The Trinity Methodist Chapel brass memorial plaques are now in St Andrew's Church, St Peter's Avenue, Cleethorpes.

The two brass memorial plaques were originally unveiled on 26 June 1921 by the Lincolnshire Regiment’s Lieutenant Colonel J Kennington DSO MC. The service was conducted by the Revd Ingamell Powell.

Trinity Methodist Chapel was located in what is now St Peter’s Avenue car park, beside Boots – there are many old photos of St Peter’s Avenue, which show the impressive building.

The wall-mounted brass plaques were originally displayed on either side of the pulpit in Trinity in memory of the 20 men listed who lost their lives. When the chapel closed in 1968, the plaques were saved prior to demolition. They were eventually stored in the new church of St Andrew’s

The plaques were recently restored and rehung in St Andrew’s Church in September 2007. The rededication service took place on 4 November 2007.  Some of the families of those commemorated attended the service on Sunday 4 November, some bringing photos of their family members. I can recall seeing a photo of Eddie Showler

The first plaque reads:

Joseph W Bancroft
Thomas J Croft
Kenneth J Hill
Robert Hodgson
Thomas S Humberstone
Ben Nicholson
Cyril A Pearce
William H Rowbotham
Henry H Webster
William Wheatley

Second plaque:

Raymond Bannister
Jack G Blow
George A Brown
Frank G Grant
G Rowland Grant
Archie Mallett
Herbert K Sheardown
Frank S Sheardown
George R Showler
Eddie Showler

JOSEPH WILLIAM BANCROFT
Lance Corporal 1700, 10th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment
Died: 28 April 1917, aged 32 years
Born in Cleethorpes
Son of Joseph William and Ann Bancroft (nee Willerton), 64 Mill Road, Cleethorpes Buried: Roeux British Cemetery, France

His name also appears on the St Peter’s memorial

Background
Born in 1885 in Cleethorpes, Joseph was the oldest son of Joseph and Ann Bancroft (nee Willerton), who married in 1884. In 1891, the oyster merchant and his wife, both aged 28, were lived on Cleethorpes High Street with their three children – Joseph (five), Nellie (four) and Fred (one). Also living with them was 26-year-old Alice Willerton, Ann’s single sister. By 1901, the couple had two more sons – Osborne (six in 1901) and Thomas (aged three). Alice was still living with the family and is working as a dressmaker. Joseph senior was working as a fish merchant’s clerk and the family had moved from the High Street to Isaac’s Hill, where they had their own servant, 19-year-old Henrietta Bell.

White’s 1856 Directory lists Joseph and George Bancroft, as bricklayers from Beaconthorpe. They also had lodgings. These Bancrofts originiated from Saltfleetby in Lincolnshire.

THOMAS JAMES CROFT
Lance Corporal TF/3827, C Company, 1/7th Battalion Middlesex Regiment
Killed in action: 7 October 1916, aged 21 years
Born in Cleethorpes
Son of James and Ann Croft (nee Allison), 8 Knoll Street, CleethorpesCommemorated: Thiepval Memorial

Background
Thomas Croft was born in Cleethorpes in 1895 to James and Ann Croft (from Laceby). In 1901, the family lived at 61 Cambridge Street. Father James was the skipper of a steam trawler. In addition to Thomas, who was five in 1901, James and Ann had three other children – William A Croft (nine years old), Beatrice M (seven) and George J (three).

KENNETH JOHN HILL
Private 63040, Signaller, 2nd Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment)
Killed in action: 23 March 1918, aged 20 years
Born in Hull
Son of Mr and Mrs Hill, Stallingborough, Lincolnshire Commemorated: Arras Memorial

Background
Kenneth Hill was born in Hull in 1897 to Hull-born Thomas and Stallingborough-born Alice Hill. Although Kenneth and his sister, Edith, who was two years younger than him, were both born in Hull, the family moved to the south side of the River Humber when Kenneth was very young. In 1901, they lived at 20 Lambert Road in Grimsby. Mr Hill, 31, worked as a shipping clerk. His wife, Alice, was six years older than him.

ROBERT NELSON HODGSON
Private 65456, 1st Bat Northumberland Fusiliers
Born in St Albans, Hertfordshire
Died: 8 October 1918
Nephew of Mrs B Fowkes, 74 St Peter’s Avenue, Cleethorpes
Buried: Naves Communal Cemetery Extension

Background Robert was born in late 1898 in St Albans and was christened there on 20 November 1898. His father was Robert Arthur Hodgson and his mother was Emma Miranda. In 1901, two-year-old Robert lived at the Heath Bank Hotel in Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. His Norfolk-born mother, Emma, was the head of the household. Alongside 35-year-old Emma, there was her son Edward E Thompson, aged 13 in 1901 – possibly from a first marriage or illegitimate. They had an 86-year-old boarder, widow Caroline Leach. The live-in staff of the pub/hotel included barmaid Louisa Filsel, 28, potman Thomas Shin, 24, and servant Beatrice Gravestock, 29. All the staff were single. The 1901 census records father, Robert Arthur Hodgson, aged 44, as visiting Manchester. The Louth-born man is listed as a hotel keeper. So why is young Robert recorded on war memorials in Cleethorpes? The records show that his mother, Emma, died at the age of 42 in 1908. Father Robert Arthur Nelson died in 1913 (born 1857) in Hertfordshire. Young Robert was sent to Cleethorpes to be cared for by his father’s sister – Bessie Fowkes (nee Hodgson). In 1901, the Fowkes family lived at 39 Bancroft Street in Cleethorpes. Bessie was 36 and her husband. John Fowkes, 53. This was John’s second marriage – his first wife, Betsy Ranns died in 1893. He married Bessie Hodgson in 1894 in Louth and she became stepmother to Florence who was about 10 at the time. Bessie Fowkes also had at least two children – Agnes Parker Hodgson (four in 1901) and Linda Hodgson (aged one in 1901). However, Linda died in 1910. John Fowkes died in 1913.

THOMAS SINDERSON HUMBERSTONE
Private 235366, 9th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment
Died: 5 October 1918, aged 21 years
Born in Cleethorpes
Son of William and Elizabeth Humberstone (nee Sinderson) Buried: Beaurevoir British Cemetery, France

Background
Thomas was born in 1897 in Cleethorpes to wholesale fish buyer, William Humberstone, and his wife Elizabeth nee Sinderson. In 1901, the family lived at 19 Charles Street in Cleethorpes, William, from Grimsby, was aged 37 and Elizabeth from Cleethorpes was 35. In addition to Thomas, they had a 10-year-old daughter, Alice. The couple were married in 1889. In 1891, they were living in George Street. In addition to Alice, they had a lodger, a 14-year-old cousin named Maria Ackrill who came from North Somercotes and who was a domestic servant. It isn’t clear whether she was their servant or working elsewhere. In 1891, William was a fish labourer.

William’s wife, Elizabeth Sinderson was born in Cleethorpes to Thomas and Mary Sinderson. In 1871, the family lived at 9 Kingston Terrace, Highgate, Cleethorpes. Thomas, 44, was a fisherman. Elizabeth was four years younger than her husband. They had three children - William, 11, Elizabeth, five, Robert, two, and Charlotte, six months. All the children as well as their parents were born in Cleethorpes.

Although Elizabeth's husband William Humberstone is, like her father, associated with the fishing industry in the area, he didn’t come from fishing stock.
William’s father and Thomas’s grandfather, Joseph Humberstone, came from South Ormsby and worked on the railways. As a 28-year-old in 1871, he worked as a porter and lived in Neptune Street. By 1881, Joseph had worked his way up from porter to railway signalman. The large Humberston family still lived in Neptune Street. Joseph, 36, and his 37-year-old wife, Rebecca (from Great Carlton) had seven children in 1881. Sarah Ann, 18, William, 17 (working as a backyard labourer), Frederick, 15, Mary Jane, 12, Emma, 10, Joseph, eight, and Alfred, five.

BENJAMIN ‘BEN’ NICHOLSON
Private 1378, 2nd Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment
Killed in action: 23 October 1916, aged 30 years
Born in Wincobank, Yorkshire
Husband of Ada Avis Nicholson, 19 Isaac’s Hill, Cleethorpes Commemorated: Thiepval Memorial

Background
Ben was born in Wincobank in Yorkshire in 1887. However, by the time of the 1891 census four years later, Ben is recorded as living with his grandparents, Benjamin (46 years old) and Charlotte (44 years old) Nicholson in Wincobank. His grandfather was a blacksmith and hailed from Attercliffe in Sheffield, while his grandmother was from Retford in Nottinghamshire. Also living in the same house was Benjamin senior’s son, John Thomas Nicholson, aged 19, a brass moulder and his wife, Annie Elizabeth Nicholson.

So who is young Ben’s mother? The 1881 census reveals that along with Benjamin and Charlotte in Wincobank was a son, John T Nicholson, and a  daughter, Sarah, aged 12. So Sarah is likely to be Ben’s mother, who would have been about 18 when Ben was born. And single. So Ben was illegitimate. Sarah married Joseph John Pearce (possibly Ben’s dad) in 1888 in Wortley. Ben’s mum Sarah died in the spring of 1890 at the age of 21 which explains why, a year later, he was living with his grandparents.

After being widowed, his grandmother Charlotte moved to Cleethorpes to run a boarding house. In 1901, 48-year-old (she only seems to have aged four years in a decade!) Charlotte and grandson Ben (14 years old) lived at 38 Sea Bank Road. Ben worked as a labourer in the fish docks.

On 4 October 1910, Benjamin married Ada Avis Bullen at St Peter's church. Ada was born in 1885 in Spalding. The couple had at least one child – a daughter named Winifred E Nicholson, born in 1913.
Ben’s uncle John Thomas Nicholson and his wife Annie Eliza had three children – Benjamin (born abt 1894 and named after Charlotte’s husband Benjamin senior), William (named after Charlotte Nicholson’s father – William Colton), who was born around 1897, and Sarah Annie Nicholson, born in about 1899. She may have been named after Annie Charlotte’s mother – Sarah Colton. However, it's possible than she is named after Ben’s mother, who died at such a young age in 1890.

CYRIL ARMITAGE PEACE
Deck Boy 819SBD, Royal Naval Reserve, HM Trawler James Seckar
Born in Leeds in 1900
Drowned: 25 September 1917, aged 17 years
Son of Albert Edward and Phoebe Peace, 19 College Street, Cleethorpes Commemorated: Chatham Naval Memorial

Cyril’s name is also recorded on the St Peter’s War Memorial

Background
Born in Leeds at the end of 1900, Cyril at 17 was one of the youngest recruits from the area to lose his life. His father, Albert Peace was a cabinet maker from Ossett in Yorkshire. His mother came from Dewsbury. In 1901, the couple, both 23, lived in Holbeck in Yorkshire. Also living with the family at the time was Albert’s 50-year-old mother, Emma.

The 255-ton trawler on which Cyril served as a deck boy was launched on 20 June 1916. She was torpedoed – probably by UC63 captained by Karsten von Heydebreck – and sunk in the Atlantic off the coast of Cork, Ireland, with the loss of 16 crew. She was last seen at 45.39 N 12.00 W.

The crew lost were:
BLACKMORE, John, 2nd Hand, RNR, DA 16359
COOPER, James S, Deck Hand, RNR, DA 10074
CRAWFORD, David W, Ordinary Telegraphist, RNVR, Tyneside Z 10760
DAMMS, Tim, Deck Hand, RNR, DA 16987
DIVERS, Thomas R, Engineman, RNR, ES 4523
HILLIER, Clifford, Deck Hand, RNR, DA 11040
JOHNSON, George H, Trimmer, RNR, TS 6762
MALLETT, Victor J, Boy Cook, RNR, SBC 873
MCEWAN, John, Deck Hand, RNR, DA 18007
MOSS, William, Deck Hand, RNR, DA 17316
OSBORNE, Frank, Trimmer, RNR, TS 6750
PEACE, Cyril A, Deck Boy, RNR, SBD 819
ROBINSON, William, Deck Hand, RNR, DA 15206
SAWYER, Charles E, Trimmer, RNR, TS 6827
VINCE, Herbert, Leading Deck Hand, RNR, A 9447
WHITEHEAD, Charles, Deck Hand, RNR, DA 2107

WILLIAM HENRY ROWBOTHAM
Engineman, Royal Naval Reserve, HM Trawler Night Hawk
Died: 25 December 1914, aged 28 years
Born 1886 in Grimsby
Son of Henry Rowbotham
Husband of Sarah Rowbotham, 43 Glebe Road, Cleethorpes Commemorated: Chatham Naval Memorial

The Night Hawk was lost on 25 December 1914 in British waters. Almost 1,200 vessels were lost in the First World War.

The crew lost were:
CHAPPLE, Alfred W J, Engineman, RNR, ES 25
CHURCH, Joseph, Trimmer, RNR, TS 198
HEARNE, Arthur H, Trimmer, RNR, TS 43
HUBBARD, George H, Deck Hand, RNR, DA 324
ROWBOTHAM, William H, Engineman, RNR, ES 42 SHEARSMITH, Thomas H, Cook, RNR, TC 108

HENRY ‘HARRY’ HELLYER WEBSTER
Lance Corporal 27364 King’s Royal Rifle Corp; Second Lieut, 1st Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment
Born in India
Son of Revd E and Mrs Webster
Killed in action: 14 April 1918, aged 20 years Commemorated: Tyne Cot Memorial

Background
Harry was born in 1898 in India, the son of Wesleyan minister Ebenezer Webster, who was the minister at Trinity Methodist Church from 1913 until 1920.

Harry was sent to Wolsingham School in Weardale, Co Durham.

His name appears in the school Memorial:

In honour of the old boys of this school who fell in the world wars 1914-1918, 1939-1945.

Harry’s medals were sent to his father at: Epworth House, Matlock, Derbyshire. Revd Ebenezer Webster MA was recorded as a Wesleyan minister in Kelly's 1925 Directory.
 
Harry’s obituary from the Grimsby News

GRIMSBY NEWS May 3 1918

SEC LIEUT HARRY WEBSTER, only son of the Revd and Mrs E Webster, of Cleethorpes, is reported killed in action in Flanders, April 17th. Two years ago he left his engineering studies in the Hull Technical College to enlist as a private in the King's Royal Rifles, and was at once selected for promotion. He received his first stripe shortly after joining and his second a few weeks later. After training in the 17th O.C.B. at Rhyl he received his commission in the Lincolnshire Regiment a year ago and went to the Western Front in June, where he saw service in all parts of the line, from St Quentin to Ypres. He took part in the heavy fighting last March, when his battalion (Lincolns), so gloriously held the line. A few days before his death he suceeded to the command of his company, and as one of his comrades says in a letter to the bereaved parents, he played a very brave part during the German attack in the Lys sector, where he was killed instantly by a shell. The chaplain writes that he was beloved by all in the battalion, and one of the men of his company adds that they would have followed him anywhere.Harry Webster was born in India, and was only 20 when he died for the great cause. He held the championship badge for athletics in the Wolsingham Grammar School, and after coming to Cleethorpes became a hearty worker among the young people, taking a large share in the Sunday school, Boys’ Life Brigade, and similar work. He was a keen sportsman and greatly loved and admired by the young people he came in contact with, as well as by the older members of the congregation attending the Wesleyan Church, who knew his stirling worth and appreciated it.

JAMES WILLIAM WHEATLEY
Rifleman B/200213, 10th Battalion Rifle Brigade
Died of wounds: 9 October 1916, aged 27 years
Born Cleethorpes in 1889
Son of William Wheatley amd Zillar Ann Windley, 29 Manchester Street, Cleethorpes Buried: St Sever Cemetery, Rouen, France

Second plaque:

RAYMOND BANNISTER
Lance Corporal 22617, 1st Bat Lincolnshire Regiment
Died: 11 April 1917, aged 20 years
Born in Cleethorpes
Son of Alfred and Betsy Ann Bannister, Nee Henson, Saxon House, St Peter’s Avenue, Cleethorpes
Enlisted: Cleethorpes

Buried: Cojeul British Cemetery

Raymond is also named on the St Peter’s Memorial - please go to that page for addtional information about Raymond.

JACK GRANT BLOW
Private 5/40443, 11th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Died: 15 July 1917, aged 22 years
Son of John and Annie Blow, nee Bannister, Hope Cottage, Mill Road, Cleethorpes
Born in CleethorpesBuried: Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery (12km west of Arras)

Jack was born in 1897 and is also on the St Peter’s memorial.

GEORGE ARTHUR BROWN
Gunner 148848, Royal Garrison Artillery
Died of illness: 11 November 1917
Born in 1888 in Cleethorpes
Son of Arthur Brown and Annie Sophia Wray
Husband of Winifred Daisy Parr of 70 Oxford Street, Cleethorpes Buried: Cleethorpes Cemetery

Background
George Arthur Brown was born in Cleethorpes in 1888 to Cleethorpes fish merchant, Arthur Brown and Annie Sophie, nee Wray, who hailed from North Coates.

In 1901, 40-year-old Arthur and Annie, five years his junior, lived at Cambridge Villa, Cambridge Street, Cleethorpes. Apart from 12-year-old George, there was Carr (?) 14, Elsie A, 10, Kathleen E, five, Tom S, seven, Fred R, three, and Frank P, one.

The family had one live-in servant, Florence Soughton, 20, from North Somercoates.

On Boxing Day 1910, George married Winifred Daisy Parr at the Wesleyan Chapel.

Like his father, George was wholesale fish merchant and set up home with his wife at Glen Roy, 70 Oxford Street, Cleethorpes.

On 23 August 1912, daughter Dorothy Muriel was born followed by son Kenneth on 14 November 1915.

At the age of 27, he joined the Royal Garrison Artillery. His enlistment records reveal that he was tall for his time – 5ft 10in.

It isn’t clear whether he ever served abroad. On 10 May 1917, he was admitted into Catterick Military Hospital where TB was diagnosed. One day after George was admitted to hospital, son Kenneth – not yet two years old – died.

George's records reveal that he has five brothers and four sisters who were all well. It was declared that the TB was aggravated by his military service and he was thus discharged as medically unfit on 21 June 1917.

He was awarded a pension, but died on 11 November 1917 at the age of 28. His widow, Winfred, was awarded a pension of 18/9 a week for her and one child.

FRANK GARDINER GRANT
Driver 800775, C Battery, 230th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery
Died: 26 March 1918, aged 21 years
Born in 1896 in Cleethorpes
Son of Henry Barsley Grant and Annie Grant (nee Harris), Eschol House, Mill Road, Cleethorpes
Buried: Sailly-Labourse Communal Cemetery Extension, France

GEORGE ROWLAND GRANT
Private 42819, 2nd Bat Essex Regiment
Died: 3 September 1918, aged 19 years
Born in 1899 in Cleethorpes
Son of Henry Barsley Grant and Annie Grant (nee Harris), Eschol House, Mill Road, Cleethorpes
Buried: Dury Crucifix Cemetery, France

Brother of Frank above

Background
Frank and George were the two oldest sons of Cleethorpes-born Henry Barsley Grant, a cooper and fish barrel maker, and Annie Grant, nee Harris, who came from Sheffield. In 1901, the family were lived at 2 Lyndhurst Terrace, Mill Road, Cleethorpes. Henry and Annie were both 32, Frank was four and George just one. They had an older sister, Ivy L Frant, aged seven. Also at the house was Annie’s brother, 22-year-old John William Harris, who was also working as a cooper and fish barrel maker. He was born in New Clee which indicates that the Harris family moved from Sheffield to Cleethorpes. Charlotte, Annie’s 17-year-old sister, also boarding with the family and worked working as a domestic servant was 33-year-old May Rawlin. At some point the family moved across the street from Lyndhurst Terrace in to Eschol House.

THOMAS ARCHIBALD ‘ARCHIE’ MALLETT
Private 201958, 2nd/4th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment
Killed in action: 26 October 1917, aged 21 years
Born in 1896 in Sheffield
Son of Thomas Mallett, 86 Bentley Street, Cleethorpes Commemorated: Tyne Cot Memorial

HERBERT KIRK SHEARDOWN
Private 1810, 2nd Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment
Killed in action: 23 October 1916, aged 21 years
Born in 1895 in Cleethorpes
Son of Fred Kirk Sheardown and Rose Alice Sheardown (nee Hodgson) Commemorated: Thiepval Memorial

FRANK SIDNEY (Sydney?) SHEARDOWN
Private, 25844, 8th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment
Killed in action: 28 April 1917, aged 27 years
Born in 1888 in Cleethorpes
Son of William Sheardown and Christiana Sheardown (nee Hodgson) Mill Road, Cleethorpes
Husband of Hilda Sheardown, 79 Crowhill Avenue, Cleethorpes Commemorated: Arras Memorial

Cousin of Herbert Sheardown and Robert Hodgson, who also died.

EDWIN ‘EDDIE’ SHOWLER
Private 1139, 10th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment
Killed in action: 1 July 1916, aged 22 years
Born in Grimsby
Son of John Henry and Amelia Showler (nee Petch), 27 Bursar Street, Cleethorpes bCommemorated: Thiepval Memorial

Born in 1894 in Grimsby, Eddie is  also commemorated on the St Peter’s Church memorial. Eddie died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. His uncle, George Showler, also died in the war.

GEORGE ROBERT SHOWLER
Company Serjeant Major, 5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment
Killed in action: 13 October 1915, aged 39 years
Born in Cleethorpes in 1876
Son of Edwin Showler and Esther Maria Showler (nee Bannister), 113 Mill Road, Cleethorpes
Husband of Alice Maud Showler, 5 Crowhill Avenue, Cleethorpes
Enlisted in GrimsbyCommemorated: Loos Memorial

George is Eddie’s uncle and is Also commemorated on the St Peter’s Church memorial.