Judith Farrar told us the story of Ernest Holdsworth Farrar, the Great Uncle of her husband, Don.
Ernest Farrar was born in 1882 in Leeds, after a spell at Teacher Training College in Isleworth, Middlesex he went on to study at Trinity College, Cambridge. He attained both a BA and BSc. After his graduation, Ernest spent some time in Dresden in Germany, and while the reasons for this sojourn are no longer known, it is highly likely that he continued as an academic at the University of Dresden.
On his return to England Ernest was appointed to the Headship at Todmorden Secondary School. This important work continued after the outbreak of the First World War, but with the introduction of conscription in January 1916, Ernest was compelled to face several Tribunals when it was insisted that he enlist. The School Governors tried to intervene and to keep him as Headmaster, but he was sentenced to 6 months in Wormwood Scrubs prison. After an unsuccessful appeal, Ernest was sentenced by the Central London Tribunal to 6 months in Dartmoor Prison in 1917. His reasons for refusing to fight are given in the extract from the Yorkshire Post.
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Percy Perry
Information provided by Roger and Helen Raisbeck. Percy Charles Perry was born on 22 June 1886 to George and Selina Perry in Dorset, England. In 1902, at the age of 16, he joined the 5th Battalion of the Coldstream Guards at Yeovil (probably transferring to London before 1905). In 1905 he transferred to the army reserve (and enlisted again in 1914 service number 18562, Coldstream Guards). He fought at the Battle of Mons which was the first major action of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the First World War. He was wounded in action and hospitalised. He sent a photograph postcard home to his wife, Lucy, simply saying “I am first on your left [in the picture], going alright, PP”. Unfortunately he was unable to return to action and was discharged on 7 October 1915. He qualified for the 1914 Star (also known as the Mons Star) on 13 August 1914 as well as being awarded the British War medal and the Victory medal. Percy had 5 brothers, 4 of which joined the navy. One of his younger brothers, Ernest Sydney Perry, was lost in the Battle of Coronel off the coast of Chile on board HMS Monmouth on 1 November 1914. A newspaper cutting calling the Perrys a “Family of Patriots”, shows Percy in the centre flanked on either side by his brothers. Percy returned to civilian life back in England after his discharge in 1915 and encouraged his daughter Edna May Perry to knit socks for soldiers…
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2nd Lieutenant Philip Mayne
Philip Mayne was the last surviving British officer from World War One to die. He died at the age of 107 years and 139 days at a care hostel in Richmond, North Yorkshire in 2007. Philip’s war service was was brief and he never saw any action. However he was the last verteran to die who held the rank of officer. This happened thanks to a cadetship into the Royal Engineers which meant he was fast-tracked to second lieutenant — the lowest officer rank — in September 1918 at the age of just 18. The war ended six weeks later and he was demobilised on Christmas Eve 1918 without having set foot in France. Following the war he studied at Cambridge and became an engineer. With a birth date of 22 November 1899, Mr Mayne was alive in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. At his death he had three children, eight grandchildren and twenty-one great-grandchildren.
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James Allen
Judith Farrah told us about her great-grandfather James Allen, who’s joinery business contributed to the war effort on the Home Front. “James Allen was born in 1855 in Newbiggin, Richmond. He was originally called James Thistlethwaite but changed his name to Allen, which was his stepfathers name. He apprenticed with William Raworth, learning to be a joiner, and married his daughter Matilda. By 1901 he had set up his own joinery business known as James Allen & Son Ltd and worked on the Kursaal (later known as The Royal Hall) in Harrogate.” During the First World War, James did not join the armed forces but used his joinery business to create boxes for munitions. Static trench warfare required huge numbers of shells; the First World War became a war of production. Hundreds of manufacturing companies, including James’, were commandeered for munitions production. As men were sent to the trenches, women moved into the factories. Some factories’ workforce was almost entirely female, and this was true for James’ business.