Friday 29 August 2014

About this Project

****This page has been superceded and a newer version can be found by clicking the 'About' tab above. ****

 

Barnsley, unlike some other towns and cities around the country, has no central Roll of Honour to remember the Fallen of World War One, and so this project was begun to provide a co-ordinating hub for the recording and preservation of the information on all of the War Memorials in the Barnsley area.

It is recognised that many of the memorials in our area have already been recorded and researched by dedicated volunteers.  Some of this work has been deposited in paper form in Barnsley Archives, some has been published in book form.  However until now there has been no one point of contact for all of this information.

It was agreed that, in recognition of the forthcoming Centenary of the First World War, the first part of the Project would concentrate on gathering information on the casualties of that war although information collected in the process concerning the Second World War and subsequent conflicts would be safely collated for the later stages of the Project.  

For the purpose of our Project a name will be included in the Roll of Honour if the person was born in Barnsley, lived in Barnsley at the time of enlistment or start of their war service, or is listed on any memorial in the Barnsley MBC area.

The Imperial War Museum's definition of a War Memorial used to be on their War Memorials Archives (1) site and is now on the UK War Memorials (2) hub set up by the government.  The wording is slightly different.
1. We consider a war memorial to be any tangible object which has been erected or dedicated to commemorate those killed as a result of war, conflict or peacekeeping; who served in war or conflict; or who died whilst engaged in military service.
2. War memorials can be any tangible object which has been erected or dedicated to commemorate war, conflict, victory or peace; or casualties who served in, were affected by or killed as a result of war, conflict or peacekeeping; or those who died as a result of accident or disease whilst engaged in military service.
Here is an article about some of the different kinds of memorial we are researching.

Information collated as a result of the Barnsley War Memorials Project will be submitted to the Imperial War Museum's War Memorials Archives and much of their existing information was used as the starting point of this project.

The War Memorials Archive records:
1. memorials located in the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man
2. memorials to conflicts from any point in history to the present day
3. memorials that commemorate the impact or acts of war, conflict or victory
4. memorials that record thanksgiving for the safe return of individuals, the coming of peace or the prevention of war
5. dedications that have been added to other gravestones which commemorate a war casualty buried elsewhere
6. memorials that commemorate the service, return or death of military personnel during war, conflict or peacetime irrespective of the cause of death, as well as deaths after the end of the conflict as a result of wounds or the effects of war
7. memorials that commemorate the wartime service or death of civilians serving in non-combatant organisations
8. memorials that commemorate civilians, including refugees and internees who suffered or died as a result of enemy action or in a war related accident as well as a consequence of war or conflict
9. memorials to the service, suffering and death of animals during wartime
This Project was formally constituted on 19 March 2014.  A copy of our constitution can be requested. Between May 2014 and October 2016 we published a monthly newsletter, all back issues can be downloaded via the Newsletters tab above.

A list of other memorials which have been or are being researched in-depth can be found on the Research in Progress page.


Our continuing thanks to Barnsley Archives for all their help and assistance with this project.

BWMP #Aboutv2

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Do any of the BWMP group do talks to local history Groups on the project?
If so, please be in touch.
Thanks

Fay Polson said...

Hi Richard,
Yes, we give talks about our project. Please let us know if you would us to do a presentation for your group and we will try and arrange something.
Many thanks,
Fay

Anonymous said...

I am currently researching the lives of soldiers born in my village of Pleasley, near Mansfield, who died while serving in the First World War. I believe that I may be able to help in your project because one soldier and his parents and family lived for some time in Great Houghton. The soldier's name is John William Corfield Fowler and I found his name on the Memorial Tablet at the St. Michael and All Angel's Church, Great Houghton, while searching on the internet. He was a Sergeant in the 23rd Battalion of the Manchester Regiment with the regimental number of 22187 and served in France. But, sadly, he died probably from wounds, on Sunday the 4th of June 1916 and was buried in grave reference V.D.85 in the Bethune Town Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. He had been baptised on the 18th of November 1894 at Pleasley St. Michaels Church, and, according to the 1911 Census, was one of 14 children born to George Edward Fowler and his wife Mary Margaret (nee Corfield). The 1911 Census also shows the Fowler family living at Stockport before moving to live at 11, Edward Street, Great Houghton some time around 1913/14.

I hope this proves useful in your project.



BarnsleyHistorian said...

See the Barnsley's History - The Great War Facebook page
https://m.facebook.com/groups/425720354266452/
I have shared the above comment there.