Capturing, preserving and sharing Solihull's history. Also commemorating local casualties from the First World War #SolihullRemembers
On Sunday 11th September 2022 in Solihull High Street, the Worshipful the Mayor of Solihull, Councillor Ken Meeson, read the official Proclamation of the Accession of King Charles III. It seems that this was the first local Accession Proclamation ever to have been officially read in Solihull.
Continue reading “The King’s Accession Proclamation”
So far, we have the names of 730 people from places now in the Solihull Borough, or in the then Solihull Rural District, who lost their lives as a result of their war service.
We continue to research the names on the 35 memorials we’re aware of, plus those whose names we’ve found who don’t appear to be commemorated locally.
Over the next four years and beyond, we’ll carry on posting details here of those who died, remembering everyone individually by name on the centenary of their deaths, and sharing what we know about their lives. We don’t just want to list their names, but to tell something of their stories and, hopefully, to find out more from family members and from other researchers.
If you have any further information about anyone from the Solihull area who died as a result of their war service, please let us know.
Tracey
Heritage & Local Studies Librarian
tel.: 0121 704 6934
email: heritage@solihull.gov.uk
100 years ago today, 4th August 1914, the horrors of what was to come over the next four years could not have been imagined. Almost every family and every community would be affected by loss and tragedy. Many of those who returned were never able to speak of what they had witnessed and experienced. Many families never recovered from the loss of their loved ones.
Local communities in what is now the Borough of Solihull have their own memorials, and there are events being held locally to commemorate those who served and who died from each area. However, it’s clear that people did live in wider social networks and we know of many casualties who appear on more than one village war memorial, reflecting multiple associations with local places.
At Solihull Council, we are aiming to compile a complete list of those with a connection to places now within the Borough (or in the old Solihull Rural District) who died as a result of their service in the First World War. It’s very much a work in progress, as it’s often not a simple task to identify the correct individual from a brief entry on a war memorial. Staff at Solilhull Heritage & Local Studies Service are immensely grateful to all those people across the Borough who have kindly shared their research and knowledge to ensure we are able to record as many details as possible about the 700+ individuals so far identified. Special thanks must go to Jill Chape and David Gimes who have been diligent researchers and generous in sharing what they have found. Our task would have been much more difficult without their help, and that of Clive Hinsull.
Over the next four years, and beyond, our aim is to remember individually by name all of those from places now in the Borough who died as a result of their war service. Using the hashtag #SolihullRemembers, we’ll be blogging and tweeting their names on the centenary of their deaths, together with as much information about their lives as we can find. It’s important to remember that the names on memorials are associated with real people, who had jobs, interests and families that they left behind. If you can add anything to the information we have, please get in touch. Most of the sources to which we have access focus more on official, bureaucratic records, rather than the more meaningful life experiences of the individual, so we’d particularly welcome any stories or information you have from within the family.
This project is a labour of love for all of us involved, and we will do our best over the years to come so that we can do justice to the memory of those with a connection to places now in the Borough who gave their lives in the ‘Great War’.
Tracey
Heritage & Local Studies Librarian
email: heritage@solihull.gov.uk
tel.: 0121 704 6977
It is known that about 250,000 boys served on the front line during World War I, whilst being under the age of 19. This was the official age at which overseas service was permitted. This BBC guide gives a useful introduction to some of the reasons for a conspiracy of silence around the enlistment of boys, which was especially prevalent before the introduction of conscription in 1916.
The youngest authenticated combatant of the First World War is Sidney Lewis, from Tooting, South London, who was able to join up at the age of 12 years and 5 months, and saw active service on the Somme for six weeks. A letter to the War Office from his mother demanding his return resulted in his being withdrawn from the front line, discharged from the Army, and sent home.
William Edward Shilvock Wright
In an article in the Birmingham Post 22nd November 1918 reporting the death of his eldest brother, Second Lieutenant John Shilvock Wright, it is mentioned that W. E. S. Wright served at Loos and on the Somme at the age of 15, returning home after being gassed, and then rejoining on attaining military age. He was training for a commission at the time of his brother’s death.
In an age of larger families, it wasn’t unusual for a couple to have more than one of their children serving in the Armed Forces and, indeed, to have more than one child killed.
Local families we know of where several siblings served are: Continue reading “Brothers in Arms”
Three more men from places now within the Solihull Borough are known to have died in September 1914. They were:
If you have any information about any of these soldiers, please let us know – email heritage@solihull.gov.uk or phone 0121 704 6977.
Tracey
Heritage & Local Studies Librarian
Solihull was the only former Rural District Council to become a Metropolitan Borough Council in its own right under the 1972 Local Government Act, which came into effect on 1st April 1974. A little more than 40 years before, workers were taking up the cobbles in Solihull’s High Street – a graphic illustration of the incredibly rapid growth of the Borough. The population had more than doubled in 7 years, from just over 25,000 in 1932 to 52,610 by 1939.
The clock was erected in 1964 to mark Solihull’s elevation to a County Borough, meaning the council took over responsibility from Warwickshire County Council for running services in the Borough. It was set in motion on 5th May 1964.
2014 marks the 40th/50th/60th anniversary of Solihull becoming a Municipal Borough (1954), County Borough (1964) and Metropolitan Borough (1974).
We’d love to hear your memories of those times – for example, did you see Princess Margaret visit Solihull on Charter Day? Did you attend the teenage dance at the Civic Hall in 1964 to raise funds for the ‘Elevation Day’ clock? Do you remember the creation of the present-day Metropolitan Borough in 1974?
Please tell us what you remember of events then, or let us have your thoughts on how life in the Borough has changed since those times. There’s a memory sheet (PDF) attached below for you to fill in and email back to us at heritage@solihull.gov.uk
Tracey
Heritage & Local Studies Librarian
On Solihull’s Charter Day, 11th March 1954, Princess Margaret visited Solihull to present the Urban District with a Royal Charter of Incorporation as a Borough.
A group of local photographers and film-makers put together a film of the day’s events. The following is an extract showing some of the preparations.
Tracey
Heritage & Local Studies Librarian
Solihull Life 