Thomas's Story.
C.W.G.C. record a T. Simpson’s death and remember him at St. Mary’s Weaverham. Thomas was with the 14th Bn. Cheshire Regiment, Service No 30199, Date of Death 19th July 1918. There are no family details included.
Weaverham St. Mary's “Roll of Honour” records just one lad named Simpson and that was Thomas Simpson. His name came forward whilst searching the WW1 Army records using Weaverham. Thomas, lived at 12 Copy Hold, Weaverham. He enlisted 8th Jan. 1915, aged 31yrs 1m, his “calling” was Painter and he was married to Hannah Simpson, nee Inglefield, this was 1st Sept. 1907 at St. Mary’s Weaverham. (Cheshirebmd confirms the marriage at St. Mary’s Weaverham.) They had two children, Cyril and Thomas. Thomas, father, stood 5ft 7in and had a girth of 35in. Thomas had been posted with the 14th Bn. Cheshire Regiment with the Reg. No 24455. Thomas was then discharged on the 17th May 1915 after 130 days being declared that he was unlikely to become an efficient soldier. In Thomas’s case the service documents continue on into 1917 and there is reference to T.B. Thomas was kept under the military system and medical reports produced. His Service No 24455, is recorded on the Attestation Form and the Medical Report. Thomas died and the C.W.G.C. remember Thomas at St. Mary’s Weaverham but with a different Service No., 30199.
Freebmd records the birth of a Hannah Inglefield in 1885 in Northwich, Cheshirebmd records the birth in Weaverham.
N.A.M.C. do not have a medal card for this lad with the Reg’t. No 30199 or No 24455. As no medals were issued there would be no medal card.
The 1911 census has the Simpson family living on Copy Hold:
Thomas Head, age 27, House Painter, born Wincham
Hannah Wife, age 25, W/ham
Cyril Son, age 3, W/ham
Ethel Daughter, age 2, W/ham
Cheshirebmd records the death of a Thomas Simpson in 1918 in the Weaverham District. Freebmd confirms the death of Thomas and records his age at 33.
St Mary’s cemetery records record Thomas Simpson and go onto show that he had lost his daughter Ethel in 1914, his wife Hannah in 1917 with Thomas on the 23rd July 1918. (3513, Grave No 2153 Ref. iii5.)
Ethel had died by the time Thomas had signed up. Thomas, son, had been born after the 1911 census. You can’t help but wonder what happened to Cyril, who would have been about 10 and young Thomas, who would have been about 6/7 after the death of mother in 1917 and father in 1918.
The Northwich Guardian has been checked for an article on the death of Thomas up to 16th Aug, 1918, nothing found but there is a note stating some Guardian issues are missing.
Cheshirebmd records the marriage of a Cyril Simpson/Edith Crook in 1936 at St. Mary’s Weaverham.
Cheshirebmd records the marriage of a Thomas Simpson/Frances J. Dickenson in 1935 in a Civil Marriage at Northwich.
C.W.G.C. put an article in the Northwich Guardian at the end of 2021 asking for family of Thomas Simpson to make contact as his Military Headstone was in a poor state and was going to be replaced and they would like to notify the family and I guess to have family attend the replacement. Contact was made and the information found shared with C.W.G.C. specifically the Service Nos and the family. 23rd May 2022 met, by accident, Mr. Mark J. Relf. He was wearing a Commonwealth War Graves Commission waistcoat. He was inspecting and cleaning the War Grave headstones in St. Mary’s cemetery. Mr Relf was able to show me the position of Thomas’s headstone, which was not a Military headstone but a family headstone. It was Mr. Relf’s previous inspection and his note to the Commission that the headstone was now unreadable that initiated the new headstone. Mr Relf said that in reality the old headstone will remain as it is a family headstone and a new smaller style headstone will be added to the grave. This was done in the summer of 2022
Research Bob Heaton