Andrew Edwin's Story.
EARLY LIFE
Andrew Edwin Clancy was born on 10 June 1876 in Duffield, Derbyshire, the son of Rose Hannah and James Clancy. By 1881 the family had moved to 19 Nixon Street, Macclesfield, and four-year-old Andrew was living there with his parents and siblings William (13), Thomas (12), James (10), Ellen (9) and John (7). Andrew's father was employed as a policeman. Ten years later the family had moved to a nearby property, 17 Nixon Street.
Andrew emigrated to Canada in May 1907 and became a farmer, living first in Ontario and later at Gilroy, Saskatchewan.
WW1 SERVICE
Andrew enlisted on 14 January 1916 at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan (about 70 miles from Gilroy). After training in Canada Private Clancy was sent to England for further training, arriving at Liverpool on 24 August 1916. Private Clancy was drafted to France on 25 May 1917 and spent a further period of training at Etaples before joining his unit in France on 15 June. He was killed in action on 22 August 1917.
Private Clancy's death was reported in the Macclesfield Times on 7 September 1917:
CANADIAN'S SACRIFICE - SON OF A FORMER LOCAL POLICEMAN
Mrs Clancy, 17 Nixon Street, off Chester Road, Macclesfield, has been officially notified of the death in action of her son, Pte Andrew Clancy, Canadian Infantry. A comrade's letter states that Pte Clancy was struck in the head with shrapnel, death being instantaneous.
The late Pte Clancy was forty years of age and the son of the late Mr James Clancy, who for five years was a member of the Macclesfield Borough Police Force. He attended St Alban's day school as a boy. and was also connected with the Church. He emigrated to Canada ten years ago to take up farming, first at Ontario and then further west to Saskatchewan. The deceased soldier enlisted in Canada about two years ago, and after training at Moose Jaw came over to England, where he remained for nine months. He had only been in France two months. Pte Clancy has four brothers, all of whom are over military age.
COMMEMORATION
Private Andrew Clancy has no known grave and is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial near Arras, France. The Vimy Memorial is the great memorial to all Canadians who served their country in battle during the First World War, and also bears the names of 11,000 Canadian servicemen who died in France - many of them in the fight for Vimy Ridge - who have no known grave.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission holds casualty details for Private Andrew Clancy, and he is listed on the Imperial War Museum’s Lives of the First World War website.
In Macclesfield, Private Andrew Clancy is commemorated on the Park Green, Town Hall, St Michael's Church and St Alban's Church war memorials.
SOURCES
Census (England & Wales): 1881, 1891
Canadian Passenger Lists (Ancestry)
Personnel Records of the First World War (Canadian Archives)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
Lives of the First World War website
Macclesfield Times: 7 September 1917, 23 September 1921 (photo supplement)
Research by Rosie Rowley, Macclesfield.