Defending Britain by bicycle

 George William Bottomley 1888 - 1947


On December 16, 1914, 137 people were killed and 592 injured when the Germans raided Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby.  The area had been identified a month earlier by the Germans as one with very little coastal defence in place.  Shelling of Scarborough from German battleships began at 8am on the 16th.  The castle, the Grand Hotel, three churches and other properties were hit.  At 9.30 am the battleships moved onto Whitby, hitting the coastguard station, the abbey and other properties.  Hartlepool was a much more significant target, and shelling of that began at 8.10am, with targets including the steelworks, gasworks, railways, churches and 300 houses.  Eighty-six civilians were killed and 424 were injured in just 40 minutes, as well as some military casualties.

One of the enlistment posters produced after the East Yorkshire raids.

 
More than a thousand shells were fired during these raids, and afterwards the attack became part of a British propaganda campaign.  You can read more about the raids here.

These raids proved just how important it was to have - and maintain - defences along the East Coast.  Which, no doubt, is how my great grandfather George William Bottomley ended up in the East Yorkshire Regiment's 5th Cyclist Batallion, playing a vital part in that defence work.  Bicycles were considered an important asset to the military in those days, and they would have offered an ideal way of keeping a close and regular eye on all parts of the coast, from the busiest to the most remote.  

It must have been a hard job. Cycling along the East Coast in all weathers and at all times.  Not as hard as being at the front, perhaps, but difficult nevertheless.  Which may well explain why George was invalided out two years later with rheumatism and heart problems.  He had suffered from rhuematic fever some years earlier, but the harsh conditions probably didn't help.  At the time of his medical discharge he weighed just 8 stone and 2 lbs.  George was awarded the Silver War Badge,which was given to men who became ill or wounded while in service in the UK or overseas.

George William Bottomley with wife Clara and grandaughter Maureen (my Mum).

George was born in  Ossett, West Yorkshire, in 1888 to Thomas William and Annie Bottomley.  By the age of 13, he was working in the town's fireworks factory, Messrs Riley & Sons.  He clearly had quite a few different jobs in his time.  in 1911, he is shown on the census as being a tramcar driver.  Five years later, when he was called up, he was a barman.  In the newly released 1939 register he is listed as a "baker and hawker on his own account", and when my grandmother, his only child Elsie, was born, he was a confectioner.

George died relatively young, at the age of 60, from stomach cancer.

Correction - Henry Womersley 1847 - 1902

 Henry Womersley 1847 - 1902

Last year, I wrote about my gt x 3 uncle Henry Womersley, father of 13 and a miner who died in Featherstone Colliery in 1902.  At the time, I didn't know how he had died, but thought maybe he had just collapsed given that I couldn't find a record of any pit accidents there that year.

It turns out that I was wrong, and so the record needs to be put straight.  In fact, the poor man was crushed to death under 15 tons of stone and rubble while helping with blasting operations.

Here is a report from the Pontefract & Castleford Express, January 18 1902:

BLASTING FATALITY

Yesterday Major Arundel, coroner, conducted an inquiry at the Featherstone Hotel touching the death of Henry Womersley, bye-workman at Featherstone Main Collieries but living in Kinsley.  Deceased met his death after assisting in blasting operations in the Haigh Moor seam of the colliery on Wednesday.  The body was identified by Thos. Womersley, son of the deceased who said his father was 54 years old, and left a widow and three other members of the family.  Evidence as to the cause of death was given by Jos. Green (Pontefract) a colliery workman, and Albert Roberts, a deputy.  Their statements showed that on Wednesday deceased was employed with other men blasting stone in the seam, that Roberts fired a shot in the side of the road which worked well and that two minutes later Roberts examined the roof and sides in the vicinity of the shot and found all safe except some loose stone in the side which he instructed deceased to remove.  Deceased was unable to remove the loose stone with his pick, and was about to fetch an iron bar when suddenly the side of the road fell in, bringing with it the props and crushing him terribly.  There would be some fifteen tons of stone and muck fall.  Before the accident--evidence also showed the place was properly timbered, the fall being due to a slip in the roof which gave way.  The jury returned a verdict of “Accidently injured”.  There were present at the inquiry Mr W H Pickering, Chief Inspector of Mines, and Mr P Darlington, manager of the colliery.

 On a happier note, I also discovered that one of his children, Henry jr, was even more prolific than his father.  Henry jr had 19 children - yes, 19! - including two lots of twins born just 16 months apart!

Many thanks to Hilda, my second cousin 3x removed, who got in touch with me after seeing my family interests in the Huddersfield and District Family History Society's regular newsletter.  Just goes to show it is always worth putting your name and interests out there, you never know who is going to see them!

Thomas William Bottomley 1865 - 1950   

Thomas William Bottomley is my Mum's great grandfather.  He is one of those ancestors who seems to have lived a fairly ordinary life. No drama, he just seems to have focussed on working hard all his life and providing for his family.  But that doesn't mean he isn't worth remembering - far from it.  To me, genealogy isn't about highlighting your famous or infamous ancestors, it's about remembering them all.  And this rather grand photo I have of him, courtesy of a distant relative who was happy to share it with me, is definitely worth showing off.

Thomas was born on February 3 1865 in Owl Lane, Ossett, Dewsbury, to Matthew and Ann (nee Bates).  He was the youngest but one of six children, born when his father was 47 and his mother was 34.
 
He is shown on the 1871 census, when he was just six years old.  He was still living in Owl Lane, Ossett with his father and mother.  His father was 53 at the time, and working as an overlocker in a worsted mill. His mother was 40 and was born in Wakefield.  He shared his home with siblings Eliza Ellen, 18, who was working as a twister of yarns; George, 16, who was a packer; Sarah Ann, 14, also a twister; Emily, 8, who along with Thomas were at school; and Ada Elizabeth, 3.  

Ten years later, both of Thomas's parents have died, but the family has stuck together.  The eldest son, George, is head of the house and working as a worsted packer.  His eldest sister Eliza is already widowed, and living back with her siblings, working as a worsted doubler.  Sisters Sarah Ann and Emily are both rag sorters, and Ada is still at school.

Thomas appears to have done fairly well for himself, as he is a worsted overlooker (supervisor) already.   Notice how they are all involved in the town's main industry - mungo and shoddy.  This is essentially the business of recycling rags and cloth. The rags would be sorted according to colour and quality; cleaned, and wool would be extracted.  That wool would then be used to make new fabric for clothing.  At one point Ossett and it's neighbouring towns were an international centre for wool recycling, receiving rags and cloth from across Europe. 

In 1887, Thomas married Annie Dews, and four years later the census shows him working as a wool extractor.  He is the father of George William (Mum's grandfather), aged 3, and Clifford, aged 1.  They were living in Tattersfield Street, Ossett.

By 1901 Thomas and Annie had six children - George, Clifford, Fred, Harry, John and Edward.  Their last child, Wilfred - who I remember as Uncle Wilf - was born in 1902.

In the 1911 census, aged 46, Thomas was still in the mungo and shoddy business, as a rag shaker.  George, 23, was still living at home and was a tram car conductor, Harry, 17, was a coal miner, while John, 12, Edward, 10 and Wilfred, 8 were all at school.  Clifford was already married and working as a coal miner, and Fred was a butcher with the local Co-op and a member of the Territorial Forces.

Thomas's wife Annie died in 1924 aged 55.  Thomas lived a lot longer, dying at the ripe old age of 85 in May 1950.