons as they were once known. They possessed
a no-nonsense approach to medicine and Mary Jagger recorded that they would not tolerate pretence, even to the detriment of their own pocket.
Dr Dyson lived at Prospect House, Southgate, Honley with his surgery adjacent. He assisted in Honley Auxiliary Hospital between November 1914 and December 1918, although there were two doctors in attendance prior to January 1915. Dr Dyson carried on the work until the closing of the Hospital "at avalue of 3d per occupied bed". He was awarded an M.B.E. for his war services. John Dyson died on 11" April, 1933, at the age of 68 and was buried in Honley graveyard.
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HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR 53
SOME HONLEY RESIDENTS
AND LOCAL COUNCILLORS
GEORGE WILLIAM OLDHAM (1830 - 1914) William Oldham was a Derbyshire-born dyer
who settled in Honley, living for many years at The Stubbings in Magdale. Prior to that his home in Honley had been Clitheroe, where he and his family lived in the early 1870s. Together with his brother, he established the family-run business of silk dyeing, the first in the area, at Moll Spring Mills and Dye Works. He was born on 30" April, 1830 in Derby, the son of silk dyer William Woodruff Oldham and his wife Elizabeth (née Warmsley). Both his grandfathers were sillc dyers. Theyoungest of six children, itwas feared he mightdie shortly after birth and, keen to have him baptised immediately, his parents asked a nurse to take him to All Saints’ Church in Derby. Upon arriving, the nurse realised that in the rush, his parents had failed to inform her what name they wanted for the infant, so she chose the name "George William” herself.
At the age of ten, George William started work at a silk factory in Macclesfield, earning 1s. 6d. per week and gaining a practical knowledge of the industry. He learned silk throwing as silk spinning was comparatively unknown at that time. After a series of misfortunes, including contracting cholera, he moved to Huddersfield. In 1857, he decided to start his own business and, together with his older brother Henry, leased a dyehouse at Spring Vale, below Big Valley, Netherton, with capital of £25, which soon disappeared before he could make any profit. In 1862, afraid that the Meltham branch railway would destroy the water supply, the brothers moved to Moll Springs. The partnership was dissolved ten years later and George William carried on by himself. By the outbreak of World War I, the business employed 10 people. He married Elizabeth (Eliza) Thompson on 24'* December, 1861 in Macclesfield. George William Oldham had four children, William Henry, Sarah Ellen, George Thompson and Harry. By 1881, he had moved to The Stubbings on Lea Lane in Magdale, where he remained for the rest of his life. In 1886, he was nominated to represent Honley on the Huddersfield Board of Guardians, together with Miss Emily Frances Siddon.
From the late 1880s onwards, he was the president of Honley Brass Band. To celebrate his 84" birthday, the band played outside The Stubbings on the afternoon of Saturday 27% April, 1914. He had become increasingly involved in public duties, serving first on the Honley Local Board and then Honley Urban District Council for a total of 27 years, eventually becoming an Alderman in 1910.
By 1894, he was the chairman of the Deanhouse Workhouse committee and became a West Riding magistrate in April 1905. He took a close interest in the building of Storthes Hall hospital and was president of Honley Liberal club. An ardent Methodist, he attended High Street Wesleyan chapel in Honley. George William Oldham died peacefully at home around five o'clock on the morning of 12'" May, 1914, less than three months before the outbreak of war. It was only a few days after the celebrations to mark his 84" birthday. He was buried on 15 May in Honley graveyard, his wife having predeceased him in 1900. below, an advertisement for Oldham's silk dyeworks at Moll Spring.
bottom, George William Oldham celebrating his 84" birthday with Honley Band on 27" April, 1914 .
Ww. OLDHAM,
Shale Preprieter) GT.
G.
Moll Spring Dye Works, NETHERTON, near Huddersfield.
= SILK DYER
In WARP and HANK.
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54
HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
GEORGE THOMPSON OLDHAM (1868 - 1938)
1900 at Bradford Cathedral to Edith Hall, daughter of cutter John Hall.
George followed his father into local affairs serving Honley Urban District Council between 1908 and 1931, eventually becoming vice chairman and then chairman. He took over the running of G W Oldham's Moll Springs mill on the death of his father and became actively involved in silk research nationally.
Be 13 February 1868 in Honley, GT Oldham was married on 9" May,
He assisted in raising the Honley Local Volunteers and was appointed captain (acting) of "D" Company in the 2" Local Volunteer Battalion in 1916. He was particularly involved in the local rivers and sewerage boards. George Thompson and family moved to Northgate House. He was appointed a JP in 1924 and was active in the Liberal party, both in Honley and nationally. th
George T Oldham died on 12" February, 1938, just one day short of his 70 birthday and was buried in Honley three days later. Probate showed his effects to the value of £17,500.
HARRY OLDHAM (1869 - 1945)
eorge William Oldham's second son was Harry, born on 21* ecember, 1869 in Honley. He was married on 8" October, 1894 to Edith Hodgkinson the daughter of John and Selina and sister of Louis, who became a local artist and whom we record on page 59.
Harry and Edith lived at first in Bradford then Moor Lane, Netherton and had a son and daughter, Harry Hodgkinson and Edith. Harry H Oldham joined the Duke of Wellington's Regiment, becoming a lieutenant. He received a gunshot would to his leg in the spring of 1917.
Harry kept the family links to textiles and was employed fora time by Oliver Greenwood, dyers of Bradford. He and his family eventually returned to the centre of Honley at Grasscroft House. From there he ran the dyeing business at Mag Dye works.
He died on 237 December, 1945, aged 76, and was buried in Honley on Boxing Day. Probate listed his effects to the value of £8,500.
opposite, G W Oldham’'s waggon and men outside Grasscroft House. below, Harry Oldham's company headed notepaper.
0 MAG VALLEY DYE WORKS Harry LDHAM NETHERTON
HUDDERSFIELD —D YER Pr a eae Telephone: Honley 7
a Artis MC th A Slob cys love 9 X Aa week & Shy £9 Ab sha y Woe a of. aes
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ui
above, France Littlewood in 1899, standing behind Philip Snowden, the future ILP candidate for Colne Valley.
right, top, The grave of James Sykes and memorial to his son, Eric Turner Sykes in Honley graveyard. middle, Capt. Eric T Sykes. bottom Mary E Sykes.
FRANCE LITTLE
HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
WOOD (1863 - 1924)
rance Littlewood was born in Honley to Thomas and Zeruiah at Laneside, Hall Ing on the eastern side of Honley. The family later moved further up the hill to Hollin Hall, overlooking the Holme Valley. Thomas was a dyer and farmer, with 13 acres of land.
France studied at Almondbury Grammar School before working in his father’s dye works at Woodroyd. He married Fanny Morton in 1883 - both aged 20 - and they had five daughters. At the beginning of the 1890s, the family moved from Hollin Hall to Grove House in Gynn Lane, adjacent to Grove Mill, which he and his brother had acquired from the estate of George Armitage Haigh.
Originally a Liberal, France joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP) at its formation in 1893 and was the national treasurer between 1896 and 1902. He held a seat for the ILP on Honley Urban District Council between 1895 and 1896, having previously been chairman of the Local Board.
At the Colne Valley by-election, 1907, he was a supporter of Victor Grayson, the ILP candidate. He regained his seat on the UDC in addition to one on the Huddersfield Board of Guardians.
France Littlewood was a director of a grass- roots publication, The Worker, and took a pro-war stance, opposite to many of his ILP colleagues. During the Great War, he served as a sergeant with the Volunteer Battalion of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment.
JAMES SYKES LLB (1865 - 1921)
ames Sykes was born in November, 1865, at Birstall to local dentist Edwin and his wife Mary on 11" November, 1865. He was educated privately and at Owen's College, Manchester, and Yorkshire College, Leeds. On leaving school, James was a general clerk in a solicitor’s office and was then articled with Ramsden, Sykes and Ramsden, of Huddersfield. He passed the Solicitors’ Final Examination with honours in January, 1889, and obtained the
Alfred Sykes gold medal. In 1892, he married Emma Amelia Turner of Batley. They bar
had three children, Eric, Mary and Philip, and lived at Dungarth on Southgate, a house designed by G H Crowther of Huddersfield. The garden layout was approved by Gertrude Jekyll, well known garden designer of the time.
James Sykes became a member of the Incorporated Law Society and senior partner ~~
in Armitage, Sykes and Hinchcliffe, of Huddersfield and Honley. In addition he was solicitor and law clerk to Honley Urban District Council and other public bodies having formerly been a member of Honley UDC.
He was secretary of Huddersfield Incorporated Law Society and obtained an LL.B. degree in 1902. In addition he was a member of both Huddersfield Golf Club and Huddersfield Liberal Club and a member of Moorbottom Congregational church in Honley. It was said that he may not have recovered from the grief of losing his eldest son, Eric, during the war and he died on 3% February, 1921.
ERIC TURNER SYKES (1894 - 1917)
ric Sykes was born on 1* October, 1894 in Magdale. He attended the Leys School, Cambridge in 1908. In 1914, he joined the University Officer Training Corps and then gained a commission in the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment) as a second lieutenant and went on to be temporary Captain in 1916. He was killed in action in May 1917.
MARY ELAINE SYKES (1896 - 1981)
n October 1914, Mary Sykes went to the Royal Holloway College in London, and graduated with second class honours BA in English Literature in 1917. She ained a law degree in 1920. On the first day that women were able to register their articles with the Law Society, Mary’s father James rushed her to the early morning train to London so that she could be the first woman to do so, but she was unsuccessful. Mary joined her father's firm until, in 1930, she set up her own practice, Mary Sykes & Co. In 1935, she was the only woman on Huddersfield Town Council, at the same time being Huddersfield’s only practising woman solicitor. In 1937 she became the town’s first woman alderman and ultimately in 1945 the first woman to be elected as Mayor of Huddersfield.
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56 HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
SAMUEL DRAKE AND SON LTD
GROCERS AND CORN MILLERS
ARTHUR DRAKE (1851 -1925) A rthur Drake was born in Honley on 14** November, 1851, the son of Samuel
and Jane Drake (nee France). Samuel ran the grocery business in Westgate nd the family lived above the shop. He died in 1870 and the family then found themselves living at the Clogger’s Arms, a pub at 6 Westgate run by William Wimpenny and better known as the Westgate Arms.
Arthur Drake married Ellen Oldfield in 1876 and took over the running of the grocery and corn milling businesses from his father Samuel. By 1891 and still in his 30s, Arthur and Ellen built Holmeleigh in Southgate, where they lived with their two sons and daughter with a servant. Both Arthur and Ellen were strong supporters of life at Moorbottom Congregational church, Arthur being a deacon there. Ellen died in 1906 and when the new church was opened in the stained glass window in the chancel was dedicated to her.
By 1916 and due to the number of Honley men serving in France, there was a shortage of men for work in Samuel Drake's corn mill and the Huddersfield Examiner carried an advertisement:
WANTED, a MOTOR DRIVER for a 1-ton Willey’s Overland — motor-wagegon, also WANTED, MAN for corn mill.
Arthur Drake died on 30° December, 1925 and is commemorated on the family memorial in Honley graveyard.
HERBERT SAMUEL DRAKE (1878-1949)
amuel Drake and Son Ltd was founded in Honley in 1823 as corn millers and then in as 1829 grocers as well. Herbert S Drake was born on 29" April, 1878, the son of Arthur and Ellen. He followed his father and grandfather in the business, possibly the best known in Honley, with premises on both sides of Westgate by the time of the Great War as well as the Honley mill on the banks of bg the River Holme. Herbert and his Scots wife Bessie (nee Steel) lived at The Mount, on Far Banks in 1911.
Like his father, Herbert was a stalwart of Moorbottom church being the treasurer in the pre-war years with the primary task of raising funds for the new building.
Herbert Drake died on 6" March, 1949 and is buried, along with other members of his family, in Honley cemetery. The family business continues today at Honley ad Mill, Newtown, as Keith Drake Ltd.
right above, Drake's shop in Westgate (now the Co-op) in the early 20" century. right below, opposite was the corn merchant business, again in the early years of the century. The premises has since become a restaurant and carpet shop.
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HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR 57
REV. H F T BARTER VICAR (1870 - 1949)
ev. Herbert Francis Treseder Barter came to Honley R= 1904. A Devonian by birth, he married Gertrude nd they had three daughters and one son. Eileen Mary and Helen Grace were followed by Geoffrey Herbert and baby Margaret Elizabeth who was born in Honley in igi. They had a housemaid and a cook as well as a governess at the vicarage next door to St Mary's. Herbert Barter moved to Meltham to the Church of St. Bartholomew in 1917 and was instituted there on 30% June, 1917, remaining for nearly 23 years. Retiring in 1940, he died on 28" January, 1949.
REV. ARTHUR KERR MA VICAR (1872 - 1933) Arthur Kerr succeeded Mr Barter from a post as
Rector of Lockwood, He was born in 1872 in Luton, the son of a GP from Scotland.
He entered Cambridge University Emmanuel College in October 1889, graduating, first as BA and then as MA, before taking up a post in Peterborough. He went from there to Batley Carr, Thornhill Lees then Lockwood before arriving at Honley. He was married to Florence and they had one son, Edward Norman, and one daughter, Eleanor.
He had the dubious honour of officiating not only at the burial of many killed in the war, but also at the funerals of the villagers who died from ‘flu between 1918 and 1920. Arthur Kerr retired from parish work in 1929, but continued to work in the Wakefield Diocese. He died on 15 May, 1933.
REV. H A RIGGALL. MINISTER (1879 - 1955)
ev. Henry Allen Riggall was minister at High Street Wesleyan Methodist chapel during the Great War. He ad been born in Lincoln in 1879 and lived with his wife Alice at 3 Rye Croft, Honley.
He entered the ministry in 1903 and travelled to the Gold Coast in 1905 asa missionary returning there in 1907, this time with his new wife whom he had married that year. After his time in Honley, he moved to Linthwaite and eventually retired to Budleigh Salterton in 1939 and died in 1955.
REV. G W GERVIS BA MINISTER (1885 - 1968)
ev. George William Gervis, B.A. was appointed to R= minister of Moorbottom Congregational church in 1907. His sympathetic ministry was especially appreciated during the years of the first world war. He and
his wife, lived at the Congregational manse in Cuckoo Lane. He was minister when the new chapel opened in May 1911.
In 1917, he offered to donate his salary of £150 for munitions in the war effort, but the church insisted that he keep it. He continued his preaching in Honley until 1924.
ETHEL PARKIN, ORGANIST (1885 - 1974) Parkin lived in Thirstin with her widowed mother
Emma and her sister Emily, who was nine years older. Ethel was born in Honley on 16 May, 1885 and baptised on the 27 September of that year in St Mary's, the church where she would later become organist. Her mother was widowed three years later, when Albert, her husband of only 12 years, died at the age of 35. The family moved into Emma's parental home at 64 Thirstin with her sisters and their father Hyram Jubb. The Parkin family found a home of their own nearby at number 60 and Ethel taught music in Honley as well as succeeding J. W. Hirst as the organist at St Mary's. In 1917, she lived at Sundial cottage. Ethel Parkin died in 1974 at the age of 88.
SGT. GEORGE HENRY HANSON, (BORN 1871)
eorge Hanson arrived in the village in 1894 from odworth with his wife, Lucy and their sons Ben and Colin. The family lived in the police house at 31 Westgate, but later moved to Ebor House at Highfield Terrace, Eastgate. Both sons were cloth finishers employed by W Brook and Son. Sgt Hanson was a conspicuous figure at many local events and so would have been well known in the village. Ben and Colin both joined the West Riding Regiment and both were killed in France, Ben on 7° March, 1916 at Maily- Maillet and Colin just a year later at Boullecourt on 3" May, 1917. George and Lucy retired to live in the Holme Valley.
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58 HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
JOHN EDWARD HEAP
SOLICITOR
JOHN EDWARD HEAP, SOLICITOR, (1859 - 1942)
Stockwell), born in November, 1859, in Magdale. His father was a woollen cloth manufacturer at Lord's Mill in Magdale with 28 employees.
See Edward Heap was the son of Edward and Esther (nee
Ten years later, the family was established at Middlefield House on Honley Moor, Edward being a farmer of four acres in addition to running the mill. They may have fallen on hard times as, by the early 1880s, the family were living in Far End Lane, where Edward was the landlord of the Wheatsheaf Inn. However, he maintained his farming interest with nine and a half acres. By this time, John
With the death of his father in 1898 and his mother in 1916, the licence for the Wheatsheaf had passed to John Edward Heap's niece, Emily. Her wedding photograph (below) in 1921 revealed a number of Honleyers of the time.
John Edward wasa member of the first Honley Urban District Council, representing the Central Ward (other members included Dr Tom Smailes and France Littlewood).
He went on to represent the East Ward, in his home neighbourhood. He was clerk to the Honley Sub -Committee for West Yorkshire County Council local pensions in addition
Edward had become a solicitor's clerk. to his other responsibilities.
John Edward married a member of the well-known local Haigh family, Lydia Ann, in Honley on 12% April, 1883. They set up home in Gynn View Villa, a large house at Woodroyd on the eastern side of the village, where they went on to have one son, Norman.
John Edward Heap was a partner in Heap, Marshall and Heeley, solicitors of Holmfirth, a firm which still exists in the 21° century.
left, The family wedding in this photograph features the unmistakable presence of John Edward Heap in the back row, wearing a top hat. The party is probably gathered outside the Wheatsheaf Inn, 15 Southgate, Honley. In the group are a number of village residents. The occasion was the marriage of his niece, Emily Heap, to Joseph Turner on 21% May, 1921. John Edward's wife, Lydia is on his left. Joseph trained as a chainmaker and lived at Lockwood's Buildings, Honley. He fought with the West Riding Regiment in France, first as a private then as an acting Second Lieutenant in 1918.
above, John Edward Heap with umbrella and Norman Heap, pictured in Holmfirth the 1930s.
Emily was the daughter of Albert Stockwell Heap, John Edward's brother. She was a winder and lived with her family at Well Hill. Albert's widow and Emily's mother, Mary Jane Heap is standing to John Edward's right. Louie Heap is just visible between her future husband, Harold Jepson with a bowler hat and Joseph's younger brother Alfred, the future husband of Edith Shaw, who is seated second left. Seated far left is Winifred Heap, another sister of the bride.
Lily Heap was the widow of Harold. She is seated at the right of the middle row with her sons beside her, Leonard (standing) and Clifford with his hand in her lap. Her husband, Pte Harold Heap, was killed on 29% April, 1918 in Flanders and is commemorated in our earlier book, Honley in the Great War. On Lily's right is the bride's 21-year-old sister.
At the far right standing is Emily's oldest sister, Isabella McGregor. Behind her is Joseph's older brother Tom and her husband Herbert McGregor. Just in front is Mrs Edgar Turner and to her right, Mrs Annie Wimpenny, Joseph's sister. Seated at the front left is Kathleen Wimpenny, niece of the groom and Eileen Turner, another niece of the groom. Everyone is wearing their finest, including hat!
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DORA ALLATT (BORN 1907)
ora Allatt was the daughter of Fred and Alice and lived at 6 Dyson Hill. Fred was a letter carrier and would have been too old
to be conscripted into war service.
The photograph below was taken at Hope Bank Pleasure Grounds in 1916, when Dora was eight- years-old. Hope Bank wasa favourite with Honleyers during the war, along with trips to the newly opened picture house in Eastgate.
Dora married Clement Wood in 1936 and they continued to live in the Holme valley.
HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR 59
OTHER LIVES
FLORENCE BROWN (BORN 1895)
en she was just 13 years-old, Florrie (daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Brown of Mapplewell, near Barnsley) worked as
a kitchen maid for William Wrigley at Bent House, Meltham Mills. The firm of John Wrigley and Sons was based at Cocking Steps mill in Magdale.
Florrie was born in 1895 and after Meltham was a nurse in Blackburn in 1914 before moving to Honley during 1915, where she worked at Robinson's Newtown laundry. She lived at Moll View and met Lance Corporal Harry Reuben William Knight of Taylor Hill, whom she married in Barnsley on 1* December, 1917. Harry was originally from Kent and had been in army service almost since the outbreak of war..
Florrie was left a widow a few months later when Harry died of his wounds on 20° May, 1918. She later moved back to Barnsley where she married a local man, Harry Rimmington, in 1921. Their son, Norman, was born on 29" November, 1923 and he went on to bea professional footballer and stalwart of Barnsley FC.
left, Dora Allatt at Hope Bank in 1916.
below, Harry Knight's card to Florrie Brown prior to his embarkation at Folkestone for France in September 1916.
above right, The Hodgkinson family grave in Honley graveyard. Louis is commemorated at the foot of the memorial.
ri I * co, “Te, ata J) ORES Fay, Ped ta , fo 4 pate Piha fe py sey tt / =| BIG / : a —— my sd chr ot a ere. Te sad ree Ps \ Oia 3 a f J r AS of & Peace tte pte estat ig tec 3 pt je Aad 4 ah? ! in. ‘ Ae: * &
LOUIS HODGKINSON (1863 - 1924)
ouis Hodgkinson may be said to have been one of the lesser-known ersonalities of early 20" century Honley. He was born in 1863 and was therefore too old to serve in the war. His family lived at Woodlands, Hassocks and by 1911 he lived there alone with two servants, Maryand Herbert Hill. Herbert was a pork butcher and the couple had a baby daughter, Charlotte.
Louis (or Lewis) was the second son of John and Selina Hodgkinson, John being a cloth dresser who was based at Cocking Steps mill, near their home. John and his son Thomas were in partnership in 1870s with David f Schofield at Cocking Steps under the I name of Schofield, Hodgkinson and I Son, although this was dissolved in 1873, leaving father and son to carry on as cloth finishers at Cocking Steps. Selina died in June 1899 and John Hodgkinson died in 1907. Bothare buried in the family grave in Honley. However, Louis was an artist and member of Huddersfield Art Society. He exhibited at the society's annual show in 1894 with, what the judges called, ‘nice little sketches’. By 1916, Louis was based in London at No.4 The Studios, Fitzroy Road. These are a group of speculatively built artists’ studio houses, ina well hidden mews near Regent's Park and home to many painters and sculptors. Amongst others there was Arthur Rackham who lived at No. 3 in 1905-6, when some of the illustrated books for which he is best known such as Swallows and Amazons were published. Sir Henry Wood, the musician and conductor, also lived in one of the studios. Louis became a member of the Arts Club based in an elegant 18" Century Mayfair town house at 40 Dover Street, London during the Great War. He died at his home in London in 1924 and his body was brought back for burial in the family plot in Honley graveyard.
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HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
above, After the death of two of her sons, Fred and Willie, at the Battle of the Somme, Annie Newsome was left with her reduced family of Maggie, Ernest and young Oliver. An older son, Albert, had moved to London.
left, Annie's children in 1901, Albert (at the back) Fred, Willie and baby Maggie. above right, Two pages from Margaret Newsome's notebook where she recorded her thoughts on the death of her two brothers, Willie and Fred.
lower right, The account from Ben Oldfield, undertaker, for George Newsome’s funeral amounted to £10 us. 10d.
far right, So great was the volume of casualties that Fred Newsome's medal was not sent to Annie until 1921
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HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR 61
THE NEWSOME FAMILY
ANNIE, MARGARET, ERNEST AND OLIVER
1918, She was born Annie Lucas, in 1870 in Ossett and married George Newsome in 1890. They and their family moved to Honley at the beginning of the 20% century. Life was not kind to Annie during the Great War. Her husband died in February 1916 after a long illness. The accompanying bill from Ben Oldfield & Co., who were based at } Newtown in Honley and were the undertakers at George's funeral, gives us an impression of the method and costs of such important family events.
WY: first met Annie Newsome in our earlier volume, Honley In the Great War 1914 -
Annie had run a sweet shop at 62 Thirstin when George had worked at Oldham's silk dye works at nearby Moll. In the spring of 1916, she moved her family closer to the village centre at 7 Lower Fold after George died. Her family then consisted of Albert, Fred, Willie, Ernest, Margaret and Oliver. Completing the scene was Beauty, the family dog, which was always considered to be Fred's.
With the advent of improved communications in the Holme Valley, Albert had begun work as a sorting clerk and telegraphist before moving to London, whereas Fred and Willie both followed a more traditional path, going the local textile trade as wool piecers, Fred at Thirstin mill and Willie at Cocking Steps mill.
Ernest, the second youngest of Margaret's children was just 13 when he left school in the summer of 1916 to begin work at Samuel Drake and Son Ltd, the grocers and millers in Honley. At the outset of war, Oliver was still at school, but Margaret and Ernest were employed, she at Josiah France's Queens Square Mill.
When the two brothers were conscripted in 1916, Annie and Maggie corresponded with them both.
Annie's health was not robust and she would have benefited from the brief periods of leave her two sons I
had while in training in Britain. Fred and Willie would go to the Palladium picture-house which had been opened a couple of years previously just behind the family home.
Margaret kept a notebook in which she wrote the names and addresses of friends and loved ones. Included were short poems which reflected her feelings about the men in her life and the war which they were fighting.
Fred's letters to his mother reveal a little about Honley life. In June 1916, he remarked that the war would soon be over and that Margaret should keep going to Hope Bank for a bit of pleasure. He also encouraged Annie to keep up attendance at the Wesleyan Methodist chapel as she had attended the Anniversary service there. He asked his mother to remember him to Tom Smailes and David Townsend. Tom was the solicitor to Honley Urban District Council and Fred's comment to his mother was "they'll not be too high minded, I'm sure”. He enclosed three uniform buttons with the suggestion that they would make a good brooch for Annie. Both Willie and Fred were killed in the autumn of 1916. With Albert in London, four of the men in Annie's family were no longer at her side.
A poem, dedicated to his friend Willie Newsome, written by Ben Ellam.
above , Annie Newsome. left, A young Fred Newsome with Beauty, his pet dog. centre below, Fred Newsome. lower, Willie Newsome.
In Memoriam of Rifleman Wilke Newsome
He marched away so bravely = His young head proudly held His footsteps never faltered His courage never failed
Then on the field of battle He calmly took fis place He fought and died for Britain And the honour of his race
Hard, Hard it was to give him But he went atthe callofone Who gave for him and theirs dis own beloved Son (from his friend Ben Ellam)
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62
s the responsible body, Honley Urban District Council required an annual report of the state of health of the village. In 1919, Albert Thorp, who lived in Holmfirth, submitted the report below. The deaths of Honley servicemen at the front were not included as they occurred elsewhere. The approach of the influenza epidemic was clearly foretold, although it had not affected the village as badly as
HONLEY REMEMBERS VILLAGE LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR
THE HEALTH OF HONLEY
elsewhere by the time the report was written. Note also the reference to suicide.
The population of the village in 1911 was 5,100 within 1,289 families. Ten years earlier there had been 4,904 people living in Honley. The inspector's reference to the need for more housing was soon dealt with by Allen Hirst, the builder, who began to erect homes in West
Avenue soon after the war ended.
REPORT OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH FOR 1918
Annual Report
BIRTHS
During the year 1918, 52 births were registered, 26 boys and 26 girls, making a birth-rate of 10.8 per thousand persons belonging to the district per annum. This is a very low rate.
The birth-rate for England and Wales was 17.7 per thousand. The births were again fewer than the deaths. There was one illegitimate birth.
DEATHS
The deaths of civilians belonging to the district numbered 66, 32 males, 34. females, making a death-rate of 15.4 per thousand of the estimated civilian population per annum, which is much higher than the rate for the previous year, which was 11.5, but lower than the exceedingly high rate for the whole country, which was 17.6 per thousand.
As six infants died before reaching the ago of twelve months, the infantile mortality rate was 111 per thousand births, which is higher than the average; the infantile mortality rate for the whole country being 97 per thousand births,
DISEASE The 66 deaths were certified as having been caused by the following diseases Measles 1 Diphtheria 1
Influenza 3 Pulmonary Tuberculosis 5 Other Tuberculous Disease 1 Cancer 4 Organic Heart Disease 8 Bronchitis 6 Pneumonia 3 Other Respiratory Diseases 2 Cirrhosis of Liver 1 Nephritis 1 Congenital Debility, etc. 5 Violence 1 Suicide 3 Other Diseases 21 Total 66
Although influenza was very prevalent in Honley, the mortality was very much less than that suffered by most districts in the country. Only one death occurred during the summer invasion, and only two in the autumn. The deaths due to tuberculosis were above the average. The particular causes of death of the six infants were as follows : Congenital Malformation 1 Marasmus and Convulsions 1 Premature Birth 4
So that want of food or improper feeding may have contributed to one death. Unusual hard work or mental anxiety
arising from the war may have had a bad effect on the mothers, causing premature births. The state of war may also have caused the excessive number of suicides. Thirty-two cases of infectious disease were notified to me. They included:- 6 Cases of Measles. 6 Cases of Scarlet Fever. g Cases of Diphtheria. 1 Case of Malarial Fever. 10 Cases of Pulmonary Tuberculosis.
Total 32
Two of the scarlet fever cases and seven of the diphtheria cases were sent to the isolation hospital.
There was no serious amount of infectious disease, apart from influenza, which is not notifiable, but sporadic cases of measles, scarlet fever, and diphtheria were frequently introduced.
Malaria, which depends on the presence of mosquitoes, is not likely to spread in this district.
The notifications of tuberculosis, as well as the deaths, were above the average in number.
SANITARY CONDITION.
There has been little change in the various sanitary departments, but one
additional water-closet and one tub closet have been constructed.
Complaints have been made that refuse has not been removed as frequently as necessary.
The scarcity of teams and worlamen has been blamed, and extra efforts are now being made to remedy the fault.
The Sanitary Inspector has continued his regular inspections of cowsheds, workshops, slaughter-houses, etc., and has generally found them well kept. He has sent notices requiring the abatement of eleven definite nuisances, and they have all been remedied.
No new houses have been built within the district for some time, and people with large families have difficulty in finding suitable dwellings.
In the absence of private enterprise it is necessary that the Council should undertake the work of providing more houses.
I understand they are now considering plans, which I hope will provide three bedrooms and all modern conveniences for each house, and that the houses will be detached or semi-detached and not in arow.
A Thorp Medical Officer of Health
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63
JOY TINGED WITH SADNESS
PEACE DAY CELEBRATIONS 1919
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Page 66
he fighting in Europe may have been brought to an end in November 1918, but this was a worldwide war and the conflict continued on more distant fronts. Peace was brought about by the Treaty of Versailles, which was signed on 28% June, 1919. After six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference, the treaty which formalized the armistice the treaty was signed in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. Though the mood in the country was in the main celebratory, the proposal of victory parades attracted some criticism from those who felt that the money would be better spent supporting returning servicemen. At first a four day celebration in August was considered but reduced to a single day on 19" July, under the direction of the prime minister, David Lloyd George.
In Honley, the Urban District Council arranged a celebration in the form of a village walk to Hope Bank Pleasure Grounds with representatives from all aspects of village life taking part. Charles Edward Exley, a Honley photographer who lived at High Royd, took several photographs of the event, positioning himself on 19" July, 1919 in the upper window of the Co-operative bakery at Honley Bridge. He took up a similar position on 16% August, when another procession honoured the Discharged and Disabled Soldiers and Sailors of Honley.
The reader may find it fitting that the village celebrated the centenary of Peace Day in 2019, with its own event, Honley Remembers.
P i ht Bry 7 ee ; PCL Ver)
PREVIOUS PAGE Honley’s Peace Day celebrations included a walk to Hope Bank, lead by Honley Band and a miliary contingent and followed by William Brooke and VAD nurses from the Auxiliary Hospital, seen crossing Honley Bridge.
THIS PAGE above right, Many villagers donned their finest clothes to join the precession. : below right, After war was over, a parade crosses Honley Bridge on 16 August, 1919, with the focbire § 4 eT National Association of Discharged and Disabled Soldiers and Sailors taking part. Pi as ol 1) te eer
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Honley Civic Society
Local History Books in Print TT VE eM eee Lord (0
PM alee) mamas ii: MeN mae Andrew Jenkin’s Portrait of Honley Farnley Tyas - A History Hope Bank, Honley’s Pleasure Grounds and Gardens Hope Bank Pictorial Honley in the Great War 1914-18 Honley National School 1816 - 1952 Honley Through Old Advertising I Remember.. My 1920s Childhood in Honley Magdale and Steps Tet eee core Ti) Non Conformist Chapels of Honley, Moorbottom Non Conformist Chapels of Honley, The Methodists fete oP TMs tei ee Wee mae oe) Some Account of St Mary’s Honley 1888 The Brookes of Honley
2019