Liverpool Echo 9 Oct 1914 BROTHERS MEET IN BATTLE EXPERIENCE OF LIVERPOOL CONSTABLE In the following letter, which has been sent to us, Bombardier William Harwood of the 2nd Dividion ammunition column R.F.A. who was a Liverpool police-constable before being called up with the reserve (August 4) describes how he met his brother, also a member of the Liverpool police until called up, in the firing line :- The other day I had been supplying ammunition. When returning I saw a bat

Northern Wales Weekly News 20 June 1918 ABERGELE MEN WOUNDED The following Abergele men are reported wounded in France:- Sergt Ernest Buckley, R.E., whose wife lives at Boderw, wounded in the leg and thigh. He has been previously wounded twice and gassed once. Prior to joining the colours he was a constable in the Liverpool Police Force.

Northern Daily Telegraph 24 December 1914 BRINSCALL SOLDIER KILLED Official news has been received of the death of Sergeant Thomas Howcroft of the 1st Scots Guards, the youngest son of Mr Thomas Howcroft of New House Farm, Harbour-lan, Brinscall. He was killed in action at Ypres on October 31. Sergeant Howcroft was 32 years of age, and for some time had been in the Liverpool Police Force. He leaves a widow and six young children, for whom much sympathy is felt.

Northwich Guardian 25th December 1914 TWO LOCAN MEN REPORTED KILLED ... It has also been reported that Private Percy Cook, of Seddon-street, has been killed while on active service. He was in the Grenadier Guards and was formerly a member of the Liverpool Police Force. He was a single man, but an unfortunate circumstance is that his mother is lying seriously ill.

Liverpool Echo 26 Sept 1914 LOCAL DETECTIVE Detective-constable Archer, formerly of the A Division of the Liverpool Police who went out with a Scottish regiment and who (as reported in last night’s “Echo”) is now in hospital in France, suffering from wounds he received while fighting in the trenches.

Thomas Stanley Reay was born on 3rd February 1894 and baptised in St James Church on 1st April the same year. The baptism record shows that his parents were Thomas and Elizabeth Thornley Reay. They lived at 27 Mount Street and Thomas Snr was a baker. This photograph is of Thomas Senior circa 1881 and was found in a book of people connected to St James Church. Thomas's mother was formerly Elizabeth Thornley Stephenson. The 1901 census shows the family still lived at 27 Mount S

There was only one result for T J Prichard in the CWGC database and it gave the 'other information' that he was from Liverpool. A further confirmation that it is the correct person is the M.C. which is noted on the memorial and the CWGC entry. Thomas James Prichard was born in Liverpool on 17th July 1894. He was baptised in St Cleopas' Church, Toxteth, on 8th August and the baptism record shows that his parents were Thomas and Elizabeth Jane Prichard and they lived at 6 Made

A search in the CWGC database showed over a thousand results! Of these, 11 were for H. H. Smiths and 8 were Harold H Smiths. Not all of these entries showed where they were from so I tried a different approach and looked in the index of births for Liverpool for the period 1875-1900. I found only one matching entry, Harold Horatio Smith, born in Toxteth Park in 1896. There wasn't an entry in the CWGC for Harold Horatio so I looked in the entries in UK Soldiers Died in the Grea

This is one of the stories that really stuck with me when I was researching, probably because there was quite a lot of information but also because there is more of the family's perspective involved and I got an idea of how the war impacted the family in the years after Roderic's death. Roderic Dexter Sharpe was born on 13th August 1896 and christened at St James' Church on 20th September that year. His parents were Alexander Sharpe (a hairdresser) and Margaret. They lived at

With such an unusual name, there was only one possible entry on the CWGC database for Henry. His brother's name is also on the Holy Trinity War Memorial. Henry Schonewald was born on 10th Dec 1895 in Liverpool, he was baptised in St Peter's on 20th December and the record shows that his parents were Janet and Hermann Carl Schonewald (a hairdresser) they lived on Rathbone Street. In the 1901 census the family were living at 119 Rathbone Street. The census shows that Hermann w

The CWGC has one entry for Robert C Revera which shows the middle name to be Campbell. This name is unusual enough that I am certain the records are all for the correct man. It turned out that there was an interesting family story behind Robert Revera and I admit I did get a bit sidetracked so there is more information on this post about other members of his family than I usually include. Family Robert Campbell Revera was born in Liverpool on 24th August 1888 and baptised in

The table below lists the men from the St James Memorial who served in The King's Liverpool Regiment. The excellent website The Long Long Trail has information about the different battalions of the King's Liverpool Regiment. Click on their name to read more about each man. Men of the St James Church war memorial who served in The King's Liverpool Regiment: Name Regiment Regimental number Battalion Date of Death Arthur Patrick Beattie KLR 30532 4th 23/04/1917 William Bolton KL

There is only one Alfred Mortenson in the CWGC database, although there is no other information about his place of birth the WW1 medal roll index cards show only one Alfred Mortenson and he was in the Liverpool Regiment. The medal card also gives the address of his mother and she lived very close to the church so I am confident that this is the right man and I have identified the correct census records for his family. Alfred Mortenson was born on June 28 1895 and baptised

I have previously given a tentative identification for Owen Owen but, on revisiting the name, I'm not happy with it so I've taken another look. The CWGC give 14 results for Owen Owen, three of them have Liverpool mentioned in the 'other information' the other 11 state their parents' residences as places in Wales. I previously assumed the man without a middle name would be mine but there is no information to tie him to Toxteth so without proof I have to rethink the assumption.

The Churches Conservation Trust files for St James Church have been extremely helpful in tracing the journey of this memorial from Holy Trinity Church to the Slaughterhouse Pub in Liverpool. I can now say for sure that the memorial was in St James Church, Toxteth for a period. This memorial was brought to my attention when my St James memorial project got some publicity and a lady contacted me to ask whether her relative was on the memorial I was researching. It wasn't but I

The name on the memorial was Dr G.R. Mill, there was only one result on CWGC for this name and he was a doctor so I am certain it is the correct man. It is not known why he was commemorated on the Holy Trinity memorial as he did not live in Liverpool, he was appointed house-surgeon in a Liverpool hospital so may have interacted with the school on a professional level, or been involved via a charity or public health board. Dr G.R. Mill RNVR George Robertson Mill Staff Surgeon

Robert Atkinson was enumerated at the Holy Trinity Industrial School in 1911 when he was 14 years old. This record shows that he was born in Halifax, Yorkshire. There are, unfortunately, dozens of R Atkinsons commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Until I can get definite proof, I present the following details as the man I believe to be commemorated on the HTIS memorial. Robert Danson Atkinson was born on the 29th September 1896 in Todmorden, Yorkshire. His

The CWGC had 6 records for G.W. Baxter. Only one of them was from Liverpool and he lived in Toxteth, close to Holy Trinity Church. It is probable that this is the correct man, unless I find something to contradict it, I will research him as the correct man. George William Baxter was born on the 26th September 1889 in Liverpool and baptised on 13th November 1889 in Everton, Liverpool by his parents George William and Sarah. The church record shows that they lived at 15 Carmel

There were 10 C Beasley casualties on the CWGC database but only 1 was from Liverpool so I have identified him as our man. I do not currently have a link to Holy Trinity Church but his family were Church of England and they lived at times in the Toxteth area. I'm hoping to find more information in the Industrial School or church records about the commissioning of the memorial. Charles Richard Beasley was born on 18th July 1891 and baptised on 2nd August that year in St Clemen

Small book-shaped stone at the base of the family headstone. Lead lettering has not fared well but on the left page the letters can still be made out from the holes left behind. The right page is very eroded but there were enough legible letters to show it is a quote from "Dedication" by Kipling. (left page) In loving memory of Willie Murdoch who fell in action at Beaumont Hamel, 12th October 1916 aged 27 years. (right page) E'en as he trod that day to God so walked he from h