Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

A random one this...

I work for National Grid Gas on their gas holder sites throughout the UK and while at one of the sites on Grafton Street, Liverpool I noticed a memorial plaque...
"The Great War 1914-1918, Thomas Thompson, who was employed at the Caryl Street Gasworks, Gave his Life for his fellow countrymen".

The plaque is not on show, behind gas infrastructure and generally .. well forgotten. I'm trying to do some research and see if I can track the story behind this person and hopefully give Thomas Thompson a bit more recognition then he currently gets.

There are 10 Thomas Thompsons on the Kings Regiment database .... I cross referenced it against the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and all I did was prove that 3 of them are in known graves. I'm out my depth, I don't know what regiment he joined, date of birth, death or well... anything....

Can anyone shed some light on this subject?

Hi and welcome to the forum. I wonder if the records for the gasworks are still available? I've been trying to search for some references to it on the net, there used to be a comment on toxteth.net but unfortunately that site is no longer there, however, I seem to have managed to retrieve a little information from an old cached page (thanks Heli and Mike Royden for the cached link and for the owner of Toxteth.net)

"Caryl Street Gasworks
This sat adjacent to the Mersey Forge North Yard on Caryl Street (backing onto Grafton Street). It is almost certainly the workplace of both Samuel Williams and his nephew Samuel Jabez Williams prior to the latter's move to Bootle Gasworks.

The site of the former gasworks has been cleared and I was informed locally that flats are soon to be built here, ( though I was also told that this was a 'former prison' which is why the windows are bricked up!). "

and just for the interest of anybody wanting to know what it looked like in the process of being demolished, this was apparently about January, 2007

I've contacted the National Grid Gas Archives for any information they can provide.

The 1890 Lancashire map shows the main Caryl Street Gasworks were positioned on the land inbetween Grafton Street and Caryl Street, which according to Google aerial photography is indeed clear of structures.

The plaque is positioned on a building north of Grafton Street, to the south of the gas holder which still exisits, the two sites were once connected.

I have looked for this memorial on the website of the UK National Inventory of War Memorials but cannot see that it has been recorded there. They will be happy to add it to their records if you can send details -
http://www.ukniwm.org.uk/
This might bring up more information.
D

I have a reference in my newspaper indexes for a Private T. Thompson published 13th November 1917 in the Evening Express. I will check this entry out to see if he is the one, if not it will eliminate one of the 10 who served with the KLR