| [Index] |
| Charles MATHER (1884 - 1914) |
| coal worker, regular soldier |
| Children | Self + Spouses | Parents | Grandparents | Greatgrandparents |
|
Matthew John MATHER (1912 - ) |
Charles MATHER (1884 - 1914) + Margaret Ann WORTHINGTON |
Joseph MATHER | ||
| Elizabeth AMOS (1858 - ) | Daniel AMOS (1835 - 1885) | Jonas AMOS (1811 - 1880) | ||
| Louisa Lucy (AMOS) (1812 - ) | ||||
| Alice HARTLEY (1831 - 1902) | ||||
|
| Pic 1. Alice, Elizabeth, Amos and Ernest must have stood here. Alice and Elizabeth never wore a poppy on 11th November (Remembrance Day) because they blamed Haig for Charles’ death. |
| b. abt 1884 at Little Lever, Lancashire, England |
| m. 04 Nov 1911 Margaret Ann WORTHINGTON at England |
| d. 24 Aug 1914 at Frameries, France aged 30 |
| Parents: |
| Joseph MATHER |
| Elizabeth AMOS (1858 - ) |
| Siblings (3): |
| Ernest NUTTALL (1891 - ) |
| Amos NUTTALL (1893 - ) |
| Alice NUTTALL (1898 - 1983) |
| Children (1): |
| Matthew John MATHER (1912 - ) |
| Events in Charles MATHER (1884 - 1914)'s life | |||||
| Date | Age | Event | Place | Notes | Src |
| abt 1884 | Charles MATHER was born | Little Lever, Lancashire, England | |||
| 1891 | 7 | Census | Little Lever, Lancashire, England | as Nathan | |
| 1901 | 17 | Census | Hindey, Lancashire, England | ||
| 04 Nov 1911 | 27 | Married Margaret Ann WORTHINGTON | England | ||
| 05 Nov 1912 | 28 | Birth of son Matthew John MATHER | |||
| 24 Aug 1914 | 30 | Charles MATHER died | Frameries, France | Note 1 | |
| Note 1: one of the first soldiers killed in WW1 |
| Personal Notes: |
|
Coal worker (on the coal face)
Regular soldier, one of the first sent to France. MPD in 1st World War One of the first to die in France: 24.08.14 Had his head blown off – eyewitness was a barber, later in the Standish Pals An eye witness said that he had his head blown off. His body was never found. Charles was in the regular army and due to be demobed when the First World War was declared. Because he was already trained as a soldier, Charles was one of the first to be sent to France. He was missing presumed dead from the battle of Mons on 24th August 1914. The army sent a letter to his mother saying that he was missing presumed dead. His mother could not believe that he was dead and went to séances and the Spiritualist Church to try to communicate with him. Because she couldn’t contact him she hoped he had survived the war and was possibly a prisoner of war. In 1920, Alice was having her hair ‘shingled’ -short at the back and sides and curly on top, at the barbers in Standish (there were no ladies’ hairdressers then). She saw the insignia for the Standish Pals above the mirror so she knew the barber had been in the war. She asked the man if he knew Charlie Nuttall (although he was officially named ‘Mather’ (in the army and in the Census), the people of Standish knew him as ‘Nuttall’ as he took that name unofficially in the town). The man replied, ‘Know him? I’ll say I did. Bloody hell, that was a near miss. He was standing right next to me when he had his head blown off’. Alice ran down the street with half her head shaved to tell her mother that Charles really was dead. His name is on the Standish War Memorial along with the other men from Standish who died in the First World War. Because he was a fully trained soldier, he was one of the first to be sent to France. He was in the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). During the day of 22nd August, and in rear of the cavalry screen, the British infantry took up a thin line of roughly entrenched positions along the Mons-Conde canal, following it round the pronounced salient to the north of the town, with the I Corps to the east echeloned back and facing north-east. It was decided that, if pressure grew on the outposts along the canal, then the II Corps would evacuate Mons and take up a defensive position among the pit villages and slag heaps a little way to the south. The Germans were apparently unaware of the presence of the BEF in this area until the skirmishes on the 22nd, and even then they did not know the British strength. The fight on the canal banks, morning 23 August 1914 At 5.30am, Sir John French met with Haig, Allenby and Smith-Dorrien at his advanced HQ at a chateau in Sars-la-Bruyère, where he ordered the outpost line on the canal to be strengthened and the bridges prepared for demolition. They recognised that the British position was not good, for the canal turn was very exposed on three sides. 'the selection of positions by the 5th Division was a matter of the greatest difficulty, the ground being a wilderness of deep ditches, straggling buildings, casual roads and tracks, and high slag heaps. Fortunately on the enemy side the conditions were almost identical.' (Official History) The morning of Sunday, 23rd August broke in mist and rain, which cleared around 10am. There were some early exchanges between German cavalry and British infantry outposts around 6.30am, near Obourg, Nimy and Ville Pommeroeul. But there could be little doubt where the main blow would fall - it would concentrate on the units of II Corps, thinly spread along the canal. Before 9am, German heavy guns were in a position on high ground north of the canal, and opened fire on the positions of the 4th Middlesex and 4th Royal Fusiliers. German infantry attacks - units of the IX Korps - began from across the canal and increased in strength all round the salient from Obourg to Nimy. It was the 84th Regiment, from Schleswig, who made the first attacks on the Nimy positions. The British infantry shot down the feldgrau in masses as they advanced towards the canal in dense lines. The battle intensifies and widens, morning 23 August 1914 The troops in the canal salient had orders for 'a stubborn resistance', and they held their original positions, although very hard pressed, until after 11am. A remarkable feat took place at Nimy, where a Private Niemayer jumped into the canal under fire and closed the swing bridge which enabled the first German troops to cross. The brave Niemayer was killed in the act. The attack spread gradually westwards along the straight canal, as the III Korps came into action at Jemappes, 2 miles west of Mons. The forward post of the Royal Scots Fusiliers north of the canal was withdrawn, and gradually the Germans advanced to within 200 yards of the bridge at Lock 2, where they were brought to a standstill by the accuracy of the British fire. Still further west, the Brandenburg Grenadiers fought forward through Tertre and were only stopped by the maze of wire fences, boggy dikes and the crossfire of the West Kents and Scottish Borderers on the canal bank. Fighting was by noon continuous along the straight canal. Under continuous observed shelling and infantry attacks, the battalions to the west began to fall back in the early afternoon. Near Frameries, two of the three bridges escaped being blown by lack of exploders to fire the charges, and the Germans crossed hard on the heels of the Scots Fusiliers. In the canal salient, the Germans shortly after noon succeeding in passing the canal west of Obourg, and reached the village railway station. Taught by recent hard experience they abandoned massed formation and deployed in extended order. The situation of the Middlesex and Royal Irish in this sector was now precarious, being under observation from the heights to the north of the canal, and with advanced German patrols pushing through Mons to their rear. By 3.15pm both battalions began to withdraw. A little earlier, the Royal Fusiliers withdrew from Nimy. Their losses did not greatly exceed 100, and after reforming in Mons they moved to Ciply. Owing to the close proximity of the enemy, only one bridge was blown. An officer of the RE was taken prisoner at the Nimy bridge, and all the work of laying charges was done under fire of snipers. Some small parties, either not receiving orders to withdraw, or ordered to defend to the last man, were engulfed as the Germans swarmed across the salient, through Nimy and along the straight road into the city. In spite of the efforts of the Staff to co-ordinate the withdrawal to the planned defence line, there was no uniformity of movement from the outpost line on the canal, and parties of infantry began to get mixed up; command devolved onto Captains, subalterns, and senior NCOs. 'Altogether, the British commanders were not ill-satisfied with the day's work. The men, too, were in high spirits, for they had met superior numbers of the most highly renowned army in the world and had given a good account of themselves' (Official History) The total British casualties amounted to just over 1,600 of all ranks, killed, wounded and missing. Practically half of these were from just two battalions (400 of the 4th Middlesex and 300 of the 2nd Royal Irish, both of the 8th Brigade in the canal salient). German losses were in excess of 5,000. Charlie’s mother (Elizabeth) and his sister (Alice) believed Haig to be responsible for Charles’ death. Charles Mather Lance Corporal South Lancashire Regiment Number 8304 Born 1884 Died August 24th 1914 He may be buried at Frameries Communal Cemetery, Belgium in an unmarked grave ‘Known unto God’, or he may still be in a field in the area. Many men were buried where they fell in communal cemeteries and churchyards, either by their own comrades or by the advancing Germans. Some bodies lay for weeks on the battlefield until they could be recovered when the lines stabilised. Others were not recovered for years, by which time few could be identified. His name is on the war memorial 1.A.18 The 9th Infantry Brigade fought their way through the streets of Frameries on 24 August 1914. The village remained in German hands until retaken by the Canadian Corps at the end of the war. The graves in the communal cemetery are largely those of soldiers who fell in August 1914, most of whom belonged to the 3rd Division and largely to the 1st Lincolns. These graves, with one exception, were brought into the cemetery after the Armistice. The cemetery now contains 95 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 67 of which are unidentified. The village of Frameries is located south-west of Mons off the R5 ring. From the E19 motorway turn off at junction 24a and onto the ring R5. Follow the ring to the junction with the N544, turn right onto the N544 direction Frameries. Follow the N544 into Frameries and at the first turning on the left turn left into rue Sainte-Philomene. Take the first turning left into rue Donaire, cross the railway and the cemetery is along here on the left. The graves are located in the Belgian Military area in plots 9 and 39 |
| Source References: |
| 18. Type: E-mail Message, Abbr: e-mails general pool, Title: e-mails general pool |
| - Reference = Jo Sweeney 2 Jul 2010 and David Long 5 Dec 2017 (Name, Notes) |
| - Notes: David Long 5 Dec 2017
I have been researching the casualties on the WW1 Memorials in Standish. Charles Mather is one of them, being commemorated both on the Village Cenotaph (VC) and St Wilfrid’s Peace Gate (SWPG). I had some difficulty finding him, as few details are given on the CWGC website for him. However, I was eventually able to make the following entry for him: QUOTE FIRST STANDISH CASUALTY The first British casualty of the war, John Henry Parr, age 17, of the Middlesex Regiment, fell near Mons on 21 August 1914. The 2nd Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment landed at Le Havre on 14 August, and were immediately involved in the defence of Mons, but were pushed back by the German onslaught of the 23rd. L/Cpl Mather was killed in that defence, There followed an orderly retreat, which ended with the Germans being finally stopped at the Marne. 113. Mather, Charles SWPG VC L/Cpl. 8304, 2nd Bn. South Lancashire Regiment KiA 24 August 1914, age 28 Grave 1.A.18 Frameries Communal Cemetery (near Mons) Born Ratcliffe, enlisted Chorley Occ. Dyer Mother at 6 Moores Lane in 1911 Census Married at St Wilfrid’s: 4/11/11, 26, Dyer, 17 Cross St, f. John (dec’d) Clogger Margaret Ann Worthington, Pit Brow girl, 17, Cross Street, f. John, Collier Son Matthew John, b. 5/11/12, Baptised, St Wilfrid’s 24/11/12 1st son of Charles & Margaret Ann, Address 179 Preston Road. Occupation worker in dye works. Standish with Langtree UDC list of Standish men who went to war - he is listed as Killed, with the address of 6 Moores Lane (Standish) His family history, and an account of the Battle of Mons where he was killed, may be found at: http://www.bellsite.id.au/gdbtree/HTMLFiles/HTMLFiles_17/P25770.html Some of its details differ from those above. UNQUOTE As my final sentence points out, some of those details differ from those I found by Googling his name and coming across your website entry for him. I was helped in finding him by a local family history researcher, who came up with the following: QUOTE Been looking through a book of war casualties from the Prince of Wales Volunteers (south lancs reg. ) and saw the following Mather Charles b Radcliffe Bury Lancs e. Chorley Lancs. Wigan Lancs. Lance Cpl. 8304 k. in a. F& F. 24/81914 I interpret this to be born in Radcliffe enlisted Chorley now living in Wigan killed in action. I then went on Ancestry to see what came up, my search took me to a link "soldiers effects" listed was the name rank number and date of death as above. It gave his wife's name as Margaret Anne. I then searched marriages and saw Charles Mather married Margaret Anne Worthington at St. Wilfrids. their marriage cert. states that Charles was 26, Occ. Dyer. Father John (deceased). Margaret was 21 Pit Brow Girl both gave the address of 17 Cross St. Standish. Moving to the census records I did a search for Charles Mather born in Radcliffe about 1885. A Charles Nathan came up he was living with a couple by the name of Richard & Elizabeth Nuttall lving in Little Lever, his relationship was listed as STEPSON ,gambling that his name had been transcribed wrong I had a look for a marriage for Richard Nuttall between 1885-1891 he married Elizabeth Mather in 1889 in Little Lever. following the family on the 1901 census they were still in Little Lever and Charles was now listed as Nuttall (not unusual in these circumstances. Moving to the 1911 census Elizabeth had now been widowed for a second time, but she was now living at 6 MOORS LANE STANDISH.I personally this clinches your search for Charles . Unfortunately Charles was not with them on this census but I suspect he was already in the forces being that he was a Lance Cpl. at the beginning of the war. UNQUOTE I thought you might like to compare my entry with your own findings for Charles. You might also like to check the marriage you have for Ernest Nuttall against St Wilfrid’s entries here: http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Standish/stwilfrid/index.html - where you’ll also find his sister Alice’s wedding, as well as Charles’. The Baptism of Charles' son, Matthew John in November 1912 is not yet online - but I photographed the original Registers last year for the LOPC project, and have the image. |