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| Cpl Thomas Entwistle |
Died at Keighley Hospital,
20th March 1918
Age 43,
Buried Holden Hall Cemetery, Haslingden, 25th March 1918.
Corporal Thomas Entwistle,
26788, R.A.M.C
Thomas Entwistle was born in
1876, the son of Edmund Entwistle, a Cotton Weaver, and Mary Entwistle, née
Haworth. He lived in Helmshore, Lancashire. Thomas was a teetotaller. He played
the big drum in the Helmshore Band but since he was only short, he could not
really see over it. He also played the flute. He was a member of the Boys
Brigade and then the St John’s Ambulance Brigade. One day, as a small child,
his daughter cut her knee - a very deep cut - and Thomas got out some linen
thread and sewed up the flesh. She still had the scar in her nineties. Thomas
had two dogs - one, a St Bernard, wore a money box on its collar and Thomas
used this to collect for charities. Thomas joined the army in 1914. Rather
appropriately given his St John’s Ambulance experience, he served with the
Royal Army Medical Corps. However, in March 1918 He was picked up in the
trenches in France very ill and was transferred to Morton Banks War Hospital in
Keighley, Yorkshire. His wife went to be with him. He died two weeks later,
aged 42, on 20 March 1918. Thomas was brought back to Helmshore in a coffin
covered by the Union Jack. His young daughter said (in a letter written in her
retirement) that she was in shock as she loved her dad dearly. His funeral was
only the second military funeral in Helmshore Cemetery. There were no vehicles
- people walked behind the coffin. A cab drawn by a black horse with black
ribbons tied to its mane came to the door to collect Thomas’s wife and
daughter. The coffin was on a gun carriage covered with the flag, with Thomas’s
army cap on top. (Information kindly supplied by his Great Niece - Anne Yates)
Newspaper Cutting:
The funeral of the late Private Thomas Entwistle (42) of the R.A.M.C., and of Carrs, Haslingden took place at Haslingden Cemetery on Monday afternoon. Deceased was the son of the late Mr. Edmund Entwistle, weaver, at Porritt's Mill, and of Hollinbank, Helmshore, and in his younger days was a weaver at Barlow's Mill, Helmshore. He was connected with Musbury Church and Sunday School, but following upon his marriage with Miss Margaret Ratcliffe, of Carrs, he became attached to the Haslingden Congregational Chapel, which his wife attended. After his marriage, too, he went to work at Worsley's Clough End Mill, Haslingden, but later he returned to Barlow's, Helmshore, where he was employed when in September, 1914, he enlisted along with some of the early volunteers of the Haslingden Ambulance Corps, with which he had been connected. He was also well known as drummer in the Haslingden Temperance Band. He served in France for 18 months and also in home hospitals. Bronchitis and heart failure necessitated his going into hospital in France. Later he went into hospital at Keighley, where he died on Wednesday of last week. He leaves a widow and two children (aged 9 and 10 years), with whom deep sympathy is felt. The Rev. Llewellyn R. Ellis, pastor of Haslingden Chapel, officiated at the funeral, at which the Haslingden Ambulance Corps were represented.
Newspaper Cutting:
The funeral of the late Private Thomas Entwistle (42) of the R.A.M.C., and of Carrs, Haslingden took place at Haslingden Cemetery on Monday afternoon. Deceased was the son of the late Mr. Edmund Entwistle, weaver, at Porritt's Mill, and of Hollinbank, Helmshore, and in his younger days was a weaver at Barlow's Mill, Helmshore. He was connected with Musbury Church and Sunday School, but following upon his marriage with Miss Margaret Ratcliffe, of Carrs, he became attached to the Haslingden Congregational Chapel, which his wife attended. After his marriage, too, he went to work at Worsley's Clough End Mill, Haslingden, but later he returned to Barlow's, Helmshore, where he was employed when in September, 1914, he enlisted along with some of the early volunteers of the Haslingden Ambulance Corps, with which he had been connected. He was also well known as drummer in the Haslingden Temperance Band. He served in France for 18 months and also in home hospitals. Bronchitis and heart failure necessitated his going into hospital in France. Later he went into hospital at Keighley, where he died on Wednesday of last week. He leaves a widow and two children (aged 9 and 10 years), with whom deep sympathy is felt. The Rev. Llewellyn R. Ellis, pastor of Haslingden Chapel, officiated at the funeral, at which the Haslingden Ambulance Corps were represented.
Newspaper Memorials:
In loving memory of my dear Husband, Corporal Thomas Entwistle 26788, R.A.M.C., who died at Keighley Hospital, March 20th 1918.
"The flowers we lay upon his grave,
May whither and decay,
But our love for him,
Will never fade away."
From his Wife and Children.
"Though death divides,
Fond memories cling."
Ever remembered by Robert and Elizabeth, 12 Smithies Street, Carrs.
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| Cpl Thomas Entwistle 26788 - Census Information - (Click over to enlarge) |
