On 28 January 1915, 430 women from across Batley were personally invited by the Mayor to a tea, followed by a concert. There were the wives and widowed/dependent mothers of Batley men serving in the Army, Royal Navy and the ambulance volunteers. The event followed on from one on 20 January for 372 youngsters aged between five and fifteen whose fathers were serving in His Majesty’s Forces. Borough Council members donated £70 to fund both events.
As with the children’s event, the numbers meant three locations were used for the meal – the Town Hall, Hanover Street School and the Town Mission Hall. The Mayor, and other members of the council, visited each venue to speak to the women.
I have listed all the women invited, irrespective of whether parishioners of St. Mary’s. Because the entire Batley Borough area is covered, it includes areas within the Catholic parishes of Birstall St. Patrick’s and Batley Carr St. Joseph’s. The names in bold are those I know, or in some cases suspect, are linked to St. Mary of the Angels. This will be updated as I identify more. Crucially this provides another angle from which to identify men who served and survived. It also illustrates the ‘Catholic’ areas of town.
Names and spellings are as per the newspaper (including errors), with some of the women recorded under the forename or initials of their husband rather than under their own name. Others are recorded only under a surname.
The list by district reads:
Brownhill and Howden Clough District:- Mesdames Ada Benson, Catherine Cawthorne, Mary Clarke, Lily Thompson, Clara Spencer, M.A. Bennett, Harriet Grear, M.A. Cawthorne, Anne Coggan, Amy Cordingley, A.I. Grayson, Emily Bennett, Rutla Purdy, Florence Parkin and Rosina B. Rice.
Carlinghow and Bradford Road District:- Mesdames A.L. Stubley, Maggie Stubley, Bridget McDonald, Elizabeth Gallagher, Ada Sykes, Bridget Hughes, Ellen Booth, J.E. Sheard, Ruth McLellan, Ada Crowther, Ethel Terry, Amy Blakeley, Annie Brewer, Ada Moody, Teresa Murray, Annie Wharton, Florence Oddy, Eliza Gower, Ann Street, Frances A. Wilson, Hilda Sykes, Ethel Beevers, and D. France.
Cross Bank District:- Mesdames Gertrude Dixon, Catherine Scott, Lily Gaunt, Bertha E. Thomason, Margaret Rourke, M.A. Thompson, Catherine Hutton, J.E. Garside, S.E. Benson, Mary Lynch, Harriett Gaunt, Ethel Ainley, Frances Swales, Alice Turnbull, Catherine Pickles, Ann Lyons, Elizabeth Mullins, Annie E. Waite, Annie Wilson, Rachell Helliwell, Ruth Ann Fox, Martha Smith, Ann Nutton, Annie Walton, Ada Dobson, S.E.Greenwood, E.J. Ramsbottom, Agnes Rhodes, A. Thompson, A.E. Ineson, P. Mara, Mary Hunt, and M. Atkinson.
Ambler Street District:- Mesdames Ann Foley, Annie Brannen, Louisa Lee, A.E. Moyser, Agnes McQuinn, Catherine Maloney, Edith Crossley, Kate Edwards, Annie Byrne, Margaret Cafferty, and Ellen Kennedy.
Cobden Street, Hume Street, Peel Street, New Street, and District:- Mesdames Mary MacDonald, Annie Tarpey, Kate Hull, Mary Ann Morrison, Margaret Gallagher, Sarah Ann Thewlis, Margaret Judge, Alice Heeley, Alice Collinson, Edith Avey, Annie MacDonald, A.E. Hemingway [suspect this should be M.E. Hemingway], P. Hopkins, G. Brennan, Ellen Flynn, M.A. Cafferty, Harriett Haigh, Mary Sanders, E.A. Evans, A. McManus, Kate Gavaghan, Ann Cassidy, Jane Clarke, Ellan Foley, Peter Brennen, Ellen Hill, Emily Pickles, Catherine Roberts, E.A. Fitzpatrick, Elizabeth Howley, M. Hargreaves, Mary Carroll, Mary Burns, Winifred Carney, Bridget Ryan, Winnie Hirst, Annie Carney, Mary Tibbett. Annie Finn, Martha Dempsey, Jane Wilde, Alice Collinson [the second entry under this name], Annie Murphy, Margaret Brannen, Martha J. Hall, Catherine Hopkins, Ellen Carney, Bridget McNamara, Bridget Hopkins, Mary Ann Spink, Martha Crann, Lizzie Blamires, P. Bromley, Mary Walker, Louisa Preston, Louisa Thrippleton, Alice Burnett, Mary Armitage, Ethel McManus, Mary Rowan, Mary Gavaghan, Margaret Grace, Evelyn Carney, Agnes Flanaghan, Mary Ellis, and Ellen Fitzpatrick.
Commercial Street, Field lane, Wellington Street and District:- Mesdames Marie Webb, Jane Watson, Caroline Drye, Ellen Armstead, Annie Ellis, Ellen Pollitt, Julia Schorah, Sarah E. Walker, Sarah Hopper, Ellan Riding, Maria Grogan, Elizabeth Pearce, Lilian Hey, Rachel Ann Tinker, Margaret Walker, Ellen Wilson, A. Dawson, Ida Broadhead, Catherine Chappell, Catherine Maguire, Emily Punyer, Martha Punyer, Martha Ann Wroe, Ada Goldthorpe, S.A. Thompson, Nancy Ashton, Annie Humphrey, Catherine Cannon, Edith Brearley, Lizzie Burns, Edith Florence Needham, Selina Fisher, Annie Hart, Emily Rands, L. Hall, Minnie Stott, Ellen Roberts, Amy Greenwood, Caroline Mayman, and Susan Marsden.
Albion Street, Queen Street, and Talbot Street:- Mesdames Miriam Hill, Mary Hill, Sarah A. Gaylor, Selina Clarkson, Bertha Wood, Ellen Noland, M.E. Lodge, Mary Ann Gatenby, Annie Poskett, Linda Whitworth, Eliza Ann Hirst, and Emma Collett.
Clerk Green, Dark Lane, and Woodwell District:- Mesdames Lilian Collins, Hannah Dewhirst, Emma Almond, Hannah E. Phillips, Amy Greenwood (Dark Lane), Annie M. Holmes, C. Willows, Patience Pounder, Edith Mosley, S.A. Crowther, Edith Pickering, Sarah Terry, Ada Morris, Sarah Healey, Catherine Ann Lyons, Florence Crabtree, R. Ann Windle, Mary Munns, Fanny Cairnes, Miriam Idle, Edith A. Cookson, Ellen Abbott, Phoebe Micklethwaite, Beatrice Kelly, Bridget Rouan, and H.Walker.
Caledonia Road, Howley Beck, Primrose Hill etc:- Mesdames S. Pickersgill, Sarah Wood, H.H. Briggs, A[nn] Kilbride, Mary Peel, Bertha Aikman, Annie Fox, A.L. Fozzard, Alice Lynch, Louisa Emma Briggs, Ellen Hargreaves, Emily Sturgeon, Emily Stocks, Elizabeth Brooke, May Shaw, Amy Darley, Ada Stone, Florence Broadbent, Clara Hargreaves, H. Allott, Jessie Postlethwaite, Amy Reynolds, and Ann Fox.
Soothill District:- Mesdames Alice Clough, Eliza Oldroyd, Mary Elizabeth Godfrey, Emma Armitage, Annie Speight, ? Walton, Bertha Harris, Florence Fox, Ada Dyson, ? O’Hara, and Lavinia Fortesque.
Hanging Heaton and Commonside:- Mesdames Gertrude Major, Ada Blakeley, Mary Bailey, Annie Senior, Mary E. Potter, Sarah Ellen Wood, M.M. Daughtery, Ellen N. Lyles, Annie Whitehead, Jennie Murphy, Emily Preston, Mary A. Daughtery, M.E. Blakeley, H.R. Smith, Emily Cope, E. Marshall, S. Healey, Lillian Smith, Dorothy Healey, Laura Booth, Sarah Ann Brook, Clara Speight, Mary Schofield, Louisa Elliott, and J. Marsden.
Taylor Street and Batley Carr District:- Mesdames Ellen Cade, Ada Halliley, M.E. Farrington, Sarah A. Benson, Lilian Harkins, Mary Harkins, Matilda Brown, Sarah Jane Haigh, Annie Wilson, Laura Thompson, Edith Crawshaw, Emma Ineson, Alice Naylor, Harriet Hannah Redfearn, Ellen Wood, Mary Gatenby, Ellen Thompson, Elizabeth A. Sykes, Annie Elizabeth Fisk, R.E. Arrand, Martha Ann Eyre, G. Senior, Ethel Allsopp, Arthur Pratt, Bertha Lawton, Mary Jane Smith, F. Oldroyd, and J.A. Walker.,
King Street, Dale Street, and Victoria Street District, Batley Carr:- Mesdames Annie McCormick, Margaret Ann Devers, Mary E. Helliwell, Mary Jane Sayles, Eliza Kitson, Kate Murphy, Ada Barham, Mary Ann Cardle, Ada Wood, Lilian Hemingway, Elizabeth Naylor, Bessie Petyt, Annie Antill, Isabella Nolan, J.W. Firth, Sarah Ann Lee, Millie Roberts, Mary Ann McHale, Clara Roberts, Angelina Benson, Kate Manton, Mary Callaghan, Fanny Allott, Nellie Kitchingham, Marian Sharpe, Ann Crawford, Mary France, Alice Maud Brearley, Winifred Cook, Mary Blake, Mary Ellen Graham, Harriet Roberts, Sarah Wilkinson, Annie Nicholls, Hannah Mary Newton, Jessie Owen Mould, and H. Oldroyd.
Mount Pleasant District: Mesdames Elsie Cantwell, Clara Gibson, Catherine Hargreaves, Edith Rhodes, Florence Jackson, Mary Wroe, Annie Dacre, Elizabeth Balmer, Christabel Grundell, Maggie Carney, Amy Yelland, Sarah Dewhirst, Maria Sykes, Amelia Worsnop, Marian Addy, Margaret Hook, Mary Clafton, Florence Fox, Emma J. Tomlinson, Mary Ann Whittam, Mary Hannah Parr, and Emma Eastwood.
Chapel Fold, Kilpin Hill, and Staincliffe District:- Mesdames Lucy Senior, Lily Blakeley, Caroline Holmes, Martha E. Bedford, Emma Coulson, Martha Young, Laura Humphreys, Catherine Prendergast, Lena Shaw, Elizabeth Gill, Emily Firth, Catherine Cassidy, Ellen Newton, Selina Fozzard, Jane E. Walker, Mary H. Williams, Eva Cleasby, Mary Pratt, Esther Bailey, Minnie Thornton, Mary H. Senior, Ada Jones, J.C. Long, Hannah Firth, Bertha Collinson, and Nora D. Margrave.
Common Road, White Lee, and Healey District:- Mesdames Mary E. Wain, Caroline South, Ada Greenwood, Alice Flowers, Frances Hughes, Hannah M. Cleasby, Catherine Curley, Mary Kelley, Annie E. Atkinson, Catherine Purtle, Emily Truelove, Elizabeth Lamb, Ethel, Dimberline, Mary Clegg, Louisa Wilson, Annie Ball, Martha Mirfield, Ann Mosley, C. Wharton, Charles Taylor, H. Hudson, and Nellie Scott.
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