| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information
Joseph “Joe” Bolton was born in York in June 1890 and baptised at New Street Chapel in the city on June 25th of that year. He was one of six children born to Henry Bolton (1866-1944) and his wife Mary Ann (1856-1914). Henry was a glassmaker. The family lived on Albert St., near Walmgate, in York. Nothing is known of Joe’s upbringing but by the time of the 1911 census he was recorded as being a regular soldier residing at Salamanca Barracks in Aldershot. He served with the 1st Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment and was to reach the rank of corporal.
Joe was later stationed at Victoria Barracks in Beverley and began a connection with the town. On July 18th 1914 he was married at St Mary’s church. His bride was Millicent Dry, born in Beverley on September 27th 1895. Millicent was a domestic servant. Her father was a tanner’s labourer and the family home was at 15 Portas Terrace on Wood Lane. They did not have any children. The couple lived at 26 Walkergate.
Shortly after Joe’s marriage the First World War broke out. As a regular soldier he was dispatched to France with the 1st to join the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) on September 9th 1914 and were soon in actions on the Aisne Heights on the Marne which stopped the German advance. The 1st were later switched to the Belgian Front in the vicinity of Ypres. It was there at Hooge, 4km east of Ypres, at the age of 25, that Joe was killed in action, one of the very many East Yorks casualties on this day. The attack on the higher ground was met by heavy German shelling. His body was not recovered and he is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres. Joe was awarded the 1914 Star and the War and Victory Medals. He is commemorated on the Hengate Memorial and on the East Riding Memorial in the Minster.
Millicent Bolton was remarried in July 1919; her new husband was James Wharf, born in Hull in 1894, who had served in the East Yorkshires in the war. They had one child and lived on St Andrew Street. Millicent died in Beverley in 1977.
Includes information taken from census, military records, newspapers |