| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Harold Bentley was born 5 Oct 1888 in Kilnwick, to the north of Beverley and was baptised at Watton Parish Church 25 Nov of that year. He was to spend most of his life in the Hutton Cranswick area. Harold was one of eleven children born to Thomas and Emily Bentley. Thomas a tailor, was from Kilnwick and his wife Emily (nee Horsley) was from Sherburn and it was there that that the family lived until the mid 1880s before moving to Kilnwick. Harold is recorded in the 1911 census as being a gardener, his future wife, Annie Bradshaw, born in May 1891, was the daughter of a market gardener in Hutton Cranswick. They married at Hutton Cranswick Parish Church on 16 Jun 1917. Their only child, Maurice, was born on 27 Jul 1920.
At the time of his marriage Harold was already a serving soldier. His photogarph appeared in the Beverley Guardian 2 Sep 1916 and stating Harold was in the 2/1st East Riding Yeomanry. The Yeomanry were a territorial force. During the war the 2/1st were designated as a “second line” (training and draft-supplying reserve) for the 1/1st who were sent to Egypt at the end of 1915 where they remained until the defeat of the Turks in Palestine until early 1918 They remained in the UK and were converted into the 11th and later 7th Cyclist Brigade, serving in the Bridlington area on home defence duties from late 1916. They were sent to Ireland in April 1918 where they remained until the end of the war.
After the war Harold returned to Hutton Cranswick, in the 1939 Register he was living at The Green and he was working as a “civilian equipment assistant” (sic) for the RAF.
Harold died on 22 Nov 1961 aged 73. He was buried at Hutton Cranswick.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |