October | 2025 | Past To Present Genealogy

During September 2025 four new posts were added to the Batley St Mary of the Angels One-Place Study, bringing the total number of posts to 414.

One of the new posts was the parish history snippets piece for September 2025. These snippets cover a variety of events and people from the parish from years gone by, and can be found in the Bulletin for Batley St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick section. Even if you have seen them on the Bulletin, it is worth checking them here as some have links to more detailed pieces I have written.

There are is also a new biography of a parishioner killed whilst serving in the Second World War in the World War Two section.

The final two pieces this month can be found in the Miscellany of Information section, both are thought-provoking for entirely different reasons. One is a chilling tale from the end of the 19th century, about the last man to be executed for murder in Batley. The other is far more uplifting, being about the parish’s second torchlight procession in 1952 and its links to worldwide peace

Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* posts, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.

If you want to know the background, and what is involved in a one-place study, click here. Otherwise read on, to discover a wealth of parish, parishioner and wider local Batley history.

Postscript:
I may not be able to thank you personally because of your contact detail confidentiality, but I do want to say how much I appreciate the donations already received to keep this website going. They really and truly do help. Thank you.

The website has always been free to use, and I want to continue this policy in the future. However, it does cost me money to operate – from undertaking the research to website hosting costs. In the current difficult economic climate I do have to regularly consider if I can afford to continue running it as a free resource.

If you have enjoyed reading the various pieces, and would like to make a donation towards keeping the website up and running in its current open access format, it would be very much appreciated.

Please click 👉🏻here👈🏻 be taken to the PayPal donation link. By making a donation you will be helping to keep the website online and freely available for all.

Thank you.

As a professionally qualified genealogist, if you would like me to undertake any family, local or house history research for you do please get in touch. More information can be found on my research services page.

Finally, if you do have any information about, or photos of, parishioners from the period of the First World War please do get in touch. It does not have to be War Memorial men. It could be those who served and survived, or indeed any other men, women and children from the parish.

I would also be interested in information about, and photos of, those parishioners who were killed in World War Two, or others from the parish who undertook any war service and survived. This can be as broad as serving in the military, or work in munitions factories, the Land Army, even taking in refugees. This is an area I’m looking to develop in the future.

I can be contacted at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

1. About my St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church War Memorial One-Place Study;

Batley’s Public Buildings and Institutions
2. Batley Hospital: The First 50 Years – 1878 to 1928
3. The Early History of Batley’s Public Baths

Batley St Mary’s Population, Health, Mortality and Fertility Information and Comparisons
4. 1914: The Health of Batley School Children Generally, with a Particular Focus on St Mary’s School Children

Batley Statistics and Descriptions – Population, Health, Mortality, Fertility etc.
5. 1914: Borough of Batley – Town Information from the Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
6. Batley and the 1921 Census
7. Batley Population Statistics 1801-1939

Biographies: Men Associated with St Mary’s Who Died but Who Are Not on the Memorial
8. Thomas Gannon
9. Reginald Roberts
10. William Frederick Townsend

Biographies: The War Memorial Men
11. Edward Barber
12. William Barber (Memorial name spelling)
13. Herbert Booth
14. Edmund Battye
15. Dominick (aka George) Brannan
16. Michael Brannan
17. John Brooks
18. Michael Cafferty
19. Patrick Cafferty
20. John William Callaghan
21. Lawrence Carney
22. Martin Carney
23. Thomas William Chappell
24. William Colbeck
25. Michael Cunningham
26. Thomas Curley
27. Peter Doherty
28. Thomas Dolan
29. Thomas Donlan
30. John W. Enright
31. Mathew Farrer
32. Thomas Finneran
33. Michael Flynn
34. Thomas Foley D.C.M.
35. Martin Gallagher
36. James Garner
37. Harold Gaunt
38. James Gavaghan
39. Peter Gavaghan
40. Thomas Gavaghan
41. Henry Groark
42. James Groark
43. Michael Groark (also known as Rourke)
44. James Griffin
45. William Hargreaves
46. Michael Hopkins
47. Patrick Hopkins
48. Michael Horan
49. James Hughes
50. Lawrence Judge
51. John Leech
52. Michael Lydon
53. John Thomas Lynch
54. Patrick Lyons
William McManus – See William Townsend below
55. Thomas McNamara
56. Clement Manning
57. Patrick Naifsey
58. Austin Nolan
59. Robert Randerson
60. James Rush
61. Moses Stubley
62. William Townsend, also known as McManus
63. James Trainor
64. Richard Carroll Walsh
65. Arthur William Bayldon Woodhead

Biographies: Those who Served and Survived (this includes a list of those identified to date and who will later have dedicated biographical pages)
65. Patrick Cassidy
67. James Delaney
68. Thomas Donlan (senior)
69. Thomas Gannon
70. Michael Rush

Burials, Cemeteries, Headstones and MIs
71. Cemetery and Memorial Details
72. War Memorial Chronology of Deaths .

Guest Contributions
305. Memories of Skelsey Row – by Brian Foley

Maps and Photographs
306. A Description of the Parish Boundaries
307. Aerial View of St Mary’s Church and the Surrounding Streets
308. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1894
309. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1907
310. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1922
311. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1933

Miscellany of Information
312. A Bitter-Sweet Remarriage
313. A Colliery Accident with Tragic Consequences
314. A Description of the Parish of St Mary of the Angels in 1950
315. A Grave Disturbance in Batley
316. A Part of St Mary of the Angels in Batley Cemetery
317. A “Peace” of Batley History
318. An Appeal to Ireland to Build a Catholic Church in Batley
319. A Potted Early History of the Irish in Batley, the Building of St Mary of the Angels Church, and the Parish Priest’s Fatal Accident
320. A St Mary’s Parishioner in the Holy Land
321. A St Mary’s School Sensation
322. A St Mary’s School Trip Souvenir
323. Batley’s Secret Irish Society and the Ammunition Seizure
324. Batley St Mary’s First Torchlight Procession
325. Batley St Mary’s Second Torchlight Procession *NEW*
326. “Daddy’s Death and then Triplets”
327. Heritage Impact Assessment: St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and Convent, Batley
328. Hot-Cross Buns and the Yorkshire Tea-Cake Dilemma. Plus A Suggested Meal Planner for Batley Families in 1917
329. Into the Valley of Death – One of the Six Hundred
330. “I’ve Done it for Love” – A Batley Murder *NEW*
331. St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church – 1929 Consecration Service
332. The Consequences of a Refusal to Work in 1918
333. The Controversial Role Played by St Mary’s Schoolchildren in the 1907 Batley Pageant
334. The Deaths of the Smallpox Hospital Caretakers
335. The Debate Over Grave-Diggers’ Holidays
336. The Earliest Published Account of Batley St Mary’s Church and Schools
337. The Great War: A Brief Overview of What Led Britain into the War
338. The Unholy row between St Mary’s Church and the Batley and Birstall Irish Clubs
339. Thomas Ate My Rat
340. William Berry – A Beautiful Voice Stilled
341. Willie and Edward Barber – Poems

Ocupations and Employment Information
342. Occupations: Colliery Byeworker/Byeworkman/Byworker/Bye-Worker/By-Worker
343. Occupations: Confidential Clerk
344. Occupations: Lamp Cleaner
345. Occupations: Limelight Operator
346. Occupations: Mason’s Labourer
347. Occupations: Office Boy/Girl
348. Occupations: Piecer/Piecener
349. Occupations: Rag Grinder
350. Occupations: Willeyer

The Families
394. A Death in the Church
395. St Mary’s Schoolboys Wreak Havoc in a Batley Graveyard

The May Queens of Batley St Mary of the Angels
396. 1922 May Queen: Phyllis Doyle
397. 1923 May Queen: Katherine Phillips
398 1925 May Queen: Agnes Judge
399. 1929 May Queen: Mary Collins
400. 1931 May Queen Ceremony: Theresa Judge
401. 1932 May Queen Ceremony: Agnes Kilgallon
402. 1933 May Queen Ceremony: Winnie Colleran
403. 1939 May Queen Ceremony: Kathleen Gooder
404. 1940 May Queen Ceremony: Sheila Rowan
405. 1941 May Queen Ceremony
406. 1950 May Queen Ceremony: Catherine Heaps
407. 1951 May Queen Ceremony: Mary Harkin

World War Two
408. World War Two Chronology of Deaths
409. Thomas Egan
410. Michael Flatley
411. Frank Higgins *NEW*
412. Edward Lynch
413. William Smith
414. Bernard Stenchion

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Monthly Archives: October 2025

St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 30 September 2025 Additions

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