Those who served their country in WW1
Search for all who served in WW1, whose families had some connection with Bollington and Kerridge.
Results of search: surname Vickers
William Vickers and his wife Elizabeth (formerly Holden) were born in Bolton, but came to live in Bollington. They lived at Princess Street in 1891 and at Wellington Road in 1901. Among their twelve children were William Vickers born 11 December 1865 in Bolton and John Vickers.
William Vickers married Mary Emily Heald 26 July 1890 at St John’s Bollington. They had seven children including William, George, Ernest and Thomas, all born at Bollington. The family had moved back to Bolton by 1901 and the three other children were born in Bolton. Mary Emily died in 1906 and William then married Elizabeth Ann Duffield 17 August 1907 at the Methodist New Connexion chapel at Park Street, Macclesfield. Elizabeth Ann was from Bollington and four of her brothers were WW1 soldiers – search for Duffield to see more information. William and George emigrated to Montreal, Canada in March 1912 and the rest of the family followed in August of that year.
Son of William Vickers and Elizabeth:
JOHN VICKERS was born 16 May 1880 at Bollington Cross. He lived at Bollington Cross in 1881, at Princess Street in 1891 and at Wellington Road in 1901. He married Julia Oldham in 1904. In 1911 he was a self acter minder in a cotton mill, living at 63 Grimshaw Lane with his wife, daughter Annie (born about 1909) and his widowed mother-in-law. There were many WW1 soldiers with this name. No military record has been found for him. He died in 1953 and was buried at St John’s.
He is listed on the appendix to the Roll of Honour of Thomas Oliver & Sons (Bollington) Ltd as one of the men who attested under the Group System.
The Bollington Discovery Centre Photo Archive contains pictures of JACK VICKERS.
Sons of William Vickers and Mary Emily (formerly Heald):
GEORGE VICKERS was born 1 February 1894 and baptised 6 March 1894 at the Methodist New Connexion chapel on Grimshaw Lane. He was single and working as a driller when he enlisted in the 79th Battery of the CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Force) 20 November 1917 at Montreal; regimental number 2522425.
ERNEST VICKERS was born 2 November 1895 and baptised 1 December 1895 at the Methodist New Connexion chapel on Grimshaw Lane. He was single and working as a dry goods clerk when he enlisted in the Canadian Garrison Regiment of the CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Force) on 27 April 1918 at Montreal; regimental number 2753179.
THOMAS VICKERS was born 5 November 1897 and baptised on 19 December 1897 at the Methodist New Connexion chapel on Grimshaw Lane. He was single and working as a labourer when he enlisted in the 79th Battery of the CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Force) on 20 November 1917 at Montreal; regimental number 2522445 (the same day as his brother George).
No further details are known of the military service of the three brothers during WW1.
Notes:
Please note that MOST (about 60%) of WW1 army service records did not survive the London blitz of WW2. If (and only if) soldiers served overseas they would have received campaign medals - campaign medal rolls and index cards have generally survived, but only show brief key details. If a soldier served overseas before the end of 1915, the index card shows the date of first arrival in a theatre of war. If there is no date on the card, the soldier first served after the end of 1915. In many cases this is all that is known about a soldier's service.
As a general rule in these short histories, details of campaign medals awarded are NOT included unless there is something of particular interest. See the section on Medals for an explanation of how soldiers qualified for the various campaign medals.
Unless otherwise stated, addresses are in Bollington, near Macclesfield. St John's was the local Anglican church, and St Gregory's was the local Roman Catholic church. (Neither church is still in use, replaced by St Oswald's and the new St Gregory's respectively. However, each of the former churches has its own burial ground.) The Wesleyan Methodist chapel is on Wellington Road opposite St Gregory's, but is no longer in use as a chapel. The Primitive Methodist church (now demolished) was on High Street and the Methodist New Connexion chapel (now demolished) was on Grimshaw Lane. The Congregationalist chapel was at the bottom end of Palmerston Street; part of the building still stands and is now used as offices.
In some cases, details of army organisation, battalion movements, etc have been extracted from The Long, Long Trail website.
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