Raising Money

It's all gone a bit quiet on the blogging front as there are few things to add to the researched information. I'm still busy with the project though, visiting schools and leading remembrance assemblies, teaching children about the meaning and importance of war memorials and hopefully inspiring them to take an interest in their local memorials.

There is also the fundraising, not much has been said about this yet as I'm waiting to see how much money is available from grants first, then we will have a target amount to fundraise.

We will have to raise a total of about £10,000 though, I will be applying for money from the War Memorials Trust and the Heritage Lottery Fund but if you can think of any other grants or associations who might contribute, please let me know !

Amanda

Remembrance Sunday

Tomorrow is Remembrance Sunday and I will be attending the 4pm Remembrance Service at St James, Toxteth. I will also be bringing a display of children's work - just a small display!

Windsor Community Primary School, very close to St James's Church, have been very busy since September learning about the First World War, visiting the Museum of Liverpool and holding their own WW1 day. They have kindly lent some of the children's work which has been chosen and arranged by a group of their children. I had a lovely time working with a group of 9 children from across the school and was impressed with the work they have been doing.

I have also managed to work with a small group of children in Woolton, looking at the sources of information I have researched for the men of the memorial. They have created collage posters presenting information about 3 of the men from the memorial so far.

Next week I will also be taking the story of the memorial and some of my WW1 resource to a school in Garston for two days of special WW1 Remembrance activities.

The centenary of WW1 has only just begun, it will continue until the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, but schools have certainly embraced the topic and I hope to be spending more time with local children spreading the story of our memorial and sharing the message of remembrance that goes with it.

Update

Thank you to everyone who came to say hello and find out more about the War Memorial Project on the recent open day at the church and at the Museum of Liverpool - the image on the left is my stand at the Museum WW1 family history day.

For those who couldn't make it, here's a bit of an update on how things are going:

Researching:
The research of the men of the St James's  war memorial continues; I am waiting to receive some copies of birth and marriage certificates to fill in some dates and have recently been contacted by relative of another one of the men.

Remembering:
I will be going in to some Liverpool schools to share the story of the memorial and produce some work with the children about the memorial and remembrance day.

Restoring:
The recent open days have raised £175 for the memorial fund and forms are almost complete for a grant from the War Memorials Trust.

This week I have been ascertaining the legal status of the memorial, as I believe it was stolen from the church before 1985 (when the church was listed) the memorial itself is not a part of the listed building.  Because the church has been returned to the diocese, we will need a faculty for installing the memorial in it's original place, not listed building consent. With these preliminary enquiries out of the way I can now complete the application forms for the grant.

Amanda

Local history events

I'll be out and about in the next few weeks, if you're at any of these events please come and say hello and see the latest on the project.
Saturday 6th September - Museum of Liverpool

Saturday 13th September - St James Church Open History Day 10am - 12noon

Private Frank Morris

Frank Morris

This soldier was difficult to find, the best ‘fit’ was Roman Catholic and so I assumed that he wouldn’t have been on the St James Memorial. However, research has revealed that his mother was not Catholic and furthermore when she had the Eligibility Forms signed she went to the vicar of St James Church. They lived very close to St James Church at the time Frank was alive and I believe all the evidence supports him being the Frank Morris named on the memorial (There is also a Joseph Morris on the memorial, Frank had a brother Joseph who served pre-war with the KLR, I am looking for evidence of Joseph being killed in the war).

Family Life:

Frank Morris was born on 26^th October 1885 and christened in St Patrick’s (RC) Church in Liverpool on the 8^th November that year. Catholic baptisms are recorded with latin names so he was baptised as Franciscus Morris, his parents were John Morris and Esther (Griffiths). There is a note written in the margin “mother protestant, 38 Fletcher Street”

In the 1891 census the family of 4 occupied 2 rooms of  51 Fletcher Street, the other 3 rooms were the home of a family named Griffiths.  Fletcher Street was off Windsor Street, Toxteth, very close to St James’ Church.  In this census Frank was enumerated as Francis (the only time this name is recorded) he was 5 years old. The rest of the household consisted of his father John Morris, aged 35, born in Liverpool and occupation dock labourer; his mother Esther aged 34 and also born in Liverpool; and his younger brother Joseph aged 1.

At the time of the 1901 census the family had grown to 5 people and now had a house with 4 rooms – at 8house 6 court, Hampton Street. These ‘court dwellings’ were notoriously unsanitary. The father, John, was still employed as a dock labourer. Frank (aged 15) was employed as a ‘steam lift operator’ , Joseph was there aged 11 and there was an addition of a younger sister Mary aged 3.

1911 census records show that Esther had been widowed. The family were living at 58 Stanhope Cottages, Upper Stanhope Street and Frank was the head of the household. Aged 25 he was employed as a ‘general labourer’. Joseph was working as a dock labourer. Their mother Esther (aged 54) and sister Mary (13) also lived there but were not in employment.  Despite being widowed, Esther completed the columns for children born/alive/died showing that of 8 children only 3 were still alive.

Military Service

Frank’s service papers have survived for two enlistments in wartime. He first enlisted in 1914 and was posted to the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers with the regimental numer 15133. His attestation paper shows that he enlisted aged 28 years on 7^th October 1914, which means that he was a volunteer. His address was 36 Stanhope Cottages, Upper Stanhope Street, his next-of-kin was his mother Esther of the same address and his occupation was labourer.

The medical report for Frank Morris shows that he was 28 years old, 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 126 lbs, his physical development was ‘fair’. His complexion was ‘fresh’ his eyes hazel and his hair dark brown. His religion was R.C. , he had no distinguishing marks and was passed fit for the Army.

After only 45 days Frank Morris was discharged on 20^th November 1914 as unlikely to make an efficient soldier, medically unfit. His records show that he was found medically unfit but don’t say why.  According to reports he then went back to working on the docks.

On 27^th July 1915 Frank Morris re-enlisted (again as a volunteer) and was posted to the 2^nd Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment with the regimental number 19939. A note at the top of the paper says ‘enlisted for Home Service, duration of war only’ so at some point he must have signed the general service agreement to be sent overseas. His attestation papers show that he was living at 61 Wesley Street (his next-of-kin, Esther, was given at the same address), was 30 years 270 days old and a labourer. He declared his previous service with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. The mystery of his reason for discharge may be explained by the form he signed at attestation, consenting to dental treatment. Deficient teeth were a cause for discharge as soldiers had to be able to eat field rations which often included hard biscuits.

He was unmarried and had no children. The medical report shows he was 5 feet 3 ½ inches tall and weighed 123 lbs, his physical development was ‘fair’. Frank made an allotment from his pay to his sister, her address was given as 22 Avison St, Upper Stanhope St.

He joined his regiment at Warrington on 29^th July 1915. After training (during which he passed as a second class shot) he embarked at Southampton on 28^th April 1916 and disembarked at Rouen the following day where he joined the 3 Infantry Base Depot. He proceeded to the front on 13^th May 1916 and joined his battalion (2^nd ,South Lancashire Regiment) the following day.

On 13^th July 1916 Private Frank Morris was injured with GSW (Gun Shot Wounds) and was admitted to the 113 Field Ambulance. He was evacuated to 36 Casualty Clearing Station and died of wounds there. He was buried in Cemetiere du Bois, Hareng, Heilly, 2 ½ miles nne of Corbie. His body was later exhumed and reinterred at Heilly Station Cemetery, his family were notified of this fact and assured that “the work of reburial has been carried out carefully and reverently, special arrangements having been made for the appropriate religious services to be held.”

The records show that the M.O.D. had some trouble sending the relevant forms to Esther and Mary as they had moved several times. Forms were originally sent to Wesley St, then Avison St before finally reaching them at 117 Towson St, Everton, Liverpool.  Esther completed the form showing that Frank’s only family were his mother and sister, suggesting that his younger brother Joseph had also died.

These forms had to be certified by a clergyman or magistrate as they formed part of an application for a pension. Esther had her form signed by Fred W. Lloyd of 88c Huskisson St, Clerk in Holy Orders for St James Church, Toxteth, Liverpool on 15^th October 1919. 

Newspaper reports of Frank’s death show that his family were informed that he died on his way to hospital – technically true as the Field Ambulance and Casualty Clearing Station were stops along the route of evacuation to a military hospital. This cutting is from the Liverpool Echo 1st Sept 1916. 

Click here to see the CWGC entry for Frank Morris.

CWGC archives

As part of their recognition of the centenary of the First World War, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission have added documents from their archives to the information held in their online database. The documents include paperwork pertaining to the collection and reburial of bodies, the creation of cemeteries and details about headstones. There aren't documents for all men but where they are available, they appear on the bottom of the individual page so if you follow the links on this blog which can be found with each man's story you will be able to look for them.  Eventually I will update all the posts with any new information.

Occasionally these documents give a new piece of information, for example Robert Campbell Revera's body was identified by his disc, the other bodies exhumed with him all remained 'known unto God'.

Looking at the record for Sgt John Simpson D.C.M. Canadian Infantry, I realised that he is buried in a small cemetery, of the 216 graves, 211 are for Canadians killed over a period of 6 days in Sept-Oct 1918, many of them on 1st October, the same day as Sgt Simpson.  The paperwork appears to show that Sgt Simpson has his own grave but shares a headstone with Private W. Caton.

The paperwork does show up some inaccuracies in the CWGC database, I have noticed one soldier whose grave-reference number on the website is duplicated, I assumed before that he was in a shared grave but the paperwork shows that it is a typo and rather than both being in grave 27 one is in grave 37.  This sort of human error is understandable and the CWGC are pretty good at correcting mistakes when they are pointed out.

Thank you

Thank you to everyone who came to our WW1 Family History Day on Saturday, the turnout was excellent and we were kept busy for the whole three hours.
I hope I've managed to say "Thank you" to everyone who was involved in the day, it went very well for a first time!
Graham Seaman has shared his photographs of the day here on Flickr if you have a good photo of the day please share it on our facebook page

The Rev Neil Short of St James Church and his volunteers who ran the refreshments stand did a great job and all the donations that were given for refreshments have started off our fundraising for restoring the memorial, £104 was raised which is 1% of our target already!

A few people have asked me recently if that's the end of the project, now that the WW1 day is done... it's not over yet people!  The project has three parts :

The Research part of the project is continuing, there are still two men to find and plenty of information to collect on the other 60.

We have been Remembering the men through this blog, attending family history events, having their names added to the Town Hall, and visiting schools. As the centenary of the First World War brings more attention to the legacy of the war I hope to make more visits in to schools, attend more WW1 history days and with the funding from the HLF I will be setting up a few new projects with schools, improving the website and also, with my friends from the LFWWRC, set up some workshops and talks about the First World War.

The Restoration of the memorial will cost about £10,000 so this part will require a lot of fundraising but the ultimate outcome for this part of the project will of course be the rededication of the memorial in St James Church.

If you would like more information about any of the activities mentioned, please contact Amanda

St James WW1 Family History Day

Lives of the First Word War - Creating a Community

Just a short post today, I've decided my plan for adding the men from the St James Memorial to Lives of the First World War is to create a community and see how many of the men are 'seeded' already.

A community is pretty much what you'd expect from the title: a group of people who are connected in some way.

Creating a community is simple, on your dashboard click on the 'communities' link, then scroll down to 'add a community' you don't have to justify why you are grouping these people, just give your community a name, a brief description and if you represent an organisation connected to this community you can give details. I of course called this community St James, Toxteth, War Memorial and my organisation as the St James War Memorial Project.

To add a person to the community you first locate them in the bank of names already in the database, then when you have their profile open you have the option 'add to community' by their name. Select the community you wish to add them to (from your own managed communities only) and that's it. 

I've added 30 names to the community so far but there have been a few that haven't been in the database. Some of them will be added by the IWM in time - this is a long term project! but others will not be on their lists at all - I am thinking of Ernest C Benn who's death was not due to enemy action so he isn't on the CWGC and in the 'deaths at sea' register his death was recorded under his brother's name. There is no official record of him dying in WW1. I believe that at a later stage in the project I will be able to put forward a case for including him. 

Thanks for reading! 

Lives of the First World War

Apologies for the lack of updates on the blog recently.  One of the things I've been busy working on is getting the information about the St James men together ready to upload it to the Lives of the First World War project.

If you haven't heard about this amazing project by the Imperial War Museum then you really should go and check it out. When I first heard about it I was a bit skeptical, like many people I wondered how they were going to keep track of entries, how reliable the information was going to be etc. Then I was invited to be one of the testers. I kept my test entries small, just two men, but I tried to make their stories as full as I could - and I've been very impressed by the results. The system for uploading data isn't perfect, but it is very good and being improved all the time (taking note of suggestions from users too!)

My main reaction when I started to understand the project was one of awe, this is the most ambitious WW1 data-collection project ever. EVER. And it can work... but only if we all support it and contribute what we can.  Many of us spend a lot of time, money and energy researching the past and collecting information casualties and combatants of the First World War whether it be a single relative or tens of thousands of men from one regiment. The Lives of the First World War project wants to bring all of that together, all of it, every little bit, every scrap of information about every single person from the UK who lived through or died in the First World War.

This project is a gift to future generations who will be even more removed than the trenches than we are, and to ourselves, a way of sharing our work, our passion for remembrance and our pride in these men and women. It is also a gift to those who fought, those who never came home, those who came home damaged and those who had to watch them go and then pick up the pieces of their families, communities and lives when it was over. They will be remembered. In the past these men and women have been commemorated in stone and bronze, in poetry and prose. Now we are adding a national digital memorial as our 21st century commemoration.  One HUGE difference between this project and all memorials that have gone before is that it will include all men and women who made a contribution to the war, including civilian work.

So, I am planning on contributing what I can and I will soon be starting to add information about the men from the St James memorial, I'll post links on here for each man as I go, if you're a relative of one of the St James men, or have some information about anyone from the First World War why not go and get started? 

The first man from the St James Memorial to be added is my relative, Private William Edwin Noll. 

Amanda

Church records

On a recent visit to the archives at Liverpool Central Library I found a few snippets of information about the war memorial and St James Church.

I was disappointed to see that the Records of Services didn't give any details other than a title for the services but they were still interesting.  They showed that, as you would expect, the war was considered daily in church with either 'war intercession' or 'war litany' services/lessons.

The record of collections during services shows that money was collected for a variety of war-related causes including:

Roll of honour fund
St James wounded soldiers and prisoners of war
Blinded soldiers
Wounded soldiers
Sailors
French fund
Belgian fund
Armenian fund

I was also looking for family names connected with the memorial, there weren't any mentioned in the records of services but the Vestry meeting minutes had lists of sidesmen/women for each year (ushers)  and several of them shared surnames with the men on the memorial. for the more uncommon names Tonkies, and Reay we can be fairly sure that they were the same family, for Irvine, Clarke, Owen, Jones and Harker it seems very likely they were relatives but without their christian names recorded it is impossible to be sure.

I was very pleased to find a record of the cost of the memorial, the annual church warden accounts for 1920-1921 show 'St James War Memorial £22-4-11 which would be about £840 today... not quite the £10,000 it's going to cost for a replica!

Lance Corporal Marcus McLean 356377

Identification

There was only one Marcus McLean on the census, BMD and CWGC records and he was from Liverpool.

Family Information

Baptism records show that Marcus McLean was born in Liverpool on 6th September 1893 and was baptised in St Peter's Church on 22nd February 1894.

His parents were William and Sarah McLean and they lived on Roche Street

(I believe this is a misspelling of Roach St). William was a joiner.

source Ancestry.co.uk

In the 1901 census the McLean family were living at 32 Roach Street in Toxteth. William was still head of the household and working as a joiner. The census shows us that Marcus was the youngest of 7 children and the first member of the family born outside of Ireland.

At the time of the 1911 census the McLean family lived at 208 Windsor Street, Toxteth. William was still head of the household and stated his occupation as 'Undertaker and Joiner' working on his own account and at home; the 1911 Gore's Directory of Liverpool and Suburbs has the business listing for Mclean, William & Sons, Undertakers, 208 Windsor St.  Marcus was working as a builder's clerk, his siblings at home all had jobs that suggest a good education with 2 other clerks, one teacher and one undertaker's assistant in the family business.  

Military Service

Marcus McLean's Medal Index Card (below, source: ancestry.co.uk) shows that he was a private in the Liverpool Regiment with the regimental numbers 4868 and 356377.  These numbers show that he enlisted sometime in June 1915.

The card shows that Marcus McLean first entered the war on 24th December 1915 in France. He was awarded the Victory Medal, British War Medal and the 1915 Star, the card does not record his promotion to Lance Corporal.

Death and Commemoration

Marcus McLean was killed in action with the 10^th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment on 9^th April 1918. 

The battalion war diary shows that in March the Battalion had been rested which means they were out of the front line and took part in various training exercises and organised activities such as performances by the Battalion concert party and a platoon 6-a-side football tournament (which was won by Transport Coy). On 28^th March the Battalion was moved to the front line. 31^st March was Easter Sunday.

On 1^st April the Battalion was occupying front line and support trenches directly opposite La Bassee Canal.  Over the next week there was some shelling by the enemy including gas shells, we made a successful raid on the German trenches and brought back a prisoner for identification. The diary records various incidents of sniping and bombs being thrown. It records that on the 8^th April the battalion received orders to relieve part of the Portuguese Division the following day then in the early hours of the 9^th April a heavy bombardment of our lines began, followed by the order for battle positions. The 10^th KLR moved to occupy their battle position in Tuning Fork Locality, they were heavily shelled with high explosives and gas shells en route and sustained heavy casualties. At 9.50am after 5 hours of heavy shelling, the Germans attacked along the front line.  The 10^th KLR held off the enemy attack but the Portuguese Division to their left could not, the Germans penetrated our lines and the 10^th KLR had to form a defensive flank on that side which they did using Loisne Central trench. The night was quiet.

Trench map showing the Tuning Fork area. Loisne Central would be in the very top left of the map if it was shown.

Marcus McLean is commemorated at Gorre British and Indian Cemetery. The following paragraphs are from the CWGC Cemetery Information Page for Gorre, and give the wider picture of the battle:

The British section of the cemetery was used by infantry and artillery units stationed in the area until April 1918, when the relative quiet of the sector was shattered by the German Spring Offensive and Gorre became a support post close behind the front line during the Battle of Estaire. This battle was one of two massive German assaults on the Commonwealth positions from Ypres to Festubert that became known as the Battle of the Lys. When the battle erupted on 9 April, the 55th (West Lancashire) Division occupied the front-line trenches running north from Givenchy to Richebourg L’Avoué. The Allied positions to their left, around the village of Le Touret, were held by Portuguese units. 
After a preliminary artillery bombardment that began on the evening of 7 April the German Sixth Army, spearheaded by storm troops, attacked in force early on the morning of the 9th. Heavy mist enabled the attackers to get very close to the Allied lines before they were observed and Portuguese units suffered heavy casualties and began to retire. Further south, the various formations of the 55th Division were hard pressed from the outset and the front line trenches around Givenchy were the scene of fierce fighting between British and German troops. The divisional brigade holding the northern section of the British line was forced to pull back, but well-organised counter-attacks and determined defence elsewhere enabled the 55th Division to hold its ground for the rest of the battle and prevent a major German breakthrough. Fighting continued in the trenches east of Gorre until 17 April when the German forces finally broke off the attack. In just over a week of fighting almost 3,000 officers and men of the Division had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoner, but the territory over which they had fought remained in Allied hands. 

Marcus McLean’s grave is ‘special memorial 2’ which I believe means that his is one of the graves which was lost due to shelling so he has a gravestone which indicates that he lies somewhere in the cemetery. There are only 4 of these special markers in the cemetery, the text on them reads "Believed to be buried in this cemetery". His mother had added to the inscription the motto of the 55th Division "THEY WIN OR DIE WHO WEAR THE ROSE OF LANCASTER"

Click here to see the CWGC entry for Marcus McLean.

You can view (and purchase) images of his gravestone on The War Graves Photographic Projectwebsite. His family in Liverpool also had him included on the family headstone which reads:

In

loving memory

of

William,

the beloved husband of

Sarah Cameron McLEAN,

who passed away 28th March 1918,

aged 63 years.

*Thy will be done.*

Also Marcus, L’Cpl: Lpool Scottish,

youngest son of the above,

killed in action in France 9th April 1918,

aged 24 years.

*Greater love hath no man than this.*

Marcus’s mother lost her husband and her youngest son within a few weeks. (I will add a photo of this headstone)

The entry in “UK Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-1919” for Marcus McLean records the following information:

Name:	Marcus Mclean
Residence:	Liverpool
Death Date:	9 Apr 1918
Death Location:	France & Flanders
Enlistment Location:	Liverpool
Rank:	L/Corporal
Regiment:	King's (Liverpool Regiment)
Battalion:	10th Battalion
Number:	356377
Type of Casualty:	Killed in action
Theatre of War:	Western European Theatre

The 10th Battalion of the King's Liverpool Regiment were the Liverpool Scottish.  Click here to open  the Liverpool Scottish Regimental Museum website. This site also contains images of the Liverpool Scottish WW1 Roll of Honour, a beautiful book which of course contains Marcus McLean's name.

Marcus’s family and his fiance, Elsie Hodgson,  also posted the following notices in the Liverpool Echo:

 (25th April 1918)

(26th April 1918)

Private Edward Burston 1544

Edward Burston

Identification:

I found two results for Edward Burston in the CWGC database. One had the full name Edward but was in the Devonshire Regiment and it stated that he was from Somerset. The other had only the initial E and was in the South Lancashire Regiment with no details as to where he lived.

It seemed likely that the second record was the correct Edward Burston. Cross referencing with the Soldiers Died in the Great War results from Ancestry.co.uk gave me further proof that this was the correct man. As you can see below the SDGW entry shows that this E Burston in the South Lancs was Edward and from Toxteth, Liverpool. I am happy that I have the correct soldier.

Family information:

Edward Burston was born December1894-January 1895 and registered in Liverpool. He was baptised on 6th Feb 1895 at St John the Baptist, Toxteth Park. His parents were Samuel Frederick Burston and Priscilla, Samuel was a labourer and they lived at 41 Gaskell St.

Edward's mother died in 1901. In the census that year Edward aged 6 and 3 of his brothers (William 11, James 8, John 3) were enumerated at the house of their uncle and aunt Charles and Julie Burston, 90 Stanhope St. His father and 3 further brothers (Thomas 19, Joseph 15, Frederick 13) were next-door at 92 Stanhope St.

The 1911 census return shows Edward with 3 of his brothers (Joseph, Jim and John) and his father. They were living at 8 Friendship Place, Hampton St. This may sound pleasant but I think it was court housing with a pretty name.

Military information:

Edward enlisted in the Territorial Force on 20^th April 1912.  He was given the regimental number 1544 in the South Lancashire Regiment.

He was mobilized from the army reserve on 8^th August 1914, embarked at Southampton on 4^th December 1914 and was posted to the 2^nd Bn South Lancashire Regiment  5^th December 1914.

Some of Edward's paperwork survived (although damaged) in the National Archives. His attestation document shows that Edward was aged 17yrs 4months when he signed up in April 1912 for a period of 6 years. He had been working as a casual labourer and had a reference from his employer Mr J Hewitt of 22 Hampton Street.

Edward listed his next of kin as father Frederick and brothers Joseph, James and John all of 12 Court, 8 House Hampton St, Liverpool.

His medical report shows that Edward was examined on 19th April 1912 when he was 17yrs and 4 months old. He was 5ft 2 and 5/8 inches tall and weighed 121 lbs. His physical development was good and he had been vaccinated in infancy. He had brown eyes and dark brown hair. His distinguishing marks were ‘ a circular scar inside left shoulder blade, a scar small of back and a mole below left nipple.’

During his time in the army Edward may not have been the perfect soldier; in the few months he was in France, his record sheet shows several punishments. His conduct sheet has the following entries:

Wounded  23/1/15 the 'where' looks like 'Linden Hock'

Awarded 3days field punishment No2 for

“Irregular conduct on parade ie laughing on parade.”

13/2/1915

Awarded 7 days field pun No2 for

“not complying with an order eg not carrying a wounded man’s equipment when ordered to do so by an officer” and  “Disobedience of battalion orders ie wearing gum boots on parade”

14/2/1915

Awarded 3 days field punishment No2 for

“not being properly dressed on parade ie being deficient of a waterproof [sheet/shirt?]”

?/3/1915

[Field punishment number 2 involved being shackled and handcuffed but not attached to anything and sometimes also hard labour.]

The papers also note that Edward "Died, from wounds received in action. Place: Kemmel" and was "buried in the cemetery north of the chateau, Kemmel." A later note shows that his body was exhumed and reburied in Kemmel Chateau Military Cemetery.

Edward’s record also shows that he made an allotment of pay to his brother Frederick Samuel Burston of 112 Upper Essex St, Liverpool. His father had passed away in 1913. In 1920 Frederick completed Eligibility Forms for and listed Edward’s family as consisting of himself, two other brothers (John and James) and Thomas who was listed as a half-brother. Joseph and William were not mentioned.

The entry in UK SOLDIERS DIED IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1919 shows the following:

Name:	Edward Burston
Birth Place:	Toxteth, Liverpool
Death Date:	12 Mar 1915
Death Location:	France & Flanders
Enlistment Location:	Liverpool
Rank:	Private
Regiment:	Prince of Wales's Volunteers (South      Lancashire Regiment)
Battalion:	2nd Battalion
Number:	1544
Type of Casualty:	Died of wounds
Theatre of War:	Western European Theatre

Edward’s medal card shows that he was a private, earned the Victory, British and 1915 Star medals and Died of Wounds 12th March 1915. It also shows that he fought in France, entering this 'theatre of war' on 5th December 1914.

  

Death and Commemoration

The date of Edward’s death places it at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle and it is likely that he received his wounds on the opening day of the action, 10^th March 1915.

You can read more about the experiences of the South Lancashire Regiment here.

You can read more about Neuve Chapelle here.

Private Edward Burston's body was exhumed from its original burial site and buried in Kemmel Chateau Military Cemetery, Belgium. This is about 8 miles from Ypres and holds 1131 casualties of WW1. 

Click here to see the record for Edward Burston on the CWGC.

Edward’s family informed the Liverpool Echo of his death and the following notice and photograph were printed on 6^th April, you will see that it mentions St James’ Church. 

Edward’s name was placed on the St James Memorial but, with the loss of that memorial, he was not commemorated anywhere in Liverpool until 2012 when we had his name added to the Roll of Honour at Liverpool Town Hall.

Private Thomas Hermann Lindburg / Girvin 157051, 3035, 241410

Thomas Herman Lindburg / Girvin

This was a puzzle, he is one of the last men to be identified and it was only due to a breakthrough by Kathy Donaldson that I found him at all. 

Kathy spotted a soldier named Thomas Herman Lindburg whose mother was named Harriet Girvin, they lived in Brassey St, Toxteth so were right by St James Church. It seemed possible that this was the soldier from the memorial but some further research was required to prove it.

Family Information

Thomas Herman Lindburg was born on 3rd October 1895 in Liverpool. He was christened on 11th November 1895 in St Peter's Church, Liverpool. The christening record shows his mother Harriet Marian Lindburg of South Chester Street and no father.

A check of earlier records shows that his mother was indeed unmarried at the time of his birth as she was born 19th February 1874 and christened Harriet Marion Lindburg 14th March 1875 in St Peter's Church, Liverpool. Her parents were Hermann Lindburg and Harriet Lindburg of Brassey Street. Hermann was a mariner. 

Harriet Marian's earlier life is unclear from the records, her parents were married 31st May 1868, her father's full name was Knutt Hermann Lindburg or Lindbury, aged 27 and a mariner, his father was Elias Lindbury, a carpenter. Her mother's name was Harriet Higgins, she was 18 years old and her father James Higgins was a shipwright. Both addresses were 'Mann St'. Harriet Marian was born in 1874, and a sister Martha Ellen Hodson Lindburg was born in 1878. 

The 1881 census shows no trace of Herman or Harriet (mother) and both daughters were enumerated at the house of their grandmother Ann Higgins. 

The 1891 census shows no trace of Herman or Harriet (mother) and both daughters were enumerated at the house of  John Simpkins, they are described as his neices but due to Ann Higgins being present as his sister, it would appear that he was actually their grand-uncle. 

Thomas Lindburg/Girvin was born in 1895 as shown above. 

In the 1901 census there is no Harriet Lindburg, but there is a Harriet Girvin aged 26 and married (but with no husband at home) and two sons, Thomas Girvin aged 5 and William Girvin aged 3.

In the 1911 census Thomas Girvin, aged 40, was the head of the household at 13 Brassey Street with his wife Harriet Girvin, Thomas Herman Lindburg aged 15 (son), William Girvin aged 13 (son) and Reginald Broad Lindburg (nephew) aged 2. Thomas and Harriet say they have been married for 14 years and have had 2 children, one surviving. 

In 1915 Harriet Marian Lindburgh and Thomas Girvin were married at St Nicholas Church, Liverpool. Bride's father Herman Lindburgh (deceased) and one witness Martha Ellen Lindburgh. 

So, Thomas and Harriet had lied about being married, it is possible that Thomas really was the father of Thomas Herman. In 1901 Harriet listed his name as Girvin so we can assume that is the name he went by. In 1911 either he had reverted to his real name or Thomas Girvin was more conscientious when filling in the census forms.  Thomas Herman used his real name of Lindberg to enlist but his family had him added to the memorial as Girvin.

Pension records show that claims were made by his mother and by Lily Barrow, the mother of his illegitimate child. Her address was in Blackpool, the 6th Battalion KLR did spend some time training at Blackpool so we can speculate that perhaps that is how they met. 

Military Service

Thomas's service records have not survived but his medal card shows that he served with The King's (Liverpool Regiment) with the regimental number 3503 and with the Machine Gun Corps with the regimental number 157051 and was entitled to the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. 

His entry in UK Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-1919 adds that he was born in Liverpool and enlisted in Liverpool. 

Information on the King's Liverpool Regiment database at the Museum of Liverpool shows that he served with the 2/6th KLR with the service number 241410

Death and Commemoration

Thomas Lindburg died of wounds on 27th October 1918 whilst serving with the MGC. This means it is likely he was wounded during the Battle of the Selle which was part of the final advance on Picardy in the Hundred Days Offensive of the end of the war. 

There is an interesting short explanation of the Battle of the Selle here by the Western Front Association.  

Thomas Lindberg is buried in Awoingt Cemetery, Awoingt is a village near Cambrai. The cemetery was used for about a month from the middle of October 1918. It holds 653 Commonwealth graves, mostly casualties from the 38th, 45th and 59th Casualty Clearing Stations which were posted in the area. As we know that Thomas Lindberg died of wounds it is likely that he died in one of these CCSs.

Thomas Lindberg's name does not appear on the Hall of Remembrance at Liverpool Town Hall.