Arthur's Story.
EARLY LIFE
Arthur Thomas was born in Macclesfield in 1889, the son of Sarah and Edward Thomas, a farm labourer. In 1891, two-year-old Arthur was living at 5 Garden Court Square, off Garden Street, with his parents and sisters Hannah (15) and Phoebe (5).
Arthur married Maud Ethel Butler at Christ Church, Macclesfield on 27 September 1909. In 1911 Arthur was employed as a general labourer; the couple were living with Arthur's mother at 3 Court 7 Crompton Road, Macclesfield, and had an eight-month-old daughter, Ella Prosser. A son, Arthur, was born later that year, followed by another daughter, Dorothy, in 1913.
After Arthur's death, Maud married Arthur Bloor in 1920 and moved to Havannah, Eaton, near Congleton, Cheshire.
WW1 SERVICE
Arthur enlisted in Macclesfield with the Cheshire Regiment, receiving service number 1483; later, he was transferred to the Machine Gun Corps and given service number 125633. After training, he was drafted to Belgium, probably in 1916 or 1917.
Arthur was reported missing after 14 April 1918 and it was later assumed that he was killed in action on or since that date. Around the time of Arthur's death, Maud was living at 43 St Mary's Gate, Rochdale.
COMMEMORATION
Private Arthur Thomas has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, West Vlaanderen, Belgium. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission holds casualty details for Private Arthur Thomas, and he is listed on the Imperial War Museum’s Lives of the First World War website.
Locally, Private Arthur Thomas is commemorated on the Macclesfield Park Green and Town Hall war memorials.
SOURCES
Cheshire Parish Marriage Registers (Find My Past): Christ Church, Macclesfield
Census (England & Wales): 1891, 1911
Soldiers Died in the Great War (Find My Past)
WWI Pension Record Cards (WFA/Ancestry/Fold3)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
Research by Rosie Rowley, Macclesfield.