Leonard Briggs
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Tom Briggs and Matilda Wilkinson married in 1880 at Retford, Notts. Tom was a market gardener living in the village of Clarborough, near Retford. The couple had four children all born in Clarborough, John born 1882, Eliza in 1887, Bertha in 1889 and Leonard born in 1891. Sometime after Leonard was born, Matilda died and Tom Briggs re-married in 1897 to Ada Rushby, once again registered in Retford. The marriage only lasted 9 years as Tom died in 1906 age 47. In 1911 Leonard Briggs was 20 years old and was a coal miner living with his aunt and uncle, Samuel and Florence Green at Haggonfields, Worksop.
Worksop Guardian 19 October 1917 “The friends of Pte. Briggs were for a long time without official confirmation of the news sent by comrades, but the first news proved only too true. The actual date given for his death was July 31st. Pte Briggs enlisted on November 9th, 1914, and was over on leave from France a few months before his death. Before joining up he had worked at Shireoaks Colliery for upwards of nine years, living most of that time with Mr. S. Green, Haggonfields, of whose wife he was a distant relation.”
Commemorated on Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial. Leonard's older brother, John William Briggs, was also killed in the War - 20/10/1914, 1st battalion Lincolnshire Regiment. Research by Colin Dannatt
