WILSDEN SOLDIERS IN THE GREAT WAR (N-R)

Willie Neville

Willie was the youngest child of Henrietta and Peter Neville a greengrocer, he was born in the Leeds Road area of Bradford on 4 July 1889. Willie’s older siblings were Clara, Mary, Sam, Lily and Edward. Their father died in 1906 followed by their mother two years later.

In 1912 Willie, who had followed in his father’s footsteps and became a fruit salesman, emigrated to Australia where he then became a telephone mechanic.

Willie enlisted in Sydney in May 1916 and trained with the Australian Forces in England.

He married Rachel Hardy at Wilsden Independent Chapel on 14 June 1917. He was reduced to Private for being absent without leave on 20 June, six days after their marriage. He transferred to the Machine Gun Coy a month later and was sent to France.

In June 1918 Willie got a gunshot wound to his left hand which resulted in his being evacuated to England. He appears on the 1918 electoral roll at his parents-in-law’s address, 56 Lane Side. Just before Christmas 1918 he was sent back to Australia, finally being discharged from the army in the following June.

SURVIVED

Rachel, who had been a school mistress before their marriage, followed him out to Australia and became a teacher there. Her brother Sidney Hardy also served in WW1 and survived.

(1918 Naval & Military vote)

Harry Parkinson

Harry was born in Wilsden in 1895, the son of Mary and David Parkinson a greengrocer. In 1901 the family (which by that time included Harry’s baby brother George and his cousin John) was living at 138 Main Street.

By 1911 only Harry, whose occupation was photographer, was living with his parents at their greengrocer’s shop, now three doors away at no. 132.

At the beginning of 1916 he enlisted into the RASC to be trained as a motor transport driver but this did not last long. He was married to Mabel Burton in July 1916, soon after being discharged from the Army due to advanced heart disease caused by his having had rheumatic fever when he was 13. He then became a warehouseman and they lived in Bingley.

SURVIVED but DIED 12.6.18 aged 23

He was buried at St Matthews churchyard on Lane Side

(Pension Rec)

Lawrence Arthur Passman

Lawrence was born at Whixley, near Ripon, son of Matilda and Arthur Passman, a farm labourer. He had an older half-sister, Hannah, and an older brother, John.

In 1911, Lawrence was living at Old Allen Cottage, Harecroft with his parents, his father was a quarryman and Lawrence was a mule spinner in a worsted mill.

In April 1914 Lawrence married Louisa Fieldhouse at St Matthews Church on Lane Side. They were living in Wilsden at the time of Lawrence’s enlistment into the Northumberland Fusiliers.

Lawrence died on 20 July 1915 whilst on active service in this country with his training battalion.

DIED 20.7.15 aged 19

Lawrence’s widow, Louisa, also lost her two brothers, Albert and Joseph Fieldhouse, who were killed in action in France, in 1917 and 1916 respectively.

(Wilsden War Memorial)

Ernest Pearson

Ernest was the fourth of five children (George, Albert, Christopher, Ernest and Rose) of Sarah and David Pearson, a stone mason. He was born in Girlington on 27 November 1892. Their mother was widowed when Ernest was five. She re-married in 1905 and the family, with their new stepfather, moved to Four Lane Ends where Ernest worked as a woolcomber before being called up.

He served in France, and was hospitalised twice, being wounded in the head and then with a badly sprained ankle.

SURVIVED

After the war Ernest lived at 6 Anderson Street, Wilsden, for the next fifteen years with his older brother George (who had also served in WW1) and George’s wife, Mary.

(1918 & 1919 Naval & Military vote)

George Henry Pearson

George was born in Manningham on 18 January 1885, the oldest of five children of Sarah and David Pearson a stone mason. His younger siblings were Albert, Christopher, Ernest and Rose. Their father died in 1897 and by 1901 George was supporting the family by delivering milk.

When their mother remarried, the family moved to Four Lane Ends where George was a woolcomber for Holden & Burnley there before he enlisted in May 1916. He was sent to France in November 1916.

In April 1917, he was wounded when he had ‘been over the top’ and was returning when a bullet caught him just above the knee. He was evacuated to hospital in England and then returned to France.

George was reported missing 12 April 1918. Notification of his being held Prisoner of War reached his mother in June.

SURVIVED (P.O.W.)

He married Mary Elsie Wright in West Bowling in October 1919 and they lived at 6 Anderson Street. His younger brother Ernest, who had also served in WW1, lived with them for fifteen years.

George and Mary had a daughter, also called Mary. George was the carter for Wilsden Co-Op for the rest of his working life.

(Bradford Weekly Telegraph 4.5.17)

George Robinson Phizacklea

George was born in 1878 in Barrow-in-Furness, the third of eight children of Mary and George Phizacklea. George snr was a Blacksmith.

He was married to Edith in 1900 and they had six children. In 1911 the family was living near the Barrow docks and George was a ship’s and general cooper.

Widowed during the next couple of years, George married Anne Feather at the beginning of 1914.

He joined up September 1915 and went out to France Dec 1915. A report of his having being wounded in the legs twice, first with burns, then with gunshot, was reported in the Keighley News at the end of April 1918. His home address at this time was given as 4 Albert Street.

SURVIVED

After the war George and Anne lived at 3 Greenley Hill and he continued to be a cooper

(Conservative Club Roll of honour)

(Keighley News 30.4.18)

John Morvil Pickles

John was born at Wrose in 1879, the youngest of three children (Sarah, William and John) of Grace and Smith Pickles a stone quarryman. The year after John’s birth they were living at 135 Main Street, Wilsden. John’s mother died when he was still an infant and his father married Mary in 1893. By 1901 they had moved to 150 Harecroft. John worked as a stone mason and in 1904 he married Clara Holmes (whose brothers Fred and Percy also served in the Army). They had two children, Fred and Laura, born 1905 and 1909.

In 1911, John, Clara and the children were living at 4 Harecroft.

SURVIVED

(Harecroft Chapel Roll of honour)

Luther Pickles

Luther was born at Ling Bob at Christmas 1888, the son of Ann and Newell Pickles, an engine tenter. He had an older brother Hiram and the family were living at Victoria Street in 1901.

Luther married Lily Sugden in 1909 and they had two children, Lloyd and Cora.

By 1911 Luther and Lily had a shop selling Tripe and Sweets at 15 Hill Top Rd Thornton. At the time of his enlistment he was a supplementing this with work as a gardener’s labourer.

Luther was sent to France in January 1911 and was reported missing, presumed killed, six months later. His body was never recovered. He had been appointed Lance Corporal a week before his death but this was not carried through.

DIED 7.6.17 aged 28

James Power

James was born in 1890 in Corby in Lincolnshire, the third of five children of Ann and James Power, a railway signalman. His older siblings were Matilda and John, younger ones were Annie and Willie.

Their father died in 1895 and their mother in 1907.

By 1911 Matilda was looking after her three youngest siblings at 25 Lister Villa, Wilsden and their oldest brother was in the army. James was a motor driver for an oil merchant (probably Tom & Hugh Brigg at Harecroft).

James married Harriet Phillip in Wilsden in November 1916 and they lived at 22 Royd Terrace. James became the driver of a motor for Smith, Williamson & Co Ltd, Provision merchants and cheese factors at 2&4 Piece Hall Yard, Bradford and his experience as a motor driver meant that he was placed in the Motor Transport section of the RASC when he enlisted.

Both of James’ brothers, John and Willie also served in WW1. John was a career soldier. Willie was killed on 13 May 1917. James had attested three days previously and joined up on 14 May, the day on which they will have received the news.

He served in Mesopotamia until he was demobilised in early 1920.

SURVIVED

James and Harriet’s son was born in 1921, they called him Willie after his uncle.

Harriet died in 1924 and James married Alice Crabtree two years later and their son James jnr (Jimmy), half-brother to Willie jnr, was born in 1927.

(Service Rec)

John Power

Born in Keighley in 1887, the second of five children (Matilda, John, James, Annie and Willie) of Ann and James Power, a railway signalman. The family travelled where James’ work took them but by 1901 he was dead and Ann was living with her children in Cullingworth. She died soon after and in 1911 John was serving in the 1^st Bn West Yorkshire Regt in India, having reached the rank of corporal. Matilda, his eldest sister was looking after the rest of the family at 25 Lister Villa.

In February 1914 John married Ellen Betts in Bradford, he had been promoted to sergeant. Their daughter, Gwendoline, was born at the start of the following year.

When war was declared, John’s regiment was back at its barracks in Lichfield and was immediately deployed to France. He was taken POW on 6 Dec 1915.

Both his brothers also served in the army in WW1.

SURVIVED (P.O.W.)

John was one of the first soldiers to be repatriated after the war, arriving back in England on 18 November 1918.

His later health was poor following his three years in a prison camp.

William Henry Power

Willie was born in Bradford in 1897, he had four older siblings; Matilda, John, James and Annie, Their father, James senior, was a railway signalman who died before Willie’s 4^th birthday. In 1901 the family was living at Mill Street in Cullingworth and their mother, Ann, was a worsted twister. Eldest sister, Matilda, twelve years Willie’s senior, became housekeeper to the family when Ann died. By 1911 they had moved to 25 Lister Villa. After leaving school, Willie worked in one of Bradford’s department stores.

His elder brother John was already in the Army, he was a regular soldier.

James and Willie also enlisted into the Army, Willie was killed on 13 May 1917 by a shell bursting a few yards behind his trench.

DIED 13.5.17 aged 19

James and John survived and James called his first son Willie in memory of his brother.

(Wilsden War Memorial)

Albert Pratt

Albert was born in Wilsden on 27 January 1885, the youngest of five children of Martha and William Carling Pratt, a joiner. Albert’s older siblings were Elizabeth, Ben, Lewis and Eva.

Albert became a joiner like his father. He married Jane Ann Waddington in June 1907 at St Matthews Church, Wilsden, and they had five children Elsie, Joseph (Joe), Donald, Frances and William.

In 1911 the family lived at 2 Spring Hill Place, next door to Albert’s parents. They continued to live there when he enlisted in November 1916.

He was sent to France the following June, but two months later was wounded in his neck by shrapnel which resulted in his being sent back for treatment at a hospital in England.

Albert was still on active service when his son Francis died, aged five, in September 1918

SURVIVED

Albert became an undertaker as well as a joiner and established the business at 146 Main Street, Wilsden, where it is still run by the family today.

Arthur Rayner

Arthur was born on 10 September 1897 in Allerton. He was the only son (with an older and a younger sister, Alice and Mary) of Emma and James Emmott Rayner, a farmer.

In 1911 the family lived at 1 Thomas Edmund Villas, Shay Lane, Wilsden where they continued to live throughout the war.

Arthur was called up in October 1916, he had been working as an office assistant.

In June 1917 he was sent to Egypt, then from May 1918 he served in France.

In September 1918 Arthur was sent to the Welsh Hospital Netley (near Southampton) for treatment to burns to his elbow and neck caused by explosives. This took him away from the front until after the Armistice and he was transferred to the reserve brigade at Larkhill, for home defence, on 18 November 1918. He was finally discharged from the army three months later.

SURVIVED

After the war Arthur was a coal merchant. He married Doris Barnfield in 1925. They lived at 139 Main Street and then from 1935 at 151 Main Street (part of Cragg House)

(Service Rec).

Harry Redman

Harry was born in Harecroft in 1897, the son of Mary and Walter Redman, a policeman. Soon after his birth they moved to Denholme where his sister Amy was born. The family subsequently moved to Low Moor and by the 1911 census they were living at Bankfoot.

Harry joined up in December 1915 and was at first sent to Egypt but was sent to France in time to be part of the battle of the Somme. He was reported missing, presumed dead, on the first day of the battle when casualties were huge.

DIED 1.7.16 aged 19

(Soldiers Died in Great War)

Samuel Rhodes

Sam was born on 27 November 1879 in Barkerend, Bradford, the son of Elmara and James Rhodes, a dyer’s labourer. Sam had an older sister, Elizabeth, and three younger siblings, James, Ann and Frank. Their father was later a mason’s labourer and Sam also became a stonemason, working for the Bradford Woolcombers’ Syndicate.

Sam married Catherine Roche in March 1900 and they had five surviving children. The family lived at Mildred Street, Undercliffe and Sam, a ‘Townie’ at heart, wasn’t best suited when he found out that Catherine had moved them to 7 The Square, Wilsden Hill whilst he was away on active service.

Sam was a machine gunner in the same battalion as Percy Holmes and Arthur Lund. Indeed, Percy and Sam were killed in the same attack on Bullecourt in the Battle of Arras on the same day, 3 May 1917.

DIED 3.5.17 aged 37

(Wilsden War Memorial)

By 1911 the family had moved to 19 Lister Villa where they lived throughout the war.

SURVIVED

After the war Sidney was a woolcomb minder.

He did not marry and he lived with his parents at 13 Victoria Street and then (from 1931) at 13 Moorland View. He continued to live there until his death.

(1919 Naval & Military vote)

Charles Henry Riley

Charles was born in 1893 in Bramley, Leeds to John William and Maria Riley. Both parents were textile workers. By 1911 the family, which included Charles’ three younger brothers, Walter, John William and James, were living at 6 Cranford Place, Wilsden. Charles was a comber in a worsted mill, probably S R Rawnsley at Albion Mill. He joined up in October 1914, soon after the outbreak of war.

Charles died on 5 November 1917 in Mesopotamia (now Iraq).

DIED 5.11.17 aged 24

(Wilsden Parish Church Great War Remembrance booklet)

Ernest Riley

Ernest was the youngest son of Mary Jane and William Riley and was born in 1893. He and his older brothers, Willie and Fred, were all born in Wilsden. They also had three older half-sisters, Ellen, May and Emma.

By 1911, only Ernest (whose occupation was described as ‘beam carrier in worsted warp sizing’) was living with his widowed father in Idle.

Ernest was drowned when HMS Hampshire was lost after it hit a mine off Orkney. The ship had just set sail en-route to Russia, with Lord Kitchener (Secretary of State for war) on board, on a diplomatic mission to boost Russia’s efforts on the Eastern Front. Only 12 men of 650 were saved.

DIED 5.6.16 aged 23

(Soldiers Died in Great War)

John Thomas Robertshaw

John was born in Wilsden in 1896, one of five children of Thomas Robertshaw, a stone mason, and Betty Robertshaw, a worsted weaver. He had an older brother, Lewis, and three sisters, Rebecca and Adeline (older) and Beatrice (younger). John married Hannah Wilson in August 1910, and they went to live at 11, Albert Street, Wilsden. Their son, Tom, was born in May 1911. At this time John was working as a card grinder in a spinning mill (probably Amblers), however, in the next couple of years he became a regular soldier. He was a member of the British Expeditionary Force which was mobilised to France as soon as war had been declared on Germany.

John died of wounds, which he sustained defending Ypres against a German attack, the first Wilsden serviceman to die in the Great War. He was mentioned in dispatches for his actions (London Gazette 18.10.14)

DIED 16.11.14 aged 29

John’s son Tom joined the RAF in the Second World War and was also killed in action.

(Wilsden War Memorial)

Rodger Robertshaw

Rodger was born at Hewenden on 9 August 1880, the son of Sarah and William a joiner and builder. He had a younger sister and brother, Elizabeth and Joseph.

Rodger became a stone mason. He married Esther Carass at Haworth in March 1911. They had two daughters, Sarah and Marion, and the family lived at 156a Harecroft, next door to his parents.

Rodger attested in December 1915 and was called up the following August. He served in France throughout the war.

SURVIVED

He lived in Wilsden for the rest of his life, working as a brick-layer.

(Harecroft Chapel Roll of honour)

(Service Rec)

Arthur Robinson

Arthur was born on 18 September 1894, the second of six children of Ellen and Vincent Robinson, an engine tenter for a coal pit. Arthur’s siblings were Elsie, Annie, Albert, Alice and Edgar. In 1911 the family lived next to the Duke of York Hotel, Dean Lane Head and Arthur was working as a farm labourer. At the start of WW1 the family had moved to 1 Oak Street, Wilsden, but by 1918 their father Vincent was proprietor of the Hare & Hounds Inn, Great Horton.

Prior to enlistment, in May 1916, Arthur had been a warehouseman. He was sent to France the following April.

In September 1918, whilst on a fortnight’s leave prior to being posted to Italy, he married Sarah Isabella Stones, of 4 Spring Hill Place, at St Matthews Church.

SURVIVED

In 1919 when Arthur was demobilised he was on the electoral roll at his parents-in-law’s house in Wilsden.

By 1939 Arthur, Isabella and their children, Tom, Eileen and Eric, had moved to Great Horton Road, a little down the road from the Hare & Hounds Inn, and Arthur was a wholesale meat pie manufacturer.

(1919 Naval & Military vote) (Service Rec)

Frank Robinson

Frank was born in Wilsden in 1895, the only son of Emily and Edward (Ned) Robinson, a driver for the worsted mill at Birkshead. Frank had an older sister, Annie. The family over the years lived in several tied cottages at Birkshead, and at the time Frank was serving in the Army they were living at No.2.

Prior to enlisting Frank had been working as a farm hand.

He attested in December 1915 and was called up the following September, being sent to France in December 1916.

He died on 20 January 1917 and was buried at Warlincourt Halte cemetery west of Arras

Died 20.1.17 aged 21

(Wilsden War Memorial)(Service Rec)

Leonard Calvert Robinson

Leonard was born on 3 May 1897 at 3 Gawthorpe Street, the only child of Paulina and Herbert Robinson, a silk carder, By 1901 they were living at 8 Paradise View, Wilsden. Leonard was a warehouseman for Ambler & Sons at Prospect Mill before joining up in May 1916 and was sent to France in the August. In November 1916 he suffered badly from Trench Feet and six months later, from shrapnel wounds to his shoulder. In October 1917 a German aeroplane dropped a bomb close by where he was resting ‘out of lines’ and his left leg was damaged by the shrapnel burst.

A year later Leonard was again in hospital, in England suffering from a ‘poisoned stomach’.

SURVIVED

Leonard returned to his job as a warehouseman, living with his parents who were still at 8 Paradise View until, in February 1930, he married Bertha Smithem at St Matthews Church. They then lived at 15 Tweedy Street where they stayed for the rest of their lives.

(1919 Naval & Military vote)

Matthew Henry Tetley Robinson

Matthew was born in Wilsden in 1882, the son of Margaret and Matthew Robinson, a painter, he had five older siblings, Thomas, William, Sarah, Hartley and Stephen.

All the brothers followed in their father’s footsteps and became painters and decorators.

Matthew married May Atkinson in Bingley in May 1911 and they had a son, Fred.

His eldest brother, Thomas, volunteered for service soon after the war began.

Matthew was called up on New Year’s Day 1917. His service record shows that he was extremely tall for the time (over 6 foot) and that he and his family were living at 12 Queen Street. He was sent to France at the end of July 1917 as a gunner with the 289 Siege Battery. He was hospitalised with a hernia in October that year, probably due to the continual lifting of heavy shells for the battery’s huge howitzers.

SURVIVED

May and Fred moved to Bingley towards the end of the war and they lived there when he was demobilised.

(Service Rec)

Newman Robinson

Born in Allerton on 29 January 1891, Newman was one of twelve children of Sarah and Samuel Robinson a colliery engine tenter. His siblings were Fred, Sarah jnr, John, Hannah, Lena, Bertha, Emma, Linton, Sam, Lily and Elizabeth.

By 1911 the family lived at School Ridge, Thornton and Newman was working as a butcher in Thornton. He married Ethel Crabtree in 1912 and they had a son, Frank. They lived at 6 Birkshead, Wilsden, before and during WW1.

Newman enlisted in June 1916. His younger brother Sam, also in the Northumberland Fusiliers was killed on 16 November 1916.

Newman was badly wounded and lost an arm and a leg in June 1917. He spent two years in various war hospitals for rehabilitation and was discharged from the army in July 1918.

SURVIVED

After the war, Newman and Ethel lived for several years at 31 The Norr. By 1939 they were again living at 10 Birkshead and Newman was a dairy farmer assisted by a live-in houseman/cowman and by their son and daughter-in-law who lived next door at no. 8.

(Bradford Weekly Telegraph 29.6.17)

Thomas Tetley Robinson

Thomas was born in Wilsden in 1868 the eldest son of Margaret and Matthew Robinson, a painter. He had five younger siblings, William, Sarah, Hartley, Stephen and Matthew. All the brothers became painters like their father.

Thomas married Margaret Ann Cook in Burnley in July 1888 and their son Matthew Henry was born a year later in Burnley (and baptised in Wilsden). They had a further eight children, Elizabeth, Ivy, Frank, Louisa, Arthur, Hartley, Eva and Elsie

Thomas volunteered for the military police in October 1914. He was 45 years old and had previously served three years with the 11^th Hussars, although his main work was house painting, like his father. He served in France for six months but in May 1915 he was discharged as medically unfit for further service.

SURVIVED

Thomas lived in Burnley for the rest of his life.

His youngest brother, Matthew, also served in WW1.

(Pensions Rec)

Whiteley Robinson

In 1891 the family lived at 222 Main Street (which would later be the doctor’s house).

In 1901 they lived at 144 Main Street and Whiteley was a joiner.

He married Alice Chapman in 1907 and by 1911 they had two children, Jack and Lucy and were living at 4 Albert Street. Whiteley was still a joiner and was working for Hanson’s soap works.

SURVIVED

Whiteley and Alice lived at the Brewers Arms for a decade after the war, from about 1926. Their son Jack joined the army in 1924 and reached the rank of major. He was killed in action in WW2.

(Conservative Club Roll of honour)

Malcolm Roper

Malcolm, and Lillian his twin, who were born on 28 July 1885, were the children of Nancy and Thomas Roper, a silk seal finisher. Older siblings were; Ellis, Edgar, and Percy, and one younger brother, James. The family lived at 10 Dean Lane Head in 1901 (next to Duke of York, his grandfather was the publican there), they had moved to Allerton village by 1911.

Malcolm was killed in action in France on the first day of the battle of Flers-Courcelette, part of the Battle of the Somme.

DIED 15.9.16 aged 21

(In Memoriam, grave at St Mathew’s Churchyard). (Daisy Hill & Allerton book)

Harry Rushworth

Harry was born on 7 June 1884 at 5 Damask Fold, (now Cranford Place) fourth of six children of Elizabeth and Alfred Rushworth a cotton twister. His siblings were William, Alice, Fred, Ellen, and Mary. By 1901 the family was living at 164 Main St, Harry went to live in America in 1910 but came back to England to enlist in December 1917. He served in the Worcestershire Regt and was reported missing on 22 March 1918 in the massive German Spring Offensive known as Operation Michael.

SURVIVED

After the war Harry returned to Wilsden to live at 152 Main Street and became a wool comb minder. He did not go back to America and he never married.

(1919 Naval & Military vote)

(Keighley News 25.5.18)