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| The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois by Fortunino Matania depicting Fr Francis Gleeson, British Army Chaplain (mounted, foreground) on the eve of the Battle of Aubers Ridge, May 1915. |
As already adverted to, Liverpolitanus, as well as being a monitor of events in the Archdiocese of Liverpool, England – particularly concerning the local cause of the restoration of Catholic Tradition and the struggle against the rampant Modernism blighting this part of one of the true original heartlands of English Catholicism – is a blog that will be rich on Catholic history (we have some great and rare resources readily available to draw upon).
One such jewel is our collection of volumes of the "Catholic Who's Who and Year Book".
Naturally, the 1915 edition will figure greatly throughout the remainder of this 2015 calendar year.
That 1915 volume – which went to press in very late November, 1914 – very poignantly starts to record the early horrors of World War I as they began to unfold in that year's final months.
Accordingly, one of the stand-out dark inclusions in the 1915 book is the publication of a dedicated Roll of Honour immediately after the general "Necrology for the Year MCMXIV".
The Roll comprises comprises military deaths between August 23rd and November 26th, 1914 (56 in all - a list that would expand beyond belief over the following years).
One can imagine that the final months of each year were always busy for the Burns & Oates editing team led by Sir Francis Cowley Burnand (b. 1836) – but the end period of 1914 must have been a truly dizzying and desperate series of weeks as news of the early war-time deaths filtered through to the offices at Orchard Street, London. No doubt the Year Book operation will instinctively have prepared for what lay ahead in 1915 and planned the staged-progress of the next volume (of 1916) very carefully indeed. However, there was no such scope available as the 1915 Year Book reached the end of its production phase, especially given the outbreak of war as 1914's calendar neared its eighth month. That the 1915 Year Book still managed to respectfully reflect the war's early stages as fittingly as it did was great testament to the diligence and professionalism of Sir Francis and Co.
Liverpolitanus will soon record many other aspects of the truly fascinating, sobering and though-provoking read that is the now 100-year-old volume of 1915 - including Sir Francis' preface.
But before that, we wish to record in full, and exactly as styled in the Year Book, all the entries in the 1915 Roll of Honour – and we would ask for prayers for the souls of the fallen men listed further below.
It is further tribute to Sir Francis' great editing skill that his team had the foresight to list the incoming deaths in chronological order (presumably updating the grim book almost daily until the deadline stayed their pens in late November). For the list reveals the episodic unfolding of the earliest stages of that vile episode in human history. The first batch of deaths quickly bring the Battle of Mons (August 23rd) into focus, followed swiftly by fatalities at what was then only known as the "Battle of the Aisne" (September 12th-15th) – little could anyone have foreseen that eventually that title would have to be amended to "The First Battle of the Aisne" given that two further such titled battles would be fought in 1917 and 1918. Then tragic references like "H.M.S. Aboukir", "H.M.S. Cressy" and "H.M.S. Hogue" – three naval ship sisters all sunk by torpedoes from the German U-9 vessel – appear in the list. Then the country names "France" and "Belgium" soon start to appear regularly. Finally, just prior to the deadline for 1914 comes the first ominous recording of the place name "Ypres", as does a citation of the appalling tragedy of "H.M.S. Bulwark" which suffered a devastating internal explosion at Sheerness, in November 1914, due to poorly stored ammunition.
Other sombre patterns appear in the Roll as you will see. We draw particular attention to the double miseries visited upon both the families Dalglish/Bellasis and Snead-Cox.
Also of significant Catholic note is the listing of the death of the late convert Cardinal Henry Manning's (d. 1892) grand-nephew, Frederic Miller, and that of the Welsh Benedictine, Canon Robert Gwydir O.S.B., who began his priestly mission career in 1899 here in Liverpool at St Augustine parish (demolished in 1997) and was among the souls who perished as the hospital ship "Rohilla", bound for Dunkirk, smashed into rocks at Whitby (Canon Gwydir's obituary in The Tablet, from November 1914 is here).
Please pray for the Mercy of the Lord on all these souls listed.
Requiescant in pace.
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Entries as recorded in chronological order of death:
(n.b. style is faithful to original re. street/road names: e.g. Acacia-ave, High-st, etc.)
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(P. 500 - left hand column)
WILFRID HUMPHREY COGHLAN, Lieut R.F.A, younger s. of Col. Coghlan, C.B., D.L., of Headingley, Leeds; at the Battle of Mons, Aug. 23 – aged 24
CHARLES ARTHUR CAMPBELL, 2nd Lieut, Cheshire Regt., s. of Arthur Campbell; at the Battle of Mons, Aug. 24 – aged 23
MAURICE JAMES DEACE, V.C., Lieut. R. Fus., only s. of Edmund F. Dease, of Culmullen, Co. Meath; at the Battle of Mons, Aug. 24 – aged 24
CAPT. GERARD L. E. SHERLOCK, 3rd Hussars and Nigeria Regt., and s. of David Sherlock, of Rahan Lodge, King's Co. ; in Togoland, Aug. 25 – aged 30
VINCENT FOX, Lieut Army Vet. Corps, y. s. of late Patrick Fox, of Carrickastuck, Co. Louth ; in France, Aug. 26
EDWARD JAMES VYBART COLLINGWOOD-THOMPSON, 2nd Liuet R. Welsh Fus., s. of the late Edward Collingwood-Thompson and of Mrs Andrew Wylie, 120 Harley-st. (sic); from wounds received in France, early in Sept. – aged 30
CAPT. CHARLES ANTOINE DE G. DALGLISH, Black watch, 3rd s. of the late J. Campsie Dalglish and of Mrs Dalglish Bellasis ; on Sept. 9, from wounds received in action in France – aged 31
CAPT. HAMILTON HUGH BERNERS, Irish Guards, 3rd s. of C. H. Berners, of Wolverstone Park, Suffolk ; on the Aisne, Sept. 12 – aged 32
CAPT. GABRIEL ROY FITZPATRICK, 3rd (Sp. Res.) Welsh Regt., of Clinton Lodge, Fletching, Sussex, younger s. of J. F. Fitzpatrick, of Cromwell-ave, Highgate ; at the Battle of the Aisne, Sept. 14 – aged 29
VICTOR ALOYSIUS LENTAIGNE, 2nd Lieut. Connaught Rangers, y. s. of Sir John Lentaigne, F.R.C.S.I., of Dublin ; at the Battle of the Aisne, Sept. 14 – aged 21
ROBERT A. DE STACPOOLE, 2nd Lieut. Connaught Rangers, 4th s. of the Duke de Stacpoole, of Mount Hazel, Co. Galway ; at the Battle of the Aisne, Sept. 20 – aged 22
(P. 500 - right hand column)
LT-COL., THE HON. GEORGE HENRY MORRIS, commanding 1st Batt. Irish Guards, bro. and heir-pres. of Lord Killanin ; at Villers-Cotterets, Sept. 1 – aged 43
LIEUT BERTRAM HAMILTON MALCOLM BRADFORD, R.N., 2nd s. of Mrs Hamilton Bradford, of 14 South-st, Thurloe-sq., and g-s. of Fiennes Wykeham-Martin, of Leeds Castle, Maidstone ; lost with H.M.S. "Aboukir" in the North Sea, Sept. 22 – aged 34
MIDSHIPMAN HERBERT LAWSON RILEY, R.N., only s. of John Herbert Riley, of Richmond, Yorks., and g-s. of the late Sir John Lawson, Bt., of Brough Hall ; lost with H.M.S "Aboukir" in the North Sea, Sept. 22 – aged 15
ASSISTANT PAYMASTER PATRICK SINGLETON MAHON, R.N.R., s. of Patrick J. Mahon, of Dulwich ; lost with H.M.S. "Aboukir" in the North Sea, Sept. 22 – aged 27
FLEET-PAYMASTER HENRY DE COURCY WARD, R.N., 2nd s. of the late Commander H. P. Ward, R. N., ; lost with H.M.S. "Cressy" in the North Sea, Sept. 22 – aged 53
LIEUT - ENGINEER FREDERICK MONKS, R.N., lost with H.M.S. "Cressy" in the North Sea, Sept. 22 - aged 42
MIDSHIPMAN GEOFFREY CHARLES HAROLD, R.N., s. of Dr John Harold, of 65 Harley-st. ; lost with H.M.S. "Hogue" in the North Sea on Sept. 22 – aged 15
LT-COL. CHARLES DALTON, R.A.M.C., s. of John E. Dalton, of Ballygriffen, Co. Tipperary ; on Sept. 24, from wounds received at the Battle of the Aisne (n.b. no age given)
CAPT. DOUGLAS N. C. CAPEL MIERS, Cameron Highlanders, e. s. of late Lt-Col. Capel Henry Miers (Cameron Highlanders), of Crinant, Glam. ; at the Battle of the Aisne, Sept. 25 – aged 39
(P. 501 - left hand column)
AMBROSE TEELING, Lieut Norfolk Regt., y. s. of Captain Bartle Teeling, Privy Chamb. to H.H. ; at the Battle of the Aisne, Sept. 25 – aged 22
LIEUT. ALFRED SANG, Special Intelligence Officer, in Oct., from wounds received at the Battle of the Aisne, Sept. 18 – aged 32
DAVID ANSELM KERR, 2nd Lieut R. Scots, younger s. of Major-Gen. Lord Ralph Kerr, K.C.B. ; in France, Oct. 13 – aged 21
JOHN GERALD BARROW, Sub-Lieut. R.N., younger s. of Oscar Barrow, C.S.I, and Mrs Barrow, of Kareol, Weybridge ; lost with Submarine E 3 on Oct. 18 – aged 20
GEOFFREY PHILIP JOSEPH SNEAD-COX, 2nd Lieut R. Welsh Fus., 2nd s. of J.G. Snead-Cox, of Broxwood Court, Herefordshire, and 38 Egerton-gdns ; in France, Oct. 20 – aged 19
THEODORE HUGH GALTON, Lieut. Worcs. Regt., e. s. of Major Hubert Galton, of Hadzor, Worcs.; on Oct 20 – aged 26
FREDERIC WILLIAM JOSEPH MILLER, Lieut Grenadier Guards, elder s. of Sir William Miller, Bt., of Glenlee, and grand-nephew of Cardinal Manning ; in Belgium, Oct. 23 – aged 23
CAPT. CHARLES PAGET O'BRIEN-BUTLER, R.A.M.C., attached 5th Lancers, e. s. of Major O'Brien-Butler, 60th Rifles; from wounds received in action, Oct (no precise date given) – aged 34
CAPT. THOMAS JAMES REYNOLDS, R. Irish Rifles, of Dublin ; in France, Oct. 25 – aged 43
CAPTAIN RICHARD DOMINICK O'CONNOR, R.A.M.C., 3rd s. of the late F. W. O'Connor, F.R.C.S.I., of Limerick ; in Belgium, Oct. 25 – aged 30
CAPT. JOHN ALOYSIUS McENERY, R.R., s. of Dr William McEnery, J.P., of Semington Ho., Sherborne, Dorset ; in Belgium, Oct. 26 – aged 36
MAJOR THE HON. HUGH JOSEPH FRASER, M.V.O., Scots Guards, 2nd s. of the late Lord Lovat and bro. of the present peer ; in Belgium, Oct. – aged 41
(P. 501 - right hand column)
CAPT. THEODORE CREAN, Northants Regt., and R. Flying Corps, only s. of Mrs Crean of Chester; in an aeroplane accident in France, Oct 26 – aged 35
RICHARD MARY SNEAD-COX, 2nd Lieut R. Scots, e. s. of J. G. Snead-Cox, of Broxwood Court, Herefordshire ; in Belgium, Oct. 28 – aged 21
D. T. F. FITZPATRICK, Lieut. South Staffs. Regt. ; in Belgium, Oct 28 – aged 22
CAPT. EDWARD ERSKINE WHITE, 1st Batt. Northants Regt, only s. of Mrs White, of Hove ; at the Battle of the Aisne, Sept. 14 – aged 37
CANON ROBERT BASIL GWYDIR, O.S.B., of Swansea, Acting Naval Chaplain, only child of the late Robert Clark Gwydir, of Cartron, Longford, Ireland, and Mrs Gwydir, of Quex-rd, W. Hampstead; lost in H.M. Hospital Ship "Rohilla", Oct. 30 – aged 47
CAPT. WILLIAM JOSEPH WICKHAM, Scots Guards, e. s., of Captain Henry Lamplugh Wickham, late of Wooton Hall, Warwickshire ; on Oct. 31 – aged 40
CAPT. RUPERT OMMANNEY, R.E., s. of the late Capt. Francis Ommaney, R.N. ; in Oct. or Nov. - aged 38
RAYMOND PHILIP DRUMMOND NOLAN, of Ballinderry, Co. Galway, Lieut 3rd Black Watch and Barr.-at-Law of the Inner Temple, s. of the late Philip Nolan, I.C.S., and nephew of the late Col. Nolan, M.P. ; in Oct or Nov. – aged 32
FLEET-SURGEON JAMES JOSEPH WALSH, M.B., R.N., lost with H.M.S. "Good Hope", off Valparaiso, Nov. 1 (no age given)
CAPT. BRIAN CHARLES BASKERVILLE MOLLOY, Q. O. Oxfordshire Hussars, s. of the late James Lynam Molloy ; in Belgium, Nov. 1 – aged 39
(P. 502 - left hand column)
CAPT. EVERARD J. LAMB, 3rd Northumbd. Fus., only surv. s. of the late Robert Ormston Lamb, of Hayton Ho., Carlisle ; on the Continent, Nov. 1 – aged 29
CAPT. RUPERT HENRY NOLAN, R.A.M.C., L.R.C.P., formerly Assist. M.O. at the L.C.C. Asylum, Banstead; on the Continent, Oct. or Nov. – aged 33
CLAUDE JOSEPH O'CONNOR MALLINS, 2nd Lieut. Connaught Rangers, elder s. of the late Capt. F. W. Mallins, and of Mrs H. O'Connell-Fitzsimon, of 31 Pembroke-rd., Dublin : on the Continent, Nov. 22 – aged 22
WILLIAM JOSEPH BELLASIS, of Bowker's Horse, 2nd s. of William Dalglish Bellasis, of Sundorne Castle, Shrewsbury; in British East Africa, Nov. 3rd – aged 29
E. J. CORMAC-WALSHE, Lieut. Leinster Regt., y. s. of Edward Cormac-Walshe, D.L., of Castle Hill, Co. Mayo ; on Nov. 5, from wounds received in action – aged 24
GEORGE CREAGH JENINGS, Lieut. Shropshire L.I., y. s. of Lt-Col. Ulick A, Jenings, M.D., of Monkstown, Co. Dublin, and Ironpool, Co. Galway – aged 24
(P. 502 - right hand column)
CAPT. EDMUND BASIL CHICHESTER, The Buffs, y. s. of the late Major Newton Chichester, and Mrs Newton Chichester, on Nov. 7, from wounds received Oct. 28 (no age, event or location given)
GILLACHRIST MOORE, 2nd Liuet. R. Sussex Regt., younger s. of Dr Norman Moore, of Hancox Battle, Sussex, and Gloucester-pl., W., ; near Ypres, Belgium, on Nov. 7 – aged 20
CAPT. JOHN FRANCIS HODGKINSON, 3rd Dragoon Guards, only s. of the late John Hodgkinson, Rose Hill Farm, Baslow, Derbyshire ; in hospital at Boulogne, Nov. 10, from wounds received in action – aged 35
LIEUT. CYRIL ALEXANDER MONTAGU, R.N., 5th s. of Robert A.C. Montagu, of Cromore, Co. Derry ; lost with H.M.S. "Bulwark" off Sheerness, Nov. 26 – aged 25
GEOFFREY E. R. BARTLETT, Midshipman R.N., elder s. of Edward N. N. Bartlett, of St Margaret's Cottage, Tylers Green, Bucks, and grandson of Sir Philip Rose, Bt. ; lost by the blowing up of H.M.S. "Bulwark" off Sheerness, Nov. 26 – aged 19
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For enquiries about any aspect of the Catholic Who's Who and Year Book 1915: liverpolitanus@gmail.com - we'd be happy to help
