Today I remembered that the Barnsley British Co-operative Society had endowed two beds at Beckett Hospital after the First World War in memory of their 32 employees 'fell in the war'. This intention was reported in the Barnsley Independent on 16 August 1919 and carried out in November 1919.
 |
| From the Barnsley Independent 29 November 1919 (Find My Past newspapers) |
In all I have found evidence in the newspapers for five beds having been endowed at Beckett Hospital in 1919 specifically in memory of men who lost their lives during the war or, in one case, in the name of Peace after the war. I don't think there is any physical evidence of them any more - although from looking on the War Memorials Register site, where there are 109 examples, the usual thing was to put up a simple plaque marking the donation.
In a corridor in Barnsley Hospital there is a wall of old plaques but only one commemorates a bed connected to the First World War.
 |
| Photo by GB in July 2015 (see B&DWM page) |
The above bed was endowed in 1925 but as the plaque makes it plain that intention was as a memorial to the workers of the Order of St John and the British Red Cross during the First World War there is not any doubt that it should be included in our count of FWW memorials in Barnsley. I wonder what happened to the other plaques - if they ever did exist.
I did find a newspaper cutting referring to this bed - it seems it was listed amongst other donations at the same time which were not obviously connected to the war.
 |
| From the Mexborough & Swinton Times 11 July 1925 (Find My Past newspapers) |
Lower down the same article it expands upon work of the Dennis Bayley Fund, which was created by 'mine owners and men during the war for the equipment of ambulances and hospital ships'. There are a good number of reports in newspapers from across the country on Find My Past which report ambulances being supplied to various organisations by the fund. I am not sure whether Dennis Bayley had any particular connection to Barnsley, or whether similar beds were being endowed across the country with the residue of the fund mentioned.
References:
Barnsley & District War Memorials, Dennis Bayley Fund, St John's & Red Cross Workers, Beckett Hospital http://www.barnsleywarmemorials.org.uk/2015/12/barnsley-dennis-bayley-fund-st-johns.html (accessed 4 March 2021)
Find My Past Newspapers https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search/british-newspapers (accessed 4 March 2021)