Friday 24 October 2014

Edwin Betony 1889-1916

Edwin Bettony (from Steve Betony's Ancestry Tree)
Born:
1889 in Pogmoor, Barnsley

Baptised 9 May 1889 at St George's Church, Barnsley

Son of: 

James William Betony b.1859 in Louth, Lincs d.1943 Huddersfield
1911 census: Boarder in Sandal Magna, a Coal Miner Byworker below ground
married at St George's Church, Barnsley on 7 Jan 1884 (9c 170)
Bathsheba (maiden name Fox) b.1865 in Mortomley, Yorkshire d.Dec 1918 buried Barnsley Cemetery (Z 214) with her eldest daughter Mary Ellen.

1911 census: 22 Shaw Street, Barnsley (status: Married (separated))
 
Position in family:
The third of 3 children
1. Mary Ellen b.April 1884 d.Sept 1884 buried Barnsley Cemetery (Z 214)

2. George William Betony b.1885 in Barnsley m. Marian Kilburn in 1905
3. Edwin Betony b.1889 WW1 DIED OF WOUNDS
 

Home address, age and occupation:
1891: 1 Wade Street, Barnsley age 2
1901: Shambles Street, Barnsley age 12 Scholar
1911: 10 Milton Road, Jump, Barnsley age 22 Coal Miner Hewer
1914: 10 Joseph Street, Barnsley age 24 occupation Miner

Marriage: 

Edwin was married at St John's Church, Barnsley on 16 May 1908
to Priscilla Poskitt b.1888 in Higham, Barnsley d.1971 in Huddersfield

Children:
1. Edith Betony b.6 Dec 1908
2. Doris Betony b.1910 d.Feb 1912 buried Barnsley Cemetery ((d) 488)

3. James William Betony b.15 Sep 1912 m.Edith Bennett in 1934 in Bradford
4. Frances Louvain b.Q1 1915 d.Dec 1918 buried Barnsley Cemetery ((b) 384)

Military Service:
Previous Service in York and Lancaster Regiment, discharged 1908

Enlisted: 2 September 1914  at the age of 25 years at Pontefract
Promoted to Corporal 8 Oct 1914
Promoted to Lance Sergeant 4 Dec 1914
Arrived in France 27 August 1915 
Regiment and Battalion: 9th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment
Service number and rank: 16695
Promoted to Sergeant 29 July 1915
Returned to England suffering from Trench Foot in March 1916
Returned to France 31 August 1916 and transferred battalion to:
Regiment and Battalion:    14th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment
Service number and rank:  12825 Sergeant

Wounded in Action: 11 December 1916 with shrapnel wounds to neck and abdomen
Died of Wounds: 18 December 1916
Awards: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

Personal information:   5' 4" tall, 37" chest, weight 152 lbs (on enlistment) grey eyes, light brown hair.


Death:     18 December 1916 aged 27 years, 7 months
Buried at: Puchevillers British Cemetery in Somme, France
Grave Reference: VI F 32

Information from Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
No family information on his CWGC record

Remembered:
Not remembered on any Barnsley memorial (as yet found 24 Oct 2014)

Edwin Betony on Lives of the First World War

Notes:

With thanks to Steve Betony, great-grandson of Edwin for allowing me to use the photograph at the top of this page.  
Steve told me, "Edwin is still well remembered in our family, albeit one none of us met, my Dad's middle name is Edwin. In fact there are a couple of family anecdotes one of which is that had he survived 24 hours, he would have been promoted to Sgt-Major, the other I can recall my grandfather telling me the only thing he could remember of his Dad was polishing the buttons on his uniform. We still have his medals, along with the "death penny"."

Fallen Barnsley Sergeant - Fatal Wounds
Sergeant E. Betony, York and Lanc. Regiment, 10 Joseph Street, Barnsley who died on December 18th from wounds received three days before, had seen service in the Army before the war and re-joined on the 1st September only a month after the present conflict began. He had seen lengthy service at the Front and was previously wounded in May, 1915. A member at first of one of the earlier Y. and L. battalions, he subsequently transferred to the local Pals contingent. Twenty-seven years of age, he worked at the Barrow Colliery, and leaves a wife and three children. Much sympathy is felt for his widow who had already lost two brothers in the war.  
Barnsley Independent 13 January 1917 (Thanks to Barnsley Archives)


Priscilla's two brothers referred to in Edwin's obituary are Walter Poskitt 1174 York & Lancs who died on 2 Sept 1916 and is remembered on the Cudworth War Memorial and William Poskitt 3/2926 York & Lancs who died on 28/29 Sept 1916 and was remembered on the War Memorial in St John's Barebones, Barnsley, now sadly lost.

Items returned to Priscilla from Edwin's effects in April 1918 included photos, a watch, cigarette case, fountain pen, a 9 carat gold ring, and letters. 
 
Priscilla Betony had already remarried in Q1 1918 to Richard Puckering in the Sheffield Registration District (9c 815).  Priscilla and Richard had three children Rose Ann, Thomas Edward and Annie who died young and are buried in Barnsley Cemetery ((b) 384) in the same grave plot as Frances Louvain Betony. They also had Alice, Richard, John, William and Evelyn who survived.

Sunday 19 October 2014

Fred Proctor 1882-1918

Fred Proctor (photo from EH - see below)
Born:
December Q 1882 in Shelf, near Halifax

Son of:
James Procter b.1862 Northowram d.before 1911

1901: Stone Miner, aged 39, 12 Alma Street, Queensbury, Elland
married at St John the Baptist, Halifax on 18 February 1882
Betty b.1862 Shelf, Halifax (maiden name Sharp) d. ?? 


Position in family: The eldest of six children, three died before 1911
1. Fred Proctor b.1882  died as a consquence of
WW1 Service
2. Ida Proctor b.1891

3. Leonard Proctor b.1898
4. Lilian Proctor b.1901

Home address, age and occupation:
1891: Brow Lane, Shelf, near Halifax aged 8, Scholar
1901: 12 Alma Street, Queensbury, Elland, West Yorks aged 18, Apprentice Joiner
1911: 17 Vaal Street, Barnsley aged 28, Joiner
1915: 17 Vaal Street, Barnsley aged 33 years,  a Joiner

Marriage: 

Fred married Elsie Gosling on 30 May 1914 in Ardsley (Barnsley 9c 367)

Children:
1. Ruth b.9 May 1915
2. Freda b. Dec Q 1918

Military Service:

Enlisted: 11 December 1915 at the age of 33 years 1 month

Posted to Army Reserve until the following June
Mobilised: 9 June 1916
Regiment and Battalion:  West Yorkshire Regiment
Service number and rank:  Private 33878

Transferred to: Notts & Derby Regiment on 22 June 1916
Service number and rank: Private 56267
Transferred to: Labour Corps  25 November 1916
Service number and Rank: Private 185831
Discharged 25 October 1918

Personal information:   5' 6.5" tall, 39" chest, 


Death:    1 December 1918 aged 36
Buried at: Ardsley Cemetery, Barnsley
Grave Reference: S "U" 690


Information from Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
Husband of Elsie Proctor, of Elm Row, Hoyle Mill, Barnsley.

Remembered:
 
Ardsley, Christ Church, Ardsley United Methodists - WW1 Roll of Honour 
Ardsley, Christ Church, Ardsley United Methodists - WW1 Plaque 
Ardsley, Christ Church, Christ Church Parishioners - WW1 Plaque

Notes: 

Fred's father's surname is spelt Procter (with an e) in 1891 and 1901 census returns and on his marriage to Betty in 1882.  The name seems to have changed to Proctor (with an o) on the family's arrival in Barnsley after James' death.

Fred is buried in Ardsley Cemetery in the same grave plot as his wife Elsie who died in September 1967 aged 78.  His Commonwealth War Grave Commission headstone sits surrounded by the kerb edging of his wife's grave. 

The inscription at the foot of the stone reads, 

Thy Purpose Lord 
We Cannot See 
But All is Well 
That's Done by Thee

This will have been especially requested and paid for by Elsie at a cost of 3 and a half old pence a letter, a total of 15/2 (fifteen shillings and two pence). 

This information was found on the CWGC website.


Letter written on Elsie's behalf (from Ancestry)
According to his Army Service Records (available on Ancestry) Elsie was awarded a pension of 25/5 (twenty five shillings and five old pence per week) increasing to 44/2 from 3 September 1919 for herself and two children.  

A previous application for the payment due to her as a soldier's wife had been supported by the local Ardsley Branch of the Soldiers & Sailors Families Association.


This letter gives us invaluable personal information including the date and place of Fred and Elsie's marriage and the birth date of their daughter Ruth.


Note how payment at Stairfoot Post Office is requested.  This is about a mile from Vaal Street.




Fred's family story has been written by his grandaughter's husband Edward Holling who also gave us the photos in this story.
(slightly edited for space and accuracy)

"Fred was a joiner and worked for Squire Micklethwaite on the Ardsley House and its estate houses.  He met Elsie Gosling who was a maid servant at the house.
They married in 1914 and the Squire rented them of his houses in Vaal Street, Measbro’ Dyke.  Their first daughter Ruth was born in 1915.

In 1915-16 Fred was conscripted into the army as 33878 Pte F. Proctor, West Yorkshire Regiment.  He  caught tuberculosis and was hospitalised from which he caught pneumonia and died on 1st December 1918 three weeks after the armistice signing.

He was buried at Ardsley Cemetery, Hunningley Lane, Stairfoot with a War Graves Commission headstone.

At this time Elsie was pregnant  and gave birth to a second daughter Freda on 15th December 1918.

In 1920 Squire Micklethwaite offered Granna Elsie a house and shop at 1 and 2 Elm Row, Hoyle Mill which she ran as a General Dealer.

In 1935 her eldest daughter took over the shop, as she had trained as a hairdresser the interior was panelled and local scenes were painted on them by her nephew Reg Gosling, local artist and School Attendance Officer.  Ruth Proctor was noted for her Wella perms and Marcel waves.

In 1937 she married Harry Davies, a barber from Racecommon Road who also played rhythm guitar with the Mayfair Dance Band.  My late wife Betty was born in 1938 and named after the film star Bette Davies.  Ruth retired from ill health in 1965, Freda her sister opened a shop in Cudworth as a hairdresser.

There are four or five headstones in Ardsley Cemetery and the local British Legion up to six years ago put poppies on the stones.  The Branch closed and I still every November put a poppy cross on the grave."


The brother of Elsie Proctor, Ben Gosling b.1878 served in WW1 in the Royal Scots Fusiliers and was killed on 19 November 1917.  He is buried in France.

Photo from EH
Granna Elsie's shop in Hoyle Mill (Photo from EH)