Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

This time, I'm showing another St Helens engineer's medals, but to a different unit.

William was born on the 23rd August 1891 at 4, Johnsons Court, Prescot, St Helens, the son of George and Ann Bostock and served with the 55th West Lancashire Divisional Signal Company RE during WW1.

He enlisted in the Royal Engineers on the 12 September 1914 and received the number 7030. He served with his unit in France and Flanders, being awarded his MM for bravery at Trones Wood on the 9th September 1916. He then received the bar for bravery on the 31st July 1917 for the attack on Pilkem Ridge.

He was transferred to the Army Reserve on the 11th March 1919. Sadly, he died in St Helens on the 15th December 1928, his occupation at the time being given as "Glass flattener, glass works".
The Pilkington Staff Magazine, "The Cullet" reports his death in the 3rd April 1929 edition. The entry confirms that he worked in the plate glass works and had been employed by Pilkington's for 24 years.

Willaim is buried in St Helens cemetery along with his wife and son. I have located the grave which is sadly in a very poor state of repair

A notice appears in the St Helens Reporter on the 21 December 1928:-

" Mrs Bostock and family wish to thank all relatives and friends also Glass Flatners Union for their kind expressions of sympathy and floral tributes received during their recent sad bereavement."


The medals are from left to right:

Military Medal and bar
British War Medal
Victory Medal.

This is the last resting place of William Bostock, his wife Alice and son Roland.

It is a great pity that someone who won the Military Medal and bar is not more suitably remembered.

Is William related to you, Mark? Would the British Legion be able to do something? I have no experience of these things so am not trying to be contentious.

SIL

As you say it is a shame to have such an uninspiring end...

Sil,
No he is not related to me. I am simply trying to research the local men who served with the St Helens Royal Engineers.

Thanks for looking at the post; that alone keeps his memory alive.

Mark

I'm sure that a local paper would be interested in his story. At this time of year when we supposedly 'honour our dead' there's not much honour in that tatty grave.

SIL

Sil,

That is a great idea, I'll see what can do.

Thanks for the idea,

Mark

There is I know, going to be simple answer to thi question, what is/was a glass flatener?

Happy Christmas to all.

Mark

Mark Abbott wrote:There is I know, going to be simple answer to this question, what is/was a glass flatener?

Hey Mark, Merry Christmas.

Have you come across "glass flatener/flattener" as an occupation somewhere? If so and it relates to someone in St. Helens I'd say you've found someone working at Pilkington’s Glass Works.

I'm guessing a glass flattener would have been somebody who was employed in the glass manufacturing business literally flattening glass into sheets.

Hope this helps, Kirsty

Good old Google shows several census and other references to glass flatteners, mostly from the St Helens area, and there is an article about the Nailsea glass work at Bristol which says it was a skilled occupation.
My theory is that when glass was made in cylinders, it was then flattened to make flat sheets for use in windows etc. Perhaps they had another role in smoothing the finished glass.
The World of Glass in St H should be able to give you more.
Best wishes
Daggers

Thanks Daggers,

I took your suggestion and have educated myself in relation to glass flattening!

Interestingly, on the 1911 Census, William is shown as living at 12 Cook Street and his occupation indicated as being a "Copper Wire Drawer". I assume this would have been with BICC?

The Pilkington Staff Magazine, "The Cullet" reports his death in the 3rd April 1929 edition. The entry confirms that he worked in the plate glass works and had been employed by Pilkington's for 24 years.

More research I guess as clearly he can't have been a glass flattener and a wire drawer!!

Mark

Mark Abbott wrote: Interestingly, on the 1911 Census, William is shown as living at 12 Cook Street and his occupation indicated as being a "Copper Wire Drawer". I assume this would have been with BICC?

Mark

You're right, he almost certainly worked at BI & HC, as it was then (it only became BICC in 1945).

Seems strange, though, given the Pilkington magazine reference to him working for them for over 20 years.

Stephen Nulty

Stephen,

Do you know if a War Record book exists for the wire works?

Mark

I have discovered from the 1911 Census that William was living at 12 Cook Street, Prescot with his widowed mother Ann, siblings Elizabeth and James and a border Charles Molyneux.

I have checked on Multi map and clearly only the rump of Cook Street survives. Does anyone know of photo of the street prior to demolition

Happily, I have now traced a photo of William in the St Helens papers. As those of you who have used the microfilms in the library will know, the quality of copies obtainable is at best poor. Why were the original papers thrown out!!!

I will now try to obtain a copy of the photo from the British Library.

Regards

Mark

I was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to look at the Prescot newspaper for December 1928 to see if there is any reference to William's death?

Thanks

Mark

I have at last managed to locate one of William's living relatives through "Genesreunited".

It would appear that William's father, George ran away from home and changed his name from "Brough" to "Bostock" and settled in Prescot. My contact has a copy of a letter sent to her grandfather, Charles Bostock (William's brother) by a solicitor in 1934 which states " James Brough, otherwiswe George Bostock" had been left some money in a will but as he had died, the money was to be divided between his children-Elizabeth, Charles, Mary, Sarah, Ruth, Ellen, James and William. Sadlly, William had died in St Helens on the 15th December 1928.

So, to take matters forward, I am now looking for a James Brough from Macclesfield born in 1852!

The search continues.....

I have at last received a reply from the British Library. Sadly, the copy of the paper they have is in such a poor state of repair that they can't take copies from it!!



Hopefully, I will manage to locate a family member who has a photo of William for me to copy.

Mark