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Memorial found in a skip

I think the houses may have been completed, or certainly started before WW1.
I am not very well up on military matters, and perhaps those that are could comment on the following.
In c1905 and before the area of the drill hall would have been in Worcestershire (Kings Norton district) and so presumably the drill hall would have been for the Worcestershire Volunteers. Up till about 1890 the drill hall of the Worcestershire (1st) Artillery volunteers (headquarters of 5,6,11 & 12 batteries) was shown on maps and in Kellys as in Cox St West. Perhaps the later drill hall replaced this one. The dates would fit. One of the reasons that it disappeared may have been because of the incorporation of the area into Birmingham. Do any of these batteries correspond to people, mentioned on the plaque
 
This is the first indication I have had of a particular religious denomination - 2nd Lt George William BOWATER was buried at NECHELLS (ST. JOSEPH) ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHYARD.

Maurice
 
thanks maurice i have probably walked past williams grave then as i have visited st josephs churchyard...

this could now indicate that george may have attended a catholic school but not for certain but if he did and this plaque was in a school it would have been a catholic one which in turn would mean that all the other names on the plaque were also catholics..will have to check the st marys st school thread but i think i read that st johns catholic church backed onto the school...i assumed that mary st school was a C of E school but that needs checking as well...lots of twists and turns:rolleyes:

lyn
 
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Yes - they could. Some RC parents might have wanted the child to go to a school close by (if the RC school was a distance from home) - not sure they would have chosen a C of E school though - not in those days. By the way I can't see a church behind the school on the map in 1916. St Johns church and school were much further down the road address given as George Street.
 

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Sgt John Edward Hardman has proved a little more difficult to trace, but here he is.
b1895 Balsall Heath. In 1911 he was living with his parents Edward and Martha Jane Hardman at 73 Edward Road Balsall Heath. He was a tailor's assistant.

He tried to join the Royal Worcesters (his number was 23459) but was discharged on the basis that he was unlikely to become an efficient soldier. It was said he had poor physique. At this point he describes himself as an 'agent' and his documentation states he was CofE.

It seems following discharge from the Worcs he was approved for the 16 Battalion Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry Manchester regiment. His number was 20053. The family address had by then changed to 24 Tindal Street Balsall Heath.

He was killed in action in France on 23/4/1917. At this point in time his mother was his next of kin living at 15 Cox Street West Birmingham.

Viv.
 
Yes - they could. Some RC parents might have wanted the child to go to a school close by (if the RC school was a distance from home) - not sure they would have chosen a C of E school though - not in those days. By the way I can't see a church behind the school on the map in 1916. St Johns church and school were much further down the road address given as George Street.


ive just checked again and i cant see a church behind the school either jan..think i may have miss understood post 17 on this thread
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/mary-street-school-balsall-heath.46391/
 
Alfred Pepperell gives his religion as Cong. on his enlistment papers. He served with the RAMC and was missing believed drowned. I posted the info in #36 but have had another look which is when I found his religion.
 
I am back to tending to think that this came from a school or a club, most probably the former, as the casting is mounted on polished wood to which are attached mounting plates. Some of these boys didn't get as far as employment, and one at least was commemorated in St Mary's at Moseley Village. That most probably leaves school as the only thing they might have had in common. Too young for most clubs, and organisations such as the Boy Scouts would not have had the funds.

Victoria County History of Birmingham should have a good list of the older schools, but not sure whether it is available online, but most local libraries should have a copy in their Reference section.

Maurice
 
Just a brief contribution re the quotation, which is from the popular American Civil War song, The Battle Hymn of the Republic. While not conventionally sung in British churches, it gained popularity with British troops in WWI. To me, this points to a club rather than a church (although I have seen a mention of it being sung by the Methodists in the early 1920s). There is also a poignant informality and familiarity in the use of “our brave men”. Most memorials that I can recall tend to use “the men of this parish/workplace etc.” Maybe I am inferring too much, but there seems to be an egalitarian note being struck, which may point to a smaller organisation than most.
 
Recommending that it would be worth listing the memorial on the Imperial War Museums site for memorials here https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials

Interestingly there's an ‘A Stone’ listed in the IWM records on a memorial at Brandwood End Cemetery. Could this be our ‘A Stone’ listed on the Balsall Heath memorial ? Viv.
 
For info the stone cross in Janice’s post #48 now stands in Brandwood End Cemetery.

If the ‘A Stone’ is the same as on the Balsall Heath memorial, why aren’t the other ‘Stones’ on the Brandwood End cross ? Therefore, why is only he mentioned on the Brandwood End Cross ? Viv.

961CCA0F-3857-4387-B1ED-2540B7A66B3E.jpeg
 
would like to get a look at the names on the memorials either side of the cross viv...think they would have about 30 names on each one

lyn
 
think i am going to stick my neck out and say the plaque came from a demolished school such as mary street school i believe demolished in the 70s

WAM we have limited info and really do need to know exactly when this plaque was found..do you have this information?? would also be useful if the person who rescued it from the skip would come forward

lyn
 
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Sorry I couldn't put this up yesterday but it's the collated material that I was provided on Tuesday. It took a little work to make it work on a pdf this morning.
 

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