Finally published on 20 February 2021 at 00.48am
This post took me quite a few days to write as I was doing the research along the way and going through a particularly bad patch with tiredness due to a lot of 'more important' things that needed to be done. I did consider posting it in stages, but as I found I was revising from the very beginning of the text as more information was uncovered I decided to keep it as one long post (for now).
I have been looking for suitable examples of war memorials to use in my PhD thesis on Commemoration and Remembrance in Barnsley. One of my sub-sections is memorials to individual men in churches and other public places (various for Albert Shepherd VC in Royston, the Matthew Thornton benches in Darton and a plaque on a wall in Green Moor to Frank Brammall - if you know of any more please let me know as they seem very rare).
I have decided to include the two Caunt brothers, Reginald and Harold, who are remembered in St George's Church, Jump near Wombwell, Barnsley.
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| Photo from the Barnsley & District War Memorials website (link above) |
In loving remembrance
of
Reginald and Harold Caunt,
who fell asleep on the battle-field,
Nov. 17th, 1915, and July 1st, 1916.
For the Glory of God
"Greater love hath no man than this."
I began by updating the post linked above on the Barnsley & District War Memorials website with a little of new information I had found in Sheffield Archives and shared my post on the Barnsley's History - the Great War Facebook page. As a postgraduate researcher it is important that I share my findings with others and try to engage the public in my work. I am very keen on helping other people in Barnsley to discover more about their First World War history and the way that many people first approach this is by researching their own ancestors who were killed or who served in the war. Within minutes of me posting the link a lady had tagged a friend whose surname was Caunt asking if she was a relative. The power of social media in action!
A search of the local newspapers produced a small number of articles about the Caunt brothers, but also the following interesting article published on 29 July 1916 in both the Barnsley Chronicle and the Barnsley Independent.
JUMP FAMILY'S SACRIFICE
Six
out of seven members of a Jump family have been killed in action, the
latest being Private Harold Caunt, of Church Street, Jump, killed in the
Great Advance. His brother Reggie was the first to fall, followed soon
after by Private J. W. Caunt, cousin, Hoyand Common. Others are Private
Jos. Hargreaves, Lundhill, cousin; Private Albert Clegg Horsfield, Jump,
cousin; and Private Leonard Noble, brother-in-law, Hoyland Common.
This piece inspired me to investigate the Caunt family in more depth. It is entirely possible that more members of the extended family lost their lives after July 1916. I am very interested in discovering how and where all these other men were remembered. For the purposes of my PhD thesis I am interested in discovering if there is a reason why Reginald and Harold have a their own plaque in St George's church. I suspect that the other men are remembered on community memorials, but not as individuals.
I had not researched the Caunt brothers in the past as they fell into the Wombwell area which was covered during the Centenary period by another Barnsley War Memorials Project volunteer.
Archive and Pension Records
About
18 months ago (before the pandemic) I visited Sheffield Archives where I viewed the Diocesan Faculty requesting permission to
place a plaque to the brothers in the church. There was accompanying
correspondence which noted that the 'chief mover' of the proposal was
Frederick Caunt of Fidelia Cottages in Jump. I was somewhat surprised at
this because Reginald and Harold's father was John Caunt and I assumed that he must
have been alive in 1917 (the document was dated 4 October 1917) as
he is noted as their next of kin on their Pension records (available
via Fold3 on Ancestry - extra fee payable, or to all members of the
Western Front Association via their website).
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| Pension Ledger Record image from the WFA |
Note that the address given for John Caunt on this card is 10 Guest Street, Platts Common, nr Barnsley.
Using the census returns on the Ancestry website I found that John Caunt was born in Calverton in Nottinghamshire,
but he had relocated to Yorkshire by March 1877 when he married Sarah
Jane Mellor at St John's church in Chapeltown.
Ancestry's algorithms suggested that John Caunt, born 1858 (so
tallying with the Pension record) had died in Q1 1932 in the Barnsley
Registration District (RD). Quarter 1 includes January, February and March. There is another death, registered in Sheffield in 1892, for a man born about the same time, but this cannot be the patriarch of the Chapeltown family as he definitely still alive at the time of the 1901 census. Quite a few of the online family trees on Ancestry have not spotted this and have attributed the death in 1892 to John born in Calverton. It was - incidently - the death of a John Caunt born in Q4 1857 in Rippingale in Lincolnshire who had moved to Sheffield and married by 1880. Although I often look at the family trees on Ancestry I never take anything they say as accurate until I have checked it myself from at least two corroborating sources.
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| Dependant's Pension card from the WFA |
On the individual Pension Card (also on the WFA site) for Reginald Caunt, who died in 1915, his widow Norah is named, but a long note in red ink remarks that she remarried in 1917 to Harry Howarth and was given a 'Remarriage Gratuity' of £35 1s 3d. There is another card, a 'Dependant's Pension' record card (see above), which notes Mr John Caunt as Reginald's dependant which tallies with the ledger record above, but Mr Frederick Caunt is recorded Harold Caunt's dependant. There is a stamp at the top, DEAD, noting that someone died on 17.3.32 - could this refer to John Caunt the father of the two men? It does agree with the death record suggested by Ancestry. John would have been 74 years old in 1932.
Caunt Core Family Births and Burials
John and Sarah Jane had at least eleven children who appear on the census returns in 1881, 1891 and 1901. In 1901 John is listed as a widower and a total of 12 members of the family are living at 'Back Warren' in Chapeltown. The Caunt family appears in the 1911 census at 11 Church Street, Jump, but the head of the household is now Frederick Caunt and most of the other 10 people listed are his siblings. I double checked the names given in the census returns in the GRO indexes
in case a child had died between censuses. The list below shows
the combined results, from the census returns and the GRO indexes.
Annie b. Q3 1877 mmn Mellor in Wortley RD
William b. Q1 1879 mmn Mellor in Wortley RD
Frederick b. Q1 1881 mmn Mellor in Wortley RD
Gertrude b. Q1 1883 mmn Mellor in Wortley RD
Frank b. Q1 1885 mmn Mellor in Rotherham RD
John Mellor b. Q3 1888 mmn Mellor in Wortley RD
Ralph b. Q4 1890 mmn Mellor in Wortley RD
Reginald b. Q3 1892 mmn Mellor in Wortley RD
Harold b. Q1 1894 mmn Mellor in Wortley RD
Herbert b. Q3 1897 mmn Mellor in Wortley RD
Jane b. Q1 1899 mmn Mellor in Wortley RD
The GRO index suggests that a second Ralph listed in the census was not a child of John and Sarah Jane, despite being listed as such in 1901 and 1911, as his entry gives no mother's maiden name.
Name: Mother's Maiden Surname:
CAUNT, RALPH BELL -
GRO Reference: 1896 S Quarter in WORTLEY Volume 09C Page 311
Another child, Sarah J Caunt, listed as child of John in 1901 but the niece of Frederick in 1911, also has no mother's maiden name in the GRO index.
Name: Mother's Maiden Surname:
CAUNT, SARAH JANE RALLINSON -
GRO Reference: 1900 M Quarter in WORTLEY Volume 09C Page 311
I suggest that the middle names these of children may give clues to the identity of their fathers. Finding a baptism record for these children would give me their mother's name, but without that the only other option is to send for their birth certificates and at £7 a time that is something I would only consider if I really need to know the mother's name.
Happily I was able to find a baptism for Ralph Bell Caunt on 7 Jul 1897 at the church in Chapeltown. His mother was Annie Caunt, place of residence, Warren. Presumably John and Sarah's eldest daughter as the baptism immediately before and on the same day as Ralph in the register was that of Herbert Caunt, Annie's younger brother.
The
wife of John Caunt, Sarah Jane Caunt (nee Mellor), died in the first
quarter of 1899 in the Wortley RD aged 42. As the family is still living
in Chapeltown in the 1901 census I assumed she was buried in that area.
I found her grave on the useful Sheffield Indexers
website. There were two other Caunt burials from the same address in
the same grave, one was for 6 month old Jane Caunt who died in October
1899 who must have been the last child Sarah Jane bore before her death.
CAUNT, Sarah Jane (~, age 42).
Died at The Warren; Buried on March 31, 1899 in Consecrated ground;
Grave Number 45 Row G, Section A-Q of Burncross Cemetery, Sheffield
The other burial in the same grave is for Beatrice Vera Caunt in July 1902 aged six months, and that tallies with a birth in the GRO index in Q1 1902 with no mother's maiden name. Nearby is the grave of Ralph Caunt aged 9 months buried in July 1891, who can be seen in the list above. Both were buried from 'The Warren' like Sarah Jane.
Eventually I found the widowed John Caunt (whose surname looks like Gaunt), aged 54 and from Calverton, Nottinghamshire, in the 1911 census. He was living as a boarder in the household of an older couple at 111 Upper Hoyland, nr Barnsley. His occupation was Coal Miner Hewer. Does this suggest some kind of estrangement from his children? Or was he simply lodging nearer to his place of work? He was not incapacitated if he was working as a Hewer, a very strenuous job.
So far I have not been able to identify the burial place of John Caunt born 1858. I have searched the Dearne Memorials website for any burials for the Caunt name and identified 68 burials - from 1871 to 2017 - most of which occur in Jump, Wombwell and Hoyland. Even the 16 recent cremations at Ardsley Crematorium mostly give home addresses in those areas. The Dearne Memorials site will be a useful resource for discovering the whereabouts of the families releated to the Caunts after 1911. There was no burial listed on Sheffield Indexers or Dearne Memorials for a John Caunt or Gaunt in 1932. I had hoped that he was buried in Burncross with his wife. Sheffield Indexers state that their coverage of Burncross is complete from 1877 to 1996.
Jump
Jump is a small village in South Yorkshire located about 5 miles south east of Barnsley. The population in 1901 was about 370. It has an Anglican Church, St George's (from about 1880), with a large Sunday School and on the 1892 maps onwards, a Wesleyan Reform Church. The land slopes down from Hoyland and Jump towards the valley at Elsecar where a branch of the Dove and Dearne Canal used to end at a basin beyond the iron works (now the Elsecar Heritage Centre). Part of the Trans Peninne Trail runs along its towpath. The railway line from Elsecar to Cortonwood has been restored and although currently closed, operates as the Elsecar Heritage Railway. None of the other railway lines on this adaptation of the 1905 map remain.
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| Map of area around Jump showing main villages, railway lines (brown), canal (blue), collieries (grey diamond) and Iron Works at Elsecar. This map is approximately 4 miles from side to side. |
Back to the First World War
There are two possible ways of tracing the soldiers whose names appeared in the newspaper cutting, working backwards from each man until I see a Caunt connection or working outwards and down the generations from the core family around Reginald and Harold Caunt. It would be necessary to find the marriages for John and Sarah's brothers and sisters, and for their children (first cousins of the core family) as well as the marriages Harold and Reginald's siblings. As the definition of 'cousin' can flexible, often including more distant relations, it might be necessary to spread my search to the children of first cousins as well. This sounds more time consuming but it should also enable me to discover other members of their extended family who served in the First World War.
This is the kind of family history that I compare to doing a
crossword puzzle or a wordsearch as it is good brain therapy - it is
fairly repetitive but it doesn't tire me out as much as other research
does. There are lots of 'oh, yes' moments when I discover links and
prove facts which cheer me up and carry me onwards. I can do this research in short sessions even when confined to bed by fatigue.
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| Header to the Barnsley FWW Roll of Honour website |
As all the men named in the newspaper cutting lived in the Barnsley area they should appear in the Barnsley Roll of Honour. I have access to a version of the very detailed spreadsheet, collated by Pete Schofield, one of the original Barnsley War Memorial Project volunteers, upon which the RoH was based (the spreadsheet is still being updated even though the book has been printed as we do occasionally find another Barnsley man, and sometimes have to correct mistakes which have come to light during research like this). Indented information below is from this spreadsheet, this is followed by my own current research from Ancestry and Find My Past etc.
Reginald Caunt - named on plaque being researched
Reginald Caunt died at 3 General Hospital, Le Treport, France on 17 November 1915. He was a Private in the 1st/5th battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment. He is buried in Le Treport Military Cemetery in France. He is remembered on three war memorials in Jump, one in Worsborough and two in Wombwell.
Reginald was born, as we have seen, in 1892 in Chapeltown, Sheffield. In the 1911 census his occupation was as a roper in a colliery. He married, towards the end of 1913, to Nora(h) Orwin, who was his sole legatee on his Soldiers' Effects record (on Ancestry) and was recorded as his widow, with one child, on his Pension Card. This child was Irene, born 26 May 1914.
The following appeared in the Barnsley Chronicle on 25 September 1915:
Offical information is to hand that Private Reginald Gaunt (sic), well known in the Hoyland district, has been seriously wounded in action in France, and has had to have one of his legs amputated. He belongs to the 1/5 York and Lancasters, and had been in the trenches four months.
Reginald's inclusion on the Worsborough Dale war memorial was probably because that is where he lived after his marriage. A brief mention in a list of wounded in the Barnsley Chronicle noted that his home address was Worsbro' Dale. Due to some error his name was inscribed under the 1914 header on the memorial column. Norah lost her pension when she remarried to Harry Howarth in 1917, but was awarded a gratuity. War widows were encouraged to remarry by the British government by the giving of a lump sum which replaced their pension. (Hetherington, 2018, pp. 157-158) Reginald's father John was also named on his pension records. Norah and Harry went on to have at least eight children together.
Reginald was remembered in the Barnsley Chronicle on 18 November 1916, the anniversary of his death. His brother Harold, who had died only four months previously was also mentioned.
Harold Caunt - named on plaque being researched
Harold Caunt was killed in action on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He was a Private in the 13th battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment which was also known as the 1st Barnsley Pals. He has no known grave and is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial in France. In Barnsley he is remembered on three war memorials in Jump, two in Wombwell and one in Barnsley (the 2016 Somme Centenary Artwork).
Harold, like most of his brothers and sisters, was born in Chapeltown, Sheffield. He born in 1894 and was John and Sarah's ninth child and their seventh son. He was unmarried when he died. His elder brother Frederick, born 1881, is his sole legatee on his Soldiers' Effects record.
On 2 July 1917 a very touching 'In Memoriam' notice was posted in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph by his siblings on the anniversary of his death.
CAUNT - In tenderest remembrance of Pte. Harold Caunt, of the Y. and L., who was translated on the battlefield, July 1, 1916, in his 23rd year.
The virtues love, devotion!
Thy sacrifice has richl grac'd
The roll of souls' promotion.
A little while we miss thee here,
And feel thy absence keenly;
But just ahead 'tis rising clear -
The Morning Star serenely.
Harold had also been remembered on 18 November 1916 in the Barnsley Chronicle in a joint notice with his brother Reginald on the anniversary of Reginald's death.
J.W. Caunt, cousin of Hoyland Common
John William Caunt was killed in action 26 November 1915 and is buried in Belgium. He was a Private in the 1st/5th battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment. He is remembered on three war memorials in Hoyland. He was born in Birdwell in 1895, the first of six children born to William Caunt b.1865 and Sarah Ann (nee Goody) b.1864.
His father William was his sole legatee on his Soldiers' Effects record. The Sheffield Soldiers WW1 website notes that John W Caunt is named on the Newton Chambers Roll of Honour, Rockingham Colliery.
A newspaper report in the Barnsley Chronicle 4 December 1915 reported John William Caunt's death.
HOYLAND COMMON PATRIOTS
ELEVEN FALL IN ACTION
Information has reached Hoyland Common that Private John William, eldest son of Mr. and the late Mrs. William Caunt, of Elm Street, has been killed in action. Deceased who was 20 years of age, formerley worked at the Rockingham Colliery. He enlisted on January 14th in the Birdwell Territorials, and went out to France with the 1/5th York and Lancaster Regiment on August 20th. As late as Monday last a letter was received from him, in which he stated he was alright. This makes the 11th Hoyland Common victim during the war.
On 18 December 1915 the following appeared in the Barnsley Chronicle:
Mr. W. Caunt, of Elm Street, Hoyland Common, has received official intimation that his son, Private John William Caunt, of 1/5th York and Lancaster Regiment, was killed in action on November 26th. Deceased, who was 20 years of age, was killed by a bullet from a machine-gun. He was hit in the groin, and passed away without much suffering. Before enlisting he worked at the Rockingham Colliery.
This should have been be the easy one, because he shares the Caunt surname. John William's father William Caunt was born in 1865 in Calverton and in 1871 he was six years old and living with a elderly couple, John and Hannah Caunt, in Calverton. The relationship column noted that he was their nephew. This is the same John and Hannah Caunt who, in 1861 in Calverton, had a young grandson, John Caunt aged 3, so born 1858, in their household, whom I assumed was the father of Reginald and Harold. I think my head is spinning!
In February 1893 when William Caunt, born 1865, married Sarah Ann Goody in Wath upon Dearne, the name of his father was left blank.
In order to sort out these relationships I began to compile a family tree using my 'Family Historian' software. The tree was quite difficult to map as the Caunt family tree, as we saw above in John and Sarah's family, seems to contain a lot of illegitimate births.
A John Caunt, born 1858, appeared in a baptism record in Bingham, Nottinghamshire as the son of Mary Ann Caunt. She is probably Ann Caunt, the unmarried daughter of John and Hannah Caunt of Calverton, Nottinghamshire who listed in the 1861 census with their grandson John aged 3. Ann Caunt married John Swift in Q3 1865 in Mansfield RD, and in 1871 the widowed John Swift, aged 41, is listed as the son-in-law of John and Hannah Caunt in Calverton. Also in the household are his son Frank Swift aged 9 and that William Caunt aged 6 whom I think is the father of John William Caunt.
If I assume that William Caunt, born 1865, was the son of another of John and Hannah Caunt's daughters then that makes his son, John William Caunt, born 1895, a second cousin to Reginald and Harold.
Jos. Hargreaves, cousin of Lundhill (there are two Joseph Hargreaves on the spreadsheet).
1. Joseph Hargreaves died of illness 17 May 1916 and
2. Joseph Hargreaves missing presumed dead 17 June 1916
Although
the spreadsheet noted that the first Joseph's parents had lived at
Lundhill Row, Hemingfield I wasn't quite ready to say this was the right
man for sure. However the second Joseph Hargreaves was born and lived
at Carlton, and was only remembered on the memorial in Carlton, which
suggested he had no connections to Hoyland, Jump or Wombwell.
Joseph Hargreaves died of illness 17 May 1916 and is buried in Sucrerie Military Cemetery, Colincamps, France. He was a Private in the 13th battalion (1st Barnsley Pals) York and Lancaster Regiment. He is remembered on a family gravestone in Jump Cemetery, two war memorials in Jump and three in Wombwell. He was born at Denaby Main in 1896. His parents were Joseph (b. 1861) and Sarah Hargreaves.
Joseph's war memorial gravestone at Jump is on Find A Grave. The inscription on the gravestone confirms Joseph's date of death and his parents' names. It was uploaded by Fay Polson, another of the Barnsley War Memorials Project's ex-volunteers, who concentrated on Wombwell area research. She noted that 'According to an article published in the Barnsley Chronicle on June 10th 1916, Joseph was the victim of a gas attack'. That was presumably the cause of the illness from which Joseph died.
The GRO index gives us Joseph's mother's maiden name.
Name: Mother's Maiden Surname:
HARGREAVES, JOSEPH GAUNT
GRO Reference: 1896 J Quarter in DONCASTER Volume 09C Page 775
As you can see this has been recorded as Gaunt ... but let's not give up hope. It would be very easy to mistake Caunt for Gaunt if the handwriting was poor.
I searched on FreeBMD for a marriage between a Joseph Hargreaves and Sarah * and was pleased to find a marriage with Sarah Caunt in the Barnsley RD in Q1 1893. Marriage registers for Barnsley are split between Ancestry and Find My Past (FMP) and I hoped to find this marriage on FMP as that site covers Wombwell and other places to the south and east of Barnsley. Unfortunately there was no record of the event on either site. The couple may have married in the Register Office or a nonconformist church.
In the 1901 census Joseph and Sarah were living in Denaby Main and their children included Selina aged 10, John aged 7 and Joseph aged 5. This fits with the information from the spreadsheet above. Sarah was 35 years of age and born in West Notts (which really isn't very helpful). In 1911 the family was living at 1 Lundhill, Hemingfield. Joseph Hargreaves junior was now 15 years old and working on the pit top. Sarah, his mother, who was the Caunt link, gave her age as 44 years and her place of birth as Melton, Yorkshire. The marriage between Joseph Hargreaves senior and Sarah had lasted for 18 years, which fits with a marriage in 1893, and they had six children surviving out of a total of nine born to the marriage.
So, the census information suggested that Sarah Caunt was born in 1866 or 1867, possibly in Nottinghamshire or possibly in (West) Melton, which is near Wombwell. She was too old to be a child of John Caunt and Sarah Mellor. As we have no marriage certificate or register entry we don't yet know the name of her father.
In Wombwell in the 1871 census are James and Selina Caunt, both from Calverton, Nottinghamshire. They have five children, the eldest two born in Calverton, and the younger three born in West Melton. The second youngest child is Sarah Caunt b.1864. The Ancestry algorithms suggest she married Joseph Hargreaves. The fact that Joseph and Sarah Hargreaves call their eldest daughter Selina is a good indicator that this is the right family. The mismatch of a few years in Sarah's age could be vanity or simply uncertainty of age by the person filling out the census return.
James Caunt, born 1835 in Calverton, was the son of John and Hannah Caunt, and the brother of Mary Ann Caunt, the presumed mother of John Caunt born 1858. This makes Joseph Hargreaves, grandson of James Caunt, the second cousin of Reginald and Harold Caunt, the sons of John Caunt.
Albert Clegg Horsfield, cousin of Jump
Albert
Clegg Horsfield died of wounds on 5 June 1916 and is buried in France in the Habarcq Communal Cemetery Extension.
He was a Private in the King's Own Scottish Borderers. He is remembered
on two memorials in Jump (recorded as A.C. Horsfield) and two in Wombwell (where he is recorded as H.A. Clegg - probably). He was born in Wombwell in
1894 son of Herbert and Hannah Clegg Horsfield.
At first glance there appears to be no connection, I cannot even find the marriage of a Herbert Clegg Horsfield. However ...
In the 1901 census the Clegg Horsfield family, including Albert, are living in Jump at 46 Kitroyd. This an area just south of Jump. Herbert and Hannah have four children living with them and a Joseph C Horsfield who is Herbert's brother. In 1911 the family, who can be compared by the names of the older children, are living at 34 Cemetery Road, Jump, under the surname Clegg. Herbert and Hannah Clegg, the parents, six children and a boarder, whose name is John Caunt.
In his Soldiers Effects record Albert Clegg Horsfield's sole legatee is his mother Hannah Clegg.
Looking again, under Clegg, I found a marriage in Q2 1892 for Herbert Clegg and Hannah Gaunt. Looking at her age and birth in the two census returns Hannah was born in 1875 in Wombwell. James and Selina Caunt/Gaunt, mentioned above in the research for Joseph Hargreaves, have a daughter called Hannah the correct age. They also have a son the correct age to be the Hargreave's lodger John Caunt in 1911. This seems to all fit quite well.
This means that Albert Clegg Horsfield is the first cousin of Joseph Hargreaves and another second cousin for Reginald and Harold Caunt.
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| Family Tree showing five of the men mentioned as Caunt relatives in 1916 (created using Family Historian software) Other members of the families are hidden to simplify the diagram. |
Leonard Noble, brother-in-law of Hoyland Common
Leonard
Noble died of wounds on 11 May 1916 and is buried in France. He was a
Private in the 14th battalion (2nd Barnsley Pals) York and Lancaster
Regiment. He is remembered on three war memorials in Hoyland. He was
born in Hoyland Common in 1881 and was the son of Luke Noble b.1834 and
Annie (nee Cooper). He served in the South African War according to his
Commonwealth War Graves information.
For Leonard to be the brother-in-law of Reginald and Harold Caunt he must surely have married one of their sisters, but that is not noted on the copy of the spreadsheet that I have. In fact it says he was unmarried. Maybe brother-in-law doesn't mean what I think it means? I did find that Annie Caunt, the eldest sister of Reginald and Harold, married Albert Noble in Q2 1909 in the Barnsley RD. Could Leonard be one of Albert's brothers? Was he the brother of a brother-in-law (in our meaning of the term)?
Albert and Annie Noble were living with Frederick Caunt and his siblings at 11 Church Street, Jump in the 1911 census, along with two children Annie and Florence. From this I can see that Albert was born in 1878 in Hoyland. Using that information I could look up the earlier census returns for the Noble family. Sure enough Albert, whose parents were Luke and Alice Noble, has a slightly younger brother Leonard, born in 1881. In 1911 the widowed Alice is living at 30 Elm Street, Hoyland Common, with just Leonard, now aged 30, for company. His occupation was coal miner hewer.
Leonard Noble's Soldiers Effects record from Ancestry noted that his sole legatee was his mother Alice. He died in 16 General Hospital Le Treport in France on 11 May 1916. He was buried in Le Treport Military Cemetery. His pension record card states that he had a gun shot wound to the left forearm which was subsequently amputated.
A report in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph from 15 May 1916 adds some detail to his final days.
On Saturday news was received that Private Leonard Noble, of Elm Street, Hoyland Common, had succumbed to wounds on Friday. On May 4 he had his left arm amputated, and on Wednesday last his mother, who is 74 years of age, and one of his sisters, journeyed to France to see him. Deceased, who was about 34 years old, served in the South African War. His death brings Hoyland Common's death roll up to 20.
The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer on 20 May 1916 gives more detail.
Mrs. Noble, of Elm Street, Hoyland Common, who is 74 years of age, hearing her son, Private Leonard Noble, was dangerously wounded, went to France with one of her daughters. There was some unavoidable delay, and on arrival at the hospital after an 80 hours motor journey from the French port, she was informed that she was too late, as her son had died two or three hours earlier. She was present at the funeral, however, and returned home the following day. Private Noble was 35 years of age and fought in the Boer War.
I think I will leave Finding Other FWW Caunt Relatives for another post as this one has got very long. It has been a fascinating few sessions of research.
Lessons learnt - cousin doesn't always mean first cousin, a brother-in-law might be a further step away in relation than you expect. Caunt and Gaunt are frequently mixed up in transcriptions and the adoption of children born outside wedlock by their grandparents was quite common place in the past. Soldiers can be named on more than one memorial, and the details 'carved in stone' are not always correct. I still don't know why Reginald and Harold have a plaque in St George's church when none of their relatives have the same - but it could well be because the others didn't have a close family of surviving siblings organised by someone like Frederick Caunt and earning enough money between them to pay for a personal memorial.
References:
Barnsley Chronicle, Barnsley Archives and Local Studies, Barnsley Town Hall.
Barnsley Independent, British Newspapers, Find My Past, https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search/british-newspapers (accessed February 2021)
Barnsley's History - Commemoration and Remembrance, https://commemorationremembrance.blogspot.com/p/about.html (accessed February 2021)
Barnsley & District War Memorials, Jump, St George's Church, R and H Caunt, http://www.barnsleywarmemorials.org.uk/2014/03/jump-st-georges-church-r-and-h-caunt.html (accessed February 2021)
Barnsley's History - the Great War, https://www.facebook.com/groups/425720354266452 (accessed February 2017)
Dearne Memorials, https://www.cemeteries.org.uk/ (accessed 6 February 2021)
Faculty for Alabaster Tablet in Remembrance of Reginald & Harold Caunt, 4 October 1917, Diocesan Archives, Sheffield Archives, DIOC/FAC/65.
FreeBMD https://www.freebmd.org.uk/ (accessed February 2021)
Hetherington, A. British Widows of the First World War (Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2018)
Sheffield Daily Telegraph, British Newspapers, Find My Past, https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search/british-newspapers (accessed February 2021)
Sheffield Indexers, https://www.sheffieldindexers.com/ (accessed 5 February 2021)
Sheffield Soldiers of the Great War, http://sheffieldsoldierww1.co.uk/Home.html (accessed 16 Feb 2021)