4081 Pte Robert Mather, 1st Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment

My thanks to Mike Gregson for contacting me after he noticed his great grandfather - Robert Mather - in the list of PoWs for the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment that I published in January this year. Mike had already known that his great grandfather had been a prisoner and has added additional information about him which I am pleased to publish here.

From the Lancashire Fusiliers Enlistment book 1882-1902:

 

Robert Mather was born in St Mark's, Bolton and was a Piercer by trade when he attested with the Lancashire Fusiliers at Bolton on the 3rd May 1892. He was aged 18 years and one month. He gave his religion as Church of England and his physical description notes that he had a fresh complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. He was five feet five and three quarter inches in height, had a thirty three inch chest, a scar on forehead, a scar on left eyelid and weighed one hundred and eleven pounds.  After serving his initial period of probably 10 to 12 weeks at the regimental depot he was posted to the 1st Battalion. He was transferred to the Army Reserve on 2rd May 1899 (exactly seven years after he had enlisted) and served with the 2nd Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers during the Boer War and was invalided on the 13/05/01 (also appears as 4058). He received the Queens South Africa medal with clasps: Orange Free State, Transvaal, Tugela Heights, Relief of Ladysmith, Laing's Nek, South Africa 1901.  

 

Robert re-enlisted on 12th September 1914, this time with the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment (4081) and arrived overseas on 29th November 1914. He was captured at Givenchy on 22/23rd December and spent time in Wittenberg and Merseburg PoW camps.

 

After the war, Robert Mather was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal along with others, for his service in Wittenberg during a Typhoid epidemic when he volunteered as a medical orderly.

 

 

The image on this page comes from the Europeana19141918 website and specifically, the page which tells the story of another LNL PoW regular, 2838 L/Cpl John Johnson. Like Robert Mather, Johnson was also a time-expired regular who re-enlisted in the Special Reserve when Britain went to war in August 1914.

I also offer a comprehensive, fast and cost-effective military history research service. Follow the link for more information. 

Loyal North Lancashire Regiment - PoW Other Ranks 1914

The following men - the vast majority, regular soldiers with the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment - became prisoners of war of the Germans on or before Christmas Day 1914. This is an edited roll of 509 NCOs and men who were serving with the 1st Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment at their time of capture. Read more about this data source on my 1914 PoWs page.

This data has been transcribed from the following undated and badly faded source at the Imperial War Museum:

1. B.O.2 1/229: a 13-page typed document listing men of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment who were captured on or before 25th December 1914.  

My full transcription of this Loyal North Lancs Prisoners of War roll call of other ranks (not reproduced here) also contains the home address against most of the men's names. 

The full transcription is available for sale as a download or CD for £20. Contact me if you would like to purchase a copy.

2215 Private H Abbott
10492 Private H Adams
10114 Private S W Adams
8731 Sergeant T Ainsworth
3002 Private William Alker
8249 Private P Almond
8022 Private T Almond
3417 Private F Ambrose
9230 Private W F Anderson
7162 Private M Armstrong
3261 Private Thomas Ashcroft
6728 Private J Ashton
4148 Lance-Sergeant Harper P Ashworth
10427 Private H Aspden
8079 Private A Aston
10871 Acting Corporal H Austin
7058 Private C Baker
11040 Private E Balshaw
2093 Private J Bannister
4603 Private J Barnes
8243 Private H Bartlett
10667 Private P Bartley
9853 Private J H Barton
7873 Sergeant W E Baxter
7264 Lance-Sergeant J E Beeley
11665 Lance-Corporal P W Beer
1836 Private R Bennett
6725 Private T Bennett
10219 Private L Berry
6780 Private J E Bickerstaff
3120 Private William Blackburn
1524 Lance-Corporal Blackhurst
1909 Private John Bligh
8150 Lance-Corporal F G Bloys
4401 Private Richard Bolton
8989 Private J Bond
3659 Private J W Bond
3039 Private Samuel Bowers
1441 Private Albert Boyle
10478 Private J P Boyle
2941 Corporal G Bradbury
2524 Private J Bradley
8633 Private E Bradshaw
8469 Private W Brady
2312 Private F Bramble
1219 Private W Bramhall
2258 Private W Brannick
1615 Lance-Corporal W Brannigan
7957 Private T Brennan
2274 Private J Brett
3129 Private T Brice
2792 Private J W Bridges
2291 Private D Brine
4010 Corporal Norman Britton
11265 Private J Bromley
7885 Private W Broomfield
1521 Private B J Brown
1974 Private J Brown
6661 Private J Brown
6090 Private L Brown
10433 Private J Bryden
1695 Private J Buckley
10883 Private J Bulgar
9501 Lance-Sergeant F Burge
7929 Private J Burton
2766 Corporal E Byrne
4101 Private R Caffery
4116 Private J W Caine
6286 Private J Cairns
10628 Private C Caldwell
9183 Lance-Corporal J Call
10433 Private W Callander
7011 Lance-Corporal J Callick
10305 Sergeant G A Campbell
7671 Private G Carey
3386 Private J Carey
7144 Private L Carling
8131 Private J Carroll
2456 Private T Carroll
5977 Private F Carter
2634 Private Richard Cartmell
2103 Corporal H Cattell
1274 Lance-Corporal Alfred Cawley
9619 Acting Sergeant C E Chambers
2951 Private J Clare
4388 Private Joseph Clark
6410 Private F W Clarke
3376 Lance-Corporal J E Cobley
6964 Sergeant J J Cockerell
3751 Lance-Corporal Thomas Cocking
12072 Private P Collins
7774 Private T Collinson
7776 Private T E Collister
2822 Private F Conley
4164 Private W Connolly
4331 Private Nicholas Connoran
1835 Private F Conroy
3163 Private J Conroy
2376 Private J Conway
4121 Private J Conway
2255 Private G Cook
2625 Private T L Cook
3317 Private George Cope
3904 Lance-Sergeant R D Copley
2799 Private J Corrigan
3910 Private J Corrigan
2229 Private P Corrigan
4596 Private J A Costello
4326 Private R Cotton
1157 Private R Coventry
8052 Private W Cox
10633 Private E Cozier
2396 Private J Critchley
1724 Private J Crock
10007 Private J Crook
1770 Private R Crook
3935 Private William Crook
8090 Private H Cropper
1780 Lance-Corporal H Cross
9136 Sergeant E Culley
9634 Lance-Corporal C P Darcey
629 Private C Davies

2400 Private J Davies (above, front row, left; unknown PoW camp)
3689 Private Robert Davies
7994 Private W Davies
10661 Private W A Davies
8407 Private C Davis
8168 Lance-Corporal J Dawber
1410 Lance-Corporal H Dawson
7096 Private H Dean
10594 Private E Delahunt
8352 Acting Corporal W J Dench
9794 Lance-Sergeant F Dennis
8294 Acting Corporal H Dennison
8547 Private J Derbyshire
1982 Private P Devamey
3722 Private Devany
4103 Private Dewhurst
10696 Private J N Diamond
3521 Private T Dickinson
9351 Private Michael Dillon
1523 Private William Dixon
1098 Private F Dodd
10247 Private P Doolen
6511 Sergeant David Doran
10622 Private C F Doughty
2398 Private J Doyle
9522 Private J C Driscall
2446 Private S Dawson
10360 Private A Duffy
2301 Private D Dunbar
3217 Private J Durkin
11639 Private W Duxbury
8904 Private G Edwards
7155 Private J Edwards
2141 Private F Evans
3762 Private Evans
4558 Private Evans
10717 Private E Fairclough
3190 Private J Farrer
10629 Private J J Fearon
3607 Private T Fiddler
3134 Private G Finch
8143 Lance-Corporal J Finlinson
6932 Private Thomas Fisher
10326 Private W Fisher
351 Lance-Corporal J Fleming
2303 Private K Flynn
3674 Private Michael Flynn
4472 Private John Forshaw
8054 Lance-Corporal T Forshaw
8907 Lance-Corporal W Foster
10864 Private W Fowler
3875 Private R Frazer
6393 Private J Gahan
6393 Private John Gahan
2065 Private J Gains
1930 Private J Gallagher
599 Corporal J Garner
2641 Private T Gavin
7832 Private C German
1642 Private E C Gerrard
2725 Corporal J Gill
3914 Private J Gilligan
10673 Private W Glover
9593 Private J Godin
10707 Private J M Godin
9344 Private Charles Andrew Golding
4438 Private Thomas Gough
1218 Private W H Gray
9763 Acting Sergeant F Greaves
10625 Private J Greaves
8147 Private W J Greaves
8590 Private W E Green
3086 Private Joseph Greenhalgh
4369 Private Robert Gregson
3353 Private T Gresty
6076 Private William Grogan
3794 Private S Hackney
7217 CQMS P Hagar
8812 Lance-Corporal A P Hall
9093 Lance-Corporal H J R Hall
4096 Private W Halme
10665 Private A Halstead
6985 Private Robert Handley
7993 Private G Hankin
11185 Private John Hannah
3016 Private James Harden Private Harding
1652 Sergeant J Hardman
2496 Private Edward Hargreaves
7860 Private A Harmer
10500 Private E Harrington
10324 Private F Harris
2110 Private Frank Harris
8881 Lance-Corporal W Harris
3389 Private J Harris
3318 Private G Harrison
3323 Private Joseph Harrison
7902 Private John Hart
1592 Private H Hart
8190 Private J Hartley
3498 Private William R Hartley
1347 Private R Hartson
7205 Private J Harvey
310 Private Robert Hastings
4089 Private John Hayhurst
7844 Lance-Corporal E Healey
1448 Private T Henning
1448 Private Thomas Henning
2187 Private J Hibbs
2508 Private J Higgins
10750 Private Charles Hill
6895 Private H Hill
6858 Private R Hilton
1282 Private F Hines
6929 Private William Hislop
1421 Corporal H Hockey
9439 Private E F Hogben
3232 Private F Holloway
4607 Private J Holt
2102 Private C Hoole
3562 Private J Houghton
3859 Private Albert Huband
1668 Corporal O Hughes
1981 Private T Hughes
7003 Private W J Humphreys
10621 Private E G Hunt
3/1242 Lance-Corporal Mark Isherwood
2298 Private J Jackson
4192 Private J Jackson
10619 Private J Jackson
10018 Private J Jackson
2838 Lance-Corporal John Johnson (follow the link for more on this man)
6940 Private Joseph Johnson
2612 Private G Jones
7046 Private G Jones
3339 Lance-Corporal J Jones
8612 Acting Corporal J Jones
8501 Private J Joyce
2244 Lance-Corporal A Kelly
2356 Private E Kelly
6825 Private James Kerr
10463 Private E Kilbride
10477 Private E Kilbride
10374 Private D Kirby
10925 Private J Knowles
2282 Lance-Corporal John James Lamb
11082 Private J Lane
9636 Private W Lane
1148 Private J Langley
9021 Private A Lawrence
1338 Private Thomas Lawrenson
2324 Private James W Lea
4221 Private P L Lean
8638 Private P Leary
2397 Private R Leaver
10092 Private J Lee
8460 Private E H Lefley
5894 Private J Lesley
3594 Private T Lewis
6280 Sergeant J Leyland
7176 Private G D Ling
4061 Private Aaron Little
1220 Private E Lloyd
2771 Private Horatio Loftus
7160 Lance-Corporal H Lomas
5924 Lance-Corporal E Long
10060 Private H Lonsdale
3668 Private Albert Lovatt
1198 Private Edward Lowe
8537 Private G Lowe
689 Private John Lunt
3728 Private Thomas Makin
7810 Lance-Corporal W Maloney
1928 Private H Marks
3338 Private J Marland
4651 CQMS James Marquis
6678 Private W Marshall
3548 Private Thomas Martyr
2717 Private J Massey
4081 Private Robert Mather (follow the link to see separate post about his man)
8607 Private W Matthews
10797 Private W May
2970 Private J McCormick
2690 Private M McCoy
3293 Private H McCullock
4136 Private Alexander McDonald
11391 Private J McDonald
10674 Private J McDougall
10882 Private E McGowan
2392 Private D McGregor
6904 Private P McIntyre
4493 Private McKay
10260 Private W McKinley
2791 Lance-Corporal William John McMechan
8332 Private A McNally
2549 Private W McNamara
3978 Private J McNeally
3982 Private T Melia
5875 Lance-Corporal W Mercer
1300 Private F Meredith
2554 Private Joseph Meredith
1300 Private T Meredith
9297 Sergeant T H Middleton
10341 Private C J R Miller
**38 Private Milton
1145 Private Edward Miskell
8419 Private J Mitchell
10690 Private R Mitchell
11026 Private R Molloy
4362 Private Thomas Moon
3087 Private Thomas Morris
3579 Private George Morrison
2409 Private R Morrison
7077 Lance-Sergeant R Morrison
10490 Private C Moxham
2872 Private Dominic Mulgrew
3100 Private George J Mulhearn
7946 Private J Mullen
2454 Private J Murphy
10400 Lance-Sergeant J Murray
10388 Lance-Corporal S Murray
5536 CQMS W Murray
10616 Private J Muskett
2650 Private Ernest Newton
9939 Lance-Corporal C S Nicholls
8179 Private Alfred James Nixon
8859 Private M Noctor
8492 Private Richard Norbury
3083 Private W Norris
10534 Private W G Nutbeam
3038 Private Francis S Oaker
2567 Private Thomas Ogden
2011 Corporal W Orrell
6283 Private F Paine
6944 Private Joseph Parker
10681 Lance-Corporal M F Parker
6941 Private Joseph Parr
3054 Private John Partington
6844 Private Samuel Pass
1935 Private J Patten
6348 Private H G Pattison
8186 Private G Peacock
11318 Private W Pendlebury
1845 Private Mark Phillips
1520 Private O Phillips
2285 Private W Pierce
6921 Private Herbert Pilkington
10429 Private L Pogson
1740 Private F Porter
2995 Sergeant J F Porter
7685 Private D Pritchard
8877 Acting Corporal C F Puttrell
3198 Lance-Corporal Frederick Rainford
882 Sergeant F Ratchford
2304 Private J H Ratcliffe
9720 Private J Reed
1843 Private A Ribchester
10638 Private R Richardson
8139 Private J Rigby
10461 Acting Corporal J Rigby
2452 Private A Riley
6268 Private D Riley
6268 Private D Riley
3290 Private J Riley
8043 Private J Riley
6701 Private J W Riley
7835 Sergeant H R Roberts
2710 Private E Robinson
2137 Private J H Robinson
10529 Private P Robinson
1337 Private T Robinson
10481 Lance-Corporal T Robinson
3503 Private W R Robinson
9115 Lance-Sergeant J Rogers
1478 Private E Rogerson
1958 Sergeant J Roscoe
9473 Acting Corporal R Roscoe
9399 Private Robert Rothwell
6936 Sergeant Arthur Roughsedge
8899 Private H G Rowland
2767 Private J Roy
4242 Private Joseph Russell
6530 Private T V Ryan
8561 Private W Sanders
6308 Private F Scholes
6826 Acting Corporal J Seed
8175 Private A Sefton
8354 Private W R Shadbolt
10560 Private T A E Shambrook
10950 Private W Sharples
11058 Private T Shaw
4075 Private Thomas Shaw
2967 Private W Sheridan
7984 Private H Sherwood
3947 Private R Simpson
2412 Private E Skett
755 Private David Slater
10480 Private A Smith
10683 Private C Smith
11352 Private D Smith
2295 Private J Smith
3243 Private J Smith
2462 Private J Smith
5892 Private J Smith
2604 Private T Smith
10336 Private T Smith
7863 Private W E Smith
4226 Private William Smith
4262 Private William Smith
3220 Private T Sneeth
1629 Private P Southern
6772 Lance-Corporal G Stanley
8624 Private J Stanley
9042 Private H H Stannard
2803 Private E Stephens
8126 Private J Stevenson
7168 Private W Stevenson
6367 Private A Stockton
1211 Lance-Corporal J Stone
6574 Private J Strain
10389 Private W Strickland
7884 Private D Stuart
1792 Private J Stubbins
2652 Private B Sugden
3434 Private Thomas Briscoe Sumner
3141 Private E Swain
2687 Private G Sweeney
10464 Acting Corporal J Sweeney
10903 Private J Sweeney
1261 Private E Taylor
1192 Private J Taylor
3485 Private J Taylor
10583 Private T Taylor
9603 Lance-Corporal W Taylor
10584 Acting Corporal W A Taylor
7813 Private J Thistlethwaite
1994 Private G Thompson
2518 Private R Thompson
5115 CSM Thompson
10922 Private W Thornley
6648 Private T Tindle
3397 Private E Tipton
7648 Private A Tishborne
10636 Lance-Corporal W J Tomlinson
8862 Lance-Corporal J Toomey
9727 Private S Townsend
6915 Private John Joseph Tracey
8598 Private W Tracey
6427 Sergeant E Trigg
7020 Private William Vickers
11358 Corporal R Waddilove
6153 Lance-Corporal L Walders
1681 Private C Walker
6226 Lance-Sergeant J Wall
7011 Private William Arthur Charles Waller
2026 Private E Walsh
11092 Private J Ward
10786 Private J W Ward
10504 Private E H Warren
4929 CSM Walter Waterhouse
1763 Private J Welsh
7915 Private J Welsh
2296 Private John Westworth
9772 Private J Wheatland
10334 Private B Whelan
9015 Acting Sergeant G White
8132 Private J R White
1736 Private T Whitehead
7871 Private E Whittaker
7128 Private H Whittaker
1386 Private R Whittle
10620 Lance-Corporal G Wicks
2517 Private J Wild
3990 Private B Wildie
6552 Private G Wilfred
2188 Private W Wilkins
3908 Private Peter G Wilkinson
7112 Private W Wilkinson
9491 Private J Wilson
2592 Private William Windle
8303 Private H Winn
2345 Private J Winston
8540 Private R Wolstenholme
7730 Private A Wood
10428 Private S Wood
2583 Private William Henry Worswick
1285 Corporal E Worthington

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Loyal North Lancashire Regiment - 1st & 2nd Battalions

This post will look at army service numbers and the dates on which they were issued to men joining the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment between 1881 and April 1914.

In July 1881 when the regiment was formed as part of the Childers Reforms, the 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot became the 1st Battalion and the 81st (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers) Regiment of Foot became the 2nd Battalion.

There are over 44,000 Loyal North Lancashire Regiment pension and service records (for this regiment - and its antecedents) in various War Office series held at the National Archives. Clicking on the link will take you to the results on Findmypast but you will need a subscription or Pay-Per-View credits to actually view the records. Some of these records can also be viewed on-line on Ancestry although Findmypast has by far the most comprehensive service record collection.

Use the regimental numbers and dates on which these were issued, below, to determine parameters for when your own Loyal North Lancashire Regiment ancestor would have joined up. Note though that these numbers are only for regular enlistments. Special Reserve and Territorial Force battalions operated completely separate regimental number sequences.

What follows is a snapshot of army service numbers and corresponding joining dates for the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. There are sequential anomalies in the data which I'll point out as appropriate.

16 joined on 21st September 1881
482 joined on 26th July 1882
778 joined on 21st June 1883
874 joined on 25th June 1884
1245 joined on 16th July 1885
1574 joined on 26th May 1886
1969 joined on 15th January 1887
2571 joined on 5th September 1888
3064 joined on 20th November 1889
3131 joined on 25th January 1890
3343 joined on 25th January 1891
3671 joined on 23rd April 1892
3869 joined on 4th January 1893
4351 joined on March 1st 1894

Apart from other numbers which fall neatly into the sequence so far, I have three other numbers on my database for this year, which do not. 3915 joined on 17th April, 3919 joined on 22nd June and 3924 joined on 24th September. In the meantime, 4531 had joined on 16th August.

3915 was a serving member of the 3rd Militia Battalion and it's possible that 3915 is his militia number. At least, I can think of no other explanation for the anomaly. Numbers 3919 and 3924 were both boys aged 14. Papers for all three men survive in WO 363 and WO 364, as do records for all the numbers listed here. View these at the National Archives in London or on-line via the Ancestry website. A FREE 14 day trial is currently being offered by Ancestry.

4833 joined on 27th May 1895
5014 joined on 4th January 1896
5502 joined on 6th April 1897
5754 joined on 15th March 1898
6085 joined on 6th June 1899
6316 joined on 15th June 1900
6521 joined on 18th April 1901
6717 joined on 28th January 1902
7037 joined on 6th January 1903
7757 joined on 13th January 1904
8356 joined on 28th March 1905
8515 joined on 12th February 1906

8215 Thomas Beardsworth also joined in 1906, on 9th March. This is another anomaly which I can't explain. Sequential logic would suggest that his number belongs to early 1905 rather than spring 1906. His attestation papers state that he was a serving member of the 3rd Militia Battalion and its possible, as it is also possible with 3915 above, that 8215 is his militia number. It shouldn't be of course; both men should have been given a new number from the regular series on enlisting with the 1st or 2nd Battalion.

8926 joined on 2nd July 1907
9353 joined on 9th June 1908
9863 joined on 15th July 1909
9904 joined on 26th January 1910
10114 joined on 6th January 1911
10312 joined on 14th March 1912
10502 joined on 9th January 1913
10752 joined on 1st April 1914

When Britain went to war with Germany four months later, numbering in the regular battalions was in the low 10800s and the new service battalions, when they began forming, used the same number series that had been in use by the regulars. But that's the subject of another post.


I also offer a comprehensive, fast and cost-effective military history research service. Follow the link for more information.

Further reading from The Naval & Military Press:

The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment 1914-1919



During the First World War, the Loyal North Lancs served in virtually every theatre of war and this book tells the story of them all.

The 1st Battalion took part in the defence of Ypres at Langemarck and Gheluvelt in 1914, fought at the battles of Neuve Chapelle and Aubers RIdge in 1915; the Somme in 1916; and the battles of Arras and Passchendaele in 1917. In 1918 it helped to break the HIndenburg Line.

The 2nd Battalion was sent to East Africa and took part in the disastrous attack on Tanga and the subsequent frustrating campaign against the guerilla leader General Von Lettow-Vorbeck. Towards the end of the war, the battalion served in Egypt, Palestine and on the Western Front.

The book is fully illustrated with maps and photos, and with appendices covering awards, uniforms, colours and honours.



The Story of the 55th (West Lancashire) Division