Information on St Mark's Church, Worsley, Manchester, UK, Church of England, Author Paul Speakman St Mark's Church Worsley The Burne Jones Window The West Window Peter Rasbotham Window The Pugin Glass Pugin and Barry The Sebastopol Lace The Reredos The Memorial Tomb The Pulpit and Lectern The Nave The Ellesmere Chalice The Church Bells Kneelers The Visit of Queen Victoria Richard Knill Freeman Plan of the Church The Truth The Baptismal Window The St. Hilda Window The Angel Scrolls Powell glass The Ellesmere Clock The White Frontal Salvator Mundi The Choir Stalls The Baptismal Font The Choir The Organ A F Egerton Angels War Memorial James Attwood The Rectory Church Play 1983 Home

Information on the graves and memorials located at St. Mark's Church, Worsley, Manchester, UK. World War One, World War Two and Civilian, Author Paul Speakman Welcome to our Website This website is designed to provide information on some of the many people buried at St Mark's Church in Worsley, Greater Manchester and also the history of the church itself and the surrounding area. The Foundation Stone for St Mark's was laid on the 15th June 1844 and the graveyard holds a wealth of stories spanning nearly 180 years. All research and information published on this site is courtesy of local author and historian Paul Speakman. Fundraising St Mark's Church is currently trying to raise funds for much needed structural work. Please click the following link if you can help in anyway. Supporting St Mark's Worsley 2025 is the 175th anniversary of the Church Rectory. Unfortunately the future of this grand old building is far from certain. Please click here to read the history of the Rectory, that was home to rectors from 1850 to 2007. Recent additions to the site include OS Maps from 1848 and 1894 , information in the Church archive section on the Church Choir , Organ and the Ellesmere Chalice. Also, an interesting article from the Manchester Evening News in 1971 , when two local ladies scaled the Church spire. You can use the search bar below to search for people on the site.

Information and books on St Mark's Church, Worsley, Manchester, UK, Church of England, Author Paul Speakman Books on St Mark's Church and the surrounding area Timeline of St Mark's Church 1846 -1946 Read More Ellesmere in America Read More The Queen Cometh Read More World War 1 Graves Read More Worsley Worthies Vol 1 Read More Why St Mark's ? Read More The Lives of the First Seven Incumbents Read More Lord Egerton's Dream Read More English Country Churches Read More World War 2 Graves Read More Worsley Worthies Vol 2 Read More Salviati by R.S. Kovach Read More Home

Worsley August 1945 Below is an aerial photograph of Worsley taken by the RAF in August 1945. Courtesy of Historic England Red Dot - St Mark's Church Orange Dot - The Bridgewater Canal Green Dots - Roe Green CC /Worsley CC Cyan Dot - The Ellesmere Memorial, Leigh Road Magenta Dot - Worsley New Hall Blue Dot - Grounds of Worsley New Hall (Now RHS) Purple Dot - Site of the McCrea's House (Destroyed 1940 blitz) - Link Yellow Dot - V1 Crash Site Xmas Eve 1944 - Link Home

Burials Q-Z St Marks Church, Worsley, Manchester. Civilian, Private Graves, Author Paul Speakman Private Graves Q-Z RASBOTHAM Peter REISS Reginald RIDYARD Family RAWLINSON Grace REW David RILEY Francis REEKS Kent REYNOLDS John ROGERSON Elizabeth ROSCOE James SALT Thomas SCHUSTER Louis ROYLE Emily SCHOLFIELD Annie SCOTT William ROYLE Jonathan SCHUSTER Family SEDDON Peter SHAW Joshua SHARPLES Samuel SHEARMAN Family SIMISTER Charles SHARPLES Ellen SMITH Elizabeth SMITH Jeremiah SPAFFORD Family STONE Thomas SUMMONS Stephen SMITH Thomas Tyrer STANNING Richard Capt. STONES Thomas TEALE Family SMITH William STEELE Albert STUTTARD James TEMPERLEY George TEMPERLEY George T THOMAS Sarah TYLDESLEY George E TYLDESLEY Joseph TEMPERLEY Robert TOOTAL Edward TYLDESLEY John T UPJOHN William TENNANT Thomas TUNNER James TYLDESLEY John WADDINGTON Ellen WALKER John Adams WHITEHEAD Jane WILD Samuel WILLINK Francis YATES Job WALLWORK Thomas WHITEHEAD Thomas WILLIAMS Richard Hall WILSON Thomas YATES John WARD John WHITTLE Sarah WILLIS Robert WILSON William Home

Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. James Kee, World War Two James Kee JAMES KEE Fg.Off. RAF d. 28 October 1941 aged 24 42713 Robert Kee was Vicar of St.John's, Mosley Common, from 1936 to 1962, and he officiated at several events at St.Mark's during the war years. JAMES KEE was his only son and was born to Janet on 21 July 1917 in Belfast, Co. Antrim, Ireland. After school, he went to Cambridge University where he was admitted as Pensioner at Trinity College on 1 October. There he gained his B.A. Hons. in 1939. Robert (born 1885) died in 1962 and his wife Janet died in 1968. Both are buried in the graveyard at St. Mark's, together with their son, James, in whose memory a special Commonwealth Graves headstone stands before the family monument. On 18 September 1939, he received his commission into the RAF (General Duties Branch) and joined 101 Squadron on a short service commission as a pilot. On 20 April 1941, he was promoted to Flying Officer. 101 sqn., (originally disbanded in 1919), was reformed in 1938 at RAF Bircham Newton (Norfolk) as a bomber squadron, flying the Bristol Blenheim. In 1941, the squadron was equipped with the Vickers Wellington, and the following year with the Avro Lancaste219 Squadron was reformed at RAF Catterick in October 1939 and soon became a night fighter unit when it became fully operational. By October 1940, it relocated to RAF Redhill (Surrey), and from there to RAF Tangmere, and converted to the Bristol Beaufighter. By this time James Kee had been redeployed to the squadron and the Beaufighter, which was used initially as a night fighter and in a ground attack role. It had a crew of two - pilot, and a navigator/radio operator.On 28 October 1941, James Kee and T. G. F. Dixon took off in their Beaufighter, possibly from Tangmere, on a dusk patrol. Soon after take-off, the plane crashed about four miles west of Merston (Sussex) in the evening. Both F/O J. Kee and Sgt. T.G.F. Dixon were killed. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Evelyn Geoffrey Lord, St Mark's Church Worsley, Manchester, National Archives 2nd Lieutenant Evelyn Geoffrey Lord National Archives Files 1/1 Back

Robert Ambler, St Mark's Church Worsley, Manchester, National Archives 2nd Lieutenant Robert Ambler National Archives Files 1/1 Back

Fred Slinger , World War One , WW1 Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester UK Fred Wilby Slinger FRED WILBY SLINGER Pte. Machine Gun Corps (Heavy Branch), d. 5 July 1917 aged 30 76748 BURIED AT WORSLEY Gunner F. W. Slinger, who was buried at Worsley on July 9th with full military honours, was well known in the Winton and Worsley Districts. He was 30 years of age, lived for some time in Catherine Street, attended St. Mark's School, and later became telegraph boy at Worsley. From here he was transferred to the Parcels Department at the Manchester Port Office, where he was employed when war broke out. He was a member of the 5th Manchester Territorials, but did not proceed with the Division to Egypt, and shortly after transferred to the Royal Scots. With the infantry he saw active service on the Western Front, taking part in the Somme battle last year, and in the offensive of this summer. Early in the present year he was transferred Heavy Branch Machine Gun Corps, and became one of the crew of Tank no.2. On June 7th, after the battle of Messines, Slinger was at work outside his tank in the zone of shell fire, when he was struck by a portion of a German shell. He was brought to Leicester Hospital, where he received every possible attention, but his wounds proved fatal, and he died on July 5th. Slinger was married but had no children, his widow's home being with Mrs. Goring at 7 Cleaveley Street, Worsley Road, Winton. [Local newspaper] This is how the death of Fred Wilby Slinger was reported in a local newspaper. He was married to Elizabeth (née Goring) on 22 May 1915 at St. Mark's. His father was Thomas, a shop assistant. Fred's address was Railway View, K. William Street, and he was 28 years old. His wife, Elizabeth, was 24 and her father was Erasmus Goring, an engineer, of Patricroft. Fred was awarded the Victory Medal in 1919. He was buried by Campbell Blethyn Hulton on 8 July 1918, having died of wounds at the Fifth Northern Military Hospital, Leicester. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. Brian Ainsbury, World War Two Brian Ainsbury There is a second civilian burial recorded at the church, of a young boy who was also tragically killed by enemy action during World War II. A V1 'doodlebug' attack on Christmas Eve 1944, hit and destroyed two houses and damaged several others about a third of the way up the right hand side of Woodstock Drive in Worsley. This was not very far from the site of 'The Cottage', where the McCrea family had been killed four years earlier. Number 20 Woodstock Drive was the home of Brian Walter Ainsbury, who died on 24 December 1944, aged 5 according to official records. He was buried in the churchyard on 28 December 1944, where his age was recorded as 4½ years, a more accurate record. Brian was the son of Joseph Hearnshaw and Hilda (née Shaw) Ainsbury. The Ainsburys had two other children: David A., born in the second quarter of 1942 and Carole B., born in the first quarter of 1948. Joseph and Hilda were married locally in the third quarter of 1937. The below RAF aerial photograph of Worsley taken in August 1945 shows the damage caused on Woodstock Drive by the V1 Rocket attack 8 months earlier. Photograph courtesy of Historic England More information on the V1 attack on the 24th December 1944 can be found here Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Arthur Ratcliffe , World War One , WW1 Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester UK Arthur Ratcliffe 22120 Private Arthur Ratcliffe 2nd and 4th Bn Grenadier Guards, Died 11/04/18 Arthur Ratcliffe was born on 23 November 1895 and baptised on 26 February 1896 at St. Mark’s Church, Worsley. His mother was Mary Elizabeth (née Williams) and his father Albert Edward, and they lived at 42 Leigh Road, Boothstown. In 1901, Arthur, who was now 5, had a 3 year old sister, Rachel, and the family were still living at 42 Leigh Road. Boothstown. Another brother John had been born in 1900 and baptised on the 20th September 1900 but John sadly died that year (Q3). Their father was a Coal Miner (Hewer) and their mother worked as a Cotton Weaver. Arthur's father died in 1908 and the family went to live with his grandfather William Williams at 52 Vicars Hall Lane, Boothstown. Arthur's mother kept house for his grandfather whilst also working as a weaver in a cotton mill. Rachel aged thirteen also worked as a weaver whilst Arthur at the age of fifteen was working as a labourer underground at a colliery. Arthur Ratcliffe enlisted in to the Grenadier Guards on 15 January 1915 at Atherton. His address at the time was 52 Vicars Hall Lane, Boothstown, Manchester, his age was given as 19 years and 53 days and his trade was Collier. His next of kin was his mother Elizabeth, and he was 5’ 10 ¾” tall. He joined Caterham Guards Depot on 19th January 1915 and, after training, would have joined the 5th Reserve Battalion at Chelsea Barracks before being posted to the 4th Bn. and deployed to France on 6th November 1915. Over the next couple of years he was often in hospital returning to England for treatment. He suffered from abrasions to the head in February 1916 and was sent back to England to recover. He was issued with a new set of upper dentures at this time. Arthur returned to France in August 1916 before succumbing to trench foot in December 1916 which caused him pain, tenderness, swelling and numbness. He returned to England aboard the hospital ship 'St George' on the 23rd December 1916 and remained in hospital until 10th March 1917. In an undated pencil written letter sent from the front line back to his Mother, it says: "Dear Mother, I am sending the birthday cards back & also a piece of the cake & I wish you to take care of the same till we meet again. The card that Grace sent me, please hand over to her also. It is my wish you should do this, Dear Mother; & then, at the time when we meet again, it will help us all to recall these times. I am very glad to say that the cake kept me a treat & was not broken. We have just finished the cake off & they all wish me to tell you the cake was fine & send their very best respects. I am sorry to say that I was not fortunate enough to get anything out of the cake, for one Sergeant got the baby & is just sending it home; & another Sergeant got the button, & a young chap got the threepenny bit opposite me, & another fellow the ring. I will close now in haste. With best of love. From your loving son Arthur XXXXXXXXXXXX" In June 1917 he was once again returned to the front. On the 9th October 1917 at Langemark he was again wounded, but this time seriously. He was blown up by a shell when advancing with his Battalion. Running after his Battalion to try and catch up, he then suffered a gunshot wound to his leg. He spent four days in the Base hospital, three weeks convalescing at Camp No 5 at Cayeaux, & four weeks in hospital at Le Havre. He then remained on base at Le Havre for a while. During all this time he suffered from breathlessness on exertion and was diagnosed with heart problems caused by being gassed. Deemed physically unfit, Arthur was sent home on the 28th January 1918 to be cared for in a hospital in England. Private Ratcliffe was discharged “no longer physically fit for War Service” on 4 April 1918, he had served 3 years and 80 days. Arthur had seen action at the Battle of the Somme, the 3rd Battle of Ypres, Passchendaele, and the Battle of Cambrai. For his war service, Arthur was awarded the 1914/15 star and the British War & Victory Medal. He was also awarded Silver War Badge number 3451713 having been discharged due to wounds. Arthur Died at home on 11th April 1918. He was buried at St. Mark's Church, Worsley on the 15 April 1918, in grave number W2192 at a cost of £1. 8s and 6d. The payment was received by Frank Derbyshire, the clerk. His documents were marked 'died after discharge' and a war pension was paid to his sister Rachel. The circumstances of his death only a week after being discharged are unclear. His discharge documents from the 5th (Res) Battalion Grenadier Guards dated for the 4 April 1918 in London say that he had a fresh complexion, blue eyes and brown hair and that he was a fruiterer. His military character was Very Good and he was described as being “A clean sober and hard-working man”. A newspaper article with a photo of Arthur reads: Boothstown Local Guardsman’s Funeral "The death took place at 52 Vicars Hall Lane yesterday week of Arthur Ratcliffe (22) late of the Grenadier Guards, who was discharged from the Army about a month ago after being gassed. Deceased enlisted in January 1915 and had been to France three times, having during that time been wounded, invalided home with sickness and gassed. The funeral took place at Worsley Parish Church yard on Monday with Military Honours. Among those who followed the remains to the grave being a Sergeant, Firing Party and bugler from Leigh Prisoner of War Camp, Boothstown Boy Scouts, under Scoutmaster Barnes and the Sons of the Temperance who were represented by Mr. R. Greenhalgh (Grand Scribe) and other officials. The Rev. Percy Burnett conducted the Funeral Service and at the close the bugler sounde d the “Last Post”. Mr. J. Edge made the arrangements for the Military Funeral. Rest In Peace". By 1921, Arthur's grandfather had passed away. His mother remained living at 52 Vicars Hall Lane along with her son Fred, daughter Rachel and two boarders. Rachel still worked as a cotton weaver whilst Fred worked as a labourer below ground in the colliery. One of the boarders was William Ratcliffe, Arthur's paternal grandfather. Arthur was awarded a Silver war badge, the 1914-15 Star, and the British War and Victory Medal. His medals were auctioned in July 2019 as well as his honourable discharge certificate; a letter written from the front to his mother; and a newspaper cutting regarding his funeral, containing a photograph of Arthur. They were sold for just £130. Details can be found here Link After landscaping work in the graveyard in the mid 1970's, Arthurs resting place became unmarked. On the 26th July 2023 the Commonwealth War Graves Commission installed a new Headstone for Pt Arthur Ratcliffe. With the help of the church graveyard plans, they were able to install it exactly where he was laid to rest. [This biography was submitted to the church by an anonymous donor in recog nition of the bravery and valour of ARTHUR RATCLIFFE, whose body was laid to rest in the church yard ] Back

Evelyn Geoffrey Lord , World War One , WW1 Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester UK Evelyn Geoffrey Lord The National Archives files for Evelyn Geoffrey Lord can be accessed at this link - National Archives EVELYN GEOFFREY LORD 2nd Lieutenant Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) 37th Bn. d. 25 June 1918 Evelyn Geoffrey Lord was born in 1886 in Audenshaw. He was the son of Charles Lord, solicitor, and Evelyn (née Lord). By 1891, he was living living at Oak Lawn, Manchester Road, Audenshaw, aged 4, with his parents and sister, Dorothy, aged 2. Ten years later, in 1901, he was a boarder at Uppingham School, (admitted in September 1900), where he stayed until April 1905. At that time, his parents were at 10 Wilbraham Road, south Manchester. In 1911, he was a solicitor's articled clerk and was living at 1 Brighton Grove, Rusholme, a boarder at the home of Harry Whittaker. He married Marietta Adelaide Augusta Godbey in the first quarter of 1915 in Holborn. According to the National Probate Calendar, he lived at 14 Jubilee Place, Chelsea. He died at Worsley Hall Red Cross Hospital following an operation and was buried at St. Mark's on 28 June 1918, aged 34. This was probably because it was the most convenient place for burial following his treatment at The New Hall. Probate was granted on 16 September to Marietta Adelaide Augusta Lord (his widow). In reporting his death on the 29 June 1918 The Buxton Advertiser gave Geoffrey's parents' address as "Wood Edge, Buxton". By 1919, his sister, Dorothy, had also moved in with them following the death in 1917 of her husband, Lt. Col. Cyril Benton Johnson. Mrs. E. G. Lord applied for husband's medals on 3/11/21. Evelyn Geoffrey was mentioned in Despatches on 24 December 1917. Geoffrey was Gazetted on 25 October 1916 from Cadet to 2nd Lieutenant in The Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) (London Gazette , 21 November 1916). His Medal Index Card states that he entered into War service on 17th March 1917. The 37th Battalion was part of the 12th (Eastern) Division by the 4 February 1916, and Geoffrey would have joined the Battalion in time to take part in the Battle of Arras in April 1917 and looks like he was wounded as he was transferred to a field hospital on 6/4/17. Geoffrey's 37th Battalion moved into No 12 Battalion, Machine Gun Corps, on the 1 March 1918. A number of his comrades in the 37th were killed in action on dates coinciding with The Battle of the Avre, 4 April 1918, and The Battle of the Ancre, 5 April 1918 - the end of the 'Michael offensive'. It is possible he was wounded there. However he was sent home to the Worsley Hall Red Cross Hospital on 13th April 1918 due to gas poisoning. He died there on the 25th June 1918. More information on Evelyn Geoffrey Lord can be found at the Buxton War Memorials Site Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back