Family Stories from Buildings - St Anthony's Hall York - Bluecoats School

Last week I posted the first instalment of an article I had written about St Anthony’s Hall in York and one of the interesting people who had spent time there when it was York Bluecoats School. Here is the second part of the article looking at names plucked from the Bluecoats School records:

Charles Swaby: The Joiner

Charles Reginald Swaby was also born in 1892 and his baptism records name Arthur and Maggie as his parents. They lived on Lowther Street in York when he was born and his Dad was a Cabinet Maker. The school records from Find My Past show that he was first enrolled in Park Grove School (still a Primary School now), in 1898 and then in August 1900, when he was eight years old, he moved to Bluecoats School. The Park Grove records are thorough, giving Charles’ full name as Charles Reginald Poole Swaby, his address as 36, Walpole Street and naming his parents and confirming his date of birth. The Bluecoats records confirm his start date with them and that he achieved Standard V1 and was an average student.

By 1911 Charles was living with his Grandparents Charles and Emma, at 68, St John Street York. Not too far away from his parents’ last address. He was working as a Joiner’s apprentice. His Father was a Cabinet Maker so perhaps it is natural that he went into that industry.

At the start of WW1 hundreds of young men enlisted, many abandoning their apprenticeships. There was some concern about this and indeed some court cases ensued with Employers seeking recompense from Apprentices who were abandoning their roles. However, the general feeling seemed to be that Employers must release the men to allow them to enlist. It seems that Charles did not enlist immediately, and his Draft papers indicate that he enlisted in November 1915, over a year after the start of the war. Perhaps he was a gaining a release from his apprenticeship.

He became a Private in the 137 Machine Gun Company and was posted to France by Feb 1916. However, he must have had some early home leave because he married May Ann Fletcher on 5th April 1916. He had very little time with her though as he was on active service in France for the remainder of 1916. His war record states that he spent some time in hospital in Cannes at the end of 1916 after an injury, but the only details given is ‘myalgia’, a medical term for muscle aches. He returned to active duty in Jan 1917 in France. After only five months he was killed in action on 27th June 1917 aged 25yrs. A report in the newspaper in August 1917 included him the weekly Casualty Lists and he was buried at Loos British Cemetery. There is very little other information about his death. He is one of the many lost men of WW1.

His wife May Ann was left a young widow, they had no children together as far as I can establish, and she remarried some years later.

Edward John Widdowson: Family Man

My third pick was Edward John Widdowson. He was born in May 1891 and his parents were Joseph and Susan but no address is available for Edward. His Father was a Blacksmith. The school record again lists his work as average, which seems to be the most common grading for these boys.

In 1911 he was living with his widowed Mother and siblings in York and was employed as a Clerk and Stationery Store Keeper at a Flour mill. This job suggests that he must have done well at school, as this was not a manual job and should have paid better than an ordinary apprenticeship.

When the war came, Edward enlisted in April 1915 and was posted to France as a Private in the RAMC in September 1915. He had some leave in September 1916 and married Nora Eveline Cooper in York. He returned to duty and then transferred to the Ambulance Transport Service as an Orderly. In WW1 Orderly’s fulfilled a variety of duties. In addition to transporting the injured men they also were required to participate in some Nursing duties including helping patients to wash, giving drugs as directed by the Medical Officer, and even assisting in surgery. The role would have been hard physical work, with a lot of lifting and being constantly on duty caring for men suffering dreadful wounds would have taken its toll. In June 1918 he was suffering shortness of breath and palpitations and was diagnosed as having ‘VDH’. This was ‘Valvular Disease of the Heart’, a condition thought to be brought on by hard physical work and stress. After treatment he returned to work on ‘light duties’ on HMHS Neuralia, a Hospital Ship, from Dec 1918 until March 1919 when he was then discharged.

Edward returned home to York and his wife Nora. They went on to have five children. By 1939 he was working as a Railway Goods Consigner. He died in 1966 aged 75yrs in York.

John George Sissons: The Fallen Railwayman

My final pick was John George Sissons. He was born in 1890 in York, his parents were Amelia and John. The family lived in Acomb, now a suburb of York, though it would have been a village in its own right when John lived there. John had attended Acomb school from 1894 – 1898 and transferred to Bluecoats in 1899. Bluecoats only took children older than age 7yrs so this may have been why.

By 1911 he was living with his widowed Mother and two brothers and was working as a Cabinet Maker for the Railway, though this could have been as an apprentice. The North Eastern Railway Company were a large employer in York at that time and there was a large carriage works building railway rolling stock.

John had pre-empted his call up to the army, as he had enlisted as a volunteer in 1906, so had already had some experience of army life, even though as a part time soldier.

He enlisted as a full-time soldier in September 1914, to the York and Lancaster Regiment, though later was transferred to The Northumberland Fusiliers. He spent some time in England before finally being posted to France. Despite his previous experience in the Volunteers, he didn’t seem to cope well with life as a soldier, by December 1914 he was already on a charge for using ‘improper language’ to an NCO and then only a week later ‘creating a disturbance’. Then the following month was in trouble for being late to return from leave. His misdemeanours seemed to continue until he was posted to France where he must have settled as he was promoted to acting corporal in May 1917.

John George was killed in action on 7th June 1917. At the time of his death, his battalion were involved with an attack on Zillebeke, a village in Flanders in Belgium. There is no specific detail as to what happened but John’s name can be found on the Ypres Menin Gate Memorial. Sadly, he has no known grave. His name is also on the War Memorial on Acomb Green, York.

John had never married but his Mother and brothers would have mourned his loss as many families did at that time.

These four boys are only a small representative of the Bluecoats boys listed on the 1901 census and in the school records. The research has brought them back to life and given names (and even faces in some cases), to the schoolboys who turned into men. They were called to serve their country and experienced a war that they could not have imagined when living, playing and studying in the medieval building that is St Anthony’s Hall. 

Bluecoats School continued educating boys (and later girls) for many more years until after the second world war when it finally closed in 1946.

This article has shown how many beautiful ancient buildings have family stories within their walls. It is so interesting to take a look and try to discover more about the people who lived, worked or played in such buildings and understand a little about their family stories.