The Family Notices section of the Batley News held this week’s St Mary’s parishioner pieces. I have put in bold the names of those connected to the parish who served with the military. And, as ever, the spelling and punctuation matches that of the newspaper.
The Deaths section contained details of two recently deceased parishioners:
BATLEY
McNAMARA. —On the 22nd inst., aged 70 years, Margaret McNamara, 5, Back Spa Street.WHITLEY. —On the 25th inst., aged one year, Kathleen, daughter of Joseph W. Whitley, 37, Ambler Street.
On the eve of the first anniversary of the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, the Barber family remembered their son Edward Barber in the Roll of Honour section. He was killed in action on 1 July 1916.
Roll of Honour
BARBER. —In Loving Memory of Our Dear Son and Brother, Private Edward Barber, 18th West Yorks (Bradford Pals), Who Was Killed in Action, July 1st, Somewhere in France.
We think we see his smiling face,
As he bade us all good-bye,
And left his dear ones for ever
In a foreign land to die.
But we have one consolation,
He bravely did his best;
Somewhere abroad our dear one sleeps—
A hero laid to rest.
But the hardest part is yet to come,
When the warriors all return,
And we miss among the cheering crowd
The face of our dear one.
From Father, Mother, Sisters, and Brothers, No. 3, Devon Street, Batley.
And:
BARBER. —In Ever Loving Memory of Our Dear Brother, Private Edward Barber, 18th West Yorks., Killed in Action, July 1st, 1916.
We often think of our dear brother,
And our hearts are sad with pain,
And this world it would be Heaven,
Could we have you back again.
From His Loving Sister and Brother, Effie and Joe.
Edward Barber’s biography can be read here.
Past To Present Genealogy 