Saturday 9 October 2021

Wath upon Dearne, Church Street, First World War Memorial Cross

 

FWW Memorial Cross with SWW panels on wall behind

FWW names Adams to Hessam

FWW names Heppenstall to Pearson

FWW names Perry to Wroe

Additional names (this photo by Sally Jowitt 9 July 2019)


Links:




Photographed by Nigel Croft 19 March 2017 (except for the final one)
(In very bright sunshine, we had difficulty getting good pictures of the first two panels that day, so the photos have been edited to improve legibility. The sun was just right for the third panel as you can see!)

Researched and Transcribed by BarnsleyHistorian

Inscription:

[art deco style lettering carved into the stone of the base in relief]
In / Proud And / Ever Living / Memory Of / The Men Of / This Town / Who Gave / Their Lives / In The / Great War / 1914-1918

[on a small metal plaque in raised gothic style font]
This Memorial erected by the townspeople Wath and district was unveiled by / Major A. D. B. Johnson M. A.  T. D. on the 25th of September 1921

Newspaper photo from Find My Past

Information:
The memorial's location, on the edge of the churchyard at All Saints, Wath, was not the original proposal. That would have seen the memorial erected on High Street, in front of Cross House, better known now as The Church House J D Wetherspoons pub. (Penistone, Stocksbridge and Hoyland Express, 27 March 1920, p.10.) 
 
The change of site to the Town Hall grounds was announced in early March 1921. It seems that the Committee had faced problems buying the land initially proposed. Voluntary subscriptions had been collected and the fund then stood at £700 which would be sufficient to cover all costs if the memorial location was changed. (Mexborough and Swinton Times, 5 March 1921, p.3.)

The unveiling of the Wath-upon-Dearne and West Melton War Memorial Cross on Sunday 25 September 1921, by Major E. D. B. Johnson, was reported in the Penistone, Stocksbridge and Hoyland Express on 1 October 1921, p.8. The Lord Bishop of Sheffield dedicated the memorial (see photo above). The memorial was officially handed over to the local authority of Wath, for safe custody in perpetuity, and accepted by Councillor Marshal Robson on behalf of the town. 

During the singing of hymns hundreds of wreaths and flowers were placed by the memorial by relatives of the men lost. Friendly Societies and Clubs placed wreaths on behalf their fallen members.
 
The cross was described as being of 'Bolton Wood stone', and standing 18 feet high. Oddly the inscription was recorded as reading, "In proud and ever-living memory of the men of this town who have their lives in the Great War, 1914-1918. The names of the 244 men whose memories the monument is intented to perpetuate are recorded thereon." (This second sentence does not appear on the memorial today.) The name panels were of bronze and the newspaper report included a full list of names. 

There are 244 names on the three main panels on the base of the memorial and another 12 on a small additional panel. The book, Wath upon Dearne War Memorial, 1914-1918 by G A Mangham (2021) suggests that five of the names are duplicate entries and two were not actually casualties, leaving 249 individual men.
 
Names:
Where further information has been discovered for any of these men it will be linked (look for names underlined and in blue) to a page on this site or to an external site. In this way we try to avoid duplication and encroaching on the research of other groups and individuals.

First Panel
Adams, Charles H
Ashwin, Guy J H
Askee, Thomas
Ball, George
Barlow, Arthur
Barrs, George E
Beevers, Edwin
Beevers, Joseph
Bird, Walter
Blackburn, Joseph
Booth, W M
Bower, A
Bower, Ernest
Briggs, George
Briggs, Tom
Brooke, Albert
Brown, G E
Burdin, Clifford
Burland, Ellis
Burland, Joseph
Butler, Harry
Calvert, Harry
Carr, Clifford
Casswell, Herbert
Castle, Herbert
Catling, George
Clark, Albert J
Clark, James
Clarke, George
Clarke, William A
Clarke, William
Clegg, Albert
Coggan, Thomas
Collier, Truelove
Cooke, James
Creamer, Theo W
Crook, Arthur
Crook, William
Crossley, Arthur
Cusworth, Charles
Cusworth, William
Dickinson, Frank
Dickinson, Stanley
Dickinson, Thomas
Dodson, George
Dryden, George E
Duffy, T Bernard
Earl, W E
Ellis, Ben
Ellis, Reginald
Espley, Alfred
Evans, Frank
Evans, H Theo
Eyre, Fred
Fletcher, Sam
Fox, Ernest
Fretwell, William H
Froggatt, Benjamin
Fullwood, William
Garbett, Enoch
Garbutt, Fred
Garbutt, Vivian
Gething, Thomas
Gill, Arthur
Gilford, William
Glew, F
Gray, John W
Greaves, George W
Greaves, James
Green, Roebuck
Greenway, James W
Groves, Stanley V
Guest, Charles A
Hadwin, Harry
Hardy, Albert
Harrison, Harold
Harrison, Thomas
Hartley, Frank
Harwood, John
Heaton, Fred
Hemsworth, H
Hessam, Walter

Second Panel
Heppenstall, George
Hewitt, James W
Hirst, William
Holmes, Robert
Holmes, Tom
Hopwood, Joseph
Horne, Oriel
Horsfield, Tom
Howson, Harry
Hudson, Henry
Hulley, Frank
Humphreys, Ernest
Hunt, Albert
Ibbetson, Cyril
Jackson, Joseph
Jaques, Tom
Jewsbury, George
Johnson, Cuthbert C
Johnson, Ernest E
Johnson, Frank
Johnson, John
Johnson, John M
Jones, R R
Keefe, John
Kemp, Ernest
Kettlewell, George
Kinshott, Arthur
Kirby, Harry
Kirby, Wilson
Knowles, William
Lander, J R
Langford, S L A
Larkin, Arthur
Law, Leonard A
Lawton, James
Lee, Wilfrid
Lidster, Clifford
Lightley, Albert
Lightley, Richard
Limer, John
Lister, G T
Locke, Horace
Longley, George E
Lord, Joseph H
Maclean, Harry A
Maclean, George A
Mangham, Ernest
Mangham, George
Mansbridge, John A
Mansell, Ernest
Markham, Harry
Markham, William
Marsden, Harry
Marwood, Charles H
Matthews, George
Matthews, Joseph
Metcalf, Albert
Mitchell, J Spencer
Mitchell, Tom
Monks, Walter J
Moore, Harry
Moore, Mark
Morris, David
Munro, Simon
Newton, George
Nicholls, Herbert
Nightingale, W Harry
Norris, Charles R
Norris, Ernest
Oates, William
Oldham, Albert E
Osborne, Harry
Otter, William
Outram, James
Outram, John
Paskell, Ernest
Patrick, Fred W
Pears, Herbert
Pears, James
Pearson, George

Third Panel
Perry, Richard
Petty, William H
Phelps, H G
Pilley, Herbert
Pyatt, William F
Pyott, Albert
Pyott, Thomas J
Ranyard, W W
Redgewell, Alfred
Reed, Ernest
Reid, Bruce
Riddell, Ernest E
Roberts, William H
Robinson, Herbert
Roper, Walter
Rouse, Harry
Rowan, John H
Royle, Ernest
Ryalls, Harry
Ryman, Albert
Salmons, John
Sanderson, Sam
Scott, Ernest
Scott, Fred J
Scott, Walter
Sellars, Walter
Severn, Ernest
Shaw, Percy A
Simister, Alfred
Simms, Albert H
Simms, Henry N
Skirrow, Walter
Sleight, E Douglas
Smalley, Albert
Smeaton, John T
Smith, Charles
Smith, C Arthur
Smith, Charles W
Smith, James
Smith, John T
Smith, Sydney
Smith, Walter
South, George
Speight, John W
Spencer, Clifford
Stamper, Ernest
Stables, Sam
Stainthorpe, Herbert
Stansfield, Thomas
Steer, William
Stocks, Edmund L
Stocks, Fred W
Stone, James
Swallow, Alfred
Swallow, Richard
Swift, Harry
Sykes, Alfred
Sykes, John
Tate, G William
Taylor, George H
Taylor, James A
Taylor, Thomas A
Thompson, Ernest
Thompson, Michael
Thompson, Thomas W
Trout, Thomas
Turton, Fred
Turton, James
Twite, Sydney
Venables, Horace
Waddington, Edgar
Waddington, William
Wade, Burton E
Watson, Thomas
Watson, Walter
White, Ernest
Whiteley, John
Willcock, Harry
Wilson, William
Winfield, Richard
Wright, Albert
Wroe, George

Additional Names
Bradbury, Herbert
Cleary, James
Hirst, George
Hoyland, Percy
Hulme, Percy
Lister, William
Newham, James
Saunders, Arthur
Simpson, George
Smith, Herbert
Swift, Harold
Wright, Robert


B&DWM #WAT02

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