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On Rochdale Town Hall's front wall.

On the front of Rochdale Town Hall.





Sergeant Henry T. Healey Royal Irish Regiment
Lance Corporal William Kenyon Lancashire Fusiliers [Mil]
Private Thomas Carter Lancashire Fusiliers
Private Thomas Caveney Lancashire Fusiliers
Private Benjamin Coupe Lancashire Fusiliers
Private James Crosby Lancashire Fusiliers
Private James Hannan Lancashire Fusiliers [Mil]
Private Thomas Hopkins Lancashire Fusiliers [Mil]
Private John T. Jackson Lancashire Fusiliers
Private Frank Pollitt Lancashire Fusiliers
Private John Stinson Lancashire Fusiliers
Private John Turner Lancashire Fusiliers
Private Joshua Butterworth Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
Private James Schofield Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
Private Thomas Taylor King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment)
Private Jacob Varey King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment)
Private David J. Applegate St John Ambulance Brigade
Private Samuel Holt Royal Army Medical Corps
Private John Ruane Coldstream Guards
Private John T. Gellatly Royal Horse Guards



Sergeant Joseph W. Cryer Royal Scots Fusiliers
Corporal John J. Butterworth King's Royal Rifles
Sergeant David Smith East Lancashire Regiment
Private Dennis Jones East Lancashire Regiment [Mil]
Private Alfred Smith East Lancashire Regiment
Private Frank Hanley 23rd Co. Imperial Yeomanry
Private Charles Holt 23rd Co. Imperial Yeomanry
Private Richard Isherwood 23rd Co. Imperial Yeomanry
Private William Looker 23rd Co. Imperial Yeomanry
Private Frederick Greenwood Manchester Regiment
Private Thomas Mackin Manchester Regiment
Private Thomas Shore Manchester Regiment
Private John Yates Manchester Regiment
Private James Frazer Northumberland Fusiliers
Private Patrick T. Holt King's (Liverpool Regiment)
Private Fred Kiernan The Cameronians
Private Thomas Crabtree 9th Lancers
Private Tom Rogers 10th Hussars
Private Walter Bowen South African Constabulary
Private F. Heywood



Nursing Sister Caroline Fishwick
Nursing Sister Agnes Watson

Berenice,

Here is the head stone for Caroline Fishwick who is buried at Fort Napier in Pietermaritzburg,Natal.



Regards
Adrian

What an interesting headstone, thanks for posting it. Odd that the plaque in Rochdale only gives her birth name. I wonder why?

Caroline Fishwick 1862-1900

The Sphere of 17 July 1900 reported the death of Caroline Fishwick:



The Northern Daily Telegraph of 10 May 1900 did not agree regarding the cause of her death and gave some interesting details of her funeral:

A MILITARY FUNERAL FOR A ROCHDALE LADY.
Miss Caroline Fishwick, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Fishwick, of Rochdale, died of dysentery at Pietermaritzburg on the 8th April. For some time she had charge of one of the base hospitals at Pietermaritzburg, and afterwards of the ambulance camp at Ladysmith. She was buried at Pietermaritzburg with military honours. After the firing party left the grave the orderlies collected the empty cartridge cases, and with them marked out on the grave the name of the deceased. Miss Fishwick edited a volume of the Lancashire and Cheshire Record Society, and contributed occasional articles to magazines.

Caroline’s birth was registered in the last quarter of 1862 in Rochdale. Her father was a person of note in the local politics and military activities of Rochdale. He was a founding member of the 24th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers raised in Rochdale in 1860 and his military title related to this organisation. He served as a Town Councillor for the Liberal Party and two years after Caroline’s death was Mayor of Rochdale for two years. He made his living out of being an Estate & Land Agent although for a time he seems to have had an interest in a local coal mine.

Caroline has an entry in the 1898 Burdett’s Nursing Directory which shows she qualified as a nurse in 1887 after two years training in the London Hospital. She then worked for a couple of years as a Staff Nurse at the West Norfolk Hospital before taking up the post of Night Superintendent at Bristol Hospital – examining the 1891 Census return for the hospital it would appear the Night Superintendent was in effect the Night Matron. From June 1892 to May 1894 she was Matron of the Berkeley Hospital in Gloucestershire. She then seems to have had a bit of change of tack becoming involved in the nursing and care of children and this was probably when she became a member of the Kilburn Sisters who ran orphanages – Kilburn because their first orphanage was in Kilburn, London but by the time Caroline became involved they had several across the country and Burdett’s Directory gave her address in 1898 as the Children’s Convalescent Home, Weston-Super-Mare.

The book Caroline edited in 1885 was mentioned in newspapers across the country and was considered a worthy tome and highly recommended to others scholars. In 1886 she again received mentions in several newspapers reporting debates about Edmund Spenser the Elizabethan poet, whom she seems to have been something of an authority on. The importance of her 1885 work is reflected by the fact that it is still in print and even the likes of Amazon sell copies of it! (Hardback £33, Paperback £10.33).




Finally, returning to Caroline’s contribution to the Second Boer War her claspless QSA is extant and was sold in July 2020 by Adam Partridge Auctioneers – the estimate was £50-£80. It sold for £560!

John Stinson is one of 'my' men. I acquired his medals since the original post. He was killed in action at Spion Kop.



John Stinson enlisted at Bury 29 July 1890 aged 20 years 4 months. Born Rochdale. Occupation collier. Religion C of E. Deserted 4 January 1891. Re-engaged 7 October 1895 and again 14 September 1899. Buried in the regimental trench grave on Spion Kop. No individual grave marker. Commemorated on the regimental memorials at Spion Kop and Bury and on the panels in All Saints Church, Ladysmith. Served in 2nd Battalion.