| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
George was born in Beverley the 13 Nov 1879, the only child of Henry Richardson, tanner's labourer, and Lucy Richardson (nee North) originally from Driffield. They married in Driffield in 1879. George was brought up in Wood's Yard (off Tindall Lane), Wednesday Market and later on Lairgate, Beverley. He served an apprenticeship as a whitesmith and became a skilled worker. In 1899 he married Maud Witty in Pontefract where he lived for a short period. Maud was born in Beverley in 1882, her father was a whitesmith living on Pasture Terrace. Their first child, Harold Richard, was born in Pontefract in 1899. By 1901 the family had moved to Beverley and living at 1 Empson Place, Grayburn Lane. They had five children.
George served in the 5th Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment, known as the 'Beverley Terriers' as many of their number had served in the Territorial Reserve before the war with the 5th. Given George's service number (582) it is likely that he had been a member. George was mobilised early in the war and arrived in France on 18 Apr 1915. The 5th were thrust into battle immediately in the vicinity of Ypres in Belgium at St Julien. They remained in the area into the summer of 1915. In early June George was wounded in the left arm, a wound serious enough for him to be hospitalised at Newcastle. He did not return to frontline duties and was discharged from the army on 14 Dec 1916 as unfit for further service. He reached the rank of Corporal though the Beverley Guardian of 5 Jun 1915 describes him as being a "sergeant". He was awarded the 1914-15 Star and the War and Victory Medals.
In 1939 George was recorded as a repairer of weighing machines, living at 99 Minstermoorgate. In the Second World War he served as an ARP warden in Beverley. George died in 1950 aged 71. Maud died in 1972.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |