I recently began listing three boxes of archives, a collection of material dubbed ‘miscellaneous schools’ but which is actually various documentation collected by two generations of a family of school teachers. Amongst this was a small bundle of letters, written by ex-pupils of Higher Brinksway Council School whilst they were serving in the army during World War I, to their old headmaster Mr Joseph Goodison.
Of course with the World War I centenary taking place later this year, this was a prime time to find these letters, and they will hopefully be used as part of a display about the war in Stockport. The letters send best wishes to the headmaster and his family, offering snippets of information about their lives in the army, and one even has written a poem.
The boys who wrote letters to Mr Goodison whilst on service are:
- Charles Stanley Bradbury
- Joseph T. Sidebottom
- George Woodford
- James Duxbury
- William Prophet
- John Goudy
- Samuel R. Dickinson
- Harold Wild
- Herbert Williams
- Walter S. Newton
For now I am trying to find out some more about these boys, where they came from and what happened to them.
Natasha's Heritage 
It took me a few minutes to figure out which Stockport you were talking about. This sounds like one of those exciting archival finds that has some real personality! Please let me know if you find out more about Mr. Sidebottom. I’m very curious. 😛
Hello, we have found the following information about Joseph – hopefully this will be of some interest to you 🙂
Joseph Thomas Sidebottom was born in Heaton Norris, Stockport, in 1879, the son of Joseph Sidebottom and Mary Cooke. He married Mary Crawley at Prestbury, St Peter, in 1904 and they went on to have four children. At the time of the 1911 census Joseph was working as a carter & general carrier.
He enlisted in the army in 1911, and first served in France from 29th March 1915. During WW1 he was stationed in France. His letters inform us that he was working as a groom to the Medical Officer and the Chaplain during the war. Joseph appears to have spent some time in Africa, but it is uncertain when. He was discharged from the army on the 31st January 1916, being medically rejected as unfit for service. He was awarded the Victory, British and Star Medals, and the Silver War Badge.
Fascinating! That sounds like a lot of awards, but I have no idea what the average Medical Officer & Chaplain might have earned. Thanks so much for keeping us posted!
Fascinating! That sounds like a lot of awards, but I have no idea what the average groom to a Medical Officer & a Chaplain might have earned. Thanks so much for keeping us posted!
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Fascinating! That sounds like a lot of awards, but I have no idea what the average groom to a Medical Officer & a Chaplain might have earned. Thanks so much for keeping us posted!
Thanks for your comment & interest 🙂 I have found quite a few soldiers with the same medals, they seem to be dependant on where they served rather than their role. The Silver War Medal was issued to wounded soldiers who were discharged, to show that they had ‘done their bit’. There’s a good post about the different medals here:
http://www.1914-1918.net/soldiers/themedals.html
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