Category Archives: Ancestry

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

Posted on December 1, 2025 | Leave a comment

November 2025 was a busy month for the Batley St. Mary of the Angels One-Place Study. Four new posts were added, bringing the total number to 419. I also gave two talks about the early history of the Irish in Batley and the parish – one via Zoom to the Society of One-Place Studies; the other in-person to Batley History Group. If you missed them, I will be repeating the Irish and St. Mary’s talk next year with bookings already made for it, along with my other talks.

To start off with, I wrote a light-hearted piece about Buffalo Bill and A Right Royal Celebration for Batley’s Schoolchildren, a celebration in which the children of St Mary of the Angels participated. I describe, and include a photograph, of the special commemorative medal presented to all the schoolchildren, so that if you have one in your family you can identify it and know more about its history.

In a change of tone, with November being the month of Remembrance, one of the new posts was about James Edwards, one of the parishioners commemorated on the parish’s World War One War Memorial.

In the May Queen section I have added a piece about the 1952 ceremony when Patricia Anne Cain was the May Queen (as shown in the photograph to the left). It includes names of many others involved in the procession that day, which was a historic one in terms of its format that year.

The final post for the month was the parish history snippets piece for November 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.

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. James Edwards *NEW*
31. John W. Enright
32. Mathew Farrer
33. Thomas Finneran
34. Michael Flynn
35. Thomas Foley D.C.M.
36. Martin Gallagher
37. James Garner
38. Harold Gaunt
39. James Gavaghan
40. Peter Gavaghan
41. Thomas Gavaghan
42. Henry Groark
43. James Groark
44. Michael Groark (also known as Rourke)
45. James Griffin
46. William Hargreaves
47. Michael Hopkins
48. Patrick Hopkins
49. Michael Horan
50. James Hughes
51. Lawrence Judge
52. John Leech
53. Michael Lydon
54. John Thomas Lynch
55. Patrick Lyons
William McManus – See William Townsend below
56. Thomas McNamara
57. Clement Manning
58. Patrick Naifsey
59. Austin Nolan
60. Robert Randerson
61. James Rush
62. Moses Stubley
63. William Townsend, also known as McManus
64. James Trainor
65. Richard Carroll Walsh
66. 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)
67. Patrick Cassidy
68. James Delaney
69. Thomas Donlan (senior)
70. Thomas Gannon
71. Michael Rush

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Posted in 19th Century, 20th Century, Ancestry, Batley, Birstall, Catholic, County Mayo, Family History, Family History Talks, Genealogy, Great War, History, Home Front, In Memoriam, Ireland, Local History, Local History Talks, Occupations, One-Place Study, Remembrance, Roll of Honour, Schools, St Mary's RC Church, Talks, The Great War, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

Tagged Ancestry, Batley, Birstall, County Mayo, family history, Family History Talks, genealogy, History, Home Front, Local History, Local History Talks, One-Place Study, Schools, St Mary's RC Church, Talks, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 31 October 2025 Additions

Posted on November 1, 2025 | Leave a comment

Because of work commitments, during October 2025 only one new post was added to the Batley St Mary of the Angels One-Place Study, bringing the total number of posts to 415.

This new post was the parish history snippets piece for October 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.

One of the reason for the lack of additions this month is because in November and December I’m giving a series of talks to various organisations. These include an online talk on 11 November 2025 to the Society of One-Place Studies about the early history of the Irish in Batley, and the parish of Batley St Mary of the Angels up until around the 1880s. This is restricted to members of the Society. However, on Monday 24 November I will be giving more or less the same talk at the Batley History Group meeting in Batley Town Hall. This starts with refreshments at 7pm, with the talk commencing at 7.30pm. It is open to both members (£2) and non-members (£4). So, perhaps I will see some of you there. More details about this, and Batley History Group’s other meetings in 2025/26 can be found here.

*James Harkin, Batley’s 1st Catholic Mayor*

I also have a special thank you this month for someone who has sent me a lovely letter and some photos of James Harkin, Batley’s first Catholic mayor – one of which is included in this piece. I don’t have her contact details to thank her personally, so hopefully she will read my thank you here.

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.

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.

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

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

The May Queens of Batley St Mary of the Angels
397. 1922 May Queen: Phyllis Doyle
398. 1923 May Queen: Katherine Phillips
399 1925 May Queen: Agnes Judge
400. 1929 May Queen: Mary Collins
401. 1931 May Queen Ceremony: Theresa Judge
402. 1932 May Queen Ceremony: Agnes Kilgallon
403. 1933 May Queen Ceremony: Winnie Colleran
404. 1939 May Queen Ceremony: Kathleen Gooder
405. 1940 May Queen Ceremony: Sheila Rowan
406. 1941 May Queen Ceremony
407. 1950 May Queen Ceremony: Catherine Heaps
408. 1951 May Queen Ceremony: Mary Harkin

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

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Posted in 19th Century, 20th Century, Ancestry, Batley, Birstall, Catholic, County Mayo, Family History, Great War, History, Home Front, Ireland, Local History, Occupations, One-Place Study, Remembrance, Roll of Honour, Schools, St Mary's RC Church, The Great War, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Ancestry, Batley, Catholic, County Mayo, family history, genealogy, History, Local History, Occupations, One-Place Study, Parish History, Schools, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

Book Review – Genealogy in Reverse: Finding the Living (A Practical Guide for All Genealogists)

Posted on August 26, 2025 | Leave a comment

Written by professional genealogist Cheri Hudson Passey, and drawing on her experience in carrying out work for the U.S. Army Past Conflict Repatriations Branch (for UK researchers this equates to the MOD’s War Detectives from the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre Commemorations team), the stated aim of this book is to help genealogists of all levels to trace and connect with descendants of ancestors. These connections might lead to more information, documents, family memorabilia, photographs and photo identification, to enrich research and add colour to your family history.

The slimness of the book, running to 56 pages, is indicative that it is a basic overview. After the preface and methodology, the chapters are as follows:

Building a Solid Foundation.
Looking for Clues in Records.
Researching Online.
Researching on Location.
People Finders and Social Media.
Reaching Out to Family.
A Word About DNA.
Working Through a Soldier Repatriation Case: Steps for Finding Living Family.

There is also a concluding section and, to round off, a couple of pages listing tools and resources – although there are some website address errors here.

Together they provide a step-by-step guide to finding relatives down both ancestral and collateral lines, using modern tools to track them down.

Some of the steps are obvious, like ensuring your family tree is accurate and complete. The value of research plans to keep on track is discussed, as well as the need to follow the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS), concepts which may be new to non-professionals.

Building mini trees is suggested as a research tool, and the book includes several screenshots on how to export GEDCOM files with which to work from. These, along with other images, are greyscale rather than colour.

Various sources are highlighted as useful for providing clues, building a body of evidence and resolving conflicting information. Search tips are given for finding living family members, including through using online trees. Tools such as reverse image searches are covered. I was pleased to see recognition that everything is not online. And I particularly enjoyed the chapter which pulled everything together in working through a soldier repatriation case.

From my UK and Ireland research perspective, the fact that it is written by a U.S. researcher means it is naturally geared towards research in that country. This is particularly obvious in the sections dealing with locating newspapers, and people finding sources. It is explicitly acknowledged in the section about national public records. That being said, there are general tips to be gleaned from those researching beyond the U.S., especially for the less experienced researcher.

Arguably the most crucial chapter is the one about reaching out to family. It was good to see advice given about handling these tricky initial contacts. This includes being aware of the fear factor behind unsolicited contacts in this world of scammers, along with the need to respect privacy and reach out with respect and sensitivity to living connections, upholding the ethics of handling information about living, and obtaining informed consent around any information shared.

However, one important topic I would have liked to have seen covered in a little more detail was the potential ethical dilemmas posed by this aspect of family history research, very much like DNA tests, the risks of which are dealt with in the book.

Contacting distant living relatives can potentially lead to unforeseen and unintended consequences, especially if that family history is challenging and sensitive, and it might have been useful to have consideration of this aspect. This is a particular issue when the person being contacted has no obvious family history interest, and is not on a family history platform, so is unaware to the possibility of such contacts.

As I have mentioned, the book is only a brief introduction to the subject of identifying and tracking down living relatives, and ethical dilemmas are a meaty subject. But a cautionary, if not a deeper exploration of this angle, would have been helpful.

That aside, when these contacts work out the mutual benefits can be huge, and this book is a useful addition to my genealogy library as a handy and concise aide-mémoire to this type of research.

The book was published in 2025, ISBN 9780806321516. For ease I’ve attached the purchase links for both Amazon and Genealogical.com

Full disclosure: I received a free copy of the book from Genealogical.com. I was not asked for a review in return, but I thought it would be useful to post one to introduce this book to others who may not be aware of it. In doing so I have expressed my honest opinion.

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Posted in Ancestry, Books, Family History, Review

Tagged Books, family history, Review

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

Posted on May 1, 2025 | Leave a comment

April was a particularly busy month for the Batley St Mary of the Angels One-Place Study. It included the addition of a new subject heading, along with eight new posts, bringing the total number of posts to 399. One other post was updated.

Below is the complete list of all the St Mary’s posts published up to the end of April 2025, including links to them, with those new and updated posts signposted so you can easily locate them.

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.

The new section added in April was one about the May Queens of the parish. I am trying to identify as many of them as possible, with a piece dedicated to each year. To date seven years have been added to this section, 1922, 1931-1933, 1939-1941.

The final addition this month is in the Bulletin for Batley St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick section. It is the piece covering the parish history snippets included in the parish bulletins during April 2025.

I have also added a further update to the World War Two introduction page.

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

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👈🏻 to 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The May Queens of Batley St Mary of the Angels *NEW*
388. 1922 May Queen: Phyllis Doyle *NEW*
389. 1931 May Queen Ceremony: Theresa Judge *NEW*
390. 1932 May Queen Ceremony: Agnes Kilgallon *NEW*
391. 1933 May Queen Ceremony: Winnie Colleran *NEW*
392. 1939 May Queen Ceremony: Kathleen Gooder *NEW*
393. 1940 May Queen Ceremony: Sheila Rowan *NEW*
394. 1941 May Queen Ceremony *NEW*

World War Two *UPDATED*
395. World War Two Chronology of Deaths
396. Thomas Egan
397. Michael Flatley
398. Edward Lynch
399. William Smith

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Posted in 19th Century, 20th Century, Ancestry, Batley, Birstall, Catholic, County Mayo, Family History, Genealogy, Great War, History, Home Front, Ireland, Local History, Occupations, One-Place Study, Remembrance, Roll of Honour, Schools, St Mary's RC Church, The Great War, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

Tagged Ancestry, Batley, Catholic, County Mayo, family history, genealogy, Great War, History, Home Front, Ireland, Local History, Occupations, One-Place Study, St Mary's, The Great War, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 31 January 2025 Additions

Posted on February 1, 2025 | Leave a comment

2025 got off to a great start for the Batley St Mary of the Angels One-Place Study, with the addition of five posts which cover a varied mix of the history of the parish and its people. It brings the total number of posts to 383. One other post was updated.

Below is the complete list of all the St Mary’s posts published up to the end of January 2025, including links to them, with those new and updated posts signposted so you can easily locate them.

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.

Two new War Memorial biographies were added, those of Harold Gaunt and Thomas Dolan. The former covers a lesser known aspect of military service. The latter includes some cherished photos, used with the family’s permission. I also identified more parishioners who served in, and survived, the First World War. That list has been updated.

The Bulletin for Batley St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick section, has one addition. This is the piece covering the parish history snippets which were included in the parish bulletins during January 2025 – one of which may be rather surprising but reflects commonly held initial world attitudes to someone who turned out to be a monster.

It also links to the one of the two new posts in the Miscellany of Information section. One is about a former parishioner who played an unexpected and significant role, bringing him into contact with people across the world. The other post is a topic I never thought would be covered in the St Mary’s One-Place Study. Given this month, on the 27 January, we commemorated World Holocaust Day and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp complex, it serves as a timely and important reminder.

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

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👈🏻 to 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.

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

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 *NEW*
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 *NEW*
38. James Gavaghan
39. Thomas Gavaghan
40. Henry Groark
41. James Groark
42. Michael Groark (also known as Rourke)
43. James Griffin
44. William Hargreaves
45. Michael Hopkins
46. Patrick Hopkins
47. Michael Horan
48. James Hughes
49. Lawrence Judge
50. John Leech
51. Michael Lydon
52. Patrick Lyons
William McManus – See William Townsend below
53. Thomas McNamara
54. Clement Manning
55. Patrick Naifsey
56. Austin Nolan
57. Robert Randerson
58. James Rush
59. Moses Stubley
60. William Townsend, also known as McManus
61. James Trainor
62. Richard Carroll Walsh
63. 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) *UPDATED*
64. Patrick Cassidy
65. James Delaney
66. Thomas Donlan (senior)
67. Thomas Gannon
68. Michael Rush

Burials, Cemeteries, Headstones and MIs
69. Cemetery and Memorial Details
70. War Memorial Chronology of Deaths .

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

Maps and Photographs
304. Aerial View of St Mary’s Church and the Surrounding Streets
305. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1894
306. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1907
307. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1922
308. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1933

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

Occupations and Employment Information
334. Occupations: Colliery Byeworker/Byeworkman/Byworker/Bye-Worker/By-Worker
335. Occupations: Confidential Clerk
336. Occupations: Lamp Cleaner
337. Occupations: Limelight Operator
338. Occupations: Mason’s Labourer
339. Occupations: Office Boy/Girl
340. Occupations: Piecer/Piecener
341. Occupations: Rag Grinder
342. Occupations: Willeyer

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

World War Two
380. World War Two Chronology of Deaths
381. Thomas Egan
382. Michael Flatley
383. William Smith

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St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 30 November 2024 Additions

Posted on December 1, 2024 | Leave a comment

This November has brought eight new posts to the Batley St Mary of the Angels One-Place Study, bringing the total number to 371 posts. In addition to the eight new posts, two more were updated.

This update contains the list of all the St Mary’s posts published up to the end of November 2024, including links to them, with last month’s new and updated posts signposted so you can easily locate them.

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.

One new War Memorial biography has been added, that of Clement Manning. More parishioners to the list of those who served in, and survived, the First World War section, so this list has been updated.

The Miscellany of Information section has a new post this month, about a huge talent whose promise was never fulfilled. That talent though is memorialised on William Berry’s headstone.

The Bulletin for Batley St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick section, has an addition. This is the piece covering the parish history snippets which were included in the parish bulletins during November 2024.

And the other November additions are in the During This Week newspaper section, with five new pages covering the editions of the Batley News published during the month of November 1918. I have accordingly updated the surname index to these During This Week newspaper pieces, so you can easily identify newspaper snippets relevant to your family.

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

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👈🏻 to 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.

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

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 Donlan
29. John W. Enright
30. Mathew Farrer
31. Thomas Finneran
32. Michael Flynn
33. Thomas Foley D.C.M.
34. Martin Gallagher
35. James Garner
36. Thomas Gavaghan
37. Henry Groark
38. James Groark
39. Michael Groark (also known as Rourke)
40. James Griffin
41. William Hargreaves
42. Patrick Hopkins
43. Michael Horan
44. James Hughes
45. Lawrence Judge
46. John Leech
47. Michael Lydon
48. Patrick Lyons
William McManus – See William Townsend below
49. Thomas McNamara
50. Clement Manning *NEW*
51. Patrick Naifsey
52. Austin Nolan
53. Robert Randerson
54. James Rush
55. Moses Stubley
56. William Townsend, also known as McManus
57. James Trainor
58. Richard Carroll Walsh
59. 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) *UPDATED*
60. Patrick Cassidy
61. James Delaney
62. Thomas Donlan (senior)
63. Thomas Gannon
64. Michael Rush

Burials, Cemeteries, Headstones and MIs
65. Cemetery and Memorial Details
66. War Memorial Chronology of Deaths .

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

Maps and Photographs
296. Aerial View of St Mary’s Church and the Surrounding Streets
297. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1894
298. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1907
299. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1922
300. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1933

Miscellany of Information
301. A Colliery Accident with Tragic Consequences
302. A Grave Disturbance in Batley
303. A Part of St Mary of the Angels in Batley Cemetery
304. A “Peace” of Batley History
305. An Appeal to Ireland to Build a Catholic Church in Batley
306. 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
307. A St Mary’s School Sensation
308. A St Mary’s School Trip Souvenir
309. Batley’s Secret Irish Society and the Ammunition Seizure
310. Batley St Mary’s First Torchlight Procession
311. “Daddy’s Death and then Triplets”
312. Heritage Impact Assessment: St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and Convent, Batley
313. Hot-Cross Buns and the Yorkshire Tea-Cake Dilemma. Plus A Suggested Meal Planner for Batley Families in 1917
314. Into the Valley of Death – One of the Six Hundred
315. St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church – 1929 Consecration Service
316. The Consequences of a Refusal to Work in 1918
317. The Controversial Role Played by St Mary’s Schoolchildren in the 1907 Batley Pageant
318. The Earliest Published Account of Batley St Mary’s Church and Schools
319. The Great War: A Brief Overview of What Led Britain into the War
320. The Unholy row between St Mary’s Church and the Batley and Birstall Irish Clubs
321. Thomas Ate My Rat
322. William Berry – A Beautiful Voice Stilled *NEW*
323. Willie and Edward Barber – Poems

Occupations and Employment Information
324. Occupations: Colliery Byeworker/Byeworkman/Byworker/Bye-Worker/By-Worker
325. Occupations: Confidential Clerk
326. Occupations: Lamp Cleaner
327. Occupations: Limelight Operator
328. Occupations: Mason’s Labourer
329. Occupations: Office Boy/Girl
330. Occupations: Piecer/Piecener
331. Occupations: Rag Grinder
332. Occupations: Willeyer

The Bulletin of St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick – Parish History Section
357. March 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
358. April 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
359. May 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
360. June 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
361. July 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
362. August 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
363. September 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
364. October 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
365. November 2024 Bulletin History Pieces *NEW*

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

World War Two
368. World War Two Chronology of Deaths
369. Thomas Egan
370. Michael Flatley
371. William Smith

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Posted in 19th Century, 20th Century, Ancestry, Batley, Catholic, County Mayo, Family History, Genealogy, Great War, History, Home Front, Ireland, Local History, Occupations, One-Place Study, Remembrance, Roll of Honour, Schools, St Mary's RC Church, The Great War, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

The Loose Ends of Family History

Posted on November 22, 2024 | Leave a comment

No two days are ever the same for a professional genealogist, as demonstrated by a research commission I undertook this summer for Leeds-based artist Ellie Harrison, and Polite Rebellion – the company with which she works.

*Polite Rebellion Artist Ellie Harrison and me at the Loose Ends Exhibition*

Working to a tight deadline, my research drew together some threads of Ellie’s family history, and was a small part of the background detail to her much broader overall artistic display concept.

Ellie’s thought-provoking interactive exhibition, Loose Ends, is now currently showing in Leeds as part of November’s Compass Art Festival. This Festival brings a variety of interactive art projects into the city.

*The Loose Ends exhibition space, Leeds Trinity Shopping Centre Albion Street entrance (near Boots).*

I dropped by for the opening day of Loose Ends (22 November 2024).

The Loose Ends component of the Festival is based in a pop-up shop in the Leeds Trinity Shopping Centre. Visually striking, this interactive and immersive experience invites you to think about your family tree in its broadest sense. It goes beyond the traditional historical concept of mother, father, siblings, grandparents, great grandparents, which in reality – as every family historian knows – is rarely so neatly packaged. It also highlights there are often unspoken topics and secrets within families.

It challenges you to consider what makes your family, inviting you to explore its complexities, the transient nature of some relationships weighed against more enduring ones, with this weighting not necessarily measured by blood links. You are asked to even consider the importance of wider friendship circles – a take on your FAN Club (Friends/Families, Associates and Neighbours).

*A chance to explore what makes your family tree*

More details about the Loose Ends exhibition, including where to find it, can be found here.

But you need to be quick as it only runs from 22 – 24 November, and 28 – 30 November 2024.

*More details about Loose Ends, https://www.politerebellion.co.uk/currentprojects/looseends*

If you can’t make it, here’s the QR Code to scan and enter virtually.

A huge thank you to Ellie for commissioning me to undertake her research. I loved doing it, because no two family trees are ever the same – as is demonstrated by the exhibition.

For more details about commissioning me for your research, please click here.

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Posted in Ancestry, Family History, Family Tree, Genealogy, Leeds

Tagged Ancestry, Art Exhibition, Compass Festival, family history, Family Tree, genealogy, Leeds

Details of my Family and Local History Talks for 2025-2026

Posted on November 20, 2024 | Leave a comment

If you are looking for a family or local history speaker during 2025 and 2026, here are the details of my current talks:

Charles the Pigeon and a Yorkshire Spy.
Local Links to the Lusitania.
My Batley St Mary’s One-Place Study. (Covers the history of the Irish in Batley and the Catholic parish of Batley St Mary of the Angels until turn of the 20th century).
The Home Front: the White Lee Explosion of 1914 and the Unlucky History of the Site (available from September 2026).
Tips for Researching your Great War Ancestors. This is based around my book about Northern Union – rugby league – players killed in the First World War. For local history groups, I can drop the research tips aspect, and base the talk solely about the players.
How to Research your Family Tree. This talk will help those embarking on their family history journey, but it will also provide useful reminders and advice for those who have already started out on their ancestral adventure.

The first four have a distinctly Yorkshire flavour. The fifth will be tailored around rugby league players from your locality. The family tree research talk can be geared around research tips for Yorkshire ancestors.

Charles the Pigeon and a Yorkshire Spy is the story of an unsung Yorkshire hero, living behind enemy lines and carrying out works of espionage and sabotage during World War One. His adopted pigeon Charles played an important part in these wartime exploits. Their daring deeds are more like a boy’s adventure story than real life. But this is a true tale of wartime courage, and one which deserves wider telling.

Local Links to the Lusitania focuses on people with Yorkshire connections on board the Cunard liner, torpedoed and sunk off the Irish coast on 7 May 1915. The sinking did not affect only the rich and famous. Many Yorkshire people were involved. This talk explores some of their stories.

There is a possibility this talk can be tailored to your local area.

My Batley St Mary’s talk is based around my one-place study into the Catholic parish of St Mary of the Angels, with a focus on its early history and period up to the 1880s. It investigates what a one-place study is, why I embarked on one, why I chose this particular study, as well as my findings – including the Irish migration angle, how they were received locally, the building of the church, all with a focus on ordinary parishioners.

The Home Front: the White Lee Explosion of 1914 is a talk based around the events of December 1914 when a devastating explosion, caused during the manufacture of picric acid for the war effort, took place at White Lee. It resulted in deaths and injuries, as well as damage across a vast area of Batley, Heckmondwike and the Spen Valley. It is an event often overlooked because of later explosions in Yorkshire at Low Moor and Barnbow. This talk aims to provide more information about this Heavy Woollen District incident, the forerunner to the later explosions. The talk will explore the unlucky history of the site, as well as the events on the day and the aftermath.

Based on my groundbreaking book The Greatest Sacrifice: Fallen Heroes of the Northern Union about rugby league players who died in World War One, the talk investigates the stories behind some of the men. It is also packed with tips for researching your own Great War Army ancestors.

In this talk I will guide you through building your family tree. I will cover the basics to help you start your research on the right track, give you lots of tips, help you avoid those all-important pitfalls, and provide ideas for taking your research further. If required, I can slant this talk towards Yorkshire ancestral research.

For more details about these talks, including cost and booking one, please contact me at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

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Posted in Ancestry, Family History, Family History Talks, Genealogy, Local History, Local History Talks

Tagged family history, genealogy, Local History, Talks

St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 31 October 2024 Additions

Posted on November 1, 2024 | Leave a comment

Despite it being an extremely busy work month during October, I did add five new posts to the Batley St Mary of the Angels One-Place Study, bringing the total number to 363 posts. In addition to the five new posts, a further three were updated.

This update contains the list of all the St Mary’s posts published up to the end of October 2024, including links to them, with last month’s new and updated posts signposted so you can easily locate them.

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.

Yet again no new War Memorial biographies have been added this month. I know I keep saying it, but I really do hope to write some for next month, work permitting. One though, Robert Randerson, was updated. And I have added more parishioners to the list of those who served in, and survived, the First World War section, so this list has been updated too.

And the other October additions are in the During This Week newspaper section, with four new pages covering the editions of the Batley News published during the month of October 1918. I have accordingly updated the surname index to these During This Week newspaper pieces, so you can easily identify newspaper snippets relevant to your family.

And this month I have a question about the newspaper round-up pieces. I will continue to add the Batley News ones for the First World War period beyond the Armistice date of 11 November 1918. I plan to continue to the end of 1918. My question is, what should I do after that?

Should I continue with the Batley News to June 1919 and the official ending of the war, or should I end at 31 December 1918?
If I end at 31 December 1918, should I then start with the Batley Reporter from August 1914 to December 1918? Whilst there is some overlap between the two newspapers, there are some significant differences too.
Or should I start with the Batley News for the Second World War (September 1939 to September 1945). If that is the preferred option, I may have to edit it down as there will be so much relevant to St Mary’s.

Please do let me know. Either email me at the contact details towards the end of this piece. Or send a comment via the WordPress comments option. Or if you are reading this on Facebook or X (formerly Twitter), just leave a comment there.

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

I can be contacted at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

Postscript:
I want to say a big thank you for the donations already received to keep this website going. They really do help.

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👈🏻 to 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.

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

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 Donlan
29. John W. Enright
30. Mathew Farrer
31. Thomas Finneran
32. Michael Flynn
33. Thomas Foley D.C.M.
34. Martin Gallagher
35. James Garner
36. Thomas Gavaghan
37. Henry Groark
38. James Groark
39. Michael Groark (also known as Rourke)
40. James Griffin
41. William Hargreaves
42. Patrick Hopkins
43. Michael Horan
44. James Hughes
45. Lawrence Judge
46. John Leech
47. Michael Lydon
48. Patrick Lyons
William McManus – See William Townsend below
49. Thomas McNamara
50. Patrick Naifsey
51. Austin Nolan
52. Robert Randerson *UPDATED*
53. James Rush
54. Moses Stubley
55. William Townsend, also known as McManus
56. James Trainor
57. Richard Carroll Walsh
58. 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) *UPDATED*
59. Patrick Cassidy
60. James Delaney
61. Thomas Donlan (senior)
62. Thomas Gannon
63. Michael Rush

Burials, Cemeteries, Headstones and MIs
64. Cemetery and Memorial Details
65. War Memorial Chronology of Deaths .

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

Maps and Photographs
290. Aerial View of St Mary’s Church and the Surrounding Streets
291. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1894
292. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1907
293. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1922
294. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1933

Miscellany of Information
295. A Colliery Accident with Tragic Consequences
296. A Grave Disturbance in Batley
297. A Part of St Mary of the Angels in Batley Cemetery
298. A “Peace” of Batley History
299. An Appeal to Ireland to Build a Catholic Church in Batley
300. 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
301. A St Mary’s School Sensation
302. A St Mary’s School Trip Souvenir
303. Batley’s Secret Irish Society and the Ammunition Seizure
304. Batley St Mary’s First Torchlight Procession
305. “Daddy’s Death and then Triplets”
306. Heritage Impact Assessment: St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and Convent, Batley
307. Hot-Cross Buns and the Yorkshire Tea-Cake Dilemma. Plus A Suggested Meal Planner for Batley Families in 1917
308. Into the Valley of Death – One of the Six Hundred *NEW*
309. St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church – 1929 Consecration Service
310. The Consequences of a Refusal to Work in 1918
311. The Controversial Role Played by St Mary’s Schoolchildren in the 1907 Batley Pageant
312. The Earliest Published Account of Batley St Mary’s Church and Schools
313. The Great War: A Brief Overview of What Led Britain into the War
314. The Unholy row between St Mary’s Church and the Batley and Birstall Irish Clubs
315. Thomas Ate My Rat
316. Willie and Edward Barber – Poems

Occupations and Employment Information
317. Occupations: Colliery Byeworker/Byeworkman/Byworker/Bye-Worker/By-Worker
318. Occupations: Confidential Clerk
319. Occupations: Lamp Cleaner
320. Occupations: Limelight Operator
321. Occupations: Mason’s Labourer
322. Occupations: Office Boy/Girl
323. Occupations: Piecer/Piecener
324. Occupations: Rag Grinder
325. Occupations: Willeyer

The Bulletin of St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick – Parish History Section
350. March 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
351. April 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
352. May 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
353. June 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
354. July 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
355. August 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
356. September 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
357. October 2024 Bulletin History Pieces *NEW*

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

World War Two
360. World War Two Chronology of Deaths
361. Thomas Egan
362. Michael Flatley
363. William Smith

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Posted in 19th Century, 20th Century, Ancestry, Batley, Birstall, Catholic, County Mayo, CWGC, Family History, Genealogy, Great War, History, Home Front, Ireland, Local History, Occupations, One-Place Study, Remembrance, Roll of Honour, Schools, St Mary's RC Church, The Great War, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 30 September 2024 Additions

Posted on October 1, 2024 | 2 comments

Last month I added a Batley St Mary’s One-Place Study post about a parishioner who was one of only around 600 nationwide to participate in an event in British history which is still famous – and taught in schools – today. This includes at St Mary’s. But, until my post, the parishioner’s role had been long-forgotten. More of that later.

In all six new posts were added during September 2024, bringing the total number to 358 posts. This update contains the list of all the St Mary’s posts published up to the end of September 2024, including links to them, with last month’s new and updated posts signposted so you can easily locate them.

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.

In addition to the six new posts, a further two were updated.

These additions and updates included four new weekly newspaper pages for September 1918. I have accordingly updated the surname index to these During This Week newspaper pieces, so you can easily identify newspaper snippets relevant to your family.

Yet again no new War Memorial biographies have been added this month. I really do hope to write some for next month, work permitting. I have, however, updated the names of parishioners who served in, and survived, the First World War section, as more men were identified during September.

As I have mentioned, there is one major new post which can be found in the Miscellany of Information section. It is about a parishioner who took part in the famous Charge of the Light Brigade on 25 October 1854. It really is well worth reading.

The final post added this month is in the Bulletin for Batley St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick section, containing the parish history snippets which were included in the bulletins during September 2024.

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

I can be contacted at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

Postscript:
I want to say a big thank you for the donations already received to keep this website going. They really do help.

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.

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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

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 Donlan
29. John W. Enright
30. Mathew Farrer
31. Thomas Finneran
32. Michael Flynn
33. Thomas Foley D.C.M.
34. Martin Gallagher
35. James Garner
36. Thomas Gavaghan
37. Henry Groark
38. James Groark
39. Michael Groark (also known as Rourke)
40. James Griffin
41. William Hargreaves
42. Patrick Hopkins
43. Michael Horan
44. James Hughes
45. Lawrence Judge
46. John Leech
47. Michael Lydon
48. Patrick Lyons
William McManus – See William Townsend below
49. Thomas McNamara
50. Patrick Naifsey
51. Austin Nolan
52. Robert Randerson
53. James Rush
54. Moses Stubley
55. William Townsend, also known as McManus
56. James Trainor
57. Richard Carroll Walsh
58. Arthur William Bayldon Woodhead

Burials, Cemeteries, Headstones and MIs
64. Cemetery and Memorial Details
65. War Memorial Chronology of Deaths

Electoral Registers 1918-1921
284. 1918 Batley Electoral Register, North Ward, Polling Districts A and B – Naval and Military Voters

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

Maps and Photographs
286. Aerial View of St Mary’s Church and the Surrounding Streets
287. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1894
288. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1907
289. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1922
290. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1933

Miscellany of Information
291. A Colliery Accident with Tragic Consequences
292. A Grave Disturbance in Batley
293. A Part of St Mary of the Angels in Batley Cemetery
294. A “Peace” of Batley History
295. An Appeal to Ireland to Build a Catholic Church in Batley
296. 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
297. A St Mary’s School Sensation
297. A St Mary’s School Trip Souvenir
299. Batley’s Secret Irish Society and the Ammunition Seizure
300. Batley St Mary’s First Torchlight Procession
301. “Daddy’s Death and then Triplets”
302. Heritage Impact Assessment: St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and Convent, Batley
303. Hot-Cross Buns and the Yorkshire Tea-Cake Dilemma. Plus A Suggested Meal Planner for Batley Families in 1917
304. Into the Valley of Death – One of the Six Hundred *NEW*
305. St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church – 1929 Consecration Service
306. The Consequences of a Refusal to Work in 1918
307. The Controversial Role Played by St Mary’s Schoolchildren in the 1907 Batley Pageant
308. The Earliest Published Account of Batley St Mary’s Church and Schools
309. The Great War: A Brief Overview of What Led Britain into the War
310. The Unholy row between St Mary’s Church and the Batley and Birstall Irish Clubs
311. Thomas Ate My Rat
312. Willie and Edward Barber – Poems

Occupations and Employment Information
313. Occupations: Colliery Byeworker/Byeworkman/Byworker/Bye-Worker/By-Worker
314. Occupations: Confidential Clerk
315. Occupations: Lamp Cleaner
316. Occupations: Limelight Operator
317. Occupations: Mason’s Labourer
318. Occupations: Office Boy/Girl
319. Occupations: Piecer/Piecener
320. Occupations: Rag Grinder
321. Occupations: Willeyer

The Bulletin of St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick – Parish History Section
346. March 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
347. April 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
348. May 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
349. June 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
350. July 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
351. August 2024 Bulletin History Pieces
352. September 2024 Bulletin History Pieces *NEW*

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

World War Two
355. World War Two Chronology of Deaths
356. Thomas Egan
357. Michael Flatley
358. William Smith

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Posted in 19th Century, 20th Century, Ancestry, Batley, Birstall, Catholic, County Mayo, Family History, Genealogy, Great War, History, Home Front, Ireland, Local History, Occupations, One-Place Study, Remembrance, Roll of Honour, St Mary's RC Church, The Great War, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

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