Man to pay poignant Lancaster War Memorial 100th anniversary tribute to his great great grandmother who lost four sons in World War I

Of all the Lancaster families scarred by the Great War, Agnes Butterworth’s was the worst to suffer.

Not only did she lose more sons than any other Lancaster mother – but also her husband, James, died in 1916, reportedly from a broken heart following the deaths of his sons.

On December 3, 1924, Agnes, along with three other bereaved mothers, unveiled the plaques on Lancaster’s new War Memorial, next to Lancaster Town Hall, and a century on, her great great grandson Ian has been invited to the official rededication ceremony on December 17 attended by the Duke of Gloucester.

“The War Memorial is a touchstone for our family,” said Ian who lives in Bolton-le-Sands.

“100 years ago, it was the only place my relatives could visit to remember those they’d lost as they couldn’t go abroad and often didn’t even know where they were buried.”

That was the case for Ian’s great grandad, William Butterworth, 36, the first brother to be killed while on a routine patrol in France in 1914.

William was the eldest of 11 children to survive into adulthood and enlisted in the York and Lancaster regiment in 1904, serving mostly in India, although he also fought in the Boer War. He became a Reservist in 1912.

He had been married only six months and was installing pavement flags when he was called up for service in World War One. He had lived in various houses in the Albion Mill area where most of his family worked.

His mother Agnes was told William was missing, presumed dead, so for almost a century, he had no grave, just a plaque on a memorial in a Belgian military cemetery and his name on Lancaster War Memorial.

He was also remembered on a scroll of honour at the Boys National School, which he had attended and which is now on display at Ripley St Thomas CE Academy, and on a memorial in St John’s Church.

However, in 2009, during building work in France, 22 sets of remains of British World War One soldiers were discovered during excavations for the extension to a house and the search began to identify them.

Ian just happened to be watching a television report about the discovery and when it was mentioned that the soldiers belonged to William’s regiment he wondered if his great grandad might be among them.

But another five years passed until a report in the Lancaster Guardian appealed for William Butterworth’s relatives.

Ian contacted the Ministry of Defence and on July 24, 2014, coincidentally, his twin sons’ birthday, it was confirmed after DNA testing via a distant cousin that one of the bodies was indeed his great grandfather, and arrangements were made for a burial in Y Farm Cemetery in France.

“The MOD were very caring and when they called to confirm that one set of remains was that of William Butterworth, it was strangely emotional, even though I had never known my great grandfather,” said Ian.

However, he does remember William’s widow – Margaret – who lived until the 1960s and never remarried. The couple had one child out of wedlock – Ian’s grandfather, William Clegg – and a daughter born in 1915.

He remembers that Margaret had her husband’s medals and plaque and his photograph on the wall.

Poignantly, in a form sent by the Army asking if she had received any contact from her husband, she had replied: “I would only be too glad if I had heard any news of him.”

On October 22, 2014, just four days after the centenary of William’s death, his remains were re-interred and Ian was there.

“It was very moving and unique because who gets to attend their great grandfather’s funeral 100 years after they’ve died? Two rainbows even appeared during the ceremony,” said Ian who is a former purchasing officer at the University of Cumbria.

Of the four Butterworth brothers, only Christopher, who had worked at Albion Mill and was lost in action in 1915, aged 23, leaving a wife and daughter, has no known grave although he is remembered at the Menin Gate.

Hugh, 19, who had been employed at Lune Works before the war, died just three months after Christopher in 1915 and is buried in Belgium.

John, 34, had served for one year at home when he died in hospital in 1917 and is buried in Lancaster Cemetery.

Both Hugh and John were single.

Two other Butterworth brothers also fought and were badly injured in World War One but survived. George was in the Scots Guards and James in the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment.

“I feel a tremendous debt to those like my ancestors who just thought they were going on a big adventure which would be over by Christmas,” said Ian.

Every Remembrance Sunday, he lays a wreath at Lancaster War Memorial which has such special significance to his family, and on December 3, he plans to visit with his wife, Amanda and his son, William, named after the great great grandfather remembered there.

And Ian will lay chrysanthemums, the very flowers chosen by Agnes Butterworth, to remember her brave sons on that auspicious day a century ago.