Category Archives: Remembrance

It is one of Batley’s most iconic sites. The soldier in the Memorial Gardens looking down solemnly over the names of Batley’s Fallen. But the design, and location, of the town’s War Memorial could have been totally different. And, it may come as a surprise, the town commemorated its Great War Fallen with far more than this Memorial. Here’s the story about the debates which went on in Batley about a suitable form of remembrance.

The Great War officially ended on 28 June 1919 with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. It was over a year later, on 9 August 1920, when Batley Borough’s General Purposes Committee resolved that “a representative Committee be appointed to consider and report to a public meeting on the question of the provision of some suitable War Memorial for this Borough.”

The War Memorial Committee was initially made up of the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors, who were able to add others as deemed appropriate. In addition to these Borough worthies, those involved in the War Memorial Committee, and its offshoots, eventually comprised of representatives from each of the following organisations:

• Borough Magistrates;
• Co-opted Members of the Library Committee;
• Co-opted Members of the Education Committee;
• Co-opted Members of the Technical School Committee;
• Chamber of Commerce;
• Chamber of Trade;
• Committee of the Batley & District Hospital;
• Batley Workingmen’s Club;
• Soothill Workingmen’s Club:
• Batley Co-operative Society Ltd.;
• Batley Paxton Society;
• Temperance Society, Batley;
• Trades & Friendly Club, Batley;
• Carlinghow Workingmen’s Club;
• Liberal Club, Batley;
• Liberal Club, Staincliffe;
• Conservative Club, Batley;
• United Irish League Club, Batley;
• St John Ambulance Association, Batley Division;
• Batley Cricket, Athletic and Football. Club;
• Independent Labour Party, Batley Branch;
• Primrose League, Batley;
• Women’s Liberal Association, Batley;
• Co-operative Women’s Guild, Batley;
• Teachers Association, Batley Branch;
• Independent Labour Party Women’s Branch;
• P.M.E. Batley (Hanover Street Church);
• British Women’s Temperance Association (BWTA), Batley Branch;
• BWTA Staincliffe Branch;
• BWTA Hanging Heaton Branch;
• Batley Old Band;
• Batley Nursing Service;
• Batley Ex-Servicemen’s Social Club; and
• Batley Branch British Legion.

At the War Memorial Committee Meeting on 11 October 1920, three resolutions were passed:

1. That they should recommend to a public meeting that a suitable monument be erected in the Borough as one way in which to perpetuate the memory of those from Batley who fell in the War;
2. That it should also be recommended that a portion of any War Memorial Fund should be go towards the extension of Batley & District Hospital. Alongside this, that a Sub-Committee be appointed to consider and report upon the amount of pensions being paid to widows and other dependents of the men from the Borough who fell in the Great War; and
3. That subscribers to any arising War Memorial Fund should be allowed to earmark their subscriptions to any one or more of the selected schemes.

The pension aspect was considered further in January 1922. In this meeting the War Memorial Sub-Committee decided in view of the increased amount of State pensions payable to War widows and War dependents, and the decrease in the cost of living, the Batley war Memorial Scheme should be confined to raising subscriptions to erect a suitable monument. The main Committee accepted this recommendation and, as a result, the establishment of a larger benevolent fund was deferred. Essentially this meant it was scrapped.

The War Memorial Committee then appointed another Sub-Committee to prepare and consider plans for the erection of the War Memorial.

On 20 February 1922 this War Memorial Sub-Committee discussed the siting of the Memorial. One suggestion was part of Batley Parish Church Yard. However it was felt a new Memorial inappropriate for an old church yard. The two remaining options were the park, adjoining Bradford Road; or the Market Place, because of its accessibility. Objections to the latter were raised on the grounds that the market would be too crowded. As an alternative, another portion of the Market Estate was proposed – the open ground at the top of the Market Hill. The Committee voted on the two options, and overwhelming decision was Market Hill. The Borough Surveyor had the task of preparing a rough layout in time for the next meeting.

The Sub-Committee reconvened on 6 March 1922 for further discussions, based on the layout drawn up by the Borough Surveyor. Some did not like the proximity of the Memorial to the police station. Others still argued for a more central market position. But the top of the Market Hill won the day, with the lay-out approved to put forward for main committee sign-off.

The Borough Engineer was asked to obtain sketch models for the Monument and a walled enclosure on the Market Hill site, with the design of the Monument left to the discretion of the artists. A cost of £1,500 was set as part of the design specifications.

The Borough Engineer brought 16 submitted designs to the 15 May 1922 meeting. Two designs were selected – one by Messrs. Wright and Sons Limited of Bradford; and the other by Messrs. R.L Bolton and Son of Cheltenham. The Committee also wanted a third design in the form of another Cross, so the decision was taken to ask Messrs. Kelly of Bradford and Messrs. Scott of Dewsbury to resubmit designs so one of these crosses could also be considered. The rough minutes of the meeting contained rudimentary doodles of the designs. I have reproduced these below. Yes, my sketches are bad. But in my defence they are very good replicas of those in the draft minutes!

Now thoughts turned to names on the Memorial. The Town Clerk was asked to compile a nucleus list consisting of name, rank and unit. This could then be circulated amongst churches, clubs etc, and checked with information from official bodies like the War Pensions Department and Post Office. Once this nucleus list was established, it would be publicly available for consultation in the Town Hall and library, and advertised in the local papers.

June 1922 came and went. The War Memorial Sub-Committee failed to reach a design decision. More designs had come in. More were sought. And the Town Clerk and Borough Surveyor were instructed to obtain photographs of monuments already erected in other towns.

These photographs were presented on the 30 August 1922 War Memorial Sub-Committee meeting. Finally two designs were settled on. As in May it was the design by Bradford’s Messrs Wright and Sons Ltd, at a cost of £2,000. This was a figure on a pedestal. However, the Sub-Committee decided to ask this firm to submit an alternative design for the figure. The second design selected was by Mr L.T. Moore of London. This was a tall pillar on a plinth surmounted by a Cross. Lions were depicted on the sketch, and the Sub-Committee wanted an amended design without the lions.

The Memorial site and designs now went before the full War Memorial Committee on 8 September 1922. They overwhelmingly concurred that the Market Estate site was preferable to the park, 20 votes to 4, with one abstention. But the designs attracted more debate.

The Borough Surveyor outlined the design of Messrs Wright and Sons Ltd. In a pose symbolic of attendance at a funeral, a bronze soldier stood on a Bolton Wood Stone pedestal. But some were dissatisfied with a soldier. Alternate suggestions bandied about included a Winged Figure for Victory. Another suggestion was for a Sailor, a Soldier and an Airman; and taking this combined services theme a step further, a single symbolic figure representing all three services was mooted. But the line was held. This bronze soldier was the design decided upon by the Sub-Committee, and it was this design which the full Committee had to consider.

Mr L. T. Moore‘s design was similarly debated by the Committee. Rather than lions surrounding the cross, could it not be the figure from the first design, came the suggestion? It was confirmed that the Sub-Committee agreed that the lions be removed. The War Memorial Committee choice here was therefore the cross with or without figures.

Finally it came to a vote. With 23 in favour against nil, and two abstentions, Messers Wright & Sons Ltd Soldier design was the one chosen at Sub-Committee stage for Batley’s War Memorial.

The next step was the approval of these decisions by the General Purposes Committee of the Town Council (28 September 1922), and sign-off by the Town Council itself (5 October). Both passed as stood – the Market Hill area of the Market Estate, and Messers Wright & Sons Ltd were confirmed. Preparations were now taken to enclose and lay out a portion of the Market Estate for the Monument, and to inform the people of Batley.

The town’s meeting took place on 30 November 1922. Even here there was a last-ditch unsuccessful attempt to force a reconsideration of the the Market Estate location for the Memorial. But the plans were finally signed off here, with only three dissentients.

The town’s meeting also saw the newly-elected Mayor, Councillor Hamilton Crothers, formally launch the Mayor’s Fund-Raising Appeal to pay for the Memorial. At the meeting it was announced that an initial £750 had been donated equally by Messrs G. & J. Stubley, Messrs J., T. & J. Taylor Ltd, and Mrs Adeline Stubley. By 1 August 1923 the Mayor’s Appeal stood at £2,248 7s and 6d, with donations coming in from across the town, way in excess of the amount needed.

In parallel to the fund-raising appeal, collecting the names of the Fallen moved onto the next phase. In February 1923 forms were issued to householders in the Borough asking for the particulars of any relative who was killed or whose death was certified as due to wounds received, or disease contracted in the War. In addition to this house-to-house canvass, names were obtained through the War Pensions Department, Clubs, Institutes, Religious bodies etc. Information poured in, on officially distributive pro formas, in various books placed in the municipal buildings, and by post. Multiple clubs, organisations and churches also submitted names. All this information was used to produce lists, with numerous corrections and iterations leading to multiple versions and refinements. A format of the list was also published in order to receive further names, or any corrections (including spellings). This was an enormous task, in a time when information had to be cross-checked, compared, collated, sorted and organised manually – then typewritten.

By August 1923 a satisfactory draft list showing rank, name, regiment and date of death was produced. This list – 782 names in total – was forwarded to the chosen contractor, Messrs Wright and Sons Ltd of Bradford, for them to prepare the twelve bronze tablets for the Memorial. These tablets would include the men’s Christian and surnames, organised in alphabetical surname order.

On 6 September 1923 the Sub-Committee responsible for the unveiling of the War Memorial met formally for the first time. They had not long to make arrangements for the event, which they set for 27 October 1923. In terms of who would perform the unveiling, the Sub-Committee tasked the Mayor with approaching either Field Marshal Earl Haig, Admiral Earl Beatty, General Ian Hamilton or General Harrington, G.O.C. Northern Command

General Sir Ian Hamilton, commander at Gallipoli, had retired from the Army in 1920. But he subsequently took a keen interest in the work of the British Legion, and he was in great demand as a speaker for veteran organisations. Despite the very short notice he agreed to perform the unveiling of Batley’s War Memorial.

And yet, even at this late stage, there had been no decision as to the War Memorial inscription. Those discussions continued during September. By early October the sculptors finally received confirmation that the inscription would be:

In grateful memory of the men of this town who fell in the Great War 1914- 1918.

The War Memorial unveiling ceremony commenced at 3pm on 27 October 1923. General Hamilton, in his short address, said it was not enough to raise a memorial to the nearly 800 dead. The people must take their part to prevent the world entering upon another period of war, and to save their children from suffering as they themselves had suffered. The inscription on the War Memorial today, shows General Hamilton’s hope did not come to pass.

The images below are from the official programme for the ceremony.

At the wreath-laying ceremony which followed the unveiling, nearly one hundred relatives of the fallen men laid flowers at the foot of the Memorial.

Batley finally had its War Memorial.

So what of the other proposals for the Mayor’s War Memorial Fund? As explained earlier, there were originally three:

• The now fulfilled erection of a monument;
• The augmenting of the pensions received by widows and other dependents of men from the Borough who fell – an aim which was quickly dropped; and
• Contributing to the Batley Hospital Extension scheme.

From 1924 onwards the move was made to ensure that the surplus of the Mayor’s Appeal Fund be devoted to the urgently needed hospital extension “in such a manner as to help perpetuate the memory of those who fell in the Great War.”

In fact, the Mayor’s War Memorial Appeal Fund had been so well-supported by the folk of Batley that £750 was duly handed to the Board of Batley Hospital on 30 April 1926. And there was still a surplus available. Around £100 of this was earmarked for a suitable Memorial Plaque for the hospital to commemorate the gift from the War Memorial Fund. It was mooted that this could possibly be in the new entrance hall of the hospital, but the final decision as to location would be for the Hospital Board. This £136 surplus was still under discussion in 1934.

In 1935 it was resolved at last. A Memorial plaque would definitely be erected. Two choices for wording were considered. The final decision was:

To assist
in perpetuating the memory
of the men of Batley
who fell in the Great War 1914-1918
whose names are recorded on
the town’s War Memorial
the sum of £862 was given
from the War Memorial Fund
towards the cost of the extension
of this Hospital
begun 1924, completed 1928.

There was one other tangible form of remembrance. In 1925 the War Memorial Committee decided to seek tenders for a Memorial Tablet Frame containing the names of Batley’s Fallen. Despite these tenders being commissioned and received in 1925, nothing happened for almost another ten years. Finally in 1935 another set of tenders were requested. The specification decided upon was for two English Oak Mural Tablets, encasing behind glass parchment scrolls containing the names of the 782 fallen. These were to be displayed inside Batley Library. The 1935 tender request was quite specific that this was to be English Oak. Perhaps this was a throwback to 1925 when one of the aborted tenders, from Harry Senior, cabinet maker of Daisy Hill, Dewsbury, showing an astounding lack of awareness, stated his quote was for frames of PRIME QUALITY AUSTRIAN OAK ! (And yes, his quote did have this phrase in capital letters).

Messrs. Osborn Hoyle Ltd, Engravers, Die Sinkers and Stamp Makers of 17 Bond Street, Dewsbury finally won the tender, at a cost of £14 4s for the frames, and £7 10s for the 12 parchment scrolls and glass. There was also an additional cost of supplying and fixing 108 bronze letters on the oak frames, amounting to £4 1s 1d. This work was all complete by August 1935. This firm also won the contract for the Hospital Memorial plaque.

The Oak Memorial Tablets are now in Batley Town Hall.

But does anyone recall seeing the bronze Memorial Plaque in Batley Hospital, or know what became of it since the hospital’s closure? It did briefly resurface back in 2014, but I’ve not found out what happened after that. I’ve not noticed it in Batley Town Hall, but since researching the War Memorial history I’ve been unable to go down to check. It may be it is still in storage somewhere. I really do hope it can go on display once more at some point. After all, it is part of our town’s history, and it is a tribute to our ancestors’ efforts to commemorate our town’s Great War Fallen in perpetuity.

Finally, this Remembrance Sunday will not be like others because of the pandemic restrictions. If you have not been able to buy your usual poppy locally this year, and do feel able to donate to the Royal British Legion, here is the link to the Poppy Appeal 2020.

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Postscript:
Finally a big thank you for the donations already received to keep this website going. 

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Thank you.

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Footnotes:
• I am gradually uploading mini-biographies for the St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church parishioners on the One-Place Study section of my website. The list of St Mary’s War Memorial men is here, with links to the biographies.
• For more information about those on the War Memorial see Batley’s Roll of Honour;