Tuesday 21 July 2015

Ashworth, James - Private - (203806)

Private James Ashworth
2nd/4th Battalion,
East Lancashire Regiment,
Killed in Action, 10th October 1917,
Age 28,
Commemorated Tyne Cot Memorial.

Newspaper Report:

All the three sons of Mr. and Mrs. James H. Ashworth, of 150 Bury Road, Haslingden, who were serving in the army have now fallen.
Private James Ashworth (29), East Lancs., who after being reported missing as from October 10th, 1917, was about a fortnight ago offically returned as presumed killed on that date. 
James was the only one of the three who was married.  Previous to joining up in April, 1917, he was an overlooker at Hargreaves Street Mill, Haslingden, and resided at 99 Bury Road.  He had two young children, The elder, Ivy, (shown in photograph), three years old, was killed in a tram accident at Haslingden just after Easter.  The other child is 14 months old. The mother is at present living with a sister at Barnoldswick.   
James had been in France only three weeks when he was reported missing.  He was organist at the Gospel Mission and a trustee of the place.  He too, was a member of the Mission cricket team at the time they won the championship. 

Newspaper Memorials:

To the sweet and cherished memory of my dear Husband, Private James Ashworth, East Lancashire Regiment., who was reported missing October 10th 1917, since presumed killed on or soon after that date.

"He has gone from his home, his children, his wife,
Whom he willingly toiled for and loved as his life;
Oh, God! how mysterious and strange are Thy ways,
To take from us this loved one in the best of his days.
"Time passes, but memory never fades."

From his sorrowing Wife and Child.

"Links are snapped beyond repairing,
And the fondest chains are riven;
None can fill the void created,
But the gentle hand of heaven,
"A sorrow too deep for words."

From his loving Father and Mother.

"Our brother is not buried, but embalmed,
in undying glory; we and the whole world are debtors to him,
Such men never die."

From his loving Father and Mother.

"We often sit and think of you,
When we are all alone;
For memory is the only friend,
That grief can call its own."

From his loving Sister Dora.

"Too dearly loved in life to ever be forgotten in death."
He has gone like a flower cut down in full bloom,
From the sunshine of life to the shade of the tomb;
But death cannot sever the chain of our love,
And we hope in due time to meet him above."

From Uncle Bob and Aunt Jane, 2 Town Green.

In affectionate remembrance of my dear husband, Pte. James Ashworth (East Lancashire Regt.,) who was reported missing, October 10th 1917, now presumed dead on that date, or since; also his dear brother, Pte. Harry R. Ashworth, killed in action, October 26th, 1917 also Private Harold Ashworth.

"Time does not change my thoughts of you,
Dear memories linger still;
Sunshine passes, shadows fall,
But true remembrance outlasts all."

From his loving wife and child, 141 Hudrake.

"There is someone who misses you sadly,
And finds the time long since you went,
There is someone who thinks of you often,
And tries to be brave and content.
It's grand to know we'll meet again,
Where parting is no more,
And that the ones are loved on earth,
Have only gone before."

From their loving father and mother, 150 Bury Road, Haslingden.

"When I think of my three brothers,
Whom my mother tended with such are,
Rudely taken from her bosom,
How it makes my heart despair.

Though years roll on they'll leave behind,
Their marks of pain and sorrow,
Yet they leave a sweet remembrance,
There is still a bright tomorrow."

From their loving sister, Dora, 150 Bury Road, Haslingden.

"For many years our family chain,
Was firmly linked together,
But oh, that chain is broken now,
Two links are gone for ever."

John and Phyllis

And when my days are ended,
And the call comes down the line,
Saviour grant that we may meet them,
Those three dear nephews of mine."

From uncle Bob and aunt Jane, 2, Town Green.

Census information - click over to enlarge