Here is this week’s round-up of pieces from the Batley News relating to the parish of St Mary’s. As usual 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.
A couple of parishioner rugby players were mentioned in connection with the Batley Northern Union (rugby league) club. They were Jimmy Lyons and Patrick (Paddy) Judge, brother of recently deceased Lawrence Judge.
Jimmy Lyons’ Disappointment
It might be of interest that “Jimmy” Lyons, who is stationed somewhere in the north, turned up unexpectedly at Hull just as the players had taken the field. He had run all the way from the station, and was disappointed in being baulked of another game with his old “pals,” one of whom would willingly have stood down for him.
The piece went on to name the players Batley would select from in their next match, also against Hull. These included Judge.
The “Roll of Honour” list this week named Pte. T. Grogan of Batley, K.O.Y.L.I., killed. I believe this refers to Thomas Grogan, whose son Oswald was mentioned in the newspaper of 28 November 1914. The family briefly lived in Batley, but were more associated with Ossett. Thomas Grogan was killed in action on 25 August 1917 and his biography can be found on the Ossett Heritage website, here. His son died of wounds on 9 April 1916.
Past To Present Genealogy 