King's Own Royal Regiment Museum

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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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