Harry Bingley
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Harry was the son of Joseph and Ruth Bingley (née Chapman). His father Joseph was born in Mansfield in 1849 and his mother Ruth was born in 1852 (J/F/M) also in Mansfield. They were married in 1876 (J/F/M Mansfield) but there was a son, Joseph, who was born in Mansfield in 1873 and registered as Chapman, but was always given the surname Bingley on other civil records including the census. Joseph jnr. was baptised at Retford St Swithun on 13 December 1877. Joseph and Ruth probably also had twin sons, John and Herbert Albert, born in East Retford in 1876 (O/N/D East Retford) shortly after their marriage but who both died the same year. Their other surviving children, who were all born in East Retford, were: Lucy b. 1879 bap. St Swithun 8 Decenber 1878, Harry b, 1881, Ernest b. 1884 and Ellen b. 1888. In 1881 Joseph, an iron moulder, and his wife were living on Barrack Row, Clarborough, East Retford, with their children Joseph (7) and Lucy (2). They were still at the same address in 1891; all five surviving children were in the household on the night of the census: Joseph a tailor, Lucy, Harry (8), Ernest (6) and Ellen (2). By the time of the 1901 Census, Ruth was living at 2 Simpson's Yard, Mansfield, with four of her five children: Lucy, Harry a coal miner hewer, Ernest and Ellen. Also in the household was a boarder, Frank D Cummings, who was a coal miner hewer. Her eldest son Joseph, a tailor's journeyman was living in Manningham, Bradford, with his wife Sarah Ann (née Stevenson) of Bradford, whom he had married at Bradford parish church on 2 June 1900. Joseph died in 1912 (O/N/D Bradford) aged 39; there were probably no children of the marriage. Joseph Bingley snr. has not yet been traced on the 1901 Census but there is a record of a Joseph Bingley (62) b. Mansfield, occupation iron moulder, who in 1911 was recorded as a patient in a hospital in Mansfield. He was described as a widowed, but his wife Ruth Bingley (60) was living at 4 Simpson's Yard, Stockwell Gate, Mansfield. She was living alone and completed the census as head of household, describing herself as widowed, occupation charwoman. Neither Joseph nor Ruth has been traced after 1911. Harry married Elizabeth Jackson (b. 4 November 1882) in 1903 (A/M/J Mansfield). They had six children: Frank b. 7 September 1903, Wilfred b. 9 January 1906, Harry b. 24 December 1907, Frederick William b. 1910 (A/M/J) d. 1914 (J/F/M Mansfield), Mary Elizabeth b. 11 September 1912 and Frances E. b. 5 February 1915. In 1911 Harry, a bricklayer's labourer, and his wife were living at 1 Simpson's Yard, Mansfield, with their children Frank (7), Wilfred (5), Harry (3) and Frederick (11m). Also in the household was Elizabeth's widowed father, Samuel Jackson (56), a retired moulder. Their daughter Mary was born the following year. Frederick, their youngest son, died in 1914 aged three years and their youngest child, Frances E, was born the following year, 1915. His widow married Arthur Bush in 1918 (O/N/D Mansfield) and they had at least four children: Leonard b. 26 July 1919, May b. 1921 d. 1939 (A/M/J Mansfield), Kathleen b. 1923 and Grace b. 1926. In 1939 when the England & Wales Registers was compiled, Elizabeth Bush was living at 14 Chaucer Street, Mansfield. Although she was listed as married her husband was not in the household. Living with her were three of her five surviving children by her first marriage: Frank and Wilfred who were both coal miners and Frances a metal box worker at a tin factory. Also in the household was Leonard Bush, her eldest son by her second marriage. The records of four other members of the household remain closed. Frank was listed as married (m. 1927 Pearly V Shelley) while Wilfred married in 1941 (Barbara D Ratcliffe) and Frances in 1940 (James H Harris). Elizabeth Bush died in 1965 (O/N/D Mansfield), Frank died in 1986 (Oct Mansfield), Wilfred in 1969 (O/N/D Mansfield) and Harry in 1994 (Sep Mansfield).
CWGC - Henry Bingley In France from 27/08/1914. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France (Pier and Face 10 C 10 D and 11 A). Battalions attacking Ovillers on 1st July 1916 had to cross 'Mash Valley' one of the widest expanses of No Man's Land (750 yards) along the entire Somme front. Today, looking from Ovillers Cemetery (German front line) towards distant houses (British front line) across open fields offering little cover, the magnitude of their task is still evident. 11th Battalion Sherwood Foresters' War Diary recorded: 'Casualties along the whole line were very heavy and a general attempt was made to crawl forward under intense machine gun and shrapnel fire, any available cover being made use of.... Lt Colonel Watson, walking diagonally across the front collecting men as he went gave fresh impetus to the advance by his personal example... A third attempt, led by Captain C E Hudson*, to reach the German trenches by the sunken road on the right flank was made but... was brought to a standstill by heavy frontal and flank fire as they came over the brow of the hill in the last 80 yards. The casualties sustained by the battalion during the day amounted to 21 officers and 508 men. The strength of the battalion on entering the trenches on 26th June was 27 officers and 710 men.' 11th Bn Sherwood Foresters War Diary TNA WO95/21871(3). 125 men from 11th Battalion Sherwood Foresters were killed during the attack on Ovillers (CWGC Debt of Honour Register). *John Cotterill adds 'The man who brought the 11th Foresters out of action on 1 July and, one of the 6 unwounded officers, was Capt Edward Hudson who would go on to get a VC as CO of 11th Foresters on Asiago Plateau in Italy in 1918'. 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment suffered 264 fatalities during the same advance. Concerns of their CO Lieutenant Colonel Edward Thomas Falkiner Sandys DSO, a brave and well respected officer, that his battalion would be badly mauled crossing such an expanse of open ground with uncut wire an added hazard, did not impress his superiors. Sandys was wounded during the attack and evacuated to the UK. Depressed at the fate of so many men who had trusted him, Sandys shot himself in a London hotel room and died a few days later. 8th Division's Official History records a total of 5,121 casualties on 1st July 1916. Military Research by David Nunn
CWGC - HENRY Bingley This man is commemorated in a book of remembrance held by Mansfield District Council. His brother, Ernest Bingley, also served with the 11th Bn Sherwood Foresters (16170 Private), and was killed on 9 June 1917 and is buried in Bedford House Cemetery (see record on this Roll of Honour). Mansfield Reporter 20 July 1917: ‘Private Ernest Bingley Killed. Another Mansfield man to give his life for his King and country is Private Ernest Bingley, of the 11th Sherwood Foresters, whose address was 20, Botany, Mansfield, Private Bingley who worked at the Shirebrook Colliery, enlisted in August, 1914, and was very much thought of by all who knew him. He was killed on 7th June 1917, at the age of 34, and his death is keenly felt by his sorrowing wife and three children. His brother, Private Henry Bingley, was killed on the 1st July last year.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) WW1 Pension Ledgers: his widow Elizabeth, 1 Plantation Row, Mansfield, was awarded a pension of 24/6 (24 shillings and 6 pence) for herself and her five children, Frank, Wilfred, harry, Mary Elizabeth and Frances Eliza, first payment 5 February 1917.
