Somme Centenary Artwork Panels

The 30 panels each consist of five vertical perspex strips each containing images of two soldiers (or a profile if no photo was found at the time of the memorial's design) and a piece of art by local school children in the form of a circular memorial plaque. Therefore there are a total of 300 names. 

The names given below are a transcription of the memorial and like any other memorial they should not be taken as proof of a man's identity or status, which should always be corroborated by your own research.

A full list of the names of the men commemorated can be found on the memorial's own page, along with notes about the accuracy of the piece and research that has been done since it was created. The subsquent move of the memorial to Churchfields has also been documented.

With grateful thanks to Fay Polson who took these photos in July 2016 and on whose Facebook page they orginally appeared.  

Panel 1.

Reid B	Penn W	Harris A	Dickinson T	Braham G
Wilson J	Whitehead H W	Stott E	Skelton J H T	Scanlan H

Panel 2.

Morgan W J	Lovatt W	Goulding J	Darisey J T	Andrew W
Walton C W	Southern J T	Sagar T	Rushworth W	Peatfield R

Panel 3.

Doyle E	Dobson H	Cooper J W	Cooke G	Clarke J H F
Swift G E	Rawlin W S	Harrison A E	Hargate J	Earnshaw J W

Panel 4.

Askin D	Baylis L	Dawber J	Duncan R L	Galloway G
Gregory C	Holmes V	Penton G A	Thompson J W	West T

Panel 5.

Bower E	Brook J	Chappell A	Hewitt C E	Paisley J
Storrs A	Sykes A	Taylor H H	Walker F	Watkinson R A

Panel 6.

Epton F	Hirst W	Hold J W	Moore T	Sayers C
Sudworth R	Sykes J	Thomas L	Wildman J	Winwood A

Panel 7.

Bakewell F	Ball G F	Hubbard J	Jackson J	Parsons H A
Ramsden S T	Walker E	Walker F	Walker C	West T G

Panel 8.

Bearshall J R	Bell P	Finan P	Higginbott R J	Howard L G
Ingham E	Morley H	Naylor A	Rimmer J W	Ward F

Panel 9.

Atkinson W	Cottingham W	Flaxman A E	Green B R	Hawes H
Hinchcliffe W	Jackson P	Keddy E	Lucas M	Morton S

Panel 10.

Burton H	Conway T	Copley F	Feasby F J	Lazenby H
Lynam L	Moss W H	Shepherd T	Spencer A	Symons F

Panel 11.

Batty W	Beckett W M	Harwood W	Hawcroft H	Hollingsworth E
Howarth C F	Petch W	Smith G D V	Smith H	Wilmott G

Panel 12.

Challenger J L	Hague W	Howe A J	Moore L	Harris W
Robinson A	Roystone A	Swinmurn J	Wood F	Woolley S

Panel 13.

Bagnall T	Bentley F	Crawford T	Free W	Heaversedge R
Hodgkinson W H	Marshbank J	Nicholson F B	Thompson C C	Weston A

Panel 14.

Clowery E	Collier S	Fox R	Gay H	Gelder A
Gilbert R	Gleeson W	Jones A E	Miller H	Smith W

Panel 15.

Collishaw J	Cosgrove G	Exley F	Exley T	Fearne E
Frost J W	Gill S	Henighan J	Thompson J	Watkin W

Panel 16.

Bailey J	Dale N E	Demar WH	Dobson I	Drury H
Ellis H C	Fennell E	Peace F H	Rose A E	Webster A

Panel 17.

Clegg J	Clegg T	Clegg T	Cooper S	Ives E
Lake J W	Sanderson M	Swift W	Waring J T	Williams J A

Panel 18.

Banks R J	Bryce H T	Buckley G	Burton L	Butler H L
Milner E	Milner W	Whitaker J	Wrigglesworth E	Wright J C

Panel 19.

Baker J	Batty J W	Beache S A	Bedford S	Betton E
Boocock T	Bower G	Kenworthy W	Lewis W	York H

Panel 20.

Allsop B	Almond A	Barnett W	Bradley H	Guest T H
Hall T	Hardisty E	Hill T	Turner R	Victory T W

Panel 21.

Berry W T	Birchall T	Hepplestone J W	Hinchliffe R L	Hirst C H
Holmes H	Lapidge J	Seddon W	Turner H	White W

Panel 22.

Batley E	Chapman J	Hurd G	Inskip F	Jones E
Kelk T A	Kenworthy A W	Lee D W	Smith J R	Turton A

Panel 23.

Barlow L	Chapman A	Charlesworth E	Glynn J	Leverton W
Lindsay F	Lloyd T	Lomas R G	Lyon G	Simpson H C

Panel 24.

Atha J B	Jackson W	Marsland A	Mason H H J	Merrill W
Norton L	Parker W W	Scholey J W	Widdop L	Wood J

Panel 25.

Fairley D	Frost A W	Harris J	Potter F J	Powers J
Robinson A	Royston E	Sellars A	Senior D	Ward G W

Panel 26.

Bassinder L	Buckley J W	Kevitt J W	Nuttal F	Pickering C
Smith S	Sweet J W	Sykes C M	Thompson A H	Tingle H

Panel 27.

Allemby H	Atkinson A	Atkinson G A	Jubb J H	Milthorpe H
Tindall W P	Tomlinson S	Totty W	Turner H	Wildin G

Panel 28.

Bailey F L	Barker W	Boyce S	Leech T A	Smithson A
Swales E A	Waltham A	Walton C B	Waterfield G H	Wilson E

Panel 29.

Carr A J	Carr C	Caunt H	Cave F H	Crossland J
Mansell T H	Mitchell W	Scargill H	Spence E	Swift J S

Panel 30.

Marsh D	Newberry J	Paley P	Powell T W	Prestwood H
Price E	Stocks T	Thomas P H	Wood H	York T

B&DWM #BAR70

Arthur Vellensworth 1899 - 1918

 

Chauny Communal Cemetery showing the Special Memorials along the wall
(with permission from the WW1 Cemeteries website)

Arthur Vellensworth (a very distinctive name!) is not commemorated on any war memorial in Barnsley that we are currently aware of.  He is remembered on a special memorial stone in Chauny Communal Cemetery Extension in France as his grave was lost. In the photo above the row of stones backing onto the boundary wall are all 'special memorials' commemorating men whose original graves have been lost. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website notes that 'The Extension was made after the Armistice for the burial of remains brought in from the battlefields of the Aisne and from [...] smaller cemeteries in the surrounding countryside'. There are over 1,000 war casualties recorded on the CWGC website for the Chauny Communal Cemetery Extension.

His birth was registered in Barnsley in Q1 1899 (Q1, the first quarter, generally means Jan/Feb/Mar although children born in December were often not registered until the following year in which case they were included in Q1 too). His family had only recently moved from Whitwood Mere near Castleford as his brother Charles Edward, only two years older, had been born there. His father Charles was a glass bottle worker. I am aware of other Castleford Glassworks moving to Barnsley at this time, so I assume Barnsley's glass works must have been expanding and attracting workers to move here. In the 1901 census return the family was living at 53 Tune Street, and in 1911 they were at 15 Pindar Oaks Street.

The family still had strong ties to Whitwood Mere as when his mother Eliza died in 1907 she was buried in Whitwood Mere from a Barnsley address, given in the burial register as 53 Tune Street.

Arthur would have been 19 years old in late 1917 or early 1918. Under conscription men were deemed to have enlisted at eighteen, and were called up for service in age groups (unless granted an exemption)  but they didn't serve overseas until they were 19, however by March 1918 Arthur was a prisoner of war. He was officially reported missing in May, and it took a while for the news that he was alive to filter back to Barnsley. So he had been sent to the front as soon as he was 19 and captured very soon afterwards. 

In November 1918, less than a week after the Armistice, his family discovered he had died in a prisoner of war camp on 4th August.  They placed the following death notice in the Barnsley Chronicle.

Barnsley Chronicle 16 November 1918 p.4 (with thanks to Barnsley Archives)

Now the confusion sets in. His family thought he had died in Bremen, in Germany and when Arthur's father, Charles, gave details of the family for the Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission)  Cemetery Registers, he reported what the War Office had told them. The form he completed is available for download on Arthur's CWGC entry page. On the form his father wrote 'Died in Breman Camp 4th Aug 1918. Buried in Military Cemetery Cessieres, Germany, so I was informed from the War Office', but his remarks were crossed out. Charles' address at the time was still 15 Pinder Oak Street just as it had been in the 1911 census.  Note that he says Cessieres is in Germany, when it is actually in France. Was this his mistake or the War Office's? Or did it simply mean that at the time Arthur was buried Cessieres was in German hands?

Charles Vellensworth's comments on the IWGC Cemetery Register form

Bremen is about 700km away from Cessieres - so goodness knows why or how the War Office told Mr Vellensworth that was where Arthur died. I suppose we will never know how this confusion arose. 

His International Red Cross records note that he was captured on 28 March 1918 and died at Cessieres of 'Internachrung mit Darmstohungen', which I have tentitively translated as 'internal danger with intestinal discomfort'. Possibly appendicitis, colitis or Crohn's Disease??

Arthur Vellensworth's Red Cross record (from Find My Past)

The records also gives his home address, birth place and date - Barnsley 28 December 1898. This fits with the registration of his birth in the first quarter of 1899. Using an online date calculator that gives his precise age at death as 19 years 7 months and 7 days. 

Further information can be found in the additional documents on Arthur's entry on the CWGC site. The Imperial War Graves Commission recorded, in 1923, that, having been 'killed in action 1918', he had  been 'buried at the time in  Premontre Communal Cemetery' but that his grave was now lost. On the setting up of the Chauny Communal Cemetery Extension he was included in a 'Kipling Memorial' in a 'Memorial Cross Plot', and this was presumably later replaced by the Special Memorial Gravestone mentioned at the top of the page. Note the alteration where Kipling is struck out and Spec added. 

Another of the CWGC additional documents from Arthur's entry

Arthur's death at Cessieres whilst a prisoner has been proven by the Red Cross records - so why would the IWGC think he was killed in action and buried at Premontre? No reason for this assumption is recorded.

Google Maps Cessieres to Premontre

According to Google Maps the distance between Cessieres and Premontre is 9.1km or about 5.6miles. That seems like quite a large distance to make a mistake about. Cessieres is not on the list of small cemeteries which were gathered into Chauny Communal Extension, but the CWGC page for Chauny states that Premontre and a German Cemetary at Suzy were amongst a number of even smaller places where the graves were lost. A search for Cessieres online brings back the information (on Wikipedia) that the communes of Cessieres and Suzy were combined in 2019 and the commune is now called Cessieres-Suzy.

 

Was Arthur buried at the Suzy cemetery which was obviously adjacent to Cessieres? Could there have been a mix-up in the records in 1923 for the 26 men known to have been buried somewhere in the area which resulted in his being recorded as having been originally buried at Premontre? Is there a man in the collection of special memorials at Chauny whose family think he was killed in action at Premontre but his memorial states that he died a prisoner at Cessieres/Suzy? Given the 1,000 men listed at Chauny there are rather too many records to search to check out a hunch (at this time).

This final image is from the official casualty list in January 1919. It states that he was previously missing, then died a prisoner of war in German hands.

Weekly Casualty List (War Office & Air Ministry) 21 January 1919 p. 31

So why is he not commemorated on a memorial in Barnsley?

Arthur's father died in 1925, but he had two brothers who lived until after the Second World War, who remained in the Barnsley area, and a sister who went to live in Leeds.  Did they doubt his death? Did they think there was so much confusion that he might yet turn up and come home? Was the action of having his name included on a local memorial a step that they were just not willing to make at that time?

If there are any Vellensworth family members in Barnsley that can shed any light on this puzzle I would love to hear from them. 

Langford Grieve 1893-1918

 

CWGC gravestone in Cudworth Churchyard

Born: Q3 1893 Workington, Cumberland 

Son of:

Amos Hayton Grieve b.1862 Merrington, Durham d.1893 Workington, Cumberland

1891 census: Drilling Machinist in Workington. Lived 14 Darey Street.

Married at Cockermouth RD in Q4 1890 to

Lucy Jarvis b.1868 Dronfield, Derbyshire

Langford was the second of their two children.

1. Ralph Grieve b. 12 May 1891 Workington. Served in RAF. d.1967 Nottinghamshire 

2. Langford Grieve b. May 1893 Workington.  Served FWW.  Died of illness 1918

After Amos' death Lucy returned to Dronfield with her two sons. She remarried on 1 August 1897 to Harvey Wornes in Dronfield.  They had one child together who died young.

Langford Grieve - Home addresses, age and occupation:

1901: 10 Hartington Road, Dronfield, step-son, aged 7

1911: 43 Avenue Road, Wath-on-Dearne, Colliery labourer, aged 17

He married Margaret Peasegood on 5 May 1915 at St Peter's Hoyland from 26 Beaumont Street, Hoyland.

Daughter Dorothy born in Hoyland on 17 February 1916. Address?

1917 on discharge: 35 Jackson Street, Cudworth, Barnsley.  Aged 24, Coal Miner. 

Children:

1. Dorothy b.1916 in Hoyland d.1918

2. Nellie b. 1918 d.1922

Military Service:

1916: Deemed to have enlisted 24 June 1916

1917: Called up for service 31 May 1917, York & Lancaster Regiment, Service number: 43748. He was  posted to 83rd Training Reserve Battalion on 6 June 1917, Service number: 54151. Discharged unfit for war service 11 December 1917. Condition, general weakness.

Awards: Silver War Badge

Personal information: 5' 4.5" tall, 35" chest. 

Death: 14 November 1918, aged 25

Buried at: St John's Churchyard, Cudworth, Barnsley 

Grave Reference: B 2 44

Citation: TO MEMORY EVER DEAR

Information from Commonwealth War Graves Commission:

Husband of Margaret Happs (formerly Grieve), of 7, Princess St., Hoyland Common, Barnsley.

Margaret had remarried to Thomas W Happs in Q3 1919 in the Barnsley RD. They had three children together.

Other information and links: 

Remembered on the war memorial at St John's Church, Cudworth, Barnsley 

Lives of the First World War

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Find A Grave

John Robert Griffiths 1877-1918

York and Lancs Cap Badge

Born: Q2 (April, May or June) 1877 Wrexham, North Wales

Son of:
William Griffiths b.1855 Wrexham, Denbighshire, North Wales
(at William's marriage in 1875 he declared his father was William Halliwell, Breaksman)
who was a Coal Miner in 1881, 1891 not at home 1901, not at home 1911
and married at St George's Wigan on 25 January 1875
to Mary Ann (maiden name Davies) b.1857 Ince, Lancashire
 
Position in family: The second of at least 8 children
1. Mary b.1875 Wigan, Lancashire
2. John Robert b.1877 Wrexham, North Wales  FWW Missing Presumed Dead/Killed in Action
3. Jane b.1880 Ince, Lancashire
4. Maria b. 20 Feb 1882 Wigan, Lancashire m. George Needham 25 October 1902 at St Mary's, Ince.
George Needham served in the FWW Enlisted 11 Jan 1915, Private 14/80 14th Y&L then Labour Corps
(Maria Needham was later guardian of John Robert's children)
5. Ann b.1885
6. William b.1887 m. Ellen c.1910 probably in Wigan (boarding with George and Maria Needham in Dalton, Rotherham in 1911)
7. Joseph b.1890
8. Thomas b.1896

John Robert Griffith's home addresses, age and occupation:
1881: 8 Parliament Street, Ince in Makerfield, Lancashire Age 4
1891: 89 Warrington Road, Ince in Makerfield, Lancashire Age 13 Pony Driver in Coal Mine
1901: 89 Warrington Road, Ince in Makerfield, Lancashire Age 23 Coal Miner Hewer
1911: 81 Warrington Road, Lower Ince, Lancashire Age 34 Colliery (Hewer)

Marriage:
John Robert Griffiths married Clara Hilton (b.1881 Ince, Lancashire d. Q2 1917 Barnsley)
at St Mary's Ince on 1 January 1902

Clara Griffiths died at 47 Providence Street, Barnsley in June 1917. She was buried in Barnsley Cemetery, Section (i), Grave 60, on 16 June 1917.

Children:
1. Edwin b. 8 May 1902 Ince, Lancs m. Ada Hirst Q4 1926 in Barnsley
2. Edith b. 16 October 1903 Ince, Lancs m. Albert Ford Q4 1923 in Barnsley
3. Florence b. 8 June 1908 Ince, Lancs m. Albert Beevers 6 April 1931 at St John's, Barnsley

In the 1911 census John R and Clara declare that they have had 6 children, 3 living but 3 have died. John R's mother Mary Ann Griffiths was living with them. 

Possibly see:
Thomas Griffiths b. Q3 1906 Wigan Registration District d. Q1 1907 Wigan Registration District
Lily Griffiths b. Q3 1912 Wigan Registration District d. August 1914 at 47 Providence Street, Barnsley
Lily Griffiths b. Q4 1915 Barnsley Registration District d. April 1916 at 47 Providence Street, Barnsley

Military Service:
Enlisted: 1915 at the age of 37 years (He must have enlisted after George Needham who was 14/80)
Regiment and Battalion:    14th York & Lancs
Service number and rank:  14/899 Private
Regiment and Battalion:    14th Northumberland Fusiliers
Service number and rank:  61017 Private
Awards: British War Medal, Victory Medal

Death:     27 May 1918 age 41
CWGC Remembered: Soissons Memorial, France

Soissons Memorial, Aisne, France

Information from Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
Father of Edwin Griffiths, of 22, Allott St., Winn St., Barnsley, Yorks.

Remembered:
St John's, Barebones, Barnsley (a replica memorial is now in St Peter's, Doncaster Road, Barnsley)

From the Barnsley Chronicle, 27 July 1918
Pte. John Robert Griffiths, Northumberland Fusiliers, was killed in action on May 27th, his sister (Mrs. Needham, of 23, Princess Street, Barnsley), having received the official intimation. Pte. Griffiths, who was 40 years of age, at first joined the local Battalion, but was afterwards transferred to the Northumberland Fusiliers. He worked at the Barrow Colliery before the war. The deceased soldier's wife died last year, and there are left three children.

Information from P. E. Griffiths great-grandson of John Robert Griffiths:
My great grandfather was John Robert Griffiths born 1877.
He joined the 2nd Barnsley Pals battalion ie 14th Yorkshire and Lancashire in 1914. He served overseas and later on the western front. He survived the Somme campaign and he was transferred to the Northumberland Fusiliers after the Barnsley battalion was split up. He was killed in action on 27th May 1918. He was killed near Aisne and is remembered at Soissons in France.   
John Robert Griffiths was a miner who worked at Barrow Pit. He was born in North Wales but moved to Staffordshire then to Wigan in Lancashire and finally to Barnsley. He lived in Wynn Street.
He volunteered at the age of 37 years, which is not the first flower of youth exactly for soldiering!
He was granted leave in 1917 and returned to England as his wife was dying of TB.
After the death of his wife and his return to the front the children (one boy called Edwin and two girls called Eadie and Florrie went to live with their aunt at Nelson Street in Barnsley.
My great aunt once told my dad that he was killed by a shrapnel burst but I have no way of knowing if that was correct.  I have tried to track down a photograph of him but to no avail. I have his medals in a cabinet in my home.      

Lives of the First World War
Commonwealth War Graves Commission

George Crossland 1892-1916

 

George Crossland Barnsley Chronicle 16th December 1916.
With thanks to Barnsley Archives

Born: 1892

Military Service:

Enlisted: 14th May 1908

Regiment and Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment, 1st/5th Battalion
Service Number: 240437

Awards: Victory Medal, British War Medal, the 1915 Star

Death: 7th July 1916 (missing, assumed dead on this date)

Buried at:  Serre Road Cemetery No. 1 Pas de Calais France

Grave Reference: V.H.9

  

Remembered:  
St Marys Church Barnsley Combined War Memorial

Links:

Lives of the First World War

Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Everyone Remembered

From the Newspapers:
BARNSLEY BROTHERS MISSING
Information has come to hand that Private Joseph Crossland, 2nd Barnsley Battalion has been missing since the 1st July.  He is a married man, who resided in Clyde Street, Barnsley. Twenty four years of age, he worked at Furnace Main before enlisting. His brother, George Crossland, 1/5 Y and L., is likewise reported missing as from 7th July. He formerly worked at Church Lane Colliery, was 23 years of age and lived with his parents at 34 Summer Street, Barnsley. Enquiries made through The Red Cross Society has elicited a reply, that as far as George was concerned, Private George Banner a stretcher bearer of 4 Sovereign Yard, Westgate, Barnsley informed them that George had been hit in the face in front of Thiepval.  Branner bandaged him up and went on to deal with other wounded.  George was in the German front line at the time.  Private William Hewitt 1/5th York and Lancs, has written to say that "it is quite possible that he had been captured by the Germans and is a Prisoner of War. He was seen to be wounded slightly but he stuck by his post with another pal called Britain.

From the Barnsley Chronicle 9 December 1916 with thanks to Barnsley Archives.

Information:
George's body was found after the war and identified by his disc, he was then re-interred in the Serre Road Cemetery. (from CWGC additional documents)

Joseph Crossland 1894-1916

 

Joseph Crossland Barnsley Chronicle 16th December 1916.
With thanks to Barnsley Archives

Born: 1894

Military Service:
Regiment and Battalion:  York and Lancs 14th Battalion
Service number and rank: 14/1030
Awards: Victory Medal, British War Medal

Death: 1st July 1916 aged 22 
CWGC Remembered:Thiepval Memorial 
Panel Reference: Pier and Face 14A and 14B

Information from Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
Son of Mrs. Clara Jane Crossland of 9 Manor Castle Yard, Pontefract Road Barnsley and husband of Hettie Thompson, formerly Crossland, Clyde Street, Barnsley. 
  
Remembered:
St Marys Church Barnsley combined War Memorial
Barnsley, Somme Centenary Art, Barnsley Town Hall 

Links:
Lives of the First World War
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Everyman Remembered website

From the Newspapers:
BARNSLEY BROTHERS MISSING
Information has come to hand that Private Joseph Crossland, 2nd Barnsley Battalion has been missing since July 1st.  He is a married man, who resided in Clyde Street, Barnsley. Twenty four years of age, he worked at Furnace Main before enlisting. His brother, George Crossland, 1/5 Y and L., is likewise reported missing as from 7th July. He formerly worked at Church Lane Colliery, was 23 years of age and lived with his parents at 34 Summer Street, Barnsley. 
Enquiries made through the Red Cross Society has elicited a reply, that as far as George was concerned, Private George Branner ,of 4 Sovereign Yard, Westgate, Barnsley a stretcher bearer had informed them that George had been hit in the face in front of Thiepval. Branner bandaged him up and went on to deal with other wounded. George was in the German front line at the time.  Private W. Hewitt 1/5th Y. and L., has written to say that "it is quite possible that he has been captured by the Germans and is a prisoner of war. He was seen to be wounded slightly but he stuck by his post with another pal called Britain."
From the Barnsley Chronicle 9 December 1916 with thanks to Barnsley Archives