On this day... Marriage of Charles William Highley and Mary Carr

Charles William Highley and Mary Carr were married in St Peter's Church, Walsden on 20th March 1915.

Charles William was one of the twelve children of John and Mary Ann Bray Highley. Mary Ann Bray (nee Wills) was born in Cornwall and had moved up to Lancashire some time between 1871 and her marriage to John in 1874. 

Charles William was baptised on 8th September 1889 in the Wesleyan Chapel, Inchfield Bottom, Walsden. In April 1911 he was working as a Cotton Weaver and living at 16 Throstle Street with his parents and younger siblings. He married Mary Carr of 9 Cedar Street on 20th March 1915. Mary was a Weaver and the daughter of William, a Cardroom worker.

The Todmorden and District News said that Charles William was ‘well-known throughout the district, having many and varied interests. He was a member of the Male Voice Choir, and he assisted them at the winning of many of their trophies. He was also in the choir at Lanebottom Wesleyan Chapel.’

Charles William (regimental no. 27557) joined the 15th Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers on 25th January 1917 and was killed in action less than 5 months later, on 22nd June 1917. He was buried at the Ramscappelle Road Military Cemetery in West Flanders, Belgium. The cemetery is at Nieuwpoort between Dunkirk and Ostend. His body was identified by the number 27557 stamped on his boot.

From 18th June until 23rd June the 15th Battalion had been in the trenches at Nieuwpoort Bains. The 15th Lancashire Fusiliers were known as the 1st Salford Pals. They were part of XV Corps who held the front line in Belgium between June and November 1917. Nearly all the burials at Ramscappelle Road are men who died during the British tenure of this sector.

Charles William died at the age of 27. His address at the time was 33 Rock Nook, Summit, Littleborough. Charles William and Mary had one daughter Miriam who was born in 1916. Miriam and her grandparents John and Mary Ann Bray were buried at Calderbrook church in Littleborough.

In the 1911 census John and Mary Ann Bray are shown as having had 12 children, 7 of whom were still living and 5 of whom had died. As well as Charles William, his brothers Ernest Jackson and John Henry were also killed in WW1. So only 4 of the 12 children survived into later life.

Charles William Highley
The Todmorden Advertiser 20 July 1917

Newspaper image © The British Library Board. All rights reserved. 

With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive 

(www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)

Ramscappelle Road Military Cemetery Left: Charles William's gravestone 27557 PRIVATE C.W. HIGHLEY LANCASHIRE FUSILIERS 22ND JUNE 1917 AGED 28 OH REST IN THE LORD GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN (Included with the permission of C. and J. Cosgrove)