100 Stories

Just over 100 years ago the world order was shattered by the start of a war that had an impact like no other, before or since.

A large percentage of the world’s inhabitants were directly affected by the conflict we still call the Great War. Our own town of Burnley did not escape the consequences. More than 17,000 men were to serve in the war, of whom almost 4,000 gave their lives. Many other men never recovered, physically or emotionally.

The effects on the town were enormous, leaving hundreds of newly married widows struggling to bring up very young children without the aid of anything even resembling our current benefits system. Fiancées were deprived of the opportunity of sharing a life with their own ‘sweetheart’ and, of course, a huge number of parents were left to grieve.

Mike Townend, senior curator at Towneley Hall, Burnley, has brought together a fascinating collection of photographs and stories, submitted by people who wished to share their own ‘story’- either of a family member or someone who has left his (or her) mark through the passage of the years.

These posts have been arranged into a timeline which gives you a feel for some of the effects of the war on the town as they evolved. It’s a fascinating collection thanks to the efforts of everyone involved, especially Mike who has managed to put the whole thing together. Andrew Gill Chairman Western Front Association (East Lancashire Branch) www.burnleyinthegreatwar.info

John James Briggs (d. 1914) Coal Clough School memorial (1920) Peter Stanworth (1888-1918) Micheal Cohen (b. 1899) William Marshall (d. 1995) George B Cowpe (1895-1917) William Nutter (1897-1918) Prisoners of War Gerald A Arbuthnot (1872-1916) Shrouds of the Somme Edwin Mosscrop (1889-1980) Jesse Banister (1879-1917) Burnley Cenotaph (unveiled 1926) Hapton War Memorial (Unveiled 1921) Cross of Sacrifice (Unveiled October 1926) Harry Stanworth (1889-1915) Church Memorial Daneshouse Roll of Honour Isobel A Tate (1878-1917) James Haworth (1884-1918) George S Hargreaves (1899-1918) William C Crain (1897-1917) Percy A McAuley (1899-1918) William Nixon (1878-1917) Fred Brown (1895-1916) Stephen Carroll (1895-1917) James Booth (1885-1917) Samuel Bullock (1898-1919) Pip, Squeak and Wilfred Albert L Sturgeon (1893-1980) and Richard Lancaster (1882-1914) Harry Riddle (d. 1916) James F Macdonald (1898-1919) George R Whittaker (1898-1962) Edward Hodgson (1886-1919) Harry Buck (1887-1918) Richard Bullock (1887-1919) Frank Cunliffe (1894-1918) Harold Butterworth (1897-1918) Harry Hartley Howarth (1897-1918) John Whitham (1879-1918) Just a few lines… On War Service Pals in Burnley Wonder Weapon Benedictine: the Tommies’ Tipple Burnley’s Bairnsfather William P Holt (1893-1917) George Isherwood (1897-1971) William O Lancaster (1891-1917) John T Reynoldson (1896-1917) Frank Whitham (1884-1917) and Charles Blakey (1877-1916) Thomas Whitham (1888-1924) Ernest D Ogle (1894-1917) Albert Wilson (1897-1939) Rudolph B Yates (1885-1916) Frederick Haworth (1896-1916) Holmes Brelsford (1894-1963) J Edward Tomlinson (1896-1975) David Jolly (1894-1916) Henry D Riley (1881-1916) Alfred ‘Sid’ Edwards (1892-1965) John H Davies (1872-1916) The Pals (1915) Frederick Abbott (1885-1918) Thomas Percy Wills (1886-1916) Harry Manders (1899-1916) Ysenda Maxtone Graham (1895-1990) Peter Hannan (b 1888) Huntroyde Military Hospital, Padiham Wedding of Cyril B Spencer (1915) A double wedding Alfred Ellison (1893-1983) Alfred Victor Smith (1891-1915) Clara Frost (d 1952) Arthur Altham and Albert Johnson Charles Midgley (1894-1915) Thomas Wardley (1892-1915) Walter Crossley (b 1895) William Gaskell (1895-1917) The Cooper Brothers The McCarthy brothers 2/5th Battalion East Lancashire Regiment, Southport (1915) Officers 1/5th Battalion East Lancashire Regiment, Cairo (1915) Burnley Lads’ Club (1915) James Bailey (1883-1953) Amy Foster (1906-1998) Jennie Jackson (1909-1997) Hilda E Crain (b 1905) and Joyce K Crain (b 1903) Mrs Sutcliffe John W Hirst (1887-1914) Keeping in touch Christmas 2014 Christmas 1914 William D Whitaker (1866-1938) Rev. Thomas Williams (1880-1944) James Mackie (1887-1950) James Brunton (1864-1935) Harry Jobling (1889-1956) East Lancashire Regiment 5th battalion shooting team (1912) David Duncan (1848-1899) Joining Up