Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. Brian Ainsbury, World War Two Brian Ainsbury There is a second civilian burial recorded at the church, of a young boy who was also tragically killed by enemy action during World War II. A V1 'doodlebug' attack on Christmas Eve 1944, hit and destroyed two houses and damaged several others about a third of the way up the right hand side of Woodstock Drive in Worsley. This was not very far from the site of 'The Cottage', where the McCrea family had been killed four years earlier. Number 20 Woodstock Drive was the home of Brian Walter Ainsbury, who died on 24 December 1944, aged 5 according to official records. He was buried in the churchyard on 28 December 1944, where his age was recorded as 4½ years, a more accurate record. Brian was the son of Joseph Hearnshaw and Hilda (née Shaw) Ainsbury. The Ainsburys had two other children: David A., born in the second quarter of 1942 and Carole B., born in the first quarter of 1948. Joseph and Hilda were married locally in the third quarter of 1937. The below RAF aerial photograph of Worsley taken in August 1945 shows the damage caused on Woodstock Drive by the V1 Rocket attack 8 months earlier. Photograph courtesy of Historic England More information on the V1 attack on the 24th December 1944 can be found here Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Information on the graves and memorials located at St. Mark's Church, Worsley, Manchester, UK. World War One, World War Two and Civilian, Author Paul Speakman Welcome to our Website This website is designed to provide information on some of the many people buried at St Mark's Church in Worsley, Greater Manchester and also the history of the church itself and the surrounding area. The Foundation Stone for St Mark's was laid on the 15th June 1844 and the graveyard holds a wealth of stories spanning nearly 180 years. All research and information published on this site is courtesy of local author and historian Paul Speakman. Fundraising St Mark's Church is currently trying to raise funds for much needed structural work. Please click the following link if you can help in anyway. Supporting St Mark's Worsley 2025 is the 175th anniversary of the Church Rectory. Unfortunately the future of this grand old building is far from certain. Please click here to read the history of the Rectory, that was home to rectors from 1850 to 2007. We have recently added the National Archives files for three WW1 casualties buried at St Mark's. Please click the below links to access them. Lt Robert Ambler Lt Herbert Toft Lt Evelyn Geoffrey Lord You can use the search bar below to search for people on the site.

St Marks Church, Worsley, Salford, Greater Manchester. Church of England Links Below are a list of links that may be of interest St Mark's Church Worsley Sir George Gilbert Scott Worsley Civic Trust Boothstown Village Website Salford Local History Forum Lt Thomas Crompton RHS Gardens Bridgewater The Bridgewater Canal Eccles and District History Society Manchester & Lancashire Family History Society Commonwealth War Graves Commission Historic England Home

Information on the World War One graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester , WW1, Author Paul Speakman, Benjamin GRATRIX, Harry SHELDON, Robert AMBLER, William PARKER, Herbert TOFT, William GOODALL, Fred W SLINGER, Evelyn Geoffrey LORD, Herbert MOORES, Thomas YATES, Ross BARNES, Arthur RATCLIFFE World War One Graves The below are casualties of World War One buried at St Mark's. Robert Ambler Evelyn Geoffrey Lord Fred Wilby Slinger Ross Barnes Herbert Moores Herbert Toft William Goodall William Parker Thomas Yates Benjamin Gratrix Harry Sheldon Arthur Ratcliffe Home

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Fred Slinger , World War One , WW1 Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester UK Fred Wilby Slinger FRED WILBY SLINGER Pte. Machine Gun Corps (Heavy Branch), d. 5 July 1917 aged 30 76748 BURIED AT WORSLEY Gunner F. W. Slinger, who was buried at Worsley on July 9th with full military honours, was well known in the Winton and Worsley Districts. He was 30 years of age, lived for some time in Catherine Street, attended St. Mark's School, and later became telegraph boy at Worsley. From here he was transferred to the Parcels Department at the Manchester Port Office, where he was employed when war broke out. He was a member of the 5th Manchester Territorials, but did not proceed with the Division to Egypt, and shortly after transferred to the Royal Scots. With the infantry he saw active service on the Western Front, taking part in the Somme battle last year, and in the offensive of this summer. Early in the present year he was transferred Heavy Branch Machine Gun Corps, and became one of the crew of Tank no.2. On June 7th, after the battle of Messines, Slinger was at work outside his tank in the zone of shell fire, when he was struck by a portion of a German shell. He was brought to Leicester Hospital, where he received every possible attention, but his wounds proved fatal, and he died on July 5th. Slinger was married but had no children, his widow's home being with Mrs. Goring at 7 Cleaveley Street, Worsley Road, Winton. [Local newspaper] This is how the death of Fred Wilby Slinger was reported in a local newspaper. He was married to Elizabeth (née Goring) on 22 May 1915 at St. Mark's. His father was Thomas, a shop assistant. Fred's address was Railway View, K. William Street, and he was 28 years old. His wife, Elizabeth, was 24 and her father was Erasmus Goring, an engineer, of Patricroft. Fred was awarded the Victory Medal in 1919. He was buried by Campbell Blethyn Hulton on 8 July 1918, having died of wounds at the Fifth Northern Military Hospital, Leicester. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

William Parker , World War One , WW1 Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester UK William Parker WILLIAM PARKER Gunner Royal Marine Artillery 8th Bn d. 14th May 1921 aged 24 RMA/14560 In March 2016, the church received an enquiry from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (C.W.G.C.), asking for confirmation and verification of the burial of William Parker in the churchyard. This we were happy to provide and therefore his name has been added to their roll of casualties. His grave number is NP 40. Prior to this, his name was remembered at the Brookwood Memorial. THE BROOKWOOD 1914-1918 MEMORIAL is a memorial to the missing and commemorates casualties with no known grave. The majority of the casualties commemorated by this memorial are servicemen and women from the land forces of the United Kingdom, who subsequently died in the care of their families. They were not commemorated by the Commission at the time but, through the efforts of relatives and research groups, including the “In From The Cold” Project, these casualties have since been found. There are still many cases to be resolved and the memorial therefore allows for further names to be added. Unusually and because of the varied circumstances surrounding many of these casualties, investigative work continues and this may lead to the identification of their burial locations. Whenever a casualty’s grave is located and verified, commemoration will move to the burial site and thus some of the entries on the memorial will no longer be required. As a result and when memorial panels are replaced, these entries will be removed. In addition, the Brookwood 1914-18 Memorial commemorates some land and air forces casualties who were lost at sea. These casualties would normally be commemorated on the Hollybrook Memorial in Southampton, but the memorial panels there are now full and so their commemoration has been added to this memorial. [by courtesy of www.cwgc.org ] William Parker was born on 17 January 1897. In the 1911 census, William Parker (aged 13) was living with his parents, William and Alice, and siblings Mary (17), Alice (14) and Richard (6), at 185 Worsley Road, Winton. William was a student at school and his father was a cashier on a steam ship. They had been at the same address ten years earlier, in the 1901 census. A timeline of his service record shows: 1915 Mar 8. Enlisted 1915 Sep 13. To Gunner 2nd Class 1915 Sep 14. To Gunner 1916 Jan 28 To HMS Malaya 1920 Mar 12. Back to Base 1920 Jun 2. Post to 8 RM for service in Ireland 1921 May 14 died. 2 Royal marine artillery gunners abducted , shot dead and dumped in a local quarry. His father was William Parker of Mulquack Terrace, 285 Worsley Rd, Swinton, Manchester In May 1921, five men of the Royal Marines were killed by 'Irish rebels' in Ireland. It may surprise some to learn that all five of these men are entitled to be commemorated by the CWGC. Any man who died in military service from 4/8/1914 until 31/8/1921 qualifies for commemoration, as the final closure date for WW1 casualties was not until 31 August 1921 (the date the war was officially deemed to be ended by the signing of the peace treaties after the Armistice of 11 November 1918). THE MIDLETON MURDERS On May 14, at 8pm, two marines named Bernard Francis and William Parker were shot dead in the same neighbourhood while walking between Ballymaccura and East ferry. [Northern Whig, Antrim- 26 May 1921: in Midleton, County Cork] MURDER OF MEN FROM EASTNEY Two gunners in the Royal Marines Artillery stationed at East Ferry, near Midleton, Cork, were shot dead on Saturday night near Ballymakerry. This is believed to be their first attack against members of the RMA. The deceased men are 14710 Gunner Bernard Francis (B. Coy.) and 14560 Gunner William Parker (H. Coy.). They belonged to a battalion which was sent from Portsmouth to Ireland in June last for protective purposes. [Portsmouth Evening News: 16 May 1921] His name was inscribed on a memorial tablet in St. Michael and All Angels, Deal, Kent (a former church, once the garrison church to the Royal Marines Barracks), together with the names of 13 others who died on service in Northern Ireland between 1920 and 1922. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Benjamin Gratrix , World War One , WW1 Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester UK Benjamin Gratrix BENJAMIN GRATRIX Private The Loyal N. Lancashire Regt. 6th Bn. d. 12 June 1920 aged 38 13775 Benjamin Gratrix was the son of George and Alice Gratrix. In 1891, he was aged 9 and living with his parents at 15 Edge Fold as a scholar. In 1901, he was aged 19 and still living with his parents, now at 10 Edge Fold. His occupation was waggoner in a coal mine. Benjamin was baptised at St. Mark's on 31 August 1882 by William H. Baynes. His parents were married also at St. Mark's on 31 December 1870 by St. Vincent Beechey. In 1911, he was a boarder at the home of Elizabeth Pickup at 74 Harriett Street, Walkden, and was 28 years of age. It is known that Benjamin served in the Balkans and that he was entitled to the 1915 trio of medals, the 1914-15 Star; the British War Medal; the Victory Medal Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. James Kee, World War Two James Kee JAMES KEE Fg.Off. RAF d. 28 October 1941 aged 24 42713 Robert Kee was Vicar of St.John's, Mosley Common, from 1936 to 1962, and he officiated at several events at St.Mark's during the war years. JAMES KEE was his only son and was born to Janet on 21 July 1917 in Belfast, Co. Antrim, Ireland. After school, he went to Cambridge University where he was admitted as Pensioner at Trinity College on 1 October. There he gained his B.A. Hons. in 1939. Robert (born 1885) died in 1962 and his wife Janet died in 1968. Both are buried in the graveyard at St. Mark's, together with their son, James, in whose memory a special Commonwealth Graves headstone stands before the family monument. On 18 September 1939, he received his commission into the RAF (General Duties Branch) and joined 101 Squadron on a short service commission as a pilot. On 20 April 1941, he was promoted to Flying Officer. 101 sqn., (originally disbanded in 1919), was reformed in 1938 at RAF Bircham Newton (Norfolk) as a bomber squadron, flying the Bristol Blenheim. In 1941, the squadron was equipped with the Vickers Wellington, and the following year with the Avro Lancaste219 Squadron was reformed at RAF Catterick in October 1939 and soon became a night fighter unit when it became fully operational. By October 1940, it relocated to RAF Redhill (Surrey), and from there to RAF Tangmere, and converted to the Bristol Beaufighter. By this time James Kee had been redeployed to the squadron and the Beaufighter, which was used initially as a night fighter and in a ground attack role. It had a crew of two - pilot, and a navigator/radio operator.On 28 October 1941, James Kee and T. G. F. Dixon took off in their Beaufighter, possibly from Tangmere, on a dusk patrol. Soon after take-off, the plane crashed about four miles west of Merston (Sussex) in the evening. Both F/O J. Kee and Sgt. T.G.F. Dixon were killed. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

The Ellesmere Crypt at St. Marks Church, Worsley, Manchester. The Egerton Family. Francis Egerton, Earl of Ellesmere The Ellesmere Family Crypt Click on image to expand Home

Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. Albert Frost, World War Two Albert Edward Frost ALBERT EDWARD FROST Off.Cdt. RASC d.14/5/1943 aged 26 S/151416 The son of Elijah and Isabella (née Phillips) Frost, ALBERT EDWARD FROST was the husband of Irene (née Maddison) Frost of Worsley. They were married in the Barton district in the last quarter of 1939. His parents, Elijah and Isabella, had been married on 15 September 1915 at the Irwell Street Wesleyan Chapel, Salford. The role of the RASC in the field fell into two main parts, supply and transport. Supply embraced the provision of food, petrol and lubricants, fuel and light, hospital supplies and disinfectants. Transport was concerned with the conveyance of the above supplies, together with ammunition, engineer stores, ordnance stores and post, from railhead, or from base if no railhead exists, to all units of a field force. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. Leonard Hardman, World War Two Leonard Hardman LEONARD HARDMAN Sapper RE d.13/5/1945 aged 28 1649041 LEONARD HARDMAN was the son of Richard and Ethel (née Tennant) Hardman and was born in the third quarter of 1916 in Barton district. He was also the husband of Bertha (née Merritt) Hardman, of Boothstown, Manchester. They were married in the first quarter of 1940, in Barton registration district. His home address was in Farnworth, but he died at Southmead Hospital, Westbury. The role of the Royal Engineers was to maintain railways, roads, water supply and bridges. From 1940, they also disposed of bombs. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back