Hargreaves, George William

Private

No. 62546, Northumberland Fusiliers

Died of disease on Wednesday 14 May 1919 (aged 31; incorrectly stated on               death certificate,  aged 33)

Buried:

Belfast City Cemetery Public Ground (Screen Wall. H. 543)

Commemorated:

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

BIOGRAPHY

Private George William Hargreaves (No. 62546) died of nephritis and acute pulmonary tuberculosis at Newtownards Hospital on 14 May 1919 (aged 31).  He was serving with the Northumberland Fusiliers, then stationed at Clandeboye Camp, Bangor.  He had previous service as a Private with the Liverpool Regiment (No. 48834).

George William Hargreaves’ birth was registered in the second quarter of 1888 at Chorlton, Lancashire, and he was a son of Sidney Percy Hargreaves and Margaret Ann Hargreaves (nee Sergeant) of 389 Collyhurst Road, Manchester. Their marriage was registered in the second quarter of 1883 in Chorlton, Lancashire.

Sidney Percy Hargreaves worked as a waterproof garment maker and he and Margaret had at least six children:

Sidney Percy (born around 1884)

James Thomas (born around 1886; recorded in the 1901 census as being an invalid)

George William (born in 1888)

Harold Stanley (born around 1892)

Caroline (born 11 March 1894)

Seymour (born around 1898)

Their mother, Margaret Ann Hargreaves died and was buried on 8 March 1899 in Chadderton Cemetery, Oldham.

In the 1901 census it is recorded that the widowed Sidney Percey Hargreaves and his six children were living in Gorton, Manchester.

In the 1911 census it is recorded that Harold Stanley (aged 19), Caroline (aged 17, and Seymour (aged 12), were living with their uncle and aunt Charles and Pricilla McLenaghan, in Gorton, Manchester.

It is of passing interest to note that Sidney Percy Hargreaves was a son of James and Caroline Hargreaves, and he had a brother called George William Hargreaves (died 1927).  George William and Ann Hargreaves had a son called George William Hargreaves (a first cousin of the casualty).

It is also of interest to note that the casualty’s sister, Caroline Hargreaves married John Robert Hall; their marriage was registered in the third quarter of 1915 in Prestwich, Lancashire.

Corporal John Robert Hall served with the Lancashire Fusiliers (No. 15577), was discharged on 12 July 1916, and died of nephritis on 22 December 1917 nephritis.  The widowed Caroline Hall claimed pension for two children:

John Thomas (born 20 March 1913, a child of Robert’s first marriage)

Margaret Annie (born 3 March 1916)

Caroline Hall (nee Hargreaves) remarried in 1919.

Thomas Harold Lever (a bachelor aged 24) and Cariline Hall (a widow aged 24) were married on 8 February 1919 in St Oswald’s Church of England Church Collyhurst, Manchester.  It was noted that she was a daughter of Sidney Percy Hargreaves, a waterproof garment maker.

The casualty’s brother, Seymour Hargreaves, enlisted on 7 May 1915 at Ardwick, and served on the Home Front for eight months during the Great War.

Private Seymour Hargreaves (No. 3957) 3/8 Battalion, Manchester Regiment was discharged on 13 January 1916 when he was deemed to be medically unfit for service.

When Private George William Hargreaves (No. 62546) died on 14 May 1919, his brothers Harold and Seymour Hargreaves, and his sister Caroline Lever, were named as his beneficiaries.