ST WERBURGH - Key Persons
Harriet Campbell received her son's medals, the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Allied Victory Medal on 18 June 1919, when she was still living at 35 Black Diamond Street.
Sgt Stanley Campbell is listed on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France - Pier and Face 13A and 13B.
Isaac Field was born in Boughton in 1888, the son of Robert and Esther Field who were market gardeners in the area. He had three elder brothers, Robert, William and Oliver. In 1911 he married Winifred Frost, first in a civil ceremony and later in St Francis' Church, Chester. Thereafter they lived with the Frost family at 14 Vernon Road. Isaac was working as a fireman with the Great Central Railway at Chester and by the start of the Great War the couple had two small children, Elizabeth and Esther Ann. Elizabeth was baptised at St Francis' and Esther Ann at St Werburgh's. Both attended St Werburgh's Schools.
Isaac enlisted soon after the start of the war and served in France from 23 October 1915. He was wounded during the summer of 1918 and was nursed in a French hospital. Eventually he was repatriated to the War Hospital in Chester where he died one week later on 26 February 1919. He was given a military funeral on Tuesday 4 March 1919 and was buried in Grave 4068 Overleigh Cemetery.
Isaac was entitled to receive the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.
John Crimes was the eldest child of John and Mary Crimes nee Kelly, who were both Cestrians. He was born in 1884 and had two younger brothers, Joseph and James. John's father was a plasterer and in 1891 the family lived at 8 Crane Wharf. Sadly John Snr died in 1892 and Mary married John Morris in 1894.
In 1901 the Crimes/Morris family lived in Harrison's Court. John was 17 years old and worked as a bricklayer. By now he had three younger half sisters and a fourth was born later. Sadly John Morris also died towards the end of the decade.
In 1911 the family were living at 9 St Olave Street, except for Joseph, who had married Mary Ann Hopkins at St Werburgh's. Joseph was received into the Catholic Church at around the same time and all John's nephews and nieces were baptised at St Werburgh's. Later in 1911 John married Fanny Hogg at St Michael's Church of England, though the following year they were both received into the Catholic Church at St Werburgh's. Their two children, John and Mary, were also baptised there in 1912 and early 1914 respectively. They lived at 35, Boughton and would seem to have integrated perfectly into parish life.
Then war broke out in August 1914 and disrupted their lives completely. John enlisted immediately, at Frodsham. His army number indicates that he may previously have been in the army and may in 1914 have been part of the reserves. Unfortunately John's enlistment papers have not survived and so details of his army life are rather scant. His medal roll card indicates that John was despatched immediately to France with the British Expeditionary Force, disembarking on 12 September 1914.
Patrick was born in Creggs, County Galway, Ireland on 29 November 1882. He was one of a family of four sons and a daughter. Patrick and his older brother Andrew came to England in the early 1900s and settled in the Boughton area of Chester. Patrick married Margaret Geraghty, a dressmaker who lived in Steven Street, at St Werburgh's in October 1907. Their first child, Mary Josephine, was born in December 1909 and she was baptised in St Werburgh's in January 1910. Their son John was born in 1912 and was also baptised at St Werburgh's. During this time the family lived at 118 Francis Street and Patrick was employed by Mr Burley, of Hoole Bank Brickworks.
Patrick's enlistment papers have not survived, so little is known of his period in the army. However, it is known that he took part in the 3rd Battle of Ypres, generally known as Passchaendale. Pte Patrick Cunniff was mentioned as having been killed in action in the November 1917 issue of St Werburgh's Parish Magazine. According to a letter sent on 28 September 1917 by the Army Catholic Chaplain, Patrick had been shot as he entered the trenches and died instantly. He was buried on the battlefield, behind the lines the following day. In the Chester Chronicle of 20 October 1917 it stated that Patrick's Captain, Priest and Army Chaplain had all expressed admiration for Patrick's previous conduct and bravery. He was entitled to receive the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal
Patrick's two children were brought up in Chester by their mother, Margaret, but sadly Mary Josephine died, due to cardiac problems, age 13. However, their son John (Jack) lived until his sixties. He married Catherine Carrig at St Werburgh's on 17 June 1944, wearing his WW2 RAF uniform. Jack dies in the 1970s but has family who still live in the Chester area.
Patrick Cunniff is buried in Grave IV.B.43 Brown's Copse Cemetery, Roeux, Pas de Calais, France. His name is listed on the WW1 Memorials in the Town Hall (spelling incorrect) and St Werburgh's Church, Chester.
Peter Beatty is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, New Orleans, USA and his name is listed on a Special Memorial there. It can also be found, together with those of his two brothers, on the WW1 Memorials in the Town Hall and in St Werburgh's Church, Chester. Peter was eligible for the Navy Star, British War Medal and Allied Victory Medal.
Job Titles:
- Captain, 1st Btn Northants, Latterly Served With 4th Squadron Royal Flying Corps
Theodore was one of three children and the only son, born to Dr Richard Crean and his wife Lucy Mary nee Bolongaro, of Manchester. He was born in Manchester on the second of October, 1880 and was educated at first privately. He then went to Stonyhurst in January 1894. There were apparently health concerns and the College was warned that Theodore might have to be taken away if the regime was too arduous. The College was also warned to notify the parents of the slightest medical indisposition. Despite this, Theodore seemed to suffer no problems during the five years he was at Stonyhurst, taking a school prize for Latin verse before he left in December 1898. He then took the Part I Examinations in June 1899 and was admitted to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge on the second of October 1899. He took Part II Examinations in December 1899. Crean kept only three terms at Caius, throughout which he was cox of the College Boat.
During 1899 the Boer War (1899-1902) broke out and Theodore was commissioned in the 6th Btn Lancs. Fusiliers in Sept 1900. He served in the South African War 1901-1902, both in the Transvaal and Cape Colony. He was also at Kimberley and gained the Queen's Medal with five clasps. In 1902 he was gazetted to 2nd Lieutenant in the 3rd Btn Lancs. and Lieutenant in 1904. In 1908 he transferred to the Northants. Regiment and in 1911 was seconded to the West African Regiment. He obtained his company in 1913. Theodore returned to England just before the outbreak of WW1 and was co-opted to the Royal Flying Corps, 4 September 1914.
Theodore's father Richard had died in 1903 and his mother and two sisters came to live at 68, Hough Green, Chester. This was Theodore's home address when on leave. Mrs Crean became president of the Ladies of Charity at St Werburgh's and was also a benefactor of this church. However, Crean's younger sister Gabrielle was married at St Francis, Chester, as Hough Green falls within that parish. She married John Allan McKenna Gillow on 24 April 1912.
On 26 October 1914 Theodore and another officer, Lt C.G. Hosking, were on a low flying mission in a BE2 aircraft, observing the results of British artillery fire on German positions and signalling the information back for guidance of British artillery. They were apparently performing a very useful service, but one which entailed flying at particularly low levels. Their plane was hit by machine gun fire from the ground and crashed in flames. Both officers were interred together in a battlefield burial at Gheluvelt, between Ypres and Menin. During subsequent military action the graves were obliterated and so the two officers are listed on the Arras Memorial to the missing. Their loss so early in the war was even more poignant as there are some indications that it may have been the result of 'friendly fire'.
Theodore's name is listed on the WW1 Memorials at Stonyhurst College and in the Town Hall, St Francis Church and St Werburgh's Church, Chester. He was eligible for the 1914 Star, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.