Postcard #20 – Lumb Bridge, Silsden

This is a postcard from my own collection. The location is Lumb Bridge at Silsden in West Yorkshire. I bought the postcard because Silsden is the birth place of my paternal grandmother and I can imagine her standing on the little wooden bridge you can see.

The card is unused and in good condition. It was published by R. Dewhurst, 71 Kirkgate, Silsden.

Wedding Wednesday – Kathleen Musgrove & Stanley Griffiths

Here is the wedding photograph of my aunty Kathleen Musgrove – my mum’s sister – to Stanley Griffiths.

The wedding is registered in the Ashton district of Lancashire in Q4 of 1940.

Tombstone Tuesday – William and Lucilla Dawson

This gravestone marks the resting place of William Dawson and his wife Lucilla (nee Whitaker).

I took the photograph on a recent visit to the Cowling Hill Baptist Chapel graveyard.

Military Monday – James Musgrove (1894-1925)

James Musgrove is my 1st cousin 2x removed – he is my maternal grandfather’s cousin. Our common ancestors are my 2x great grandparents John Musgrove and Catherine Ainsworth. He was born in Clitheroe, Lancashire about 1894 – the second of at least ten children – to parents Joseph Musgrove and Bridget Maria Grainger.

On 20 January 1915 James enlisted in the 18th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers. His regimental number was 16718. I’m not sure how good or bad his eyesight was but there is a note in his records that two pairs of glasses were issued to him, presumably resulting from his medical at the time he enlisted.

It was a further 12 months before James embarked for France on 29 January 1916.

There is not much detail in the pages about his war service on www.ancestry.co.uk. But it appears that James became ‘unfit’ for battle on 22 January 1917 and he was transferred to the Army Service Corps. He was given a new service number – 111748.

James was eventually demobilized to the Class Z Reserve on 15 March 1919.

Class Z Reserve was authorised by an Army Order of 3 December 1918. There were fears that Germany would not accept the terms of any peace treaty, and therefore the British Government decided it would be wise to be able to quickly recall trained men in the eventuality of the resumption of hostilities. Soldiers who were being demobilised, particularly those who had agreed to serve “for the duration”, were at first posted to Class Z. They returned to civilian life but with an obligation to return if called upon. The Z Reserve was abolished on 31 March 1920.

As far as I can tell James died sometime in Q2 of 1925.

Military Monday – Harry Musgrove (1889-1974)

Harry Musgrove is my great uncle – my maternal grandfathers brother. He was born 17 November 1889 to parents Thomas Musgrove and Ellen Stowell.

I have been lucky enough to find Harry’s WW1 service record on www.ancestry.co.uk.

Harry enlisted in Clitheroe, Lancashire on 11 November 1915 – six days before his 26th birthday.  At the time he was living at 11 Brownlow Street, Clitheroe and working as a ‘weaver’.

He served as a private in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) and his service number was 103760.

It looks like Harry was initially assigned to the ‘home hospital’ reserve in Blackpool, Lancashire.  Then in May 1917 he ‘volunteered’ for overseas service – see below.

next information about his service shows that he was in Corsica from 9 June 1917 to 31 December 1918.  Harry returned home at the beginning of 1919 and according to his service papers was ‘demobbed’ on 23 February 1919 and transferred to the Class Z Reserve.

There is a note in the papers addressed to the Officer in Charge at the Queen Mary’s Military Hospital, Whalley, Lancashire.  This note was sent with Harry’s ‘medical history’ sheet on 16 January 1919.  On one of the documents is stamped ‘sick and wounded’ but I can’t find any information about Harry’s condition at the time.

The Queen Mary’s Military Hospital was formerly the Whalley Asylum. It was used as a military hospital  until June 1920. There is also a military cemetery attached to the hospital.

Queen Mary’s Military Hospital

Harry married Edith Hitchen on 20 January 1940.  He died on 25 November 1974 – eight days after his 85th birthday.

Military Monday – Arthur Lockington (1892-1915)

Arthur Lockington is my wife’s 1st cousin 2x removed.  Their common ancestors are John Lockington and Susannah Snowden, my wife’s 2x great grandparents.  He was born about 1892 in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire to parents Joseph Lockington and Ellen Elizabeth Johnson.

I have been fortunate to find Arthur’s WW1 service records on www.ancestry.co.uk.

Arthur enlisted at Middlesbrough on 4 September 1914.  His records show his age as 22 years 157 days.  He served as a rifleman in the 12th Battalion Rifle Brigade and his service number is S1746.

While he was still on service in England Arthur married Margaret Wilkinson on 6 March 1915 in Middlesbrough.

Arthur left for France with the British Expeditionary Force on 21 July 1915 and landed at Boulogne the following day.

The next important piece of information is that Arthur is reported missing presumed killed in action on 25 September 1915 while fighting at Pietre in a 6.00am attack to the north of Neuville.  This was a supporting or diversionary action during The Battle of Loos.

On 5 July 1916 The War Office awarded Margaret Lockington a pension of 15 shillings a week for her and her daughter Florence who was born on 11 April 1916.  Sometime in the December quarter of 1918 Margaret married Sydney Flett in Middlesbrough.

Finally on 17 February 1921 Margaret took possession Arthur’s war medals.

Arthur is remembered on the Middlesbrough War Memorial and is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial in Belgium.  This memorial includes the names of more than 11,000 servicemen of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in this sector during the First World War and have no known grave.

The memorial was designed by Harold Chalton Bradshaw, with sculpture by Gilbert Ledward and was unveiled by the Duke of Brabant on 7 June 1931.

RMS Cumberland – Postcard #19

Here is a very battered , torn and creased postcard which has been in my family for almost 70 years.  The card shows RMS Cumberland at Barrow in Furness

There is no publisher or printer information.

The postcard was sent from Barrow on 13 July 1942 to my grandparents, Mr & Mrs J Dawson, 7 Ellis Street, Brinsworth, Rotherham, Yorkshire.

Unfortunately I have no idea who sent the card. You will see that there are only some initials to indicate who wrote to my grandparents – they could have been friends or relatives, I simply don’t know.

The message says

Dear A & J

Everyone landed here OK and quite happy to be together. Sorry to say it looks like rain but hoping for better weather later as  the tide goes out.

All the best.

C. G. TD & MO

The message is intriguing. And I also wonder whether or not the RMS Cumberland is more important to the story than just appearing on the front of the postcard.

Does the use of the word ‘landed’ suggest that perhaps they travelled to Barrow in Furness on the RMS Cumberland?  Does the phrase ‘quite happy to be together’ suggest that before they arrived in Barrow then they were not together. Does ‘everyone’ mean a larger group of people than just C. G. TD and MO?

I did wonder if ‘they’ had been evacuated from Rotherham – but then I thought Barrow, with its shipyard, was probably not a place people were evacuated to. However this link on Wikipedia – Barrow Blitz – suggests that the last bombs of the blitz fell on Barrow in January 1942 and the last air-raid siren was sounded on 25 March 1942.

Also further research suggests that Rotherham did not loom large on German maps and only suffered two serious raids – both in August 1940. Maybe C. G. TD and MO came from somewhere else.

Anyway, I could go on trying to imagine the story behind the message on the postcard, but I need to just accept it as a piece of family history and leave it there.