Tag Archives: WW1

St. Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 31 March 2026 Additions

Posted on April 1, 2026 | Leave a comment

March has been an exciting month for the Batley St. Mary of the Angels One-Place Study, with the introduction of a new history topic. But before I get to that, here is the numbers update.

Three new posts were added during the month, bringing the total number of posts up to 430.

The first new post is the parish history snippets piece for March 2026. These snippets cover a variety of events and people from the parish from years gone by, and can be found in the Bulletin for Batley St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick section. Even if you have seen them on the Bulletin, it is worth checking them here as some have links to more detailed pieces I have written.

But – drum roll – the big news is I’ve added a new subject area.

Over the years the parish has been noted for its outstanding theatrical productions involving many parishioners, and providing entertainment for many more. This major area of parish life deserves to be covered in the parish’s history, so I’ve set up a new subject area called In the Spotlight: Am Dram, Opera and Concerts. The first two posts have been uploaded, covering events in 1901 and 1952. These pieces are packed with names of those involved. I’m hoping to include many more productions in the coming months. If you have any information about any you would like including in future please do get in touch. Photographs would be appreciated too – including of those involved as well as programmes. I can be contacted at pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

Below is the full list of all the one-place study pieces to date. Simply click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page. I have annotated the *NEW* and “UPDATED” posts, so you can easily pick them out.

If you want to know the background, and what is involved in a one-place study, click here. Otherwise read on, to discover a wealth of parish, parishioner and wider local Batley history.

Postscript:
I may not be able to thank you personally because of your contact detail confidentiality, but I do want to say how much I appreciate the donations already received to keep this website going. They really and truly do help. Thank you.

The website has always been free to use, and I want to continue this policy in the future. However, it does cost me money to operate – from undertaking the research to website hosting costs. In the current difficult economic climate I do have to regularly consider if I can afford to continue running it as a free resource.

If you have enjoyed reading the various pieces, and would like to make a donation towards keeping the website up and running in its current open access format, it would be very much appreciated.

Please click 👉🏽here 👈🏽 be taken to the PayPal donation link. By making a donation you will be helping to keep the website online and freely available for all.

Thank you.

As a professionally qualified genealogist, if you would like me to undertake any family, local or house history research for you do please get in touch. More information can be found on my research services page.

Finally, if you do have any information about, or photos of, parishioners from the period of the First World War please do get in touch. It does not have to be War Memorial men. It could be those who served and survived, or indeed any other men, women and children from the parish.

I would also be interested in information about, and photos of, those parishioners who were killed in World War Two, or others from the parish who undertook any war service and survived. This can be as broad as serving in the military, or work in munitions factories, the Land Army, even taking in refugees. This is an area I’m looking to develop in the future.

I can be contacted at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

1. About my St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church War Memorial One-Place Study;

Batley’s Public Buildings and Institutions
2. Batley Hospital: The First 50 Years – 1878 to 1928
3. The Early History of Batley’s Public Baths

Batley St Mary’s Population, Health, Mortality and Fertility Information and Comparisons
4. 1914: The Health of Batley School Children Generally, with a Particular Focus on St Mary’s School Children

Batley Statistics and Descriptions – Population, Health, Mortality, Fertility etc.
5. 1914: Borough of Batley – Town Information from the Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
6. Batley and the 1921 Census
7. Batley Population Statistics 1801-1939

Biographies: Men Associated with St Mary’s Who Died but Who Are Not on the Memorial
8. Thomas Gannon

9. Michael Howley
10. Reginald Roberts
11. William Frederick Townsend

Biographies: The War Memorial Men
12. Edward Barber
13. William Barber (Memorial name spelling)
14. Herbert Booth
15. Edmund Battye
16. Dominick (aka George) Brannan
17. Michael Brannan
18. John Brooks
19. Michael Cafferty
20. Patrick Cafferty
21. John William Callaghan
22. Lawrence Carney
23. Martin Carney
24. Thomas William Chappell
25. William Colbeck
26. Michael Cunningham
27. Thomas Curley
28. Peter Doherty
29. Thomas Dolan
30. Thomas Donlan
31. James Edwards
32. John W. Enright
33. Mathew Farrer
34. Thomas Finneran
35. Michael Flynn
36. Thomas Foley D.C.M.
37. Martin Gallagher
38. James Garner
39. Harold Gaunt
40. James Gavaghan
41. Peter Gavaghan (1) *NEW*
42. Peter Gavaghan (2)
43. Thomas Gavaghan
44. Henry Groark
45. James Groark
46. Michael Groark (also known as Rourke)
47. James Griffin
48. William Hargreaves
49. Michael Hopkins
50. Patrick Hopkins
51. Michael Horan
52. James Hughes
53. Lawrence Judge
54. John Leech
55. Michael Lydon
56. John Thomas Lynch
57. Patrick Lyons
William McManus – See William Townsend below
58. Thomas McNamara
59. Clement Manning
60. Patrick Naifsey
61. Austin Nolan
62. Robert Randerson
63. James Rush
64. Moses Stubley
65. William Townsend, also known as McManus
66. James Trainor
67. Richard Carroll Walsh
68. Arthur William Bayldon Woodhead

Biographies: Those who Served and Survived (this includes a list of those identified to date and who will later have dedicated biographical pages) *UPDATED*
69. Patrick Cassidy
70. James Delaney
71. Thomas Donlan (senior)
72. Thomas Gannon
73. Michael Rush

Burials, Cemeteries, Headstones and MIs
74. Cemetery and Memorial Details
75. War Memorial Chronology of Deaths

Guest Contributions
308. Memories of Skelsey Row – by Brian Foley

In the Spotlight: Am Dram, Opera and Concerts
309. 1901 – St. Mary’s Schools’ St. Patrick’s Day Concert *NEW*
310. 1952 – The Bohemian Girl, St. Mary’s Schoolboys *NEW*

Maps and Photographs
311. A Description of the Parish Boundaries
312. Aerial View of St Mary’s Church and the Surrounding Streets
313. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1894
314. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1907
315. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1922
316. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1933

Miscellany of Information
317. A Tale of Three Pigs, a Headstone and The Longest-Lived Parishioner
318. A Bitter-Sweet Remarriage
319. A Colliery Accident with Tragic Consequences
320. A Description of the Parish of St Mary of the Angels in 1950
321. A Grave Disturbance in Batley
322. A Part of St Mary of the Angels in Batley Cemetery
323. A “Peace” of Batley History
324. An Appeal to Ireland to Build a Catholic Church in Batley
325. A Potted Early History of the Irish in Batley, the Building of St Mary of the Angels Church, and the Parish Priest’s Fatal Accident
326. A St Mary’s Parishioner in the Holy Land
327. A St Mary’s School Sensation
328. A St Mary’s School Trip Souvenir
329. Batley’s Secret Irish Society and the Ammunition Seizure
330. Batley St Mary’s First Torchlight Procession
331. Batley St Mary’s Second Torchlight Procession
332. Buffalo Bill and A Right Royal Celebration for Batley’s Schoolchildren
333. “Daddy’s Death and then Triplets”
334. Heritage Impact Assessment: St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and Convent, Batley
335. Hot-Cross Buns and the Yorkshire Tea-Cake Dilemma. Plus A Suggested Meal Planner for Batley Families in 1917
336. Into the Valley of Death – One of the Six Hundred
337. “I’ve Done it for Love” – A Batley Murder
338. St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church – 1929 Consecration Service
339. The Consequences of a Refusal to Work in 1918
340. The Controversial Role Played by St Mary’s Schoolchildren in the 1907 Batley Pageant
341. The Deaths of the Smallpox Hospital Caretakers
342. The Debate Over Grave-Diggers’ Holidays
343. The Earliest Published Account of Batley St Mary’s Church and Schools
344. The Great War: A Brief Overview of What Led Britain into the War
345. The Horrific Death of Little Mary Leach *NEW*
346. The Unholy row between St Mary’s Church and the Batley and Birstall Irish Clubs
347. Thomas Ate My Rat
348. William Berry – A Beautiful Voice Stilled
349. Willie and Edward Barber – Poems

Occupations and Employment Information
350. Occupations: Colliery Byeworker/Byeworkman/Byworker/Bye-Worker/By-Worker
351. Occupations: Confidential Clerk
352. Occupations: Lamp Cleaner
353. Occupations: Limelight Operator
354. Occupations: Mason’s Labourer
355. Occupations: Office Boy/Girl
356. Occupations: Piecer/Piecener
357. Occupations: Rag Grinder
358. Occupations: Willeyer

The Families
408. A Death in the Church
409. St Mary’s Schoolboys Wreak Havoc in a Batley Graveyard

The May Queens of Batley St Mary of the Angels
410. 1922 May Queen: Phyllis Doyle
411 1923 May Queen: Katherine Phillips
412. 1925 May Queen: Agnes Judge
413. 1929 May Queen: Mary Collins
414. 1931 May Queen Ceremony: Theresa Judge
415. 1932 May Queen Ceremony: Agnes Kilgallon
416. 1933 May Queen Ceremony: Winnie Colleran
417. 1939 May Queen Ceremony: Kathleen Gooder
418. 1940 May Queen Ceremony: Sheila Rowan
419. 1941 May Queen Ceremony
420. 1950 May Queen Ceremony: Catherine Heaps
421. 1951 May Queen Ceremony: Mary Harkin
422. 1952 May Queen Ceremony: Patricia Anne Cain
423. 1953 May Queen Ceremony: Mary O’Connor

World War Two
424. World War Two Chronology of Deaths
425. Thomas Egan
426. Michael Flatley
427. Frank Higgins
428. Edward Lynch
429. William Smith
430. Bernard Stenchion

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Posted in 19th Century, 20th Century, Ancestry, Batley, Birstall, Catholic, County Mayo, Family History, Genealogy, Great War, History, Home Front, In Memoriam, Ireland, Local History, Occupations, One-Place Study, Remembrance, Roll of Honour, Schools, St Mary's RC Church, The Great War, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

Tagged Ancestry, Batley, Catholic, County Mayo, family history, genealogy, History, Home Front, Local History, Occupations, One-Place Study, Schools, War Memorial, WW1, Yorkshire

St. Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 28 February 2026 Additions

Posted on March 1, 2026 | Leave a comment

February has been a particularly busy month for the Batley St. Mary of the Angels One-Place Study, with five new posts. This brings the total number of posts up to 427. Three more were updated.

This month’s additions and updates included one new War Memorial biography, that of the first Peter Gavaghan to be killed in the war (his cousin also named Peter died later on, and his biography was added some time ago). Both men’s biographies can now be found in The Biographies: War Memorial Men section.

Several more men who served and survived were identified, and this page has been updated. Their biographies will follow in due course.

Someone from the parish who died but is not on the church War Memorial has been identified, Michael Howley. I have added his biography to the section covering Men Associated with St. Mary’s Who Died but Who Are Not on the Memorial, and that overall page has been accordingly updated too. I have also updated the War Memorial Chronology of Deaths page, to include him.

There are two new posts in the Miscellany of Information section. One deals with the horrific, but all too common, circumstances surrounding the death of a child in the 19th century. The other concerns three pigs, a headstone and a long-lived parishioner.

There is also the parish history snippets piece for February 2026. These snippets cover a variety of events and people from the parish from years gone by, and can be found in the Bulletin for Batley St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick section. One is an amazing piece connected to The Beatles and a circus! Even if you have seen them on the Bulletin, it is worth checking them here as some have links to more detailed pieces I have written.

Below is the full list of pages to date. Simply click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page. I have annotated the *NEW* and “UPDATED” posts, so you can easily pick them out.

If you want to know the background, and what is involved in a one-place study, click here. Otherwise read on, to discover a wealth of parish, parishioner and wider local Batley history.

If you have enjoyed reading the various pieces, and would like to make a donation towards keeping the website up and running in its current open access format, it would be very much appreciated.

Please click 👉🏽 here 👈🏽 be taken to the PayPal donation link. By making a donation you will be helping to keep the website online and freely available for all.

Thank you.

I can be contacted at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

1. About my St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church War Memorial One-Place Study;

Batley’s Public Buildings and Institutions
2. Batley Hospital: The First 50 Years – 1878 to 1928
3. The Early History of Batley’s Public Baths

Biographies: Men Associated with St Mary’s Who Died but Who Are Not on the Memorial *UPDATED*
8. Thomas Gannon

9. Michael Howley *NEW*
10. Reginald Roberts
11. William Frederick Townsend

Burials, Cemeteries, Headstones and MIs
74. Cemetery and Memorial Details
75. War Memorial Chronology of Deaths *UPDATED*

Guest Contributions
308. Memories of Skelsey Row – by Brian Foley

Maps and Photographs
309. A Description of the Parish Boundaries
310. Aerial View of St Mary’s Church and the Surrounding Streets
311. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1894
312. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1907
313. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1922
314. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1933

Miscellany of Information
315. A Tale of Three Pigs, a Headstone and The Longest-Lived Parishioner *NEW*
316. A Bitter-Sweet Remarriage
317. A Colliery Accident with Tragic Consequences
318. A Description of the Parish of St Mary of the Angels in 1950
319. A Grave Disturbance in Batley
320. A Part of St Mary of the Angels in Batley Cemetery
321. A “Peace” of Batley History
322. An Appeal to Ireland to Build a Catholic Church in Batley
323. A Potted Early History of the Irish in Batley, the Building of St Mary of the Angels Church, and the Parish Priest’s Fatal Accident
324. A St Mary’s Parishioner in the Holy Land
325. A St Mary’s School Sensation
326. A St Mary’s School Trip Souvenir
327. Batley’s Secret Irish Society and the Ammunition Seizure
328. Batley St Mary’s First Torchlight Procession
329. Batley St Mary’s Second Torchlight Procession
330. Buffalo Bill and A Right Royal Celebration for Batley’s Schoolchildren
331. “Daddy’s Death and then Triplets”
332. Heritage Impact Assessment: St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and Convent, Batley
333. Hot-Cross Buns and the Yorkshire Tea-Cake Dilemma. Plus A Suggested Meal Planner for Batley Families in 1917
334. Into the Valley of Death – One of the Six Hundred
335. “I’ve Done it for Love” – A Batley Murder
336. St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church – 1929 Consecration Service
337. The Consequences of a Refusal to Work in 1918
338. The Controversial Role Played by St Mary’s Schoolchildren in the 1907 Batley Pageant
339. The Deaths of the Smallpox Hospital Caretakers
340. The Debate Over Grave-Diggers’ Holidays
341. The Earliest Published Account of Batley St Mary’s Church and Schools
342. The Great War: A Brief Overview of What Led Britain into the War
343. The Horrific Death of Little Mary Leach *NEW*
344. The Unholy row between St Mary’s Church and the Batley and Birstall Irish Clubs
345. Thomas Ate My Rat
346. William Berry – A Beautiful Voice Stilled
347. Willie and Edward Barber – Poems

Occupations and Employment Information
348. Occupations: Colliery Byeworker/Byeworkman/Byworker/Bye-Worker/By-Worker
349. Occupations: Confidential Clerk
350. Occupations: Lamp Cleaner
351. Occupations: Limelight Operator
352. Occupations: Mason’s Labourer
353. Occupations: Office Boy/Girl
354. Occupations: Piecer/Piecener
355. Occupations: Rag Grinder
356. Occupations: Willeyer

The Families
405. A Death in the Church
406. St Mary’s Schoolboys Wreak Havoc in a Batley Graveyard

The May Queens of Batley St Mary of the Angels
407. 1922 May Queen: Phyllis Doyle
408 1923 May Queen: Katherine Phillips
409. 1925 May Queen: Agnes Judge
410. 1929 May Queen: Mary Collins
411. 1931 May Queen Ceremony: Theresa Judge
412. 1932 May Queen Ceremony: Agnes Kilgallon
413. 1933 May Queen Ceremony: Winnie Colleran
414. 1939 May Queen Ceremony: Kathleen Gooder
415. 1940 May Queen Ceremony: Sheila Rowan
416. 1941 May Queen Ceremony
417. 1950 May Queen Ceremony: Catherine Heaps
418. 1951 May Queen Ceremony: Mary Harkin
419. 1952 May Queen Ceremony: Patricia Anne Cain
420. 1953 May Queen Ceremony: Mary O’Connor

World War Two
421. World War Two Chronology of Deaths
422. Thomas Egan
423. Michael Flatley
424. Frank Higgins
425. Edward Lynch
426. William Smith
427. Bernard Stenchion

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Tagged Ancestry, Batley, Catholic, County Mayo, DNA, family history, Family History Tips, genealogy, Great War, History, Home Front, Ireland, Local History, Occupations, One-Place Study, St Mary's, The Beatles, The Great War, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 31 December 2025 Additions

Posted on January 1, 2026 | Leave a comment

The Batley St. Mary of the Angels One-Place Study ended 2025 on a total of 421 posts, with two new posts being published in December.

The first post of the month was all about the 1953 May Queen ceremony (photograph on the left), which was added to the May Queen section. Mary O’Connor took the starring role, but the piece includes names of many others involved in the procession that day.

The final post of 2025 was the parish history snippets piece for December. These snippets cover a variety of events and people from the parish from years gone by, and can be found in the Bulletin for Batley St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick section. Even if you have seen them on the Bulletin, it is worth checking them here as some have links to more detailed pieces I have written.

Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* posts, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.

If you want to know the background, and what is involved in a one-place study, click here. Otherwise read on, to discover a wealth of parish, parishioner and wider local Batley history.

Finally, I’d like to end with a thank you for reading my Batley St. Mary of the Angels one-place study posts in 2025. Your support, additional information, photographs and many lovely comments throughout the year have all really been appreciated. I look forward to what 2026 will bring to this parish history collection. Hopefully the first of these will be published next week.

If you have enjoyed reading the various pieces, and would like to make a donation towards keeping the website up and running in its current open access format, it would be very much appreciated.

Please click 👉🏽here👈🏽be taken to the PayPal donation link. By making a donation you will be helping to keep the website online and freely available for all.

Thank you.

I can be contacted at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

1. About my St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church War Memorial One-Place Study;

Batley’s Public Buildings and Institutions
2. Batley Hospital: The First 50 Years – 1878 to 1928
3. The Early History of Batley’s Public Baths

Biographies: Men Associated with St Mary’s Who Died but Who Are Not on the Memorial
8. Thomas Gannon
9. Reginald Roberts
10. William Frederick Townsend

Biographies: The War Memorial Men
11. Edward Barber
12. William Barber (Memorial name spelling)
13. Herbert Booth
14. Edmund Battye
15. Dominick (aka George) Brannan
16. Michael Brannan
17. John Brooks
18. Michael Cafferty
19. Patrick Cafferty
20. John William Callaghan
21. Lawrence Carney
22. Martin Carney
23. Thomas William Chappell
24. William Colbeck
25. Michael Cunningham
26. Thomas Curley
27. Peter Doherty
28. Thomas Dolan
29. Thomas Donlan
30. James Edwards
31. John W. Enright
32. Mathew Farrer
33. Thomas Finneran
34. Michael Flynn
35. Thomas Foley D.C.M.
36. Martin Gallagher
37. James Garner
38. Harold Gaunt
39. James Gavaghan
40. Peter Gavaghan
41. Thomas Gavaghan
42. Henry Groark
43. James Groark
44. Michael Groark (also known as Rourke)
45. James Griffin
46. William Hargreaves
47. Michael Hopkins
48. Patrick Hopkins
49. Michael Horan
50. James Hughes
51. Lawrence Judge
52. John Leech
53. Michael Lydon
54. John Thomas Lynch
55. Patrick Lyons
William McManus – See William Townsend below
56. Thomas McNamara
57. Clement Manning
58. Patrick Naifsey
59. Austin Nolan
60. Robert Randerson
61. James Rush
62. Moses Stubley
63. William Townsend, also known as McManus
64. James Trainor
65. Richard Carroll Walsh
66. Arthur William Bayldon Woodhead

Biographies: Those who Served and Survived (this includes a list of those identified to date and who will later have dedicated biographical pages)
67. Patrick Cassidy
68. James Delaney
69. Thomas Donlan (senior)
70. Thomas Gannon
71. Michael Rush

Burials, Cemeteries, Headstones and MIs
72. Cemetery and Memorial Details
73. War Memorial Chronology of Deaths .

Guest Contributions
306. Memories of Skelsey Row – by Brian Foley

Maps and Photographs
307. A Description of the Parish Boundaries
308. Aerial View of St Mary’s Church and the Surrounding Streets
309. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1894
310. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1907
311. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1922
312. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1933

Miscellany of Information
313. A Bitter-Sweet Remarriage
314. A Colliery Accident with Tragic Consequences
315. A Description of the Parish of St Mary of the Angels in 1950
316. A Grave Disturbance in Batley
317. A Part of St Mary of the Angels in Batley Cemetery
318. A “Peace” of Batley History
319. An Appeal to Ireland to Build a Catholic Church in Batley
320. A Potted Early History of the Irish in Batley, the Building of St Mary of the Angels Church, and the Parish Priest’s Fatal Accident
321. A St Mary’s Parishioner in the Holy Land
322. A St Mary’s School Sensation
323. A St Mary’s School Trip Souvenir
324. Batley’s Secret Irish Society and the Ammunition Seizure
325. Batley St Mary’s First Torchlight Procession
326. Batley St Mary’s Second Torchlight Procession
327. Buffalo Bill and A Right Royal Celebration for Batley’s Schoolchildren
328. “Daddy’s Death and then Triplets”
329. Heritage Impact Assessment: St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and Convent, Batley
330. Hot-Cross Buns and the Yorkshire Tea-Cake Dilemma. Plus A Suggested Meal Planner for Batley Families in 1917
331. Into the Valley of Death – One of the Six Hundred
332. “I’ve Done it for Love” – A Batley Murder
333. St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church – 1929 Consecration Service
334. The Consequences of a Refusal to Work in 1918
335. The Controversial Role Played by St Mary’s Schoolchildren in the 1907 Batley Pageant
336. The Deaths of the Smallpox Hospital Caretakers
337. The Debate Over Grave-Diggers’ Holidays
338. The Earliest Published Account of Batley St Mary’s Church and Schools
339. The Great War: A Brief Overview of What Led Britain into the War
340. The Unholy row between St Mary’s Church and the Batley and Birstall Irish Clubs
341. Thomas Ate My Rat
342. William Berry – A Beautiful Voice Stilled
343. Willie and Edward Barber – Poems

Occupations and Employment Information
344. Occupations: Colliery Byeworker/Byeworkman/Byworker/Bye-Worker/By-Worker
345. Occupations: Confidential Clerk
346. Occupations: Lamp Cleaner
347. Occupations: Limelight Operator
348. Occupations: Mason’s Labourer
349. Occupations: Office Boy/Girl
350. Occupations: Piecer/Piecener
351. Occupations: Rag Grinder
352. Occupations: Willeyer

The Families
399. A Death in the Church
400. St Mary’s Schoolboys Wreak Havoc in a Batley Graveyard

Leave a comment

Posted in 19th Century, 20th Century, Batley, Birstall, Catholic, County Mayo, Family History, Genealogy, Great War, History, Home Front, Ireland, Local History, Occupations, One-Place Study, Remembrance, Roll of Honour, Schools, St Mary's RC Church, The Great War, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

Tagged Ancestry, Batley, Catholic, County Mayo, family history, genealogy, History, Home Front, Local History, Occupations, One-Place Study, Roll of Honour, Schools, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 30 November 2025 Additions

Posted on January 1, 2026 | Leave a comment

November 2025 was a busy month for the Batley St. Mary of the Angels One-Place Study. Four new posts were added, bringing the total number to 419. I also gave two talks about the early history of the Irish in Batley and the parish – one via Zoom to the Society of One-Place Studies; the other in-person to Batley History Group. If you missed them, I will be repeating the Irish and St. Mary’s talk next year with bookings already made for it, along with my other talks.

To start off with, I wrote a light-hearted piece about Buffalo Bill and A Right Royal Celebration for Batley’s Schoolchildren, a celebration in which the children of St Mary of the Angels participated. I describe, and include a photograph, of the special commemorative medal presented to all the schoolchildren, so that if you have one in your family you can identify it and know more about its history.

In a change of tone, with November being the month of Remembrance, one of the new posts was about James Edwards, one of the parishioners commemorated on the parish’s World War One War Memorial.

In the May Queen section I have added a piece about the 1952 ceremony when Patricia Anne Cain was the May Queen (as shown in the photograph to the left). It includes names of many others involved in the procession that day, which was a historic one in terms of its format that year.

The final post for the month was the parish history snippets piece for November 2025. These snippets cover a variety of events and people from the parish from years gone by, and can be found in the Bulletin for Batley St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick section. Even if you have seen them on the Bulletin, it is worth checking them here as some have links to more detailed pieces I have written.

Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* posts, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.

If you want to know the background, and what is involved in a one-place study, click here. Otherwise read on, to discover a wealth of parish, parishioner and wider local Batley history.

If you have enjoyed reading the various pieces, and would like to make a donation towards keeping the website up and running in its current open access format, it would be very much appreciated.

Please click 👉🏻here👈🏻 be taken to the PayPal donation link. By making a donation you will be helping to keep the website online and freely available for all.

Thank you.

I can be contacted at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

1. About my St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church War Memorial One-Place Study;

Batley’s Public Buildings and Institutions
2. Batley Hospital: The First 50 Years – 1878 to 1928
3. The Early History of Batley’s Public Baths

Biographies: Men Associated with St Mary’s Who Died but Who Are Not on the Memorial
8. Thomas Gannon
9. Reginald Roberts
10. William Frederick Townsend

Biographies: The War Memorial Men
11. Edward Barber
12. William Barber (Memorial name spelling)
13. Herbert Booth
14. Edmund Battye
15. Dominick (aka George) Brannan
16. Michael Brannan
17. John Brooks
18. Michael Cafferty
19. Patrick Cafferty
20. John William Callaghan
21. Lawrence Carney
22. Martin Carney
23. Thomas William Chappell
24. William Colbeck
25. Michael Cunningham
26. Thomas Curley
27. Peter Doherty
28. Thomas Dolan
29. Thomas Donlan
30. James Edwards *NEW*
31. John W. Enright
32. Mathew Farrer
33. Thomas Finneran
34. Michael Flynn
35. Thomas Foley D.C.M.
36. Martin Gallagher
37. James Garner
38. Harold Gaunt
39. James Gavaghan
40. Peter Gavaghan
41. Thomas Gavaghan
42. Henry Groark
43. James Groark
44. Michael Groark (also known as Rourke)
45. James Griffin
46. William Hargreaves
47. Michael Hopkins
48. Patrick Hopkins
49. Michael Horan
50. James Hughes
51. Lawrence Judge
52. John Leech
53. Michael Lydon
54. John Thomas Lynch
55. Patrick Lyons
William McManus – See William Townsend below
56. Thomas McNamara
57. Clement Manning
58. Patrick Naifsey
59. Austin Nolan
60. Robert Randerson
61. James Rush
62. Moses Stubley
63. William Townsend, also known as McManus
64. James Trainor
65. Richard Carroll Walsh
66. Arthur William Bayldon Woodhead

Burials, Cemeteries, Headstones and MIs
72. Cemetery and Memorial Details
73. War Memorial Chronology of Deaths .

Guest Contributions
306. Memories of Skelsey Row – by Brian Foley

Miscellany of Information
313. A Bitter-Sweet Remarriage
314. A Colliery Accident with Tragic Consequences
315. A Description of the Parish of St Mary of the Angels in 1950
316. A Grave Disturbance in Batley
317. A Part of St Mary of the Angels in Batley Cemetery
318. A “Peace” of Batley History
319. An Appeal to Ireland to Build a Catholic Church in Batley
320. A Potted Early History of the Irish in Batley, the Building of St Mary of the Angels Church, and the Parish Priest’s Fatal Accident
321. A St Mary’s Parishioner in the Holy Land
322. A St Mary’s School Sensation
323. A St Mary’s School Trip Souvenir
324. Batley’s Secret Irish Society and the Ammunition Seizure
325. Batley St Mary’s First Torchlight Procession
326. Batley St Mary’s Second Torchlight Procession
327. Buffalo Bill and A Right Royal Celebration for Batley’s Schoolchildren *NEW*
328. “Daddy’s Death and then Triplets”
329. Heritage Impact Assessment: St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and Convent, Batley
330. Hot-Cross Buns and the Yorkshire Tea-Cake Dilemma. Plus A Suggested Meal Planner for Batley Families in 1917
331. Into the Valley of Death – One of the Six Hundred
332. “I’ve Done it for Love” – A Batley Murder
333. St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church – 1929 Consecration Service
334. The Consequences of a Refusal to Work in 1918
335. The Controversial Role Played by St Mary’s Schoolchildren in the 1907 Batley Pageant
336. The Deaths of the Smallpox Hospital Caretakers
337. The Debate Over Grave-Diggers’ Holidays
338. The Earliest Published Account of Batley St Mary’s Church and Schools
339. The Great War: A Brief Overview of What Led Britain into the War
340. The Unholy row between St Mary’s Church and the Batley and Birstall Irish Clubs
341. Thomas Ate My Rat
342. William Berry – A Beautiful Voice Stilled
343. Willie and Edward Barber – Poems

The Families
398. A Death in the Church
399. St Mary’s Schoolboys Wreak Havoc in a Batley Graveyard

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Posted in 19th Century, 20th Century, Ancestry, Batley, Birstall, Catholic, County Mayo, Family History, Family History Talks, Genealogy, Great War, History, Home Front, In Memoriam, Ireland, Local History, Local History Talks, Occupations, One-Place Study, Remembrance, Roll of Honour, Schools, St Mary's RC Church, Talks, The Great War, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

Tagged Ancestry, Batley, Birstall, County Mayo, family history, Family History Talks, genealogy, History, Home Front, Local History, Local History Talks, One-Place Study, Schools, St Mary's RC Church, Talks, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

Beat the Probate Price Rise – Is there a Fairer System?

Posted on November 15, 2025 | Leave a comment

As of Monday 17 November 2025, the price or ordering your family history probate documents via the government’s Find A Will service will increase from £1.50 to £16.00. That’s an eye-watering rise of almost 1000%.

The notice for this increase was published on 10 November in The Gazette, meaning for many it has been a mad rush to get those last minute orders in.

The rationale for this price rise, as stated in the Ministry of Justice’s (MOJ) Explanatory Memorandum, reads:

The estimated cost to His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) for providing single copies of documents under the Find A Will service equates to £16 per copy. The £1.50 fee therefore significantly under-recovers its cost, despite fees being set with the intention of full cost recovery. This statutory instrument will therefore increase the fee for users to obtain copies of documents within the Principal Registry of the Family Division, district registries and any sub-registries attached, which includes the “Find A Will” service and individual users requesting extra copies of probate grants from £1.50 to £16, to align more closely with costs and ensure that HMCTS can continue to deliver its services effectively.

The £1.50 charge was introduced in 2019, with prior to that the cost being £10, so a review was overdue. But I would love to know how they determined upon a flat rate £16 figure.

It means for many the cost of these documents for family and local history will be now prohibitively expensive, limiting future research. For example, at £16 each, there is no way would I be able to afford ordering all the World War One soldiers’ wills that I have for my Batley St. Mary of the Angels one-place study.

I’ve spent this past week ordering probate documents for clients to beat the rise. It included an order for 12 wills which cost £18. As of 17 November to place that same order will be £196.

Today I finally got round to reviewing my one-place study soldiers’ wills, confirming I’d already got them all.

I also reviewed my direct line ancestors, and placed an order for the six I identified as missing. Four came back instantly via an automated service, having already been digitised. This is akin to the service for World War One soldiers wills.

To my mind this begs the question why did the MOJ not introduce a graded pricing structure for probate records, similar to that in place for General Register Office (GRO) civil registration orders? The GRO’s automated Digital Image service has a lower cost of £3, with PDFs costing £8, and the more labour-intensive full certificates coming in at £12.50.

This seems a much fairer system than the flat rate fee, a system which might avoid pricing out family and local history researchers. For as the fee structure stands, there will be a dramatic cliff-edge drop off for probate orders going forward.

Postscript:
The MoJ does still have a £1.50 bulk access option aimed at some (unspecified) organisations who access every copy of a grant of probate or will issued in England and Wales. By extension this means individual family and local history researchers are being overcharged for their documents, essentially subsidising these organisations. Hardly a fair system!

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Posted in Family History, Local History, One-Name Study, One-Place Study, Probate, Wills

Tagged family history, Local History, One-Name Study, One-Place Study, Probate, Wills, WW1

St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 31 October 2025 Additions

Posted on November 1, 2025 | Leave a comment

Because of work commitments, during October 2025 only one new post was added to the Batley St Mary of the Angels One-Place Study, bringing the total number of posts to 415.

This new post was the parish history snippets piece for October 2025. These snippets cover a variety of events and people from the parish from years gone by, and can be found in the Bulletin for Batley St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick section. Even if you have seen them on the Bulletin, it is worth checking them here as some have links to more detailed pieces I have written.

One of the reason for the lack of additions this month is because in November and December I’m giving a series of talks to various organisations. These include an online talk on 11 November 2025 to the Society of One-Place Studies about the early history of the Irish in Batley, and the parish of Batley St Mary of the Angels up until around the 1880s. This is restricted to members of the Society. However, on Monday 24 November I will be giving more or less the same talk at the Batley History Group meeting in Batley Town Hall. This starts with refreshments at 7pm, with the talk commencing at 7.30pm. It is open to both members (£2) and non-members (£4). So, perhaps I will see some of you there. More details about this, and Batley History Group’s other meetings in 2025/26 can be found here.

*James Harkin, Batley’s 1st Catholic Mayor*

I also have a special thank you this month for someone who has sent me a lovely letter and some photos of James Harkin, Batley’s first Catholic mayor – one of which is included in this piece. I don’t have her contact details to thank her personally, so hopefully she will read my thank you here.

Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* posts, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.

If you want to know the background, and what is involved in a one-place study, click here. Otherwise read on, to discover a wealth of parish, parishioner and wider local Batley history.

If you have enjoyed reading the various pieces, and would like to make a donation towards keeping the website up and running in its current open access format, it would be very much appreciated.

Please click 👉🏻here👈🏻 be taken to the PayPal donation link. By making a donation you will be helping to keep the website online and freely available for all.

Thank you.

I can be contacted at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

1. About my St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church War Memorial One-Place Study;

Batley’s Public Buildings and Institutions
2. Batley Hospital: The First 50 Years – 1878 to 1928
3. The Early History of Batley’s Public Baths

Biographies: Men Associated with St Mary’s Who Died but Who Are Not on the Memorial
8. Thomas Gannon
9. Reginald Roberts
10. William Frederick Townsend

Biographies: The War Memorial Men
11. Edward Barber
12. William Barber (Memorial name spelling)
13. Herbert Booth
14. Edmund Battye
15. Dominick (aka George) Brannan
16. Michael Brannan
17. John Brooks
18. Michael Cafferty
19. Patrick Cafferty
20. John William Callaghan
21. Lawrence Carney
22. Martin Carney
23. Thomas William Chappell
24. William Colbeck
25. Michael Cunningham
26. Thomas Curley
27. Peter Doherty
28. Thomas Dolan
29. Thomas Donlan
30. John W. Enright
31. Mathew Farrer
32. Thomas Finneran
33. Michael Flynn
34. Thomas Foley D.C.M.
35. Martin Gallagher
36. James Garner
37. Harold Gaunt
38. James Gavaghan
39. Peter Gavaghan
40. Thomas Gavaghan
41. Henry Groark
42. James Groark
43. Michael Groark (also known as Rourke)
44. James Griffin
45. William Hargreaves
46. Michael Hopkins
47. Patrick Hopkins
48. Michael Horan
49. James Hughes
50. Lawrence Judge
51. John Leech
52. Michael Lydon
53. John Thomas Lynch
54. Patrick Lyons
William McManus – See William Townsend below
55. Thomas McNamara
56. Clement Manning
57. Patrick Naifsey
58. Austin Nolan
59. Robert Randerson
60. James Rush
61. Moses Stubley
62. William Townsend, also known as McManus
63. James Trainor
64. Richard Carroll Walsh
65. Arthur William Bayldon Woodhead

Biographies: Those who Served and Survived (this includes a list of those identified to date and who will later have dedicated biographical pages)
65. Patrick Cassidy
67. James Delaney
68. Thomas Donlan (senior)
69. Thomas Gannon
70. Michael Rush

Burials, Cemeteries, Headstones and MIs
71. Cemetery and Memorial Details
72. War Memorial Chronology of Deaths .

Guest Contributions
305. Memories of Skelsey Row – by Brian Foley

Maps and Photographs
306. A Description of the Parish Boundaries
307. Aerial View of St Mary’s Church and the Surrounding Streets
308. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1894
309. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1907
310. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1922
311. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1933

Miscellany of Information
312. A Bitter-Sweet Remarriage
313. A Colliery Accident with Tragic Consequences
314. A Description of the Parish of St Mary of the Angels in 1950
315. A Grave Disturbance in Batley
316. A Part of St Mary of the Angels in Batley Cemetery
317. A “Peace” of Batley History
318. An Appeal to Ireland to Build a Catholic Church in Batley
319. A Potted Early History of the Irish in Batley, the Building of St Mary of the Angels Church, and the Parish Priest’s Fatal Accident
320. A St Mary’s Parishioner in the Holy Land
321. A St Mary’s School Sensation
322. A St Mary’s School Trip Souvenir
323. Batley’s Secret Irish Society and the Ammunition Seizure
324. Batley St Mary’s First Torchlight Procession
325. Batley St Mary’s Second Torchlight Procession
326. “Daddy’s Death and then Triplets”
327. Heritage Impact Assessment: St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and Convent, Batley
328. Hot-Cross Buns and the Yorkshire Tea-Cake Dilemma. Plus A Suggested Meal Planner for Batley Families in 1917
329. Into the Valley of Death – One of the Six Hundred
330. “I’ve Done it for Love” – A Batley Murder
331. St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church – 1929 Consecration Service
332. The Consequences of a Refusal to Work in 1918
333. The Controversial Role Played by St Mary’s Schoolchildren in the 1907 Batley Pageant
334. The Deaths of the Smallpox Hospital Caretakers
335. The Debate Over Grave-Diggers’ Holidays
336. The Earliest Published Account of Batley St Mary’s Church and Schools
337. The Great War: A Brief Overview of What Led Britain into the War
338. The Unholy row between St Mary’s Church and the Batley and Birstall Irish Clubs
339. Thomas Ate My Rat
340. William Berry – A Beautiful Voice Stilled
341. Willie and Edward Barber – Poems

Ocupations and Employment Information
342. Occupations: Colliery Byeworker/Byeworkman/Byworker/Bye-Worker/By-Worker
343. Occupations: Confidential Clerk
344. Occupations: Lamp Cleaner
345. Occupations: Limelight Operator
346. Occupations: Mason’s Labourer
347. Occupations: Office Boy/Girl
348. Occupations: Piecer/Piecener
349. Occupations: Rag Grinder
350. Occupations: Willeyer

The Families
395. A Death in the Church
396. St Mary’s Schoolboys Wreak Havoc in a Batley Graveyard

The May Queens of Batley St Mary of the Angels
397. 1922 May Queen: Phyllis Doyle
398. 1923 May Queen: Katherine Phillips
399 1925 May Queen: Agnes Judge
400. 1929 May Queen: Mary Collins
401. 1931 May Queen Ceremony: Theresa Judge
402. 1932 May Queen Ceremony: Agnes Kilgallon
403. 1933 May Queen Ceremony: Winnie Colleran
404. 1939 May Queen Ceremony: Kathleen Gooder
405. 1940 May Queen Ceremony: Sheila Rowan
406. 1941 May Queen Ceremony
407. 1950 May Queen Ceremony: Catherine Heaps
408. 1951 May Queen Ceremony: Mary Harkin

World War Two
409. World War Two Chronology of Deaths
410. Thomas Egan
411. Michael Flatley
412. Frank Higgins
413. Edward Lynch
414. William Smith
415. Bernard Stenchion

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Posted in 19th Century, 20th Century, Ancestry, Batley, Birstall, Catholic, County Mayo, Family History, Great War, History, Home Front, Ireland, Local History, Occupations, One-Place Study, Remembrance, Roll of Honour, Schools, St Mary's RC Church, The Great War, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

Tagged 19th Century, 20th Century, Ancestry, Batley, Catholic, County Mayo, family history, genealogy, History, Local History, Occupations, One-Place Study, Parish History, Schools, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 31 May 2025 Additions

Posted on June 1, 2025 | Leave a comment

May 2025 marked a milestone for the Batley St Mary of the Angels One-Place Study, with it hitting 400 posts during the first week of the month. By the end of May 2025 five posts had been added across a range of topics, bringing the total number of posts in the study to 404.

Below is the complete list of all the St Mary’s posts published up to the end of May 2025, including links to them, with those new and updated posts signposted so you can easily locate them.

If you want to know the background, and what is involved in a one-place study, click here. Otherwise read on, to discover a wealth of parish, parishioner and wider local Batley history.

That milestone 400th post was a description of the parish of St Mary of the Angels in 1950, a post which for some will bring back memories. This is in the Miscellany of Information section.

With May 2025 marking the 80th anniversary of VE Day, I added a new World War Two biography, that of Bernard Stenchion. His death, in June 1945, illustrates that although Victory in Europe was celebrated on 8 May 1945, for some this was not the end of the War, while for many other parishioners the war had already irrevocably changed their lives.

*The 1950 May Queen Catherine Heaps (L), with Moya Hill, the 1949 May Queen (R)*

It also seems appropriate that in May two new May Queen pieces were added – about the 1923 May Queen Katherine Phillips, and the 1950 May Queen Catherine Heaps.

The fifth new post this month was the parish history snippets pieces from the May 2025 bulletins, and this can be found in the Bulletin for Batley St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick section.

Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* and *UPDATED* ones, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.

Finally this month, I wanted to let you know that I will be giving at the Batley History Group meeting on 23 June 2025 all about the early history of the Irish in Batley and the parish of St Mary’s up to the 1880s. If you want to attend that meeting, it is in the Council Chamber of Batley Town Hall, with refreshments served from 7pm and the talk starting at 7.30pm. All are welcome, and the cost is £2 for members and £4 for non-members. It would be great to see people there.

If you have enjoyed reading the various pieces, and would like to make a donation towards keeping the website up and running in its current open access format, it would be very much appreciated.

Please click 👉🏻here👈🏻 to be taken to the PayPal donation link. By making a donation you will be helping to keep the website online and freely available for all.

Thank you.

I can be contacted at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

1. About my St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church War Memorial One-Place Study;

Batley’s Public Buildings and Institutions
2. Batley Hospital: The First 50 Years – 1878 to 1928
3. The Early History of Batley’s Public Baths

Biographies: Men Associated with St Mary’s Who Died but Who Are Not on the Memorial
8. Thomas Gannon
9. Reginald Roberts
10. William Frederick Townsend

Biographies: The War Memorial Men
11. Edward Barber
12. William Barber (Memorial name spelling)
13. Herbert Booth
14. Edmund Battye
15. Dominick (aka George) Brannan
16. Michael Brannan
17. John Brooks
18. Michael Cafferty
19. Patrick Cafferty
20. John William Callaghan
21. Lawrence Carney
22. Martin Carney
23. Thomas William Chappell
24. William Colbeck
25. Michael Cunningham
26. Thomas Curley
27. Peter Doherty
28. Thomas Dolan
29. Thomas Donlan
30. John W. Enright
31. Mathew Farrer
32. Thomas Finneran
33. Michael Flynn
34. Thomas Foley D.C.M.
35. Martin Gallagher
36. James Garner
37. Harold Gaunt
38. James Gavaghan
39. Peter Gavaghan
40. Thomas Gavaghan
41. Henry Groark
42. James Groark
43. Michael Groark (also known as Rourke)
44. James Griffin
45. William Hargreaves
46. Michael Hopkins
47. Patrick Hopkins
48. Michael Horan
49. James Hughes
50. Lawrence Judge
51. John Leech
52. Michael Lydon
53. John Thomas Lynch
54. Patrick Lyons
William McManus – See William Townsend below
55. Thomas McNamara
56. Clement Manning
57. Patrick Naifsey
58. Austin Nolan
59. Robert Randerson
60. James Rush
61. Moses Stubley
62. William Townsend, also known as McManus
63. James Trainor
64. Richard Carroll Walsh
65. Arthur William Bayldon Woodhead

Burials, Cemeteries, Headstones and MIs
71. Cemetery and Memorial Details
72. War Memorial Chronology of Deaths .

Guest Contributions
305. Memories of Skelsey Row – by Brian Foley

Miscellany of Information
312. A Bitter-Sweet Remarriage
313. A Colliery Accident with Tragic Consequences
314. A Description of the Parish of St Mary of the Angels in 1950 *NEW*
315. A Grave Disturbance in Batley
316. A Part of St Mary of the Angels in Batley Cemetery
317. A “Peace” of Batley History
318. An Appeal to Ireland to Build a Catholic Church in Batley
319. A Potted Early History of the Irish in Batley, the Building of St Mary of the Angels Church, and the Parish Priest’s Fatal Accident
320. A St Mary’s Parishioner in the Holy Land
321. A St Mary’s School Sensation
322. A St Mary’s School Trip Souvenir
323. Batley’s Secret Irish Society and the Ammunition Seizure
324. Batley St Mary’s First Torchlight Procession
325. “Daddy’s Death and then Triplets”
326. Heritage Impact Assessment: St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and Convent, Batley
327. Hot-Cross Buns and the Yorkshire Tea-Cake Dilemma. Plus A Suggested Meal Planner for Batley Families in 1917
328. Into the Valley of Death – One of the Six Hundred
329. St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church – 1929 Consecration Service
330. The Consequences of a Refusal to Work in 1918
331. The Controversial Role Played by St Mary’s Schoolchildren in the 1907 Batley Pageant
332. The Deaths of the Smallpox Hospital Caretakers
333. The Debate Over Grave-Diggers’ Holidays
334. The Earliest Published Account of Batley St Mary’s Church and Schools
335. The Great War: A Brief Overview of What Led Britain into the War
336. The Unholy row between St Mary’s Church and the Batley and Birstall Irish Clubs
337. Thomas Ate My Rat
338. William Berry – A Beautiful Voice Stilled
339. Willie and Edward Barber – Poems

Occupations and Employment Information
340. Occupations: Colliery Byeworker/Byeworkman/Byworker/Bye-Worker/By-Worker
341. Occupations: Confidential Clerk
342. Occupations: Lamp Cleaner
343. Occupations: Limelight Operator
344. Occupations: Mason’s Labourer
345. Occupations: Office Boy/Girl
346. Occupations: Piecer/Piecener
347. Occupations: Rag Grinder
348. Occupations: Willeyer

The Families
388. A Death in the Church
389. St Mary’s Schoolboys Wreak Havoc in a Batley Graveyard

The May Queens of Batley St Mary of the Angels
390. 1922 May Queen: Phyllis Doyle
391. 1923 May Queen: Katherine Phillips *NEW*
392. 1931 May Queen Ceremony: Theresa Judge
393. 1932 May Queen Ceremony: Agnes Kilgallon
394. 1933 May Queen Ceremony: Winnie Colleran
395. 1939 May Queen Ceremony: Kathleen Gooder
396. 1940 May Queen Ceremony: Sheila Rowan
397. 1941 May Queen Ceremony
398. 1950 May Queen Ceremony: Catherine Heaps *NEW*

World War Two
399. World War Two Chronology of Deaths
400. Thomas Egan
401. Michael Flatley
402. Edward Lynch
403. William Smith
404. Bernard Stenchion *NEW*

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Posted in 19th Century, 20th Century, Batley, Birstall, Catholic, County Mayo, Family History, Genealogy, Great War, History, Home Front, Ireland, Local History, Occupations, One-Place Study, Roll of Honour, Schools, St Mary's RC Church, The Great War, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

Tagged Ancestry, Batley, Catholic, County Mayo, family history, genealogy, Great War, History, Home Front, Ireland, Local History, Occupations, One-Place Study, St Mary's, The Great War, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 30 April 2025 Additions

Posted on May 1, 2025 | Leave a comment

April was a particularly busy month for the Batley St Mary of the Angels One-Place Study. It included the addition of a new subject heading, along with eight new posts, bringing the total number of posts to 399. One other post was updated.

Below is the complete list of all the St Mary’s posts published up to the end of April 2025, including links to them, with those new and updated posts signposted so you can easily locate them.

If you want to know the background, and what is involved in a one-place study, click here. Otherwise read on, to discover a wealth of parish, parishioner and wider local Batley history.

The new section added in April was one about the May Queens of the parish. I am trying to identify as many of them as possible, with a piece dedicated to each year. To date seven years have been added to this section, 1922, 1931-1933, 1939-1941.

The final addition this month is in the Bulletin for Batley St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick section. It is the piece covering the parish history snippets included in the parish bulletins during April 2025.

I have also added a further update to the World War Two introduction page.

Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* and *UPDATED* ones, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.

If you have enjoyed reading the various pieces, and would like to make a donation towards keeping the website up and running in its current open access format, it would be very much appreciated.

Please click 👉🏻here👈🏻 to be taken to the PayPal donation link. By making a donation you will be helping to keep the website online and freely available for all.

Thank you.

I can be contacted at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

1. About my St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church War Memorial One-Place Study;

Batley’s Public Buildings and Institutions
2. Batley Hospital: The First 50 Years – 1878 to 1928
3. The Early History of Batley’s Public Baths

Biographies: Men Associated with St Mary’s Who Died but Who Are Not on the Memorial
8. Thomas Gannon
9. Reginald Roberts
10. William Frederick Townsend

Biographies: The War Memorial Men
11. Edward Barber
12. William Barber (Memorial name spelling)
13. Herbert Booth
14. Edmund Battye
15. Dominick (aka George) Brannan
16. Michael Brannan
17. John Brooks
18. Michael Cafferty
19. Patrick Cafferty
20. John William Callaghan
21. Lawrence Carney
22. Martin Carney
23. Thomas William Chappell
24. William Colbeck
25. Michael Cunningham
26. Thomas Curley
27. Peter Doherty
28. Thomas Dolan
29. Thomas Donlan
30. John W. Enright
31. Mathew Farrer
32. Thomas Finneran
33. Michael Flynn
34. Thomas Foley D.C.M.
35. Martin Gallagher
36. James Garner
37. Harold Gaunt
38. James Gavaghan
39. Peter Gavaghan
40. Thomas Gavaghan
41. Henry Groark
42. James Groark
43. Michael Groark (also known as Rourke)
44. James Griffin
45. William Hargreaves
46. Michael Hopkins
47. Patrick Hopkins
48. Michael Horan
49. James Hughes
50. Lawrence Judge
51. John Leech
52. Michael Lydon
53. John Thomas Lynch
54. Patrick Lyons
William McManus – See William Townsend below
55. Thomas McNamara
56. Clement Manning
57. Patrick Naifsey
58. Austin Nolan
59. Robert Randerson
60. James Rush
61. Moses Stubley
62. William Townsend, also known as McManus
63. James Trainor
64. Richard Carroll Walsh
65. Arthur William Bayldon Woodhead

Burials, Cemeteries, Headstones and MIs
71. Cemetery and Memorial Details
72. War Memorial Chronology of Deaths .

Guest Contributions
305. Memories of Skelsey Row – by Brian Foley

Miscellany of Information
312. A Bitter-Sweet Remarriage
313. A Colliery Accident with Tragic Consequences
314. A Grave Disturbance in Batley
315. A Part of St Mary of the Angels in Batley Cemetery
316. A “Peace” of Batley History
317. An Appeal to Ireland to Build a Catholic Church in Batley
318. A Potted Early History of the Irish in Batley, the Building of St Mary of the Angels Church, and the Parish Priest’s Fatal Accident
319. A St Mary’s Parishioner in the Holy Land
320. A St Mary’s School Sensation
321. A St Mary’s School Trip Souvenir
322. Batley’s Secret Irish Society and the Ammunition Seizure
323. Batley St Mary’s First Torchlight Procession
324. “Daddy’s Death and then Triplets”
325. Heritage Impact Assessment: St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and Convent, Batley
326. Hot-Cross Buns and the Yorkshire Tea-Cake Dilemma. Plus A Suggested Meal Planner for Batley Families in 1917
327. Into the Valley of Death – One of the Six Hundred
328. St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church – 1929 Consecration Service
329. The Consequences of a Refusal to Work in 1918
330. The Controversial Role Played by St Mary’s Schoolchildren in the 1907 Batley Pageant
331. The Deaths of the Smallpox Hospital Caretakers
332. The Debate Over Grave-Diggers’ Holidays
333. The Earliest Published Account of Batley St Mary’s Church and Schools
334. The Great War: A Brief Overview of What Led Britain into the War
335. The Unholy row between St Mary’s Church and the Batley and Birstall Irish Clubs
336. Thomas Ate My Rat
337. William Berry – A Beautiful Voice Stilled
338. Willie and Edward Barber – Poems

Occupations and Employment Information
339. Occupations: Colliery Byeworker/Byeworkman/Byworker/Bye-Worker/By-Worker
340. Occupations: Confidential Clerk
341. Occupations: Lamp Cleaner
342. Occupations: Limelight Operator
343. Occupations: Mason’s Labourer
344. Occupations: Office Boy/Girl
345. Occupations: Piecer/Piecener
346. Occupations: Rag Grinder
347. Occupations: Willeyer

The Families
386. A Death in the Church
387. St Mary’s Schoolboys Wreak Havoc in a Batley Graveyard

The May Queens of Batley St Mary of the Angels *NEW*
388. 1922 May Queen: Phyllis Doyle *NEW*
389. 1931 May Queen Ceremony: Theresa Judge *NEW*
390. 1932 May Queen Ceremony: Agnes Kilgallon *NEW*
391. 1933 May Queen Ceremony: Winnie Colleran *NEW*
392. 1939 May Queen Ceremony: Kathleen Gooder *NEW*
393. 1940 May Queen Ceremony: Sheila Rowan *NEW*
394. 1941 May Queen Ceremony *NEW*

World War Two *UPDATED*
395. World War Two Chronology of Deaths
396. Thomas Egan
397. Michael Flatley
398. Edward Lynch
399. William Smith

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Posted in 19th Century, 20th Century, Ancestry, Batley, Birstall, Catholic, County Mayo, Family History, Genealogy, Great War, History, Home Front, Ireland, Local History, Occupations, One-Place Study, Remembrance, Roll of Honour, Schools, St Mary's RC Church, The Great War, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 28 February 2025 Additions

Posted on March 1, 2025 | Leave a comment

The number of posts in the Batley St Mary of the Angels One-Place Study creeps ever-closer to the 400 mark. The three new posts added in February 2025 brings it up to 386. One of those posts is a result of my February visit to the Leeds Diocesan Archives, and hopefully in the coming months more pieces will follow on from my finds that day. Two other posts were updated.

Below is the complete list of all the St Mary’s posts published up to the end of February 2025, including links to them, with those new and updated posts signposted so you can easily locate them.

If you want to know the background, and what is involved in a one-place study, click here. Otherwise read on, to discover a wealth of parish, parishioner and wider local Batley history.

The first piece arising from my Diocesan Archives visit is a description of the parish boundaries given by Fr, Lea in 1918. It is interesting because of the changes which have taken place in the intervening period, with streets appearing, and other landmarks vanishing.

The second piece is about the deaths of the husband and wife Smallpox Hospital caretakers within days of each over the Christmas/New Year period of 1921/22. Again there is additional interest here for people who might remember the old Smallpox Hospital, and the separate Infectious Diseases Hospital which later became Oakwell Geriatric Hospital.

The final addition is in the Bulletin for Batley St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick section. It is the piece covering the parish history snippets included in the parish bulletins during February 2025. There are some additional links here to fuller pieces I’ve written about some of these snippets.

As for the two updated pieces, one details more parishioners who served in, and survived, the First World War. The other is an update to A St Mary’s Parishioner in the Holy Land, which covers a physical attack he sustained whilst there.

Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* and *UPDATED* ones, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.

If you have enjoyed reading the various pieces, and would like to make a donation towards keeping the website up and running in its current open access format, it would be very much appreciated.

Please click 👉🏻here👈🏻 to be taken to the PayPal donation link. By making a donation you will be helping to keep the website online and freely available for all.

Thank you.

I can be contacted at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

1. About my St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church War Memorial One-Place Study;

Batley’s Public Buildings and Institutions
2. Batley Hospital: The First 50 Years – 1878 to 1928
3. The Early History of Batley’s Public Baths

Biographies: Men Associated with St Mary’s Who Died but Who Are Not on the Memorial
8. Thomas Gannon
9. Reginald Roberts
10. William Frederick Townsend

Biographies: The War Memorial Men
11. Edward Barber
12. William Barber (Memorial name spelling)
13. Herbert Booth
14. Edmund Battye
15. Dominick (aka George) Brannan
16. Michael Brannan
17. John Brooks
18. Michael Cafferty
19. Patrick Cafferty
20. John William Callaghan
21. Lawrence Carney
22. Martin Carney
23. Thomas William Chappell
24. William Colbeck
25. Michael Cunningham
26. Thomas Curley
27. Peter Doherty
28. Thomas Dolan
29. Thomas Donlan
30. John W. Enright
31. Mathew Farrer
32. Thomas Finneran
33. Michael Flynn
34. Thomas Foley D.C.M.
35. Martin Gallagher
36. James Garner
37. Harold Gaunt
38. James Gavaghan
39. Thomas Gavaghan
40. Henry Groark
41. James Groark
42. Michael Groark (also known as Rourke)
43. James Griffin
44. William Hargreaves
45. Michael Hopkins
46. Patrick Hopkins
47. Michael Horan
48. James Hughes
49. Lawrence Judge
50. John Leech
51. Michael Lydon
52. Patrick Lyons
William McManus – See William Townsend below
53. Thomas McNamara
54. Clement Manning
55. Patrick Naifsey
56. Austin Nolan
57. Robert Randerson
58. James Rush
59. Moses Stubley
60. William Townsend, also known as McManus
61. James Trainor
62. Richard Carroll Walsh
63. Arthur William Bayldon Woodhead

Biographies: Those who Served and Survived (this includes a list of those identified to date and who will later have dedicated biographical pages) *UPDATED*
64. Patrick Cassidy
65. James Delaney
66. Thomas Donlan (senior)
67. Thomas Gannon
68. Michael Rush

Burials, Cemeteries, Headstones and MIs
69. Cemetery and Memorial Details
70. War Memorial Chronology of Deaths .

Guest Contributions
303. Memories of Skelsey Row – by Brian Foley

Maps and Photographs
304. A Description of the Parish Boundaries *NEW*
305. Aerial View of St Mary’s Church and the Surrounding Streets
306. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1894
307. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1907
308. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1922
309. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1933

Miscellany of Information
310. A Bitter-Sweet Remarriage
311. A Colliery Accident with Tragic Consequences
312. A Grave Disturbance in Batley
313. A Part of St Mary of the Angels in Batley Cemetery
314. A “Peace” of Batley History
315. An Appeal to Ireland to Build a Catholic Church in Batley
316. A Potted Early History of the Irish in Batley, the Building of St Mary of the Angels Church, and the Parish Priest’s Fatal Accident
317. A St Mary’s Parishioner in the Holy Land *UPDATED*
318. A St Mary’s School Sensation
319. A St Mary’s School Trip Souvenir
320. Batley’s Secret Irish Society and the Ammunition Seizure
321. Batley St Mary’s First Torchlight Procession
322. “Daddy’s Death and then Triplets”
323. Heritage Impact Assessment: St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and Convent, Batley
324. Hot-Cross Buns and the Yorkshire Tea-Cake Dilemma. Plus A Suggested Meal Planner for Batley Families in 1917
325. Into the Valley of Death – One of the Six Hundred
326. St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church – 1929 Consecration Service
327. The Consequences of a Refusal to Work in 1918
328. The Controversial Role Played by St Mary’s Schoolchildren in the 1907 Batley Pageant
329. The Deaths of the Smallpox Hospital Caretakers *NEW*
330. The Earliest Published Account of Batley St Mary’s Church and Schools
331. The Great War: A Brief Overview of What Led Britain into the War
332. The Unholy row between St Mary’s Church and the Batley and Birstall Irish Clubs
333. Thomas Ate My Rat
334. William Berry – A Beautiful Voice Stilled
335. Willie and Edward Barber – Poems

Occupations and Employment Information
336. Occupations: Colliery Byeworker/Byeworkman/Byworker/Bye-Worker/By-Worker
337. Occupations: Confidential Clerk
338. Occupations: Lamp Cleaner
339. Occupations: Limelight Operator
340. Occupations: Mason’s Labourer
341. Occupations: Office Boy/Girl
342. Occupations: Piecer/Piecener
343. Occupations: Rag Grinder
344. Occupations: Willeyer

The Families
381. A Death in the Church
382. St Mary’s Schoolboys Wreak Havoc in a Batley Graveyard

World War Two
383. World War Two Chronology of Deaths
384. Thomas Egan
385. Michael Flatley
386. William Smith

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St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 31 January 2025 Additions

Posted on February 1, 2025 | Leave a comment

2025 got off to a great start for the Batley St Mary of the Angels One-Place Study, with the addition of five posts which cover a varied mix of the history of the parish and its people. It brings the total number of posts to 383. One other post was updated.

Below is the complete list of all the St Mary’s posts published up to the end of January 2025, including links to them, with those new and updated posts signposted so you can easily locate them.

If you want to know the background, and what is involved in a one-place study, click here. Otherwise read on, to discover a wealth of parish, parishioner and wider local Batley history.

Two new War Memorial biographies were added, those of Harold Gaunt and Thomas Dolan. The former covers a lesser known aspect of military service. The latter includes some cherished photos, used with the family’s permission. I also identified more parishioners who served in, and survived, the First World War. That list has been updated.

The Bulletin for Batley St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick section, has one addition. This is the piece covering the parish history snippets which were included in the parish bulletins during January 2025 – one of which may be rather surprising but reflects commonly held initial world attitudes to someone who turned out to be a monster.

It also links to the one of the two new posts in the Miscellany of Information section. One is about a former parishioner who played an unexpected and significant role, bringing him into contact with people across the world. The other post is a topic I never thought would be covered in the St Mary’s One-Place Study. Given this month, on the 27 January, we commemorated World Holocaust Day and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp complex, it serves as a timely and important reminder.

Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* and *UPDATED* ones, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.

If you have enjoyed reading the various pieces, and would like to make a donation towards keeping the website up and running in its current open access format, it would be very much appreciated.

Please click 👉🏻here👈🏻 to be taken to the PayPal donation link. By making a donation you will be helping to keep the website online and freely available for all.

Thank you.

I can be contacted at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

1. About my St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church War Memorial One-Place Study;

Batley’s Public Buildings and Institutions
2. Batley Hospital: The First 50 Years – 1878 to 1928
3. The Early History of Batley’s Public Baths

Biographies: Men Associated with St Mary’s Who Died but Who Are Not on the Memorial
8. Thomas Gannon
9. Reginald Roberts
10. William Frederick Townsend

Biographies: The War Memorial Men
11. Edward Barber
12. William Barber (Memorial name spelling)
13. Herbert Booth
14. Edmund Battye
15. Dominick (aka George) Brannan
16. Michael Brannan
17. John Brooks
18. Michael Cafferty
19. Patrick Cafferty
20. John William Callaghan
21. Lawrence Carney
22. Martin Carney
23. Thomas William Chappell
24. William Colbeck
25. Michael Cunningham
26. Thomas Curley
27. Peter Doherty
28. Thomas Dolan *NEW*
29. Thomas Donlan
30. John W. Enright
31. Mathew Farrer
32. Thomas Finneran
33. Michael Flynn
34. Thomas Foley D.C.M.
35. Martin Gallagher
36. James Garner
37. Harold Gaunt *NEW*
38. James Gavaghan
39. Thomas Gavaghan
40. Henry Groark
41. James Groark
42. Michael Groark (also known as Rourke)
43. James Griffin
44. William Hargreaves
45. Michael Hopkins
46. Patrick Hopkins
47. Michael Horan
48. James Hughes
49. Lawrence Judge
50. John Leech
51. Michael Lydon
52. Patrick Lyons
William McManus – See William Townsend below
53. Thomas McNamara
54. Clement Manning
55. Patrick Naifsey
56. Austin Nolan
57. Robert Randerson
58. James Rush
59. Moses Stubley
60. William Townsend, also known as McManus
61. James Trainor
62. Richard Carroll Walsh
63. Arthur William Bayldon Woodhead

Burials, Cemeteries, Headstones and MIs
69. Cemetery and Memorial Details
70. War Memorial Chronology of Deaths .

Guest Contributions
303. Memories of Skelsey Row – by Brian Foley

Maps and Photographs
304. Aerial View of St Mary’s Church and the Surrounding Streets
305. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1894
306. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1907
307. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1922
308. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1933

Miscellany of Information
309. A Bitter-Sweet Remarriage *NEW*
310. A Colliery Accident with Tragic Consequences
311. A Grave Disturbance in Batley
312. A Part of St Mary of the Angels in Batley Cemetery
313. A “Peace” of Batley History
314. An Appeal to Ireland to Build a Catholic Church in Batley
315. A Potted Early History of the Irish in Batley, the Building of St Mary of the Angels Church, and the Parish Priest’s Fatal Accident
316. A St Mary’s Parishioner in the Holy Land *NEW*
317. A St Mary’s School Sensation
318. A St Mary’s School Trip Souvenir
319. Batley’s Secret Irish Society and the Ammunition Seizure
320. Batley St Mary’s First Torchlight Procession
321. “Daddy’s Death and then Triplets”
322. Heritage Impact Assessment: St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and Convent, Batley
323. Hot-Cross Buns and the Yorkshire Tea-Cake Dilemma. Plus A Suggested Meal Planner for Batley Families in 1917
324. Into the Valley of Death – One of the Six Hundred
325. St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church – 1929 Consecration Service
326. The Consequences of a Refusal to Work in 1918
327. The Controversial Role Played by St Mary’s Schoolchildren in the 1907 Batley Pageant
328. The Earliest Published Account of Batley St Mary’s Church and Schools
329. The Great War: A Brief Overview of What Led Britain into the War
330. The Unholy row between St Mary’s Church and the Batley and Birstall Irish Clubs
331. Thomas Ate My Rat
332. William Berry – A Beautiful Voice Stilled
333. Willie and Edward Barber – Poems

Occupations and Employment Information
334. Occupations: Colliery Byeworker/Byeworkman/Byworker/Bye-Worker/By-Worker
335. Occupations: Confidential Clerk
336. Occupations: Lamp Cleaner
337. Occupations: Limelight Operator
338. Occupations: Mason’s Labourer
339. Occupations: Office Boy/Girl
340. Occupations: Piecer/Piecener
341. Occupations: Rag Grinder
342. Occupations: Willeyer

The Families
378. A Death in the Church
379. St Mary’s Schoolboys Wreak Havoc in a Batley Graveyard

World War Two
380. World War Two Chronology of Deaths
381. Thomas Egan
382. Michael Flatley
383. William Smith

Leave a comment

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Tag Archives: WW1

St. Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 31 March 2026 Additions

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St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 30 April 2025 Additions

St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 28 February 2025 Additions

St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 31 January 2025 Additions

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