A Chester city centre church is approaching the end of a five year First World War research project.
The Great War study group at St Werburgh’s Church on Grosvenor Park Road says it’s been ‘a long, hard slog’ as they have tried to discover something of the lives of the 120 men from the parish who died during the Great War.
They have also researched something of what life was like in their parish during those turbulent years.
During their project they have published two books, We Shall Remember Them and A War-Torn Chester Parish which the group says fulfils the first two of their aims.
Over the five years they have put on displays at the church each November, held a soiree at the then Chester History and Heritage Centre, contributed to displays in other Cheshire venues and hosted talks on various related topics at St Werburgh’s during Chester Heritage Weeks.
“It was both an education and a privilege to find out so much about the Chester of 100 years ago and something of the lives of so many memorable Chester men,” says the group.
Their last task is to commission a memorial plaque to be cast in bronze listing the names of the dead and a memorial book to be displayed giving their biographies together with new lecterns.
The ‘beautiful artefacts’, all produced by local artisans, will be completed shortly and are to be dedicated by the Bishop of Shrewsbury, the Rt Rev Mark Davies, at a ceremony taking place at St Werburgh’s at 7pm on Tuesday, November 6.
The group says the memorial plaque is ‘unique in several ways’. It lists a Belgian combatant who died at a war hospital in Chester with his Belgian military funeral being the only one carried out in Chester during the Great War.
He is buried in Overleigh cemetery where an Australian munitions worker, who died after working at an explosives factory in Queensferry, also lies and is similarly remembered.
Tragically the names of three brothers are also recorded. Because of her great loss their mother, Mrs Mary Beatty, was chosen, together with Mrs Lydia Sheriff-Roberts who also lost three sons, to unveil the Civic Great War Memorial in the grounds of Chester Cathedral.
Present at the dedication will be Cheshire’s Lord Lieutenant David Briggs, the Lord Mayor of Chester Alex Black, representatives of the Irish and Belgian embassies and the Australian High Commission along with those from the armed services and other dignitaries.
The group says the parish would love to also have present at least one member of the family of each of the fallen men.
“Many families have left the Chester area but if any person related to any of these men would like to be present they would be very welcome,” it says.
“We have already been contacted by persons as far afield as New Zealand and Portugal but surprisingly there are many who we think may live nearer Chester, who have yet to make contact.”
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It would help if relatives could contact cheshire.historian@outlook.com or the parish beforehand giving their name, contact details and the name of the man with whom they are connected.
Present and former members of the parish together with members of the wider Chester community are encouraged to be present if they so wish.
The full list of men is on the parish website and past and present Cestrians can search for any relation. The two books already produced can be obtained from the church or ordered by contacting jbroadhurst1339@tiscali.co.uk by calling 01244 311374. They will also be available shortly at Waterstone’s in Eastgate.
