These are the history pieces which appeared in the Batley St. Mary of the Angels and Birstall St. Patrick’s bulletin during July 2026. As the parishes are jointly administered and a single bulletin produced, the history pieces are not solely focused on St. Mary of the Angels, although St. Patrick’s was not formed as a separate parish until 1905. Prior to that it was part of St. Mary’s.
As part of the St. Mary of the Angels One-Place Study I have written in more detail about some of these events, and where this is the case the link to the fuller piece is included.
04/05 July 2026
09 July 1932 marked the death of St. Patrick’s parishioner, and the former caretaker of Birstall Roman Catholic Day Schools, Mrs. Mary Sunman. Born in County Durham, and the widow of Hull mason John Sunman, she came to Birstall in around 1890. Appointed the school caretaker ten years later, it was a job she held for 22 years. She was then succeeded by her daughter, widow Mrs. Ellen Doyle, who was still in that role at the time of her mother’s death. The funeral was held at Birstall Parish Church, in a service conducted by St. Patrick’s priest Father J. O’Sullivan.
Jane Roberts – Parish Historian, Website: https://pasttopresentgenealogy.co.uk
11/12 July 2026
This week in 1936 St. Mary’s parishioner Catherine Kilbride (née Murtagh) was in the news. Born in County Mayo in 1866 she witnessed one of the several apparitions of Our Lady, St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist in Knock in1879, the first and most important of which took place on 21 August. Catherine was not amongst the 15 present for that first apparition. She witnessed one of the subsequent events, and described seeing Our Lady dressed in white, and the two saints in a kind of brown. She said Our Lady’s feet were near the ground at the gable end of the church and when a lot of people ran to kiss her feet she disappeared. In 1936 a second Commission of Inquiry was held into the apparitions, hence the renewed interest in Catherine’s story.
Jane Roberts – Parish Historian, Website: https://pasttopresentgenealogy.co.uk
18/19 July 2026
This week in 1945 two Batley brothers and St. Mary’s parishioners, Patrick and George Phillips, were home on leave from the British Liberation Army (BLA). Their parents, James and Margaret, lived at Oak Hill Road, Carlinghow. Private Patrick Phillips went abroad in October 1942 and served in North Africa and Italy, taking part in the Salerno landings. In August 1944 he was posted to the BLA and served in France and Holland. Gunner George Phillips landed in Normandy in September 1944, and served in Belgium and Germany. In April 1945 his regiment helped liberate Belsen. He said no picture could portray the shocking and disgusting state of the victims there.
Jane Roberts – Parish Historian, Website: https://pasttopresentgenealogy.co.uk
25/26 July 2026
The Birstall Cricket and Physical Culture Clubs’ athletic gala was held on Birstall Cricket Field on Saturday 26 July 1930. The principal athletics events were the inter-school relay races – the boys competing for the British Legion Shield, and the girls for the Mr. Kitson’s Cup. St. Patrick’s Catholic Day Schools won both events.
Jane Roberts – Parish Historian, Website: https://pasttopresentgenealogy.co.uk
Past To Present Genealogy 