With all
the news currently about the start of the First World War some interesting
information has been brought together about the Taylor Family following an article in the Lancashire
Telegraph, produced in Blackburn, Lancashire.
We have to thank Gill Johnson, Features writer, for excellent research
in drawing the facts of the article together.
Backing up Gill's article are details from my brother John Taylor from
his research of the Taylor family tree. The
article highlights similar losses to so many ordinary families throughout
Britain during the First World War.
James
Taylor was the cousin of our great, great grandfather. The family members highlighted in red are
mentioned in the Lancashire Telegraph article.
Father. JAMES TAYLOR was born 23 August 1863
in 8 Furthergate, Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and died 1913 in Blackburn,
Lancashire, England.
Mother. He married RUTH BARTON 10 April 1889 in St
Thomas, Blackburn, Lancashire, England.
She was born 4 January 1869 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and died
1930 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England.
Children
of JAMES TAYLOR and RUTH BARTON are:
1. CLARA TAYLOR, born 5 February 1890, 31
William Hopwood Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, England.
2. WILLIAM BARTON TAYLOR,
born 27 September 1891, 5 Addington Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, England.
Military
service: 8 September 1914 - 23 August 1916, Private, East Surry Regiment, 8th
Battalion. Wounded by Shrapnel, Fricourt, France.
Died
7 June 1917, Nell Military Hospital, Manchester, Lancashire, England.
3. FRED TAYLOR, born 15 April 1893, 5 Addlington
Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, England; Died the following year 1894,
Blackburn, Lancashire, England.
4. HARRY HAWORTH TAYLOR,
born 14 August 1894, 86 Lambeth Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, England.
Military
service: 1914 - 1919, Army, Private 21203 Lancashire Fusiliers, - 11899 Loyal
North Lancashire, - L/CPL 5664 East Surrey Regiment 8th Battalion.
Died
1 July 1916, Killed in Action, WW1, France and Flanders.
5. MARY TAYLOR, born 13 January 1897, 86 Lambeth
Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, England.
6. JAMES EDWARD TAYLOR,
born 11 March 1899, 86 Lambeth Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, England;
Military
service: Bet. 1914 - 1919, Private 31352, East Lancs Regiment, 2nd Battalion,
formerly 60613 Manchester Regiment.
Died
8 November 1918, WW1, France and Flanders, POW.
Buried,
Sarralbe Military Cemetery, Moselle, France, a Cemetery started by the Germans,
later being used for WW1 Commonwealth Soldiers, Prisoners of War.
7. RUTH VICTORIA TAYLOR, born 1901, 96 Bolton
Road, Adlington, Lancashire, England.
8. ALFRED TAYLOR, born 1903, Adlington,
Lancashire, England.
9. RONALD TAYLOR, born 1905, Adlington,
Lancashire, England.
10. FRANK TAYLOR, born 1906, Adlington,
Lancashire, England.
………………………………………………………………………………………
Lancashire
Telegraph article 12 August 2014.
Soldiers
remembered in Little Harwood memorial
SUCH was
the death toll in the First World War, that the names of 113 men can be found
on two memorials in Little Harwood alone.
After in-depth research, it’s clear that those names on the clock tower
memorial , in the heart of the community and those on the memorial at St
Stephen’s Church, are not a complete list of all those who gave their lives for
their King and country one hundred years ago.
Their sacrifice has now been remembered once more, in a book compiled by
Reg Smith, a reader and churchwarden at St Stephen’s, to mark this year’s Great
War centenary. One story he has
uncovered is that of the Taylor family, of 216, Whalley Old Road, which
ironically overlooked the site of the future clock tower, which was to bear the
names of three of their sons.
James and
Ruth Taylor, who had a family of nine, lost their three eldest boys,
affectionately known as The Lads in 1916, 1917 and 1918. Henry Howarth, known as Harry; William Barton
and James Edward, volunteered for military service, with a group of friends,
during the opening stages of the war and practised arms drill at the rear of
the Taylor house before heading for France.
It is believed that Harry signed on with a Sam Smith, as their army
numbers were only six apart. Both of
them, along with William, Sam’s brother Gilbert and a Christopher Ainsworth,
all served together in the 8th battalion of the East Surrey Regiment.
Lance Cpl
Harry Taylor, 5664, was just 21 when he was killed in action on the first day
of the Somme, July 1, 1916. An amateur
footballer, boxer and athlete, his experience of the world, prior to
hostilities, was confined to his home town and his work as a weaver at Royal
cotton mill. He was captain of the St
John’s Church football team, who were champions of Blackburn’s Sunday School
League and also the town’s lightweight boxing champion, taking the title in a
fight at the Palace Theatre. He was
killed 12 months after his arrival in France and a letter from his lieutenant
said: “He was one our most useful NCOs. He will be properly buried and I will
be at the cemetery. His sergeant also
wrote to the family, saying: “He was shot through the head and died at once “ I
was only a few yards away from him when it happened and he was firing away at
the Hun, when he met his death. “He was
killed within 10 minutes of our going over the parapet and as he went over the
top he had a football. He and I and a
few others kicked the ball towards the German trenches – there were four of us
who kicked that ball and the other three were all killed, including our company
officer and platoon officer. “Harry died
fighting. He was a hero, he never flinched.”
Harry is buried in Dantzig Alley British cemetery at Mametz on the
Somme.
Private
William Barton Taylor, 5104, who enlisted on September 7, 1914, was the eldest
of the brothers and the second to die. He
was seriously wounded in action in France in November 1915 and was transferred
back to England and admitted to Nell Lane Hospital in Manchester, where he died
aged 25 in June 1917. He, too, had been
employed at E and G Hindle’s Royal Mill in Little Harwood and was connected to
St Stephen’s as a member of the Young Men’s Club. His military funeral took place at St
Stephen’s, his coffin borne by men from the East Lancashire Regiment. He was
buried at Blackburn Cemetery, with a firing party selected from the 10th
Battalion Lancashire Volunteers. A bugler of the East Lancashire Regiment
sounded the Last Post.
James
Taylor, 31352, was thus, fully aware of the consequences of war when he
enlisted and joined the 2nd Battalion East Lancashire Regiment. Not much is known of his life, as he was only
19, apart from the fact that just three days before the Armistice, he, too, was
killed in action. He has no known grave
but is commemorated on Memorial 10 in Sarralbe British Military Cemetery in
Moselle.
Their
distraught mother and two other ladies assisted the Mayor of Blackburn at the
unveiling and dedication service of Blackburn’s war memorial in Corporation
Park. She also pledged to pay for an
Altar Cross for St Stephen’s, but she died, in 1931, aged 61, said to be from a
broken heart, before she achieved her goal.
Her husband and surviving three sons and three daughters, however,
completed the task and the cross is still in use today.
……………………………………………………………………………………….
Full
article can be found at:
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| 4 August 2014 |
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| Lights out request, candle in window, Westminster Abbey service |
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| Westminster Abbey service 4 August 2014 |
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| The last candle goes out |
Additional documents found by brother John which all relate to Private William Barton Taylor. Without the speed of todays electronic mail many of these letters, carrying very sad and much awaited information, probably took days and weeks to reach the family.
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| Telegram informing of death |
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| medal notification |
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| WE WILL REMEMBER |
Photos © Stewart Taylor
