HARRY TURNER 

EARLY LIFE

Harry Turner was born in Congleton in 1892, the son of Emma Turner, a fustian cutter. Emma married Walter Bayley in 1899 and her children's surnames were changed from Turner to Bayley; in 1901 nine-year-old Harry was living at 14 Cole Hill, Congleton with his parents and older siblings Eliza (20), Albert (19), Walter (15) and William (11). Four members of the family were fustian cutters.

By 1911 the family had moved to 14 Burslem Street and Harry, then 19, was working as a fustian cutter while his three older brothers were colliers.

Harry reverted to the surname Turner when he married Martha Booth at St Peter's Church, Congleton on 30 August 1914. He stated that he was aged 22, a fustian cutter, living at Burslem Street, Congleton, and his father was Walter Turner, deceased. The marriage was witnessed by his older brother William Turner.

After Harry's death, in 1919 Martha married George W Bracegirdle in Macclesfield and the couple lived at 4 House, 2 Court, Charlotte Street, Macclesfield.

 

WW1 SERVICE

Harry enlisted in Congleton and was drafted overseas during 1916 or 1917. The circumstances of Harry's death are not known, but his death was officially accepted as having taken place on 24 November 1917 at Bourlon Wood, during the Battle of Cambrai.

 

COMMEMORATION

L/Cpl Harry Turner has no known grave and is commemorated on panel ref. 7 on the Cambrai Memorial, France. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission holds casualty details for L/Cpl Harry Turner, and he is listed on the Imperial War Museum’s Lives of the First World War website.

Locally, L/Cpl Harry Turner is commemorated on the Congleton war memorial.

 

SOURCES

GRO (England & Wales) Index: Births, Marriages

Census (England & Wales): 1891, 1901, 1911

CheshireBMD: Marriages

Cheshire Parish Marriage Registers (Ancestry)

WWI British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects (Ancestry)

Soldiers Died in the Great War (Find My Past)

Commonwealth War Graves Commission website

Lives of the First World War website

Macclesfield Times: 23 September 1921 (photo supplement)


Research by Rosie Rowley, Congleton.