Commonwealth War Graves Commission War Week – Lawnswood Cemetery, Leeds

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission celebrates its work during War Graves Week, which this year, 2024, took place from May 11 to Sunday, 19th. Similar events take place in France, Belgium, Italy, and Malta. There is something for everyone, and the cemetery tours are free. 

After being reminded of the events via the CWGC Facebook group, I booked a guided walk around Lawnswood Cemetery, Leeds (plan)  for Sunday morning. Suitable footwear and clothing were recommended at most of the events, as it was a lovely sunny day; a thin fleece and trainers, along with my camera, were all that was needed. 

Our guide for the walk was Chris, who usually worked out of Stonefall CWGC cemetery, Harrogate. He told us how the CWGC began and described how the familiar headstones came to fruition. He then gave us numbers of how many people died in WWI, how many headstones and memorials are cared for by the CWGC worldwide, and how many people care for the cemeteries and memorials. These numbers are staggering.

In our 90 minutes in Lawnswood Cemetery, we walked past many memorials of soldiers remembered on family headstones and scattered familiar CWGC headstones. Stopping at one of the scattered headstones, Chris told our group what information was on the headstones – the usual name, rank, serial number, a regimental cap badge insignia, and, in most cases, a religious symbol, e.g., a cross or star. No matter the rank or background, the headstones were all the same.  

As we walked on to our next stop, with Chris in the lead, there was chatter about soldiers in our families and the cemeteries and memorials we had visited.  

We stopped at the clean, white private headstone, remembering the Stewart family – a family that had lost five sons. 

Pte W A Stewart KIA (killed in action) at Gallipoli in 1915, aged 29.

Sec. Lieut C E Stewart DoW (Died of Wounds) in France in 1917 aged 32.

Pte L Stewart died from illness following wounds in 1917, aged 21.

Pte Alfred Stewart KIA in France in 1919 aged 29.

Pte Walter Stewart died from illness in British West Africa in 1919, aged 27, while onboard a troop ship and was subsequently buried at sea.

We continued to the burial plot of over 90 soldiers who died while in a local military hospital. The men have no markers, as their names are on a memorial.

The Stewart family plot is well-kept and a fitting tribute to the sons of James Federick Stewart and his wife, Ada nee Mears. James Frederick died in 1896, and by the spring of 1900, Ada had married James William Cooke in the Leeds Registration District.

During the walk, I photographed a few family headstones; one in particular, a relatively large solid memorial, was for Norman Wilson, who died at age 26 in 1916. Norman died on July 14th during the conflict at Thiepval, and he rests at Authuile Military Cemetery.  

Norman served as Lieutenant in the West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Own) 7th Bn – with no service number as officers had no numbers back then.  

Norman was the son of Andrew Wilson and Jane Wilcock. Andrew was born in Ossett in 1856 and married Jane in St

Wilfred’s, Calverley, in 1884. The Wilcock family had lived in Ossett for a few generations, so why did Andrew move to Leeds and when? In 1861, the family was living in Ossett, and by 1871, they were established in Leeds. Andrew’s father, Joshua, was a woollen manufacturer. Did he move his family to Leeds to expand his business, or were there more opportunities there? In 1881, Andrew and his parents lived at Balks House, Wortly, a rather grand Georgian house. Andrew, at this time, was a wool comber – was he learning the trade from the bottom up? 

In 1891, still working as a wool comber, Andrew was now a married man with two children and three servants living at Woodfield House, Potternewton, Leeds.

Andrew died on November 26, 1896, at 40, leaving over £14,000.  

Jane married Harry Nickerson Cooke in the summer of 1901, and according to the 1911 census, Harry moved into Woodfield House. Harry was the manager of general printers (?). At this time, Norman was a student in the textile industry, while one of his brothers was an army student, and his eldest brother was an engineering apprentice. Three servants were still in the house to take care of the family. The census document has the information on Harry and Jane struck through – why? Were they not there on the night of the census?

In the 1939 Register, Jane is living independently in York Place, Harrogate. She is not alone; having outlived a husband, a son, and another husband, she is now with a son and daughter from her first marriage and a servant.  

When Harry died in 1935, his Probate Calendar entry shows he left nearly £45,000.

When Jane died in 1943, over £43,000 was mentioned in the Probate Calendar, along with the names of Muriel Wilson and Edward Duncan Taylor, chartered accountant.  

Finally, regarding Norman, our soldier, his service records are held at the National Archives, Kew. As Norman was an officer, his service records do not form part of the ‘The Burnt Records’ archive, but they have survived. The burnt records are service records of WW1 soldiers that were damaged during WW2 by enemy action and, as a result, damaged by either fire or water. Accessing these records means visiting in person, asking a fellow researcher, or hiring a researcher. By the 1st of July 1916, the 7th Bn of the West Riding Regiment were in the Somme region of France and, by the middle of the month, were in the Authuile area where Norman died on the 14th.

Norman’s Medal Card states that he entered the French Theatre of War in April 1915 and was eligible for the 1915 Star plus the British and Victory Medals. In August 1922, his mother, Mrs. Cooke, applied for her son’s medals.  At some time, probably after the 1939 Register was taken, Jane Cooke moved to 8 Esplanade Crescent, South Cliff, Scarborough.  It appears that according to the Register of Electors, Harry and Jane were at 8 Esplanade, Scarborough, in 1919 – did they have a second home, they could have.

As I have done for other members of his family, a look at the Probate Calendar shows that he left just over £5,500 to his mother, now Jane Cooke.  

With an engraved block of stone, two names and two dates, so much can be learnt about a family.