Harold Wright 1888-1915

Barnsley Chronicle 1 Jan 1916 (thanks to Barnsley Archives)

Born:
3 July 1888, Horbury Junction, Wakefield, Yorkshire

Son of:
James Wright b.1854 Coseley, Staffordshire d.1935 Barnsley
1911: 62 Station Road, Barnsley; Corn Mill Labourer, Barnsley British Corn Mill
married at Sheffield in Q2 1874
Sarah Ann (maiden name Elliott) b.1856 Sheffield (daughter of Peter Elliott) d.1943 Rawmarsh

Position in family: The fifth of 10 children, two died before 1911
1. Eliza Jane Wright b.1878 Sheffield, Yks  m.1903 to Hanson Webster
2. Nelson Matthew Wright b.1881 Sheffield, Yks  m.1903 to Gertrude Scholey
3. Gertrude Wright b.1883 Sheffield, Yks   m.1905 to John Arthur Carratt
4. John Willie Wright b.1885 Horbury, Yks  m.1911 to Martha Field  WW1 SERVICE
5. Harold Wright b.1888 Horbury, Yks  WW1 KILLED
6. Amelia Wright b.17 Oct 1890 Barnsley, Yks  d.Jun 1893
7. Mary Emily Wright b.1892 Barnsley, Yks
8. Ethel Wright b.1894 Barnsley, Yks  m.1915 to Percy Camplin Hafford WW1 SERVICE
9. Hilda Wright b.1897 Barnsley, Yks  m.1917 to Carl Lowes

Home address, age and occupation:
1891: 37 Stocks Lane, Barnsley; age 2
1901: 55 Farrar Street, Barnsley age 12 Scholar
1911: 62 Station Road, Barnsley; age 22; Corn Mill Labourer, Barnsley British Corn Mill
1914: 3 Derby Street, Barnsley Age 26 Miller's Labourer

Marriage: Harold was unmarried

Military Service:
Enlisted: 1904 age 16 for five years
Regiment and Battalion:    5th York and Lancaster Regiment
Enlisted: 17 August 1914 aged 26
Arrived in France: 28 June 1915
Regiment and Battalion: 1st/5th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment
Service number and rank:  2404  Drummer
Awards: 14/15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

Personal information:   5' 7" tall, 150lbs, 35" chest, normal vision, good physical development

Death:     16 December 1915 age 27
Buried at:  Bard Cottage Cemetery, Ypres, Belgium
Grave Reference:  I.L.7.

Remembered: 
Barnsley, St Mary's Church, Combined Memorial  and on the Barnsley British Co-Operative Society Memorial, Co-Op Funeralcare, Huddersfield Road and on the Barnsley British Co-Operative Society, WW1 Roll of Honour, Co-Op Funeralcare, Huddersfield Road and on a stone outside Barnsley, Farrar Street United Reformed Church.  Also on his baby sister's gravestone in Barnsley Cemetery, in which plot his parents also lie, although they are not remembered on the stone. 

Notes:
Lives of the First World War

In the Barnsley Chronicle 25 December 1915 (available in Barnsley Archives):

Territorial Drummer - Co-operative Employee Killed in Action - Prominent Local Footballer

Week by week the death toll of the Barnsley Territorials becomes larger.  Drummer Harold Wright, whose home was at 3, Derby Street, Barnsley, is the latest victim, having been killed in action last Thursday.  The deceased soldier was well known in Barnsley and held in high esteem by a wide circle of friends.  He went out to France with the first draft of "Terriers" and has been in some tight corners, but up to Thursday of last week he escaped injury.  He was 27 years of age.
In civilian life, Drummer Wright was an employee of the Barnsley British Co-operative Society, being for seven years at the Sackville Street branch and later at the Society's flour mill.  He was a keen football enthusiast and was a playing member of the Farrar Street Sunday School club.
News of his death was conveyed by a letter sent by a comrade, Private Wilmot I Fearn, whose home is at 16, Hilton Street, Stocks Lane, Barnsley. "You have my deepest sympathy (he wrote) regarding the unfortunate death of your son Harold.  We were out together on the night of 16th December as a working party.  We were six yards from each other when the enemy's machine gun started and it was Harold's fate to be hit.  He died a soldier and a man; he always did his duty."

From De Ruvigney's Roll of Honour (available on Ancestry):

A comrade wrote: "Harold was a good chum and a fine comrade; all who knew him spoke well of him, for he had a smiling face and a cheerful word for everyone."