Barnsley Soldiers Remembered: William Poskitt 1896-1916

Barnsley Chronicle 4 November 1916
with thanks to Barnsley Archives

Born:
8 Oct 1896 Barnsley

Son of:
William Poskitt b.1865 Allerton Bywater d.1907 28 Mill Street, buried Barnsley Cemetery
In 1901: Afflicted, Blind, Not at Work, previously Collier
married at St George's Barnsley on 21 September 1885
Rose Ann Price b.1867 Sheffield (Factory Hand at marriage, dau of Isaac Price)
She remarries on 22 January 1921 to John Land, a widower, at St George's, Barnsley and dies in January 1947. Buried in Barnsley Cemetery with her second husband.

Position in family: in 1911 Rose Ann reports 11 children, 2 of whom had died
1. Walter Poskitt b.1885 Barnsley WW1 KILLED served in 14th Y&L (2nd Barnsley Pals)
2. Priscilla Poskitt b. 1887 Higham m.1908 to Edwin Betony WW1 KILLED
3. Mary Poskitt b.1890 Pontefract
4. Thomas Poskitt b.1891 Pogmoor d.1948 buried Barnsley Cemetery with his father
5. Annie Poskitt b. April 1892 d. October 1892 buried Barnsley Cemetery
6. Frances Poskitt b.1893 Barnsley
7. William Poskitt b.1896 WW1 KILLED
8. George Ernest Poskitt b. April 1899 d. March 1900 buried Monk Bretton
9. George Poskitt b.27 March 1901 Monk Bretton

*after the death of William snr*
10. Florence Barraclough Poskitt b.1909
11. Emily B Poskitt b.1910

Home address, age and occupation:
1891: 55 Cresswell Street, Pogmoor (before William was born)
1901: 3 Day's Court, Old Mill, Barnsley aged 4
1911: 22 Allatt Street, Barnsley aged 14, Pony Driver in Coal Mine
1914: 22 Allatt Street, Barnsley age 17 Coal miner at Grimethorpe Colliery

Marriage: William was unmarried.

Military Service:
Enlisted: August 1914 aged 17
Regiment and Battalion: York and Lancaster Regiment 6th Battalion
Service number and rank: 3/2926 Private
Entered Theatre of War: Egypt 18 September 1915
Awards: 1915 Star, Victory Medal, British War Medal

Death: 29 September 1916 aged 21
CWGC Remembered: Theipval Memorial, Pier & Face 14A & B

Remembered:
Barnsley, St John's Church, Barebones (Oak Tablet lost when church demolished, replacement memorial soon to be placed in St Peter's Church, Doncaster Road, Barnsley)

Notes:

Lives of the First World War
Commonwealth War Graves Commission

A report of William and his brother Walter's deaths' appears in the Barnsley Chronicle on 4 November 1916.

"Barnsley Brothers Killed - A Mother's Heavy Bereavement
Official news has been received that Private William Poskitt, 6th Y. and L. Regiment, has fallen in action, and following this intimation comes the announcement of the fact that his brother Lance-Corporal Walter Poskitt, 2nd Barnsley Battalion, has been killed. They are both Barnsley lads, their distressed mother residing at 2, Lower Joseph Street. William joined the army at the outbreak of war, at which time he worked at Grimethorpe Colliery, but Walter served 16 years in the army and was an employee at Monckton Colliery."

Both brothers' pictures appear in the newspaper. Walter is remembered on the War Memorial at St John's Church, Cudworth.

A brief biography of William appears in De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour. Volume 4, p.160.
Available on Ancestry.

"Poskitt, William, Private No. 3/2926, 6th (Service) Battn, The York and Lancaster Regt., s. of William Poskitt, Miner, by his wife, Rose Ann; b. Barnsley, co. York, 8 October 1896; edcu. St John's School there; was a Miner; enlisted in the York and Lancaster Regt. in Aug. 1914; served with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at the Dardanelles; proceeded to Egypt; returned to England, after which he served with the Expeditionary Force in France and was killed in action 29 Sept. 1916. Buried where he fell. Lieut. Wedgwood wrote: "Your son was killed by a shell on Sept. 29th 1916. In a successful attach on a German trench he fell with several of his companions. I hope your grief at his loss will be softened by your pride in him as a soldier." Unm."

Photographs of William's medals appear on an Online Tree on Ancestry and have been used with permission of the owner.