John's Story.
EARLY LIFE
John Gaskell was baptised on 31 May 1896 at St Peter's Church, Prestbury, the son of Martha (nee Jackson) and Lawrence Thomas Gaskell, of Yewards Farm, Butley, Macclesfield. In 1901, five-year-old John was living at the farm with his parents and siblings Doris (6) and Robert William (2). By 1911 the family included six more children: Jessie (9), Sarah Elizabeth (8), Mary (7), Lawrence (4), Martha (2) and Alice (1). John, then aged 15, had left school and was helping his father on the farm.
John was educated at Prestbury National School and at the Modern School, which was part of Macclesfield Grammar School.
WW1 SERVICE
John enlisted with the Cheshire Yeomanry with service number 803 in 1912 and was recalled for service on the outbreak of war. After training, he was drafted to Egypt in March 1916 and transferred to the 10th (Shropshire and Cheshire Yeomanry) Battalion of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry.
John's death was reported in the Macclesfield Times on 14 December 1917:
DIED OF WOUNDS - PRESTBURY FARMER'S SON
Official intimation has reached Mr and Mrs L T Gaskell, Yewards Farm, Butley, that their son, Pte John Gaskell, Shropshire Light Infantry, died on December 3rd in hospital at El Harish from gunshot wounds in the head. Pte Gaskell was twenty-one years of age and was educated at Prestbury National School and the Macclesfield Modern School. He was connected with Prestbury Church, being a member of the choir, and in civil life assisted his father in the management of the farm. The deceased enlisted in the Cheshire Yeomanry five years ago, and was mobilised on the outbreak of hostilities. He was drafted out to Egypt twelve months ago last March and transferred to the Shropshire Light Infantry. Pte Gaskell was a nephew of Mr John Gaskell, chief clerk of Bow Street Police Court, London, and of Mr William Gaskell, who holds a position at the Home Office.
COMMEMORATION
Private John Gaskell is buried in Grave Ref. E. 318. of the Kantara War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt. His father asked for the following inscription to be added to his headstone:
HE LAID HIS RICHEST GIFT
ON THE ALTAR OF DUTY
HIS LIFE
Locally, John Gaskell is commemorated on the Macclesfield Grammar School and Prestbury St Peter's Church war memorials.
SOURCES
GRO Index of Births
Cheshire Parish Registers (Ancestry)
England and Wales census: 1901, 1911
WWI British Army Medal Rolls Index Cards
Soldiers Died in the Great War (Find My Past)
Lives of the First World War website
Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
Macclesfield Times: 14 December 1917
Research by Rosie Rowley, Congleton.
Research by Rosie Rowley, Congleton.