My Great Grandfather, Charles Beswick, worked as a hewer at Bradford Colliery and joined the 21st Bn The Manchester Regiment. His Service number was Pvt. 19996 and later in the war he was transferred to the Labour Corps (No. 30088). Great Grandfather was born in 1881 and baptised on 17th April that year at St Jude's Church in Ancoats. He was the eldest son of Jonathan and Mary Ann Beswick (nee Perry). Jonathan and Mary had six other children including another boy, they called Jonathan, who also became a collier. Jonathan Jnr emigrated to Australia before the start of WWI and worked in the coal mine in Wonthaggi.
It is likely that Charles Beswick was injured at some point during the War, which was why he was was in the Labour Corps at the end of the conflict. After the war he did not return to the pit but set up as an independent fruiterer.
He died at the early age of 48 on 1st Feb 1929 leaving his widow and ten surviving children. [One of these was my Great Uncle Bobby (Robert Beswick RN.) who was an Ordinance Artificer on board SS Ceramic when she was torpedoed off the Azores on 7th December 1942. Of the 656 men, women and children on board, one soul survived.]
Great Grandfather is buried with his wife at Philip's Park Cemetery. She died in 1970 so I can just remember her.
I am very grateful to this site for pointing me in the right direction for filling in some of the important gaps in my knowledge of Great Grandfather and actually finding a photograph of him. I found once I had discovered the regimental photograph by loading photographs of my Beswick relatives and that army photograph into Picasa the tagging process soon pinpointed him. Now when I look at him I see the look my aunt (his granddaughter) so often gives. Quite remarkable.
