Marple WWI Timeline display in Marple Memorial Park

[admin]

Thank you to HB Printing

So grateful to HB Printing who re-printed at no charge the Friends of Marple Memorial Park WWI Timeline introduction panel after it was damaged, just in time to refit for today's 11th Hour!

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David Watson has provided a short biography of his mother's two uncles, Harry and Arthur Hope, who are both named on the WWI Marple Schools Roll of Honour and survived the war.
 
Subject: Marple Schools Roll of Honour - Hope family
Message: I am the son of Joan Hope who was born in Marple in 1922. Two of the names on your WW1 Roll of Honour relate to uncles of my mother.
Harry Hope: Survived the war. He married May Mycock in Compstall in 1919. They had one son, James Harry, born in 1923. In 1930 the family emigrated to the USA. James Harry was killed in WW2 in the SS Leopoldville disaster aged 21. Harry died in the US in 1954.
Arthur Hope: Survived the war. He married Grace Shaw in Ikleston in 1916. They had one daughter, Mabel, born in 1916. Arthur died in 1956.

Can you help fill in more gaps on the full Roll of Honour: https://www.marple.website/local-history/marple-schools-roll-of-honour.html

Marple Council Schools Roll of Honour
"Old Boys" who answered their country's call during the War 1914 -

A vintage photo of a Marple WWI Roll of Honour has been discovered that lists not only the fallen but all of Marple's "Old Boys" who answered the call at the time the photo was taken. Amongst the names are also men who survived the war and we know little or nothing about many of them.

Do you have a relative on this list? Can you tell us more about what happened to the local men who survived?

See the full article for more details and what we know at the moment: https://www.marple.website/local-history/marple-schools-roll-of-honour.html

[wheels]

Thanks for that, Wheels. I read about her when I was  student but hadn't seen her name on a memorial. And there is the memorial to women who died in WW2 in Whitehall, London unveiled in 2005. Only 70 years after WW2 ended!

You will find Gertrude Powicke on Stockport War Memorial opposite the Town Hall.

[My login is Henrietta]

Andrew Cooper has been in touch to tell us a little more about his grandfather Leonard Chaney and brother Alfred, who both survived the war.

Subject: Marple Schools WW1 Roll of Honour
Message: You asked for information on the WW1 Roll of Honour. I am a Grandson to Leonard Chaney, who was brother to Herbert and Alfred on the list. Herbert you know about, he died in the German 'Big Push' in 1918. Both Leonard and Alfred survived the war. They were the sons of Alfred Charles Chaney, who was coachman and then driver for the Barlow family at Woodville Hall. Leonard and his wife Maggie worked in service, mainly at Compstall Hall. They also worked for Dr Yuell in Church Lane. Latterly, with failing health due to being gassed, he was the greenkeeper at Marple Bowling Green. He died in 1959. Alfred went on to be a Lieutenant at the end of the war and ran a house in Alderley Edge. He died in 1979.

Here's the full Roll of Honour: https://www.marple.website/local-history/marple-schools-roll-of-honour.html

When I was at Rose Hill primary school in the 1950s there was a boy in my class whose surname was Chaney but I can't remember his first name. I wonder if he was a member of the same family as your Chaneys.

[My login is Henrietta]

Thanks for that, Wheels. I read about her when I was  student but hadn't seen her name on a memorial. And there is the memorial to women who died in WW2 in Whitehall, London unveiled in 2005. Only 70 years after WW2 ended!

[wheels]

Gertrude Powicke is of course the only female name on any war memorial in Stockport

[My login is Henrietta]

Once again there were no girls mentioned. It would be interesting to know how many women and girls from this area served by working in munitions factories (doing extremely dangerous jobs) and female nurses and doctors both in military hospitals in England and  field hospitals (read Vera Brittain's account of the time she served as a V.A.D. both in Britain and close to the lines in France).

Women also did all sorts of none-military "men's jobs" which freed the men for the armed forces and, as the war continued, women volunteered to go into the Services to fill the places left by men who went to the front. The latter served both "at home" and in the fighting areas. Women, like Vera Brittain's friend, Winifred Holtby, spent some time driving an ambulance at the front in France. There was even a woman who is supposed to have actually served as a soldier at the front - oddly, no one seems to have cottoned on to her.

For various reasons, I always read the names on war memorials. I have only come across a woman's name on a village war memorial once and that was in Suffolk but York Minster has (or had, before the fire!) a memorial naming the women doctors and nurses killed in Serbia in WW1 - a lot of them.

It's sad that the names of many of the girls and women who worked hard to support the soldiers and died or suffered life-long illness as a result of "doing their bit" didn't have memorials. Many of these women were not talked about even within the family and gradually were forgotten as the years passed and parents died.

(OK, feminist rant over!)

[admin]

Anne Elizabeth Mackay has provided a short biography of her grandfather Jess Pegg, who is on the Marple Schools Roll of Honour and survived the war.

Subject: Marple Schools WW1 Roll of Honour
Message: Biography of Jess Pegg.
Jess was born in Windlehurst, Norbury, in 1889 and went to school in Marple when his father, George Pegg (railway signalman at Rose Hill Station), moved there with his wife Elizabeth (nee Sutton) and 5 boys and a girl, Ivy (then Lizzie was born in Marple). Jess was in the Territorials and I believe he went to Lovesgrove Camp near Aberystwyth and think he met my grandmother, Margaret Jones there. From the Medal List I know he was assigned to the 1/6th Cheshires, but most of his records are lost. He was gassed in the war and I guess he went to Lymm in Cheshire for recuperation and was joined by Margaret who took a job as hen-keeper. She left from Lymm to marry Jess in Marple, probably after he had been transferred to the Sanitarium at Stepping Hill Hospital. They lived on Brindley Avenue and had one child, my mother, Gladys Pegg. He worked as a gardener and chauffeur for Miss Hill and her brother Major Hill at "Kalaw", Church Lane. Jess died in 1933 and he is buried in one of three family graves in All Saints Church.

Here's the full Roll of Honour: https://www.marple.website/local-history/marple-schools-roll-of-honour.html

Marple Council Schools Roll of Honour
"Old Boys" who answered their country's call during the War 1914 -

A vintage photo of a Marple WWI Roll of Honour has been discovered that lists not only the fallen but all of Marple's "Old Boys" who answered the call at the time the photo was taken. Amongst the names are also men who survived the war and we know little or nothing about many of them.

Do you have a relative on this list? Can you tell us more about what happened to the local men who survived?

See the full article for more details and what we know at the moment: https://www.marple.website/local-history/marple-schools-roll-of-honour.html

[admin]

Andrew Cooper has been in touch to tell us a little more about his grandfather Leonard Chaney and brother Alfred, who both survived the war.

Subject: Marple Schools WW1 Roll of Honour
Message: You asked for information on the WW1 Roll of Honour. I am a Grandson to Leonard Chaney, who was brother to Herbert and Alfred on the list. Herbert you know about, he died in the German 'Big Push' in 1918. Both Leonard and Alfred survived the war. They were the sons of Alfred Charles Chaney, who was coachman and then driver for the Barlow family at Woodville Hall. Leonard and his wife Maggie worked in service, mainly at Compstall Hall. They also worked for Dr Yuell in Church Lane. Latterly, with failing health due to being gassed, he was the greenkeeper at Marple Bowling Green. He died in 1959. Alfred went on to be a Lieutenant at the end of the war and ran a house in Alderley Edge. He died in 1979.

Here's the full Roll of Honour: https://www.marple.website/local-history/marple-schools-roll-of-honour.html

Marple Council Schools Roll of Honour
"Old Boys" who answered their country's call during the War 1914 -

A vintage photo of a Marple WWI Roll of Honour has been discovered that lists not only the fallen but all of Marple's "Old Boys" who answered the call at the time the photo was taken. Amongst the names are also men who survived the war and we know little or nothing about many of them.

Do you have a relative on this list? Can you tell us more about what happened to the local men who survived?

See the full article for more details and what we know at the moment: https://www.marple.website/local-history/marple-schools-roll-of-honour.html

[My login is Henrietta]

Friends of Marple Memorial Park's WWI Timeline Tribute display in the park has been updated with information about Joseph McDermott, the fifth man from Marple to die during WWI.

Joe’s family paid £12 10s for his body to be transported home for the first ever Military Funeral seen in Marple, which was organised on a grand scale. The roads from Marple down to St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church were lined with people to watch Marple Band, Marple Boy Scouts, injured soldiers from Brabyns Hall and local soldiers home on “furlong” escort Joe’s body.

The display is fixed to the railings in front of Hollins House in the park. It starts on the far left with an A4 poster explaining what's happening and an information card about Joe McDermott has now been added. Cards about the remaining men will be added progressively over the next 5 years on the 100th Anniversaries of their recorded dates of death.

You can read more about this on the Friends of the Park web site in the WWI Heritage section:

http://www.marplememorialpark.org.uk/wwi-heritage.html

You can also follow the Timeline on Twitter https://twitter.com/MarpleWWI and on Face Book https://www.facebook.com/marplewwitimeline

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As a matter of interest - in 1915 £1 was equivalent to about £103.48.

[admin]

Daughter of Sergeant Richard Speakman died following sledging accident in 1925



This great photo of Sgt. Richard Speakman from Marple has been shared with Marple Local History Society recently. We already knew that Richard was killed in action on 15 September 1918 and left a widow and young daughter. Accompanying the photo is the sad news that his daughter, Elsie May, died following a sledging accident in 1925. Here is a report of the inquest:

Stockport Advertiser January 15th 1926. P12

The District Coroner held the inquest last Monday evening at Marple.

Elsie was the daughter of the late Sergeant Richard Speakman.  The girl lived with her mother, Mrs Wood, and her grandfather at Leigh Avenue, Marple.

Short report on the sledging accident.  Christmas Day on the Ridge with cousin Percy Warburton, they were sledging.  Percy stood at the bottom of the hill.  She came down with a great rush and ran into a bush.  The sleigh overturned, threw her over, and then the sleigh struck her head.  She lay on the ground for a short time and was dazed.  Mrs Wood mother of the deceased, said the girl was nine years old.  When Elsie came home, she complained of being wet, and said she had fallen in the snow.  The witness changed her clothes and gave her influenza powder as she complained of pain in her head.  Later the witness called Dr Cliff.

Dr Cliff said he found the child had a high temperature.  She became sick and vomited.  He found she was suffering from meningitis, which was the cause of death.  The accident could cause the disease.

The Coroner returned a verdict of accidental death.

[admin]

Marple Council Schools Roll of Honour
"Old Boys" who answered their country's call during the War 1914 -

A vintage photo of a Marple WWI Roll of Honour has been discovered that lists not only the fallen but all of Marple's "Old Boys" who answered the call at the time the photo was taken. Amongst the names are also men who survived the war and we know little or nothing about many of them.

Do you have a relative on this list? Can you tell us more about what happened to the local men who survived?

See the full article for more details and what we know at the moment: https://www.marple.website/local-history/marple-schools-roll-of-honour.html

[admin]

100 years ago tomorrow John Hampson became the 141st and final man to die as a result of WWI, and one of the saddest stories too.

John's card was added to the timeline in the park on 1st November 2018, so it is already on display. This is the announcement of the 100th anniversary of his death.

John was a Boy Scout before he signed up in September 1914 at the age of around 18 years old. Nothing is known of his personal experience of the war during the next three and a half years, except that he was admitted to hospital for the first time in April 1918 suffering from shell-shock. It's not known how long he stayed but he was re-admitted in March of 1919 and he remained until his death on 23 November 1919 at the age of 22. Floral tributes at his funeral attended by local scouts were reported to be "very pathetic and effecting".

You can read more about the display on the Friends of the Park web site in the WWI Heritage section:

http://www.marplememorialpark.org.uk/wwi-heritage.html

You can also follow the Timeline on Twitter https://twitter.com/MarpleWWI and on Face Book https://www.facebook.com/marplewwitimeline

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[admin]

100 years ago today Arthur Gordon Cresswell (known as Gordon) became the 140th and penultimate Marple man to die as a result of WWI.

Gordon's card was added to the timeline in the park on 1st November 2018, so it is already on display. This is the announcement of the 100th anniversary of his death.

Gordon had been in the army from a very early period of the war, and served in France and other places. The official message only states that he died in Constantinople from the results of an accident. His brother has also served a long time in the army since the war began. The Cresswell family have done splendidly for their county, Mr. A.F. Cresswell has served in the Cheshire Volunteer Regiment, and gone through the hard military work; Miss Cresswell has worked night and day for war purposes; and the brothers have done all that has been possible for their country.

Arthur Mann Cresswell JP (Gordon's father) must have used his influence to have Gordon included on the All Saints’ Memorial and his name was added out of alphabetical order in time for the Memorial's dedication on Armistice Day 1919, just four weeks after Gordon's untimely demise.

You can read more about the display on the Friends of the Park web site in the WWI Heritage section:

http://www.marplememorialpark.org.uk/wwi-heritage.html

You can also follow the Timeline on Twitter https://twitter.com/MarpleWWI and on Face Book https://www.facebook.com/marplewwitimeline

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[My login is Henrietta]

I try to read as many as as I have time for when I'm passing through the park so that at least one person is remembering them. So many surnames the same as boys in my year at Rose Hill in the 1950s, who were presumably grandsons and nephews of the Fallen.

We should also remember those who made it home but were so damaged, either mentally or physically, by their experiences during the Great War that they suffered for the rest of their lives.