Rolls of Honour
LUDDENDEN & MIDGLEY VILLAGES' ROLLS OF HONOUR
WHAT ARE ROLLS OF HONOUR?
At the outbreak of war, and probably as incentive to join up, many Rolls of honour were started.
These would have originally been a handwritten list of the men who enrolled and were started in Churches and Chapels, Pubs and Clubs and places of work.
The one below is from from Booth Congregational Church. This list was added to as the next man enlisted, you can see the sheet is numbered up to 54. The first man to enroll was Donald Murgatroyd shortly after war was declared. His war records did not survive, so we do not know the exact date he joined up. The third man on this list's war records did survive. Frederick Greenwood from Ive House signed up in October 1915. Likewise, the 35th man James Holmes joined up 2 years later in June 1917.
The Roll of Honour from Providence Methodist Church in Midgley (which now resides in the Midgley Community Rooms.) has been for the first part done in Alphabetical order. The first name on this list is Louis John Ackroyd from Well House, Midgley. He joined up on 8th Dec 1915 aged 17, he survived the war but is unlikely to be the first man to join up.
The alphabetical section ends with Percy Allan Varley, perhaps this was when everyone thought the war would be over quickly, these 29 names were added to non alphabetically, the last name added was Herbert Roberts.
And the names with a box around them are the names of the fallen soldiers.
Many Rolls of honour were later completely rewritten and often embellished, like this one from Luddenden Dean Wesleyan Church. This Roll of Honour's whereabouts is unknown and the photo quality is poor.
A symbol has put against the names of the soldiers who lost their lives. Some of the names here also appear on other Rolls of Honour. And it is clear that the calligraphy on this document is the work of the same person as the Luddenden Working Men's Club Roll of Honour.
WORK IN PROGRESS