Over the month of January, we have been incredibly fortunate to have been loaned a War memorial, which includes a local soldier’s medals. One of our wonderful parent/carers has provided us with a very special memory, remembering the soldier of Fred Woodhead. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sharon Knott for being so kind in loaning this fantastic resource.
The memorial has been on display in the History classrooms all month, with students being provided with information regarding its source on form tutor notices. We have ensured that Mr Vickers, our Curriculum Leader of History, has made sure that students have all of the knowledge about the memorial to pay their respects and understand why it is such a special resource to have in school.
Please see below some of the information that Sharon Knott very kindly provided for us as a school, which we have been able to share with students. To have such real-life history as part of the classroom is astounding!
Miss Hart
Vice Principal
Fred Woodhead
Private 40035 9th Battalion
Royal Irish Fusiliers
Died 16th August 1917 aged 24
Fred Woodhead was born on the 19th of April 1893 and baptised at the Non-Conformist Church in Farnley on the 3rd of July 1893. The Church was likely to be The Primitive Methodist Church in New Farnley. The baptism records say his parents were James and Ellen Woodhead and they lived at 3 East End; James’s occupation was a miner.
The next historical record we can find for Fred is on the 1901 Census. The family is still living at 3 East End. This address no longer exists, but Forge Row is listed after East End and this is near New Farnley Park and the COOP. James and his wife Ellen are both 42 and James’s occupation is now greengrocer – his own account. So, he is self-employed. Sarah, their daughter is 18 and a cloth weaver, Lucy Ann is 12, Hannah is 10, Fred is 7, and two younger sisters, Gladys is 2, and Rose is 3 months old. Also with the family is Fred’s maternal grandma Ann Hudson who is 66 and widowed.
The 1911 Census is the first time that the head of the household completed the Census return. Prior to this, it was an enumerator. This was mainly due to the high levels of illiteracy. The 1911 Census asked two more questions, how many years you had been married and how many children were born to the family and how many survived.
Fred was aged 17 and his occupation is a weft boy, woollen weft. So, he would have worked in a mill. Fred signs the Census form, which might suggest his father was illiterate, however, I can locate an extract of his father’s marriage certificate and he has signed that and so has Fred’s mother. The Census return says that they had 7 children born to the marriage and one died. Fred is their only Son. The eldest daughter has now left the family home. The family is living at 5 Forge Row, so they haven’t moved very far. His father’s occupation is now a park ranger. The total number of rooms in the house is 4.
Fred marries Harriet Pollard on the 25th of December 1915 at St Johns the Evangelist Church, Wortley. It was very common for people to marry on Christmas Day. Fred was a bachelor aged 22, his occupation isn’t legible, and his address is just shown as New Farnley. His father’s occupation is still park ranger. Harriet is a spinster and 25. It was quite unusual for the woman to be older. Harriet has no occupation listed, she is living at 32 Greenside Road, Wortley. Her father is George William Pollard and he is a miner. The marriage is witnessed by Arthur Hudson, probably his uncle, and Nelly Pollard, who is Harriet’s sister.
It is not known when Fred signed up for war. Conscription started in January 1916 with The Military Service Act for all single men aged between 18 and 41. Fred was married by this time. It has not been possible to find his Attestation papers (sign-up papers) Fred was awarded two medals. The Victory and Battle. Fred didn’t receive the Star Medal, which was only issued for men who saw battle in 1914 -15. The bronze memorial plaque is more commonly referred to as “the dead man’s penny”. Most historical records show Fred with the Royal Irish Fusiliers. Only one record shows formerly 36088 of the West Yorkshire Regiment. If a battalion came so low in men because of casualties, the battalion with the lowest men would join another battalion. The Royal Irish Fusiliers were also at Somme, which saw the greatest loss of life in WW1 on its first day on 1st July 1916. In total out of 66 men named on Farnley War Memorial for WW1, 7 died on that day and 3 within a week as a result of injuries.
In 1915 new units were created as a result of Lord Kitchener’s call to arms with the famous “your country needs you” poster. One of the units was The Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment) this unit was known locally as Leeds Pals’. The idea of brothers and neighbours fighting together to promote teamwork and solidarity also meant that as they fought together, they died together, especially at Somme. The whistle went at 7.20 am on the 1st of July 1916 and the Leeds Pals were the first battalion to go over the top to No Man’s Land. Of the 650 men of Leeds Pals that day only 47 survived. It has been said that every single street in Leeds the following day had at least one house that had their curtains closed as the families mourned the young men.
Fred is shown as dying on the 16th of August 1917, when he was 24 years old. He is commemorated on memorial wall plaques 400 to 401 at Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium. This places Fred at the Third Battle of Ypres, also known as the Battle of Passchendaele. The battle took place on the Western Front from July to November 1917. In total 34986 men are commemorated at Tyne Cot. Fred’s body was not recovered, like thousands of other men and that is why he is commemorated on a plaque and not in a grave. Historical records show a request to enquire if Fred is a Prisoner of War and this comes back as negative on 22nd October 1917. Fred is also shown on the absent voter’s list for Leeds in 1918. This must have been a great strain for his wife and family, not having a confirmed death for some years.
Cemeteries like Tyne Cot were built and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). It was established after the First World War and receives funding from six member states. The United Kingdom funds 78.43% of CWGC work, other member states are Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and India.
Fred is also commemorated at Farnley War Memorial which is located on Lawns Lane, Farnley. The custodians of the memorial are Leeds City Council. The memorial is a Grade 2 listed building with English Heritage. The Farnley War Memorial was unveiled in September 1921. John E Long removed the Union Jacks that covered the Memorial. John had fought in the war and returned. His brothers Frederick and Lawrence Hartley Long are both commemorated at Farnley War Memorial. The Long brothers came from a family of eleven children and despite the harsh living conditions all had survived into adulthood.
In the 1921 Census, we can see Fred’s widow Harriet aged 30 with an occupation of worsted weaver employed by Joshua Wilson and Sons at Bramley Mills. She is living on her own at 11 Greenside Road, Wortley.
August 1st, 1925 Harriet, aged 35 and still living at 11 Greenside Road, Wortley, marries Walter Betts at St Edwards Church, Holbeck, Leeds. Walter is a Batchelor aged 31 with an occupation of steel presser. The marriage is witnessed by Samuel Lucas and Ivy Betts (Walter’s sister)
Walter Betts dies on the 10th of November 1938, so Harriet is alone again.
On the 1939 Register, taken a few weeks into the outbreak of WW2 Harriet is living at 119 Blue Hill Lane, Wortley. Her occupation is woollen weaver. Living next door at 117 is Norman and Mary Hearfield. The 1939 Register was used for the mobilisation of men, and rationing and was updated for decades later, for example, if a woman married, her maiden name would be crossed out. Records are closed if it is deemed that the person may still be alive.
Harriet dies in 1962 and is buried alongside Walter Betts at Upper and Lower Wortley Cemetery. The Executors of her will are Norman and Mary Hearfield.
On clearing the house, Norman and Mary Hearfield come across the framed collection of Fred’s medals and his picture. It was in the original frame and fabric that Harriet had placed it in back in 1920. On remarriage to Walter Betts, Fred was no longer on display and was hidden out of sight.
Norman and Mary Hearfield, take care of Fred for several years until they are downsizing and ask their son John and his wife to take Fred in. After the death of John Hearfield, his widow Marion is keen for Fred to return to Yorkshire. He has been in Gloucestershire for some years.
Through the internet, Marion comes across a reference to my book on a local genealogy site and contacts the administrators. They in turn contact me. I lived opposite them as a child, kept in touch, and shared my research so they could upload it onto their genealogy site. After several email exchanges, it was agreed that I would be the custodian of Fred. Marion was travelling to Haworth from Gloucester and we would meet at my workplace in Shipley.
Since 2017 Fred’s plaque has been in my sitting room. This looks out towards Farnley cemetery, where his grandfather John is buried. John lived at 5 Forge Row until his death in 1899.
Fred’s younger two sisters Gladys and Rose never married and are living together on the 1939 Register. Gladys dies in 1986 aged 89 and Rose dies in 1977 aged 76.
Sarah, his elder sister marries in 1907 and moved to Lancashire. She dies in 1966 aged 83. She had two children.
Lucy Ann marries William Henry Betts (Walter Betts’s brother) in June 1933 at Farnley St Michaels church. The marriage is witnessed by Walter Betts and Gladys Woodhead. Lucy Ann was 44 and a spinster William Henry was 41 and a Batchelor. The Woodheads are still living at 5 Forge Row and James is now retired. Lucy Ann Betts dies in 1961 aged 72. She didn’t have any children. Extracts of probate show Lucy Ann living at Lea Farm Place, which is known as “The Hawksworth Estate” in Kirkstall, Leeds, the estate was built after WW1 when councils were encouraged to build “Homes fit for Heroes”
Fred’s sister Hannah, marries Arthur Wilson in 1929 at Farnley St Michaels. She is 38 and a spinster and Arthur is 29 and a Batchelor. They had no children. No confirmed death can be found.
Sharon Knott January 2023