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King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum
2014-2015 Report
Vice President
Colonel John de Cordova OBE
Trustees
Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Warren (Chairman)
Lieutenant Colonel Peter Dew
Major Stephen Firth MBE
Mr John Hardy
Major Daniel Parsonage
Major Philip Oglethorpe TD to November 2014
Major James Welsh
Mr Paul Thompson from November 2014
Mrs Sue Ashworth
(ex-officio-County Museum Service) from November 2014
Staff
Peter Donnelly BA AMA – Curator
The museum is supported by Lancaster City and Lancashire County
Councils.
Chairman’s Introduction
After a busy 2014 with ‘War ! 1914’ Exhibition it was thought that 2015
would be a quieter year for the Regimental Museum. This was not to be.
Visitor numbers have held steady, enquiries have continued to flow and
new acquisitions were still forthcoming. This was encouraging.
Work was now in hand to revise our Trust Deed which was presently based
on a deed formalized in 1976. Much has changed over recent years in the
world of Regimental museums and the Army as a whole. The new deed, which
was modelled by the Army Museums Ogilby Trust, provides good practice
for the Trustees to secure and administer the Regimental Collection for
many years to come.
The past twelve months has not been an easy time for Local Authorities
in the present climate of financial restraint. Thus all the Trustees are
particularly grateful to City of Lancaster and the Lancashire County
Council for their continued support. Their encouragement, along with our
many friends and supporters, give us confidence as the custodians of the
living history of the Regiment.
Overview
2014/15 has been a year dominated by the centenary of The Great War and
we make no excuses to include a substantial report on the museum’s
activities relating to The Great War in this report. However the Great
War Centenary was not the only thing going on, and the full range of
usual museum activities continued as usual. Not all the enquiries
received were about the Great War and other work continued to highlight
the other parts of the regiment’s history, not least a little mention to
the 75th Anniversary of the start of the Second World War, and the 70th
Anniversary of the actions in 1944. The Curator remains a key part of
the Lancaster City Museum team and he assists with activities both at
the City Museum and in other parts of the County Museum Service.
It was with great sadness that we record the death of some friends of
the museum.
Mr. Norman Rowlinson died in May 2014, he had been a good friend to the
museum having spent many years as a volunteer assisting with many
indexing and cataloguing projects over the years. He was a keen medal
collector and undertook extensive research on all the medals in his
collection. The museum was fortunate to be able to acquire some of the
key items from his collection. Our condolences go to Pat, his wife, and
other members of his family.
Brigadier Jim Dennis died in January 2015, he had been key to the
massive project on recording all the local war memorials in the
Lancaster district. Working with a small team of helpers he used museum
records as part of his research which resulted in “Books of Honour” and
an excellent website which is invaluable to any one researching the war
dead of the local area. Our condolences go to Jean, his wife, and other
members of his family.
Trustees
The museum trustees met at the annual meeting in November. Major Philip
Oglethorpe retired after many years as a trustee and was replaced by Mr.
Paul Thompson who has worked for many years with the Museum Service,
opting not to enlist in the regular army after his years spent as a
King’s Own cadet! Mrs. Sue Ashworth was appointed as ex-officio trustee
from the County Museum Service and the trustees gave consideration to
the appointment of other ex-officio trustees. The Trustees agreed to
review the museum’s trust document which is now out dated in some areas.
Major Daniel Parsonage represented the Chairman at the meetings of the
Lancashire County Council and Lancaster City Council Museum Advisory
Panel.
Accreditation
The Museum holds full accreditation under the scheme operated by Arts
Council England.
Charity Statement of Purpose and Public Benefit.
The King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum provides a ‘living’ history of the
character, activities, tradition and history of the British Army and in
particular The King’s Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster. This is achieved
through the preservation, interpretation and display of artefacts,
archives etc for the purposes of historical research, information and
education and the enjoyment of the general public.
Environmental Statement
The King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum is committed to do what it can to
reduce our impact on the environment. Where possible the museum uses
recycled materials, and certainly great effort is made to re-use
envelopes for both correspondence and sales, this also saves money. The
donation of used padded envelopes may appear to be a very minor thing,
but reduces the packaging costs of museum sales items to almost nil. We
re-use paper, use recycled paper, and recycle all sorts of waste
material from paper and cardboard to tin cans and glass. Writing and
printing on the back of paper is such a simple way to minimise on waste.
Public transport is used where possible and of course the curator is a
keen cyclist.
The Energy Performance Operational Rating of the City Museum building is
67, which rates the museum as ‘C’. ‘A’ being the most efficient, ‘G’
being the worst, and a rating of 100 would be typical for our type of
building. (The building was also rated 67 in the previous year.
(Certificate Reference Number: 0395-2866-4410-5100-8403).
Acknowledgements
As always the museum is most grateful for the generous support of many
people who help in so many ways. It would be impossible to acknowledge
and thank everyone but some assistance is above and beyond and needs
specific mention. Appreciation goes (in no specific order) to Gaynor
Greenwood; Fergus Read; Howard Martin; Pat and David Shackleton; Anne
Donnelly; Martin Evans; Jackie Britton; Paul Thompson; Graham Davis;
Neil Barnett; and Danny Parsonage for their continued support and
assistance to the Curator. To those named and to many more – a big thank
you for all of your help, assistance and encouragement.
The Great War Centenary
War! 1914 Exhibition
The major effort of the year has been War! 1914 and exhibition looking
at The King’s Own, Lancaster and the first months of the First World
War. The exhibition, generously supported by the Sir John Fisher
Foundation, occupied the two exhibition rooms of Lancaster City Museum.
The exhibition was opened by the Deputy Mayor of Lancaster on Saturday
21st June and ran until Saturday 18th October.
18 660 visitors passed through the City Museum in that period, most of
whom are sure to have taken time to look at the exhibition. The local
nature of the exhibition, bringing out the local stories of a world wide
event, have been much appreciated by some of our visitors. The
interactive “message in the bottle” and “recruiting office” have also
proved popular with many visitors.
The model railway, based on the 5th Battalion of the King’s Own Royal
Lancaster Regiment, at Didcot in August to October 1914 has been very
popular. Many repeat visitors have been encouraged by people coming to
see the model railway.
The popularity of the model railway convinced museum staff to retain the
model railway after the exhibition had finished. The model railway will
remain on display until March 2015 and has been complimented by many of
the information panels from the exhibition and a case of objects. A
further four panels are on display within the King’s Own gallery itself.
This will more than double the life of the exhibition – at no additional
cost!
Meet the Soldier
The museum’s popular “Meet the First World War Soldier Character”
sessions were held in conjunction with the exhibition – and a total of
eight sessions were run for full days. The days included 28th June,
Armed Forces Day; 23rd August, the day the 1st Battalion went overseas;
26th August, the first actions of the 1st Battalion at Le Cateau.
Website
The museum’s website was further expanded with special pages to mark the
Great War Centenary. A whole new section includes all the military items
in the Lancaster Guardian newspaper from 1914, all carefully transcribed
which will make searching for information through search engines far
easier.
Schools Engagement
Over 300 school children have learnt about the First World War through
visiting the exhibition or a “meet the soldier” session held at their
school.
Further school sessions have been booked, and it is hoped that the First
World War may well get on to the school’s timetable and sessions will be
booked in the years ahead.
Talks & Tours
The museum has organised or provided talks to both the general public
and specialist groups. Twelve talks on the subject of the First World
War have been given, including three in the museum with guest speakers.
Tours of Bowerham Barracks, now the Lancaster Campus of the University
of Cumbria, were offered on 8th August, the 100th Anniversary a
photograph being taken of reservists at the Regimental Depot.
As part of the nation-wide Heritage Open Days the museum was able to
supply information and photographs to the Lancaster Civic Society who
were able to provide tours of the former Wagon Works on Caton Road, used
by the 5th Battalion as barracks for a couple of days in August 1914 and
then as a German Prisoner of War (Internment) Camp.
Heritage Open Days also saw the curator provide tours of the Regimental
Chapel of the King’s Own Royal Regiment. These tours were well received
by those who attended and it is hoped that these may be repeated in the
future.
Working with others
The Curator provided two First World War training days for Lancashire
County Council community history, library and museum staff. A further
session was run for a local family history group. Other attendees
included students and staff from the History Department of the
University of Lancaster.
The Curator has worked with many organisations in support of their First
World War Centenary events including: Lancaster Civic Society; the
Priory Church; Lancaster City Council; University of Lancaster, ‘Campus
in the City’ event; University of Cumbria; BBC Radio Lancashire; ‘The
Company’; Dukes Theatre, Lancaster; many local history groups including:
Askam in Furness, Ripon, Hayling Island.
Collections Management
No major collections management work has taken place in this reporting
period. This may outwardly appear a little slack of the curator!
However, the truth of the matter is that there is little work to be
done. The collections are well documented and properly stored after many
years of hard work. Much happens on a day to day basis without when
collections are used and replaced in store. A further supply of acid
free boxes and acid free tissue has been received from Army Heritage
Branch and more photograph albums have been boxed. The majority of the
boxes received have been stored until they are needed in the future.
Despite the storage conditions being somewhat full and a little cramped,
the vast majority of the collection is stored in good order.
Work continues on the documentation of new items as well as their
preparation for storage. A small backlog has built up during the year
with less time being available for documentation as the volume of
enquiries has increased and the work on the War! 1914 exhibition had to
take priority.
Finance
Part of the curator’s job remains one of raising money and at times it
feels that this is the hardest of all jobs! With more money the museum
can do more. The Great War Centenary Appeal did not attract as many
donations as was hoped and thoughts are being given to a small re-launch
of this appeal. It is also hoped that more money could be raised
specifically for acquisitions. We live in hard financial times and there
are many demands upon people’s money.
The grant from the Sir John Fisher Foundation for financial support
towards the Great War Centenary Exhibition was totally spent on the
exhibition. This allowed the museum to put on a good show and a good
range of supporting activities throughout the year.
The museum has two donors who signed up to the regular donors scheme.
The take-up of this scheme has been a little disappointing, and
consideration is being made to re-launching this scheme. Legacy giving
will also be considered with a specific leaflet to promote how it could
help the museum.
The museum received one bequest in this reporting year from Anne de
Halpert. Anne de Halpert has supported the museum for many years with
strong family connections to the King’s Own.
Publications
No publications have been produced this year. Thoughts of publishing
books relating to the First World War were put to one side as so many
books appear to be being published and we cannot be sure of good sales.
Book sales from the museum shop have certainly declined to their lowest
level for many years, with people wishing to access information on the
internet, which is often free or at nominal charge.
Nothing is ruled out for the future, but the way ahead may simply be to
make text available on the museum’s website and hope that it may
encourage one or two donations once people have read it!
Digitisation and Website: www.kingsownmuseum.plus.com
The digitisation of the collections has continued with many hundreds of
photographs being digitally copied and six months worth of 1914
newspaper articles relating to the King’s Own and Lancaster being typed
up and added to the museum’s website. This work is on going, and
obviously very time consuming. The newspaper articles increase as 1915
proceeds and the Territorial Force battalions go overseas and start
getting involved in action. The continued digitisation of these reports
will be challenging but rewarding.
Through the year the entire medal roll for the United Nations Medal for
Korea has been transcribed and typed up, which means a search can be
made on both army number and surname, which saves a great deal of time
in the answering of enquiries relating to soldiers of the King’s Own who
served in Korea.
Consideration is being given to the full digitisation of the regimental
journal, The Lion and The Rose. Specialist digitising equipment may have
to be purchased for this task and this will be investigated in the next
year.
Monthly Website Visits were as follows:
2014/2015 Web Visits
April 18 775
May 19 021
June 16 624
July 16 154
Aug 19 671
Sep 16 171
Oct 16 661
Nov 18 418
Dec 15 484
Jan 14 682
Feb 15 146
Mar 15
972
Total 202 779
The peaks in August and November clearly reflect the increased interest
in the First World War generated by the wider media.
Additions to the website:
Accounts of life in Lancaster district in 1914.
Articles, accounts and letters telling the story of the 1st Battalion
in 1914.
First World War advertisements for regimental badges
Photographs from the albums of Sergeant Ernest Hilton relating to his
time in India, Palestine and Egypt.
Collection relating to Sergeant John Thomas Riley Beresford in the
Second World War.
The story of Edmond Lombardi the inventor of Appletizer.
Collection relating to Private John Wilkinson of the 4th Battalion who
died in January 1915.
Photograph galleries expanded for the South African War 1899-1902
Collection relating to the Worsley family who served from the First
World War through to the Second.
Medals and documents relating to Private Edwin Seddon including a
Bickerstaffe Parish Medal.
Roll of Honour of soldiers who died with the 1st Battalion between
August and December 1914.
The poem “Just Like Clutterbuck”
Account of the action at Le Cateau, 26thAugust 1914.
Talks and Activities
The curator continues to offer a range of talks, both within the museum
and to external groups. A number of sessions have been run including:
‘On the War Path’ Lancaster’s Military Heritage Walk
Meet the First World War Soldier Character
Meet the Second World War Soldier Character
Talk to Cumbria Family History Society
Talk to the Friends of Lancaster City Museum
Talk to Baptist Church, Skerton, Lancaster.
Talk to Askam and Ireleth History Society
Talk on 70th Anniversary Activities in the Second World War
First World War study day for Lancaster and District Family History
Group.
Talk to District Unison Retired Members
Guided tours of Bowerham Barracks
Tour of the King’s Own Chapel
Talk to Scale Hall Townswomen’s Guild
First World War guided walk of Lancaster
Talk to Lancaster Branch of the Regimental Association
Talk at County Archives, Preston.
Talk on Thomas Mawson and Westfield Village at Sedbergh
Christmas in the Trenches Talk
Work with outside bodies
Army Museums Ogilby Trust
Western Front Association – North Lancashire Branch
War Memorials Trust
Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment & Association
BBC Radio Lancashire
Imperial War Museum (Centenary Partnership)
First World War Group – Lancaster City Council
North West Evening Mail, Barrow
Heritage Open Days
Tourism & Marketing Departments Lancaster City Council
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Casualty and Compassionate Cell, MOD (Army)
Friends of Lancaster City Museum
Who Do You Think You Are? Live.
History Department, Lancaster University
Campus in the City, Lancaster University
Community History Staff – Lancashire County Council
The Curator is a personal member of the following organisations:
Associate of the Museums Association
Friends of Lancaster City Museum
The Museum is a member of:
Military History Society
Salonika Campaign Society
The Curator made a number of visits and attended a number of events:
First World War exhibition at the National Football Museum, Manchester
Various Talks at the North Lancashire Branch of the Western Front
Association
Imperial War Museum First World War Centenary Group Meetings
Military Medicine Conference at Royal College of Surgeons, London
Talk by Thomas Scotland on Casualties in the BEF in France and
Flanders 1914-18.
Visits to Black Watch Museum, Perth; First World War Exhibition
Birmingham City Museum & Art Gallery; Burton in Kendal First World War
exhibition; and other museums.
First World War Study Day, Centre for North West Regional Studies,
Lancaster
Army Museums Ogilby Trust Conference
Acquisitions
The museum continues to acquire some wonderful items, whether by gift or
purchase they are all valuable additions to the museum’s collections.
The Curator regularly checks the internet auction site, Ebay, and is
amazed at the wonderful things which continue appear. Many photographs
and postcards are purchased in this way, however with only limited funds
the museum is sometimes outbid and misses out on interesting items. By
far the majority of the museum’s acquisitions through the year have
again been kindly donated by the soldiers or their families, or indeed
others with no regimental connection, but just happen to have acquired
something relevant to the King’s Own over the years.
Some items went straight onto display, such as the autograph album of
officers of the 1st/4th Battalion in 1915. This appeared in our First
World War exhibition, open on the page of Lieutenant Fisher, the man
whose foundation so generously supported the exhibition! Private
Seddon’s medals also appeared in the displays, along with the privately
produced tribute medal by the Parish of Bickerstaff. No sooner had this
medal been acquired and added to the museum’s website, but an enquiry
was received from the present Bickerstaff Parish Council asking for more
information on the medal. Yet again illustrating the power of the
internet and the worth of adding as many of our collections as possible.
Material continues to be added to the collection, and we’ve been asked a
number of times what we collect and do we ever turn anything down. Well,
very briefly, we collection items relating to the King’s Own Royal
Regiment and associated regiments, such as the Militia and Volunteer
units. We operate to a collection policy agreed by the trustees, which
is also tied into our Collection Development Plan required for museum
Accreditation. And yes, we do turn things down! Some times were are
offered items not relevant to the King’s Own; sometimes an item is in
poor condition, or damaged in a way that it would not be suitable for
display. Items which duplicate what we already hold are also turned
down, popular items are the photograph albums printed for the regiment
in 1911 and 1929 of which we have multiple copies and still receiving
offers of more. The number of items declined is small compared to the
number of items accepted and then accessioned into the collection.
The full accession listing appears below:
KO2982 Photograph: Funeral of Captain Parker, 4th April 1917. From a
digital image sent by email.
KO2983 Medals, documents, photographs relating to the service of
Sergeant Danny Cross, Welch Regiment, King’s Own Royal Regiment and
King’s Own Royal Border Regiment, 1943-72. Purchased.
KO2984 Photographs, archives and medals relating to CSM Arthur Worsley
and his three sons, Arthur, Clifford and Wilfred, all of whom served
with the King’s Own from before the First World War to after the Second
World War. Gift of Mrs Candis Stricker, Ontario, Canada.
KO2985 Items purchased for the collection from various sources,
including photographs, ‘Gradwell Cup’ Medal to Gunner McClamont, 380th
Anti-Tank Regiment RA TA King'’ Own; Sweetheart badges; recruiting
posters; documents and other items. Purchased.
KO2986 Autograph Album containing the signatures, some photographs and
some career details of officers of the 1st/4th Battalion, King’s Own
Royal Lancaster Regiment. Collected by Major R P Little, in April and
May 1915 whilst the battalion was based in Bedford and just prior to
their deployment overseas. Gift of Mr Robin Little, Grandson, Bath.
KO2987 Medal: The Hara Mura Star. The medal designed by and struck for
Lieutenant Colonel Taite, and awarded by him, when in Command of the
Hara Mura Battle School in Japan, circa 1953. The medal was awarded to
those he thought deserving of it. Silver Cigarette Box presented to
Lieutenant Colonel R H Taite OBE, From the Members of the Australian
Component 1st Commonwealth Division Battle School, 1952-1954. Gift of
Roger Taite, Son, Launceston, Cornwall.
KO2988 Pair of watercolour drawings, Drummer circa 1784 and Grenadier,
1680; regimental cigarette cards. Purchased.
KO2989 Photograph and discharge paperwork to Lance Corporal Herbert
Dunkley, 1st King’s Own, 1903-1916. Gift of Mrs Yvette Ashurst, Newton
in Furness.
KO2990 Sweet heart badge, silver lion with ‘The King’s Own’ set on blue
enamel. Gift of Mr John Davis, Lea Preston.
KO2991 1914 Star medal group to Private Edwin Seddon, 1st Battalion,
King’s Own, along with documents and a First World War Tribute medal:
“Great European War 1914-1919” and “Bickerstaff Parish to Edward Seddon
for Services Rendered”. Purchased.
KO2992 Framed Mirror trophy to Colour Sergeant John Billingham. “4th
King’s Own, Conway Camp, Jun 1906. Won by Colour Sergeant J Billingham.
This Glass Presented to him by Sergeant Hollingworth”. Gift of Mr David
Billingham, Salford.
KO2993 Books relating to the Burma campaign, Second World War, from the
collection of the Late Lieutenant Colonel Cyril Charles Stock. Gift of
Mrs Chrissie Eatwell, Salisbury.
KO2994 Book: Dover’s Western Heights in the First World War. By Phil
Eyden. Published by the Western Heights Preservation Group. Gift of the
Author.
KO2995 1914/15 Star to Private J Hughes, 1st/4th Battalion, King’s Own.
Gift of Mrs G Morgan, Seascale.
KO2996 Diary of Private Samuel Cooper, 1st Volunteer Battalion, King’s
Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, during the South African War. Gift of Mrs
Susan Vince, Poole, Dorset.
KO2997 Photographs relating to Sergeant George Taylor and the 1st
Battalion, King’s Own in the 1920s. From digital images supplied by
Stewart Allan, Patersdork, Germany.
KO2998 Photographs of Sergeant George Snowden, 5th Battalion, whilst
guarding the Great Western Railway line in the area of Green Lane
Bridge. Gift of Lieutenant Colonel M Holden, Catterick Garrison.
KO2999 Hand written account/diary by Sergeant G W Gillow, 8th Battalion,
King’s Own, of his time as a prisoner of war in 1918. Gift of Mr Bernard
Gillow, Lancaster.
KO3000 General Service Medal with bar ‘Palestine’ and Second World War
medals to Private John Thomas Riley, 2nd Battalion, King’s Own Royal
Regiment. Documents and photographs. Gift of Mr M J Beresford, (son)
Levenshulme, Manchester.
KO3001 British War Medal of Corporal Jonathan Wood, 2nd/5th Battalion,
King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. Gift of Mr Edward Bell, Whitefield,
Manchester.
KO3002 Photograph of the grave of Private Albert Gordon, 5th King’s Own,
accidentally killed on the railway 29th August 1914. Buried in Uffington
Cemetery. From a digital image supplied by Mr Bill Harrison.
KO3003 War and Victory medals of Private William Frank Trayes, 7th
Battalion, King’s Own, photographs, First World War. Purchased.
KO3004 Photograph of Captain Charles Lawrence Husband, 1st/5th
Battalion, King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. Gift of Mrs Dione
Holding, Southsea, Hampshire.
KO3005 Photographs digitally (around 350) copied from albums of Sergeant
Ernest Hilton, King’s Own Royal Regiment, 1930s. Lent by Mrs Harvey,
Torrisholme, Lancaster.
KO3006 Photograph and memorial card to Private Harry Kendal, killed in a
railway accident at Slough, 8th September 1914 whilst with the 4th
Battalion. From files emailed by Mrs Gill Haberfield, Millom.
KO3007 1916 maps and postcard books of Amiens and Abbeville, First World
War. Gift of Mr Arnold Bibby, Bowerham, Lancaster.
KO3008 Books: Holme Soldiers of the First World War; Burton in Kendal
Soldiers of the First World War and Beetham Soldiers of the First World
War. Gift of Holme and District Local History Society.
KO3009 Photographic album compiled by Lance Corporal J A Farghar, 1st
Battalion, King’s Own Royal Regiment, 1934-1937, 221 photographs.
Purchased.
KO3010 Collection of postcards and photographs relating to Private Tom
Willetts, 4th Battalion and 2nd/5th Battalion, King’s Own. Copied from
originals lent by Mr Bill Myers, Millom.
KO3011 Photograph copied from album relating to Lance Corporal Charles
Smith, 1st King’s Own, 19570-1958. Copied from originals lent by Mr
Charles Smith, Colne, Lancashire.
KO3012 Photograph of HMT Dorsetshire. Gift of Mrs M J Truscott,
Blackheath, London.
User Feedback
What some of our visitors said:
Impressive building in centre of Lancaster - set in square that has
regular markets days (great one on Wednesday- day of our visit). Great
value as no admission fee but any donations gratefully accepted.
Currently running a World War One exhibition which is brilliant!!!
Enjoyed the current world war one exhibit, which gave a great account
of what life must have been like during the war. In all it is a very
good quaint museum
How refreshing that a museum should be free! Even if they were to
charge a small fee I’m sure they wouldn't miss out on visitors. At
present the downstairs rooms show an exhibit about WW1 which is really
poignant as this was Lancaster's recruiting office for those wishing to
sign up. If you are in the area it would be rude not to go (think its on
till mid September). Upstairs houses an array of memorabilia and history
from across the ages, if you are interested in the military this really
is a must. Fantastic museum - next time I'm in town I'll be popping in
again!
Lovely hour spent in here and free admission too, really enjoyed it
especially the WW1 part. It was great and (sad) to read about members of
the Regiments and see there letters home to families
We visited this museum as we stopped in Lancaster for a couple of
hours. It is not a large museum but very informative and the exhibitions
are very good. It is mainly a military museum and very interesting. The
staff were very welcoming and we were free to browse at our leisure and
staff were on hand if needed for additional information.
Good museum particularly of the local regiment and it's history through
several centuries and wars. Friendly knowledgeable staff
A great well presented Museum with lots of relevant information. Most
history is shown through tableaux and lots of exhibits. The Military
part of the building is one of the best I have ever visited. Called the
King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum it details the hundreds of years of its
history with lots of exhibits. I really enjoyed it
Called to see when Christmas shopping. Really interesting Military
museum upstairs with loads of stuff to see. Enjoyed the local history
section, plenty of things to see donated by locals. Well worth a visit
After lunch today, I visited the Lancaster City Museum . As far as
museums go , this one is quite small , however it is well worth a visit
for an hour or so . I particularly liked the Regimental Museum, which is
upstairs. It contains a treasure trove of items relating to military
life in years gone by. It is all set out in a very imaginative way.
A really well presented museum packing in a lot of interesting local
history into the space available. I particularly enjoyed the military
museum.
Housed in the old Lancaster Town Hall, an elegant Georgian building
built in the 1780's, this is an excellent museum telling the story of
this great city. Housing many fascinating artefacts and also home to the
superb King’s Own Regiment museum.
What some of our enquirer’s said:
Please accept my heart felt thanks for the time you have given in
providing the information in your e-mail. As l mentioned to you l have
little information on my father's service in the Army as l was only 5
years old when he died. At the time my parents owned The Blakeney's Head
pub opposite East India Dock Poplar where l am told Burma Road was a
popular dish (rice pudding).
Thanks very much for your very speedy and most informative reply re my
Granddad. There are now million and one more questions to research. I
would love to visit your museum and will certainly do so when time
permits. Once again many thanks for your time and effort.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful, kind and full response to my
enquiry. I am sure you receive many enquiries and we are grateful for
your answers.
It is so good to see the memory of these lads looked after so well.
Many thanks for your email regarding Hugh Rourke, I am grateful for the
information you have provided so quickly.
Thank you so very much Peter - it means to much to us to have this
information. It is definitely my husband's Uncle because Ballmain Street
in Bristol was the family home at the time. Unfortunately Percy died in
1926 before my husband was born so he never knew him, which is pretty
sad. We do not know what the nature of his death was so maybe it was due
to injuries from the war - who knows?
I am very grateful for your help and will be sending a small donation to
the museum as a thank you.
Wow, that's amazing - so quick and so helpful. Thank you so very much
Peter.
My sincere thanks to you and your colleagues for a most helpful
response. I shall be able to do justice to 2nd Lieutenant Redsell’s
service with your regiment.
Many thanks indeed, you have given me much good information, also ideas
for further research. I will be only too pleased to send a donation to
support your work.
Thank you very much indeed Peter for the information. Much appreciated
Many thanks for your prompt response and the information which you have
provided on my two uncles, the Ogden boys. Allied to other information
which I already had, it has enabled me to fill in some more blank spaces
in my family history. As promised, I am happy to make a donation as a
gesture of thanks and within the next few days will be forwarding to you
a cheque
Many thanks for your reply the contents of which are extremely
interesting.
I am again indebted to you for your very kind assistance
Thank you so much for this I really appreciate your help, it was my
first home in 1948, my Dad was in the King’s Own Band, he had joined up
straight from boarding school before WW2 commenced.
Thank you very much for your reply. The information that you provided
has helped us to fill in the gaps and it will enabled additional
research. Your work is obviously of great value to many and we would
like to offer our support with a donation that we will forward later
this week.
Many thanks for your very helpful reply to my recent enquiry. This will
enable me to make good use of my time on my forthcoming visit to Kew.
Thank you for your reply, it's very helpful and gives ideas for further
research.
Thank you for your very prompt reply. Shame that you do not have a
photo, but they are fairly rare. Every little piece of information
helps.
Thank you for providing so many pointers and sources. These will all
come in handy for our documentary and I shall start making enquiries
now.
Thank you for your speedy reply and the additional information.
It's reassuring in an odd way that there isn't much more to add to the
information we already had; the only thing missing from his postcards
home were the atrocities he must have witnessed and endured and these,
presumably, were omitted to spare his mother and siblings the realities
of war.
Thank you for responding to my request regarding information of two
distant ancestors. I will take your advice and look on your website and
endeavour to take my research further.
Thanks again - very helpful. Hard slog indeed. I already have
experience of this, but hopefully persistence will pay off in the end.
Back to the archives tomorrow .....
Many thanks for the information about my granddad , i am going to look
on the museum website for any diaries of what my granddad did prior to
his death. Once again may thanks and i will be sending a donation to
you.
Thank you very much for the information you have found on my great
uncles... I can see by the address given (87 Bowker Street) that these
are indeed the right persons and I’m grateful for the information you
have been able to provide
Thank you so much for the trouble you have taken on my behalf. These
documents will be treasured within the family for generations to come.
They are a wonderful addition to all of the information gathered by me
together with photographs held by the family.
Your website is very helpful and extremely interesting by the way and
has helped me immensely.
Thank you so much for your opening of the exhibition at Burton in
Kendal. We have had nothing but praise for your contribution and the
exhibition itself.
We "clicked in" those who came in - it was almost 400 over the two days
- amazing!
I would like to send you my thanks for such a quick response to my
query about my Grandfather. The information you provided was very
interesting and the details of which battalions he served will give me a
lead in to future investigations on to his life, short though it was.
Many thanks for the information you sent about my Grandfather Sergeant
Marquand it filled in the blanks that we did not know. My mother who
knew some of the details as she was in India from just after she was
born until they came back to Guernsey in 1926, also says many thanks.
Many, many thanks from my wife and I for the information with reference
to her Granddad. We are both overwhelmed at your kindness in sending us
the information so promptly and will now follow up by reading about the
battalions.
Thank you for your honest and very expansive detailed reply to my
enquiry - I appreciate the time you have spent in explaining the various
possible destinations of Great War Medals.
Thanks again for another really useful update. My confusion was (until
your email below) for exactly the reasons you say - I had no idea of the
Manchester connection and always thought he was a resident of
Wolverhampton from birth until he went off to war. Now I know we are
definitely talking about the same person I can continue my research into
his life and times, taking into account the information you have kindly
provided.
Thank you for your email. Actually "thank you" simply does not describe
or captivate the gratitude both my father and I have for your efforts.
The fact that what you have undertaken the investigative work that you
have on a voluntary basis, without embellishing or melodramatics,
restores my faith in human nature. I'm an investigative lawyer by
profession - I served in the NZ Police (Serious Organised Crime) and
subsequently as a Crown Prosecutor in both NZ and Australia and, on that
basis, am very mindful of, among other things, commitment and, from an
investigative perspective, drive and attention to detail. This has been
a tricky exercise, not the least because I've struggled with obtaining
clarity from the source - no disrespect to my Dad, but - as you have
astutely noted, the conflict in facts provided is problematic. I think
that you've taken our mini investigation as far as you practically can
and, again - thank you, you've made a real difference. I visited the
gallery of photos on the website - perhaps that's a selective
presentation and not the entire collection of images? It's beautiful
that they have been preserved. In any case - in time, I will provide you
with a copy of all of the photos that Dad has so they too are preserved
and freely available, particularly to those with similar inquiries to
our own.
Again, very sincerely - thank you very much and the very best regards,
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