​School Memorials

Blackburn Ragged School | Queen Elizabeth Grammar School | St James's School Guide
St Mary's Sixth Form College


 

Blackburn Ragged School

Blackburn Ragged School was on Bent-street, it has now been demolished.

The WWI Roll of Honour consisted of an alabaster tablet with the mosaic figure of St George in the centre. At the top of the tablet are the Words:

Their Names Liveth For Evermore.

Below the figure was the Inscription:

In Memory Of Past Members
Of This School Who Fell In The
 Great European War 1914-1919

The names of those men are:
Armstrong, William; Austin, J.; Anderson, William, Beardsworth, Robert; Brindle, P; Brierley, Henry; Chilman, Reginald; Charles, Isaac; Charles, George; Craven, Harry; Dickenson, George; Duckworth, John J.; Dobson, John; Dobson, Richard; Dawes, Lewis; Entwistle W; Emerson, Tom; Etherington, J.; Fender, Walter; Fish Charlie; Godwin; J. Gardner John; Hook, J.W.; Hurst, Harry; Hurst William; Huddleston, Percy; Corbett, William; Huxley, F.; Hinds, John; Halliwell, Tom; Harwood, T.J; Hoverd, William; Jennings, Tom; Jemmeson, Tom; Lee, James; Lofthouse, William; Myers, Herbert; Moss, R.; Pickett, William; Pickering, J.J.; Procter, John W; Parrington, W.; Rhodes, Albert; Smith, J.R.; Speakman, John; Sherrington, Edward; Short, Arthur; Stevenson, Jacob; Turtington, John; Wellings, William; Wilding, I; Wilson, Ernest; Woods, Barton;

Below the names it reads:

Unveiled By
Sir Henry Hibbert Baronet
Sep 28th 1919.

The Memorial contains the names of 330 men who had connections with the school and served in the forces, 54 of who died. The names of the dead were directly under the figure of St. George, either side of the figure are the names of those who had connections with the school and served in the forces.

The Memorial, the gift of an anonymous friend of the school, was unveiled on Sunday the 28th September, 1919, by Sir Henry Hibbert, who between 1913-1918. had been the Conservative M.P. for Chorley He was accompanied by the Mayor of Blackburn Alderman Lawrence Cotton. A letter from the Prime Minister, Lloyd George, was read out by the Mayor.

There was also a WW2 Memorial. This was a platform, complete with Communion rails and other furniture. It was large enough to accommodate an Orchestra and Choir, it could be transformed into a stage for concerts etc.
There was also a carved oak tablet with a bronze inset plaque in the Top centre is a laurel wreath. The inscription reads:

1939-1945
To The Glory Of God
And To Commemorate The
Loyalty Devotion & Courage
Of The Young Men Of This
Blackburn Ragged School
Who Served Their
King & Country
During The 2nd World War This Platform Is Dedicated
These Men Made The Supreme Sacrifice
H. Bolton; S. Entwistle; T.E. Heald; F. Hodgkinson;
J. Holden; R. James; H. Read; W. Tate; E. Woods.
They Died In War
That Peace Might Live
They Gave Their Best
So We Our Best Should Give.

The Memorial was unveiled on Sunday 4th June 1950 by J.W. Philip, M.B.E. who was the Hon. Treasurer of the School.

WW1
Blackburn Times: 4th October 1919, 5th May 1950, 2nd June 1950, 9th June 1950
Blackburn Weekly Telegraph: 4th October 1919
War Memorial Ref. No.: 51277, 51278, 51279.

​​back to top​​


 

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School

Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School is located on West Park Road.
The WWI Memorial is oak panelling in the assembly room—known as “Big School"—with the School badge in the centre above the inscription which reads:

This Tablet and Panelling Were
Erected By Old Boys To
Commemorate Those Schoolfellows
Who Gave Their Lives
To Preserve England's
Honour And Safety In The
Great War 1914–1918
Didicere Prodesse

There are 64 names of old boys of the school who died in WWI. It was unveiled on the 29th of November 1930 by the 17th Earl of Derby and dedicated by the Bishop of Blackburn Dr. P.M. Herbert. The names on the Memorial are:

Arthur, Robert William Herbert; Bird Eric; Blythe, Allan Lancelot; Brewer, Cecil Harold; Brothers, Malam; Corbridge, Arthur; Cotton, Arthur; Coupe, Thomas Harold; Cronshaw, Thomas Edgar; Davis, F.; Duckworth, Clarence; Duckworth, Charles Edward; Duerden, Charlie; Duerden, Edgar; Fairclough, Robert; Fairhurst, Jack Dixon; Fielden, Herbert; Flaxman, W.; Forrest, Frank; Green, M.; Greenwood, John; Gripper, Norman Edward; Grosart, William David; Hargreaves, Norman; Haslewood, David Nuttal; Haworth, Randolph Singleton; Haydock, Edgar Brindle; Heatley, Leonard; Hibbert, Carlyle; Hindle, John Crook; Holden' H.; Holden, John William; Hopwood, Norman; Johnson, C.; Lancaster, James Haworth; Lewis, Frank; Lewis, Harold; Macklin' John James Malcolm; MacPherson, Roderick Montague; Marlor, Sam; Marsden James; McKie, Eric; Rigby, George; Riley, William; Sames, Gilbert Fielding; Sames, Herbert Colin; Savatard, T.; Schofield, Fred; Scott, Clifford; Shaw, Charles; Smith, Richard Thomas; Stones, John Leighton Kay; Thompson, Richard; Threlfall, Herbert Edward; Till, Leonard Thackwell; Tomlinson, James Edgar; Turner, Charles Whalley; Twelvetrees, Bernard; Walsh, Albert; Whalley, Henry Worthington; Whalley, Reginald Livesey; Widing, John; Wolf, P.; Woodhouse, Percy Aspden; Woods, Edmund.

The WWII Memorial consists of two bronze tablets in Big School which commemorates 78 old boys who lost their lives in WWII. This memorial was unveiled by the 18th Earl of Derby and dedicated by Bishop of Blackburn, Dr. W.M. Askwith on the 4th May 1950.
The names on the Memorial are:
Ainsworth, Richard Eric; Allsup, Harold; Baker, Jack; Bancroft, Kenneth Reeve; Bell, Stanley Victor; Blackburn, Stanley; Bradshaw, William; Brennand, Thomas Nicholson; Brooks, James; Brown, Richard Arnold; Byrne, Grayham Bancroft; Campbell, Henry James Eccles; Carmichael, Peter Noel; Chippendale, Geoffrey Brian; Croft, James Bracewell; Dean Harry; Eastwood, Thomas Philip; Elliot, Seth; Entwistle, Kenneth James; Fielding, Harold Haworth; France, Harry; Gibbons, Howard Plaistow; Gill, Kenneth; Gillis Sydney Arthur; Greenall, James; Grove, Albert Stanley; Harling, William; Heath, John Ettock; Heys, Harold; Hilton, Edward; Hindle Thomas; Holden, Frank; Holden Harry; Hollis, Douglas Harrington; Isherwood, Leslie; Jepson, Albert; Johnson, Arthur Cameron; Johnston, Frank; Johnston, Norman; Karck, David Lee; Kenyon, Harold; Kerry, Brian Roland; Lamb, James Gorden; Leech, John; MacPhee, Ian Malcolm; Markland, Kenneth; Miller, Robert; Moran, Allan John; Moulding, Edward; Oliver, Richard Frank; Parkinson, Harry; Pennell, Lancelot Scrafton; Pickup, Harry Norman; Pomfret, James Drake; Ratcliffe, Albert; Rearden-Parker, John; Riley, William Edward; Robinson, Henry; Rogerson, Jack; Ryden, Charles Ryden; Sager, John; Sargeant, James; Schofield, Robert Henry; Shackleton, Ernest; Sharples, Leslie; Slater, Thomas; Taylor, Frederick Stanley; Tetley, William Hindle; Thomas, Gordon Richard; Totty, Norman George; Walker, George Herbert; Watson, Jack; Whewell, William Thomas; Whitehouse, Frank; Willson, Alfred Troop Worden, Harry.

Also included as part of the war Memorial is the oak panelling that surrounds Big School and the Elizabethan fireplace. The Old Blackburnians A.F.C. ground at Lammack is also part of the Memorial.

Blackburn Times: 20th November 1930, 29th November 1930, 6th December 1930, 5th May 1950.
War Memorial Ref. No. 42285
Book: School on the Hill, Edited by Philip Lloyd.

​​back to top​​


 

St James's School Guide

The WW 1 Memorial is of marble and alabaster and contains the names of 130 men with connections to the school who served in the armed forces during the Great War 25 of whom died. The names are given in five columns with those who gave their lives in the centre. It was unveiled on the 4th October 1924 by Thomas Duckworth of Worcester and dedicated by the vicar, W. Horne.

The Memorial is, height 1565mm, width 1820mm

The Inscription at the top of the stone reads:

This Tablet Is Erected In Honour Of
The Men Of This School Who Served In The Great War
 And In Hallowed Memory Of The Fallen
1914 – 1919

Names on the Memorial

Inscription:

Roll Of Glory To The Fallen

James Aspin; Edwin Bury; Arthur Corbridge M.C.; Edwin Bury; William Entwistle; Ebenezer Haworth; Richard Haworth; Earnest L. Hayhurst; James Higham; John W. Holden; James E. Holden; Ralph Holden; Ralph Holden; Walter Holden; Richard Jackson; Thomas W. Jackson; George Jubb; James F. Mellor; Thomas Metcalf; Harry McGowan; Thomas Walkden; John E. Walker; George Whalley; George T. Yates; Jonathan Yates;

Their Name Liveth For Evermore.

Inscription:

Roll of Honour

Harry Ayrton; Joseph Barnes; Fred Birchall; Albert Blundell; Hargreaves Booth; Robert Braithwaite; George Catlow; John Cooper; John Corbridge; Richard Crompton; Frank Dent; George W. Derbyshire; James A. Derbyshire; Joseph Derbyshire; Thomas Derbyshire; John Dixon; Thomas Drinkall; Jesse Duerdin; Doctor Dunderdale; James Dunderdale; Samuel Dunderdale; Stephen Dunderdale; Thomas Dunderdale; Eccles William; Albert Entwistle; Calab Entwistle; James W. Entwistle; Richard Entwistle; Fred Fallon; John W. Farnworth; Thomas Gregory; Willis Gregory; Joseph Grimshaw; Levi Hall; John Harrison; Thomas Haworth; William Haworth; Fred Hayhurst; Thomas Heyes; Thomas Higham; Earnest Hindley; Isaiah Hirst;  Albert Holden; Herbert Holden; James Holden; John Holden; Richard Holden; Thomas Holden; John G. Lambert; Arthur Leaver; James Leaver: James Leaver; Joseph Longworth; Thomas Longworth; Isaac Margerison; James Margerison; Fred Marsden; Richard Marsden; Robert Marsden; Charles Moore; George Norris; Fred Nuttall; James H. Nuttall; Richard Nuttall; Charles O'Hare; Peter O'Hare; Henry Pickup; Lawrence Pickup; William Pomfret; William Prescott; Harry Ramsbottom; Philip Ratcliffe; Richard H. Riley; Robert Riley; Thomas Riley; Herbert Rose; George Shorrock; Arthur Stocks; John Stocks; Lawrence T. Thompson; Richard Thompson; Thomas Threlfall; Eli Walmley;  George Whalley; Richard Whalley; William Whalley; Doctor Whewell; Rev W.E. Whewell; John Wilkinson; John R. Worsley;  Albert Yates; James Yates; John W. Yates; Joseph Yates; Thomas Yates; William Yates.

Later, on the same day, a bronze tablet was unveiled by Mrs. H. McGowen “In loving memory of members of the choir" who gave their lives. It too was dedicated by the Vicar.
Both Memorial cost £145.

 

There is a WW2 Memorial which is a small marble tablet it is inscribed simply:

 

1939-1945

There are 4 names of the men who were killed, the are:
Riley, William Edward; Rimmer, Samuel; Bamber, Ernest; Marsden, Frank.

 

In May 1972, St James's School was being used as a factory and both the WW1 and WW2 Memorials were removed and put into storage. Later, in 1972 they were removed again to Spring Farm, Guide, but when the M65 motorway was being built the farm was in its direct path. The Memorials were moved to their present position in August 1998 and rededicated by the then vicar of St. James's Rev Dick Cartmel with a wreath being laid by the Mayor of Blackburn, Florence Oldfield.

 

Blackburn Times: 11th October 1924.
Evening Telegraph: 20th May 1972.
Citizen: 7th August 1998.
War Memorial Ref. No.: 709

​​back to top​​


 

St Mary's Sixth Form College

St Mary's sixth form College is located on Shear Brow, Blackburn.
Its WWII Memorial is done on paper using red, black and gold paint for the lettering. It is contained in an oak triptych. The Inscription reads:

In Memory
 Of Those Past Pupils Of
This School Who Made
The Supreme Sacrifice
During The War Of 1939–1945
R.I.P
This Tablet Was Erected In Their Honour
By Members Of The Old Boys Association
Of St. Mary's College, Blackburn, In The Year 1947.

The former crest of the college is painted across both doors when closed.
There 19 names on the Memorial.
They are:
Ashton, Leo; Aspden, Ernest Joseph; Baron, Thomas; Bolton, Joseph; Bolton, Stephen; Burrows, John; Cottom, Wilfred; Eccleston, Stanley; Hindle, Norman; Hope, Reginald; McGovern, Owen; McKiernan, Chris; Regan, Maurice; Riddehough, Rowland; Ryan, Herbert; Simmons; Bernard; Turner, William; Walmsley, Joseph; Whyles, Gerald.

​​back to top​​