Friday 18th September 1914

Tunstill held the last of his recruitment meetings, in Waddington at 7.30pm. No specific details are recorded but at least five men came forward to join the Company. It may be that Waddington was chosen as the location for the final meeting because the Vicar of Waddington, Rev. Francis Ambrose Neville Parker, was the uncle of Gilbert Tunstill's wife, Geraldine. He had conducted part of the service at their wedding in 1906. (Rev. Parker remained Vicar of Waddington until his death in 1922).

• Joseph Barrett Hartley; was the second son of Luke and Mary Hartley; Luke Hartley ran a successful ironmongers business in Earby. Joseph was a former pupil of Ermysted's Grammar School, Skipton. Although he attested as being 19 years and 1 month in September, he was actually born 21st December 1895, and was thus only 18 when he volunteered.
• Albert Herd; was 20 years old and came from a family which was at the heart of the Waddington village community. His father, John, ran a grocers and corn dealers business and was a leading member of the local Church. Albert worked in the family business.
• Thomas Rigby; was the second of seven children of Thomas and Ellen Rigby, who farmed at Lawson's House, Sawley. He was 24 years old and had been working on the family farm.
• William Watson; aged 23, he had been working as a general labourer. His father, John Watson, worked in the local limestone quarry. The family lived in West Bradford.
• Harry Smith; as yet, I have been unable to make a positive identification of this man.

The attestation signed by Joseph Barrett Hartley.
Though damaged, it clearly shows that he gave his age as 19 years and 1 month

Second Lieutenant Charles Bathurst was promoted Lieutenant and posted to serve as one of the officers of the newly-formed 10^th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment. He was to become one of the key officers in the new Battalion and would work closely with Gilbert Tunstill.

As yet, I know little of Bathurst’s background, other than that he was a serving Army officer and was the son of one Lancelot Bathurst.

Lieutenant and Quartermaster Daniel William Paris Foster arrived at the Regimental Depot in Halifax to take up his duties with 10^th Battalion.  

Company Sergeant Major Harry Dewhirst (see 10^th September) was posted to serve as CSM with ‘A’ Company (Tunstill’s Men).

Col.Sgt. William Clarke (see 8^th September) was promoted Company Sergeant Major.

Col.Sgt. George Edmond Fricker (see 11^th September) was promoted (Acting) Quartermaster Sergeant.

Col.Sgt. John Kearns was posted to join 10DWR. He had enlisted from the Reserve the previous day and, with 25 years prior service with the Dukes (1885-1910) had been immediately re-appointed to his old rank. He was from Bradford and was 47 years old and married with seven children. Since leaving the Army he had been working as a factory timekeeper.

Pte. George Barber was appointed Corporal; he was a 36 year-old postman from Rastrick and was married, with two children. He had previously served (details unknown) with the Dukes.

Pte. Hugh King was appointed Corporal; he was a 35 year-old dyers’ labourer from Bradford and was married, with three children. He had previously served (details unknown) with the Dukes. 

While these appointments were being made, planning for the larger organisation of 23rd Division, of which Tunstill's Men would become a tiny part (see 16th September) continued with the arrival at Frensham, where the Division was being assembled, of its commanding officer. Colonel (Hon. Major General) James Melville Babington, C.B, C.M.G., was a veteran of more than 40 years in the Army. He was 60 years old but regarded as being, "more active than many men ten years his junior". Babington would command 23rd Division until October 1918.

One of Babington's senior staff officers was Major Hugh John Bartholomew, D.S.O., who would later command 10th Battalion.

Divisional HQ was first established at the Pond Hotel in Frensham, but soon went ‘under canvas’. The difficulties of staffing and provisioning a Division from scratch soon became apparent and there was an acute shortage of clerks, cooks and other specialist trades. There was also a considerable issue over the supply of sufficient and appropriate uniform and kit and Babington gained permission to spend £17,000 on clothing. Two officers with experience of the clothing trade were duly packed off to Yorkshire to buy 20,000 suits of underclothing and boots. For quite a time no boards were available to provide floors for the tents, but fortunately the weather remained good.

 

Thursday 17th September 1914

Tunstill held his penultimate recruitment meeting, in Slaidburn, at 7.30pm. No particular details are known, but four men seem to have taken the opportunity to volunteer.

• Edwin and Walter Isherwood; were brothers aged 18 and 16 respectively, and two of ten children of Thomas and Hannah Isherwood. The Isherwood family had been farming land at Foulscales, near Slaidburn, for many years and continued to do so after the death of Thomas in 1910, with five of his sons (including Edwin) still working the land (although Walter was working as a farm labourer near Clitheroe).
• Charles Edward Parker; was 21 years old and originally from Broadmayne, Dorset; he was working as a gamekeeper in Slaidburn. He was single, but within weeks would marry Frances Hawkins.
  
• George Whitfield; was 19 years old. Although he was originally from Woodplumpton, near Preston, he had for some time been working as a farm labourer in the Slaidburn area.

At least two other men also completed their attestations and primary medical examinations at Settle:

• George Clark; 22 years old and originally from Settle, he had lived for some time with the family in Halifax, where his father, William, had been licensee of the King of Prussia Inn (during the war, it was re-named as the King of Belgium). However, following William's death in 1912, the family had returned to Settle, where George was working as a chauffeur.
• Robert Newhouse; at the age of 34, he was one of Tunstill's older volunteers. He was a married man with four children, the oldest of whom was just 8 years old. He farmed land on the Hanlith Hall estate, near Bell Busk.

Sergeant Daniel William Paris Foster (see 10^th September) was promoted Quartermaster to the newly-formed 10^th Battalion, with the honorary rank of Lieutenant.


Sergeant Alfred John Lodge (see 16^th September) was posted to serve with the newly-formed 10^th Battalion and would become a senior NCO with Tunstill’s Company.

 

Wednesday 16th September 1914

Wednesday saw two meetings; the first at Sawley (7.30 pm) followed by Grindleton (9 pm). At Sawley, despite the presence of an array of prominent local figures, including Colonel Parker, Mr. Leonard King-Wilkinson and Mr. C.A. Milford, Tunstill failed to secure any further recruits. However, having driven on to Grindleton they found “a larger and more enthusiastic meeting”, which yielded four new volunteers.

The Grindleton volunteers were:

• William Irving Bell; (born 1891) had lived originally in Pendleton, near Clitheroe, with his parents, two brothers and one sister. However, following the death of his mother in 1898 the family had been broken up. William stayed for some years with his father but had latterly lived out with a local farming family for whom he worked as a labourer. His elder brother, Joseph, had lived for some time with his uncle in Grindleton but had emigrated to Australia in 1911. William's younger brother, George, had already enlisted, joining the Royal Field Artillery as a driver, even though he was actually only 15 years old.
• James Wilding Clarkson; was one of Tunstill's oldest recruits, at the age of 36. He was originally from Blackburn and had worked for some years as a policeman, although more recently he had been working as a weaver. He had married Mary Ann Fletcher in 1895 and they had two children.
• Joshua Crossley; enlisted at the age of just 16 (he was born, 1st July 1898). He was the son of John and Mary Crossley of Cottam's Farm, Grindleton.
• William Walker; I have, as yet, been unable to make a positive identification of this man.

At least one other man completed his papers and primary examination at Settle on Wednesday. This was Samuel Shepherd. He was years old and had been born in Blackpool. However, the family had moved widely across the north of England as his father, John William Shepherd, a labourer, followed job opportunities. Samuel himself had been working as a farm labourer and the family had been settled for some time in Austwick.

The volunteers from the previous evening’s meeting in Cowling signed their attestation papers (witnessed by Captain Lansdale) and had their primary medical examinations. 

Eighteen of the men who had volunteered passed the medical examinations and would later join Tunstill’s Company:

• Sydney George Fisher; 24 years old, he was the son of a local postman (Alfred Erasmus Fisher) and worked as a clerk in one of the local cotton mills.
• John Hartley; he was born, in Cowling, in 1895. He was the eldest of two children of local millowner Watson Hartley and his wife, Mary; John’s sister Minnie was born in 1898. John attended Cowling Council School before gaining a four-year scholarship to the Keighley Trade and Grammar School. He also studied textile subjects for three years at the Glusburn Institute and during his last year there he took second place for linen weaving in a national competition. After completing his education, John took up a post as company secretary for Messrs. J. Hartley (Cowling) Ltd., manufacturers, Acre Mills, Cowling, the family business which had been established by his grandfather, and in which his father was senior partner. In his spare time he was closely involved with the United Methodist Church, including teaching in the Sunday School and being secretary of the Bible Class.
• Fred Benson; aged 23, Fred Benson lived with his elder sister, Adelaide, and their widowed mother, Ann, on Keighley Road, Cowling. Fred’s father had died in 1904.
• Willie Hewitt; was 21 years old and employed as a warp dresser at Royd Mill, Cowling. His family had lived in Cowling for at least 60 years.
• Willie Bradley; aged 25, he was one of ten children of James Henry and Catherine Bradley, who lived in Keighley Road, Cowling. Like all the adult members of the family, Willie worked in the local cotton mills. He had attended the recruitment meeting with his two younger brothers, Johnny (aged 23) and Archie (18). However, both Johnny and Archie had failed their initial medicals; Johnny because of an insufficient chest measurement and Archie on account of his height.
• Frank Shuttleworth; born 13^th October, 1891, Frank lived in Park Road, Cowling, with his elder sister, fanny; both worked in the local cotton mills. His father, Arthur Shuttleworth, had been a prosperous draper and hosier, but both Arthur and his wife, Jane, had died, within months of each other in 1903, when Fanny and Frank were aged just 17 and 10 respectively.
• Frank Stephenson; was 22 years old (born 11^th April 1892). He was the only son (though he did have a younger sister, Amy) of Amos and Ada Stephenson. Both Frank and his sister had been working in the local cotton mills.
• Ernest Jobling; was one of nine children of Joseph and Mary Jobling; the family lived in Fold Lane, Cowling. Like most of the family he worked in the local cotton mills – Ernest worked for Watson Hartley (see above).
• Arthur Lindsey; like most of the Cowling recruits, Arthur Lindsey was a textile worker; he worked for Messrs. John Binns & Sons, at Croft Mill in Cowling. He was born in Grantham on 16^th June 1893, but the family had later moved to Cowling where Arthur, along with his parents, Edward and Annie, and younger sister, Susannah, lived on Keighley Road.
• Johnny Hoyle; was born on 11^th August 1893, in Cowling, the second of four sons of John and Ellen Hoyle (they also had one daughter). The family lived on Gibb Street, Cowling.
• Frank Arnold Stephenson; (nicknamed “Frank Enoch's” after his father and not to be confused with the ‘other’ Frank Stephenson – see above) was from a family which had a livery business on Fold Lane, Cowling. Frank was 18 years old.
• Albert Metcalfe; was born on 14^th December 1895; the fourth of five children born to Thomas and Elizabeth Metcalfe. Thomas was originally from Embsay, near Skipton, and his wife from Grassington and the family had lived originally in Embsay and then in Bradford before settling in Cowling in the mid 1890’s. Thomas worked as an overlooker in a local weaving shed; Albert and his two sisters, Linda and Ann, also worked in the mills. Albert’s older brother, Arthur, had joined the army aged 17 in 1904 and had re-enlisted on 7^th August 1914.
• Albert Saville; was a 29 year-old weaver from Cowling, working for Messrs. J. Binns at Croft Mills. He was the son of Benjamin and Amelia Saville; Amelia had died in 1908.
• Frank Lomax; was born on 19^th September 1889 in Darwen, Lancs, where his father, John, had been brought up. The family later moved to Carleton, near Skipton, where John died in 1899. His widow, Bessie, re-married two years later, to David Smith, a cotton weaver originally from Bradford. The family then set up home in Cowling, where Frank worked as a cotton weaver.
• Arthur Hargreaves; was born, in Cowling, in the summer of 1888. He was the first of the three children of Tempest and Mary Hargreaves (formerly Pickles). Early in 1913 Arthur married Martha Jane (‘Janie’) Emmott and later that year their daughter, Constance Mary Hargreaves was born. They set up home at 4 Gill Top, Cowling, not far from where Janie had been brought up at Beckfoot Farm. Arthur was associated with the Cowling Hill Baptist Chapel and was a very well-known sportsman, playing a prominent part with both the Cowling cricket and football teams. He was a member of the football team which won the championship of the Keighley and District League, and was well-known as a bowler in the West Bradford Cricket League. He also had some connection with several football clubs outside the village, amongst them being Sutton United.
• Tom Snowden; was a married man, aged 30 with four young children. He had married Ada Nelson in 1909, when Ada, though unmarried, already had two children (it is not clear whether either, or both, were actually Tom’s children). The couple subsequently had two more children (Donald, b.19010 and Gladys, b.1912). Both Tom and Ada were working as cotton weavers.
• Fred Hopkinson; was a 37 year-old married man with two children. He came from an old Cowling family and worked as a ‘stationery engineman’ in one of the local mills.
• Sam Shuttleworth; was the tenth of twelve children born to Smith and Hannah Shuttleworth. Smith was described in 1911 as a ‘painter and artist’, while Sam and two other sons were referred to as ‘painter and decorator’. Both Smith and his wife Hannah had been born and brought up in Cowling and the family were well known in the district.

Much more information and images of several of these Cowling recruits can be found on the excellent Cowling Village website (http://www.cowlingweb.co.uk) and I am greatly indebted to Joan Tindale and her fellow Cowling enthusiasts for much of the detail on these volunteers

 

Alfred John Lodge

Alfred John Lodge attested for service with the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment and was posted to 3^rd Battalion, with the rank of Sergeant. Like Harry Dewhirst (see 10^th September) he was one of a number of senior ex-NCO’s who would be posted to the newly-formed 10^th Battalion and would serve with ‘A’ Company (Tunstill’s Men).

Alfred Lodge was 39 years old and had served 16 years with the Regiment (including seven on the Reserve) before retiring, with the rank of Sergeant in 1909. He had served in India and South Africa. The family had a strong military background; no fewer than seven of Alfred Lodge’s brothers had fought in the Boer War. In 1902 he had married Emma Holden and they had two children; the younger of whom, also named Alfred John, was only eight months old when his father re-enlisted. Lodge was originally from Essex and the family had been living at Chingford.



Meanwhile, plans were being put in place for the larger scale military organisation of which Tunstill's Men would eventually become a tiny part. Tunstill's volunteers would become one of four Companies ('A' Company) in the newly-created 10th (Service) Battalion, Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment. The Battalion, in turn, would be one of four battalions which would together constitute 69th Brigade, which in tuen would be one of three brigades which would combine, along with associated divisional units, as 23rd Division.

The concentration of 23rd Division was due to begin on 16th September, but, looking back after the war, the Division's official historian acknowledged that there were significant difficulties; "few officers had yet joined their units; others had been delayed by an error in orders. That mistakes should occur in the orders emanating from a hard-pressed War Office was not surprising … though other ranks were plentiful, officers were scarce".

Appointments to most of the key posts directly affecting Tunstill's Men would be made over the following days.

Tuesday 15th September 1914

Recruitment Meeting at Gisburn

On Tuesday evening, at 7.30pm, Tunstill held a further meeting, this time at the council school in Gisburn. Here he had the endorsement of Lord Ribblesdale (owner of Gisburne Park) who presided over the meeting, with the support of Rev. J. Heslop, the Rev. Lister-Denny, Mr. A.L. Ormrod and Mr. C.A. Milford. Two local reservists had already joined their units and five other men from the village had also enlisted but Tunstill did secure two further recruits. The total number of volunteers had now risen to 85.

The two Gisburn recruits were:

John Robinson; was 19 years old. He had worked for a number of years as a gardener at Gisburne Park but had more recently been working with his father who was head gamekeeper on the estate.

Anthony Lofthouse;  was 20 years old. He was the only son (though he did have four daugthers) of widower John Thornber Lofthouse of Paa Farm, Paythorne.

Gisburne Park, the home of Lord Ribblesdale and now (2014) a private hospital

 Attestations at Settle

The volunteers from the previous evening's meeting in Bolton-by-Bowland were ferried in a fleet of motor cars to Settle to sign their papers and undertake their primary medical examinations. A considerable crowd gathered to wave them off and "loud cheers were given as the recruits went out of the village". In the event, six of the men (Bland, Brotherton, Carey, Howell, Parkinson and Wilkinson) failed to pass their medical examinations and were not accepted for service.

At least two other men presented themselves at Settle on the same evening and successfully completed their attestation papers and passed their medical examinations.

John William Thistlethwaite; was 19 years old. He was originally from Austwick but had been living away from home and working as a farm labourer. His younger brother, George, had enlisted (under-age) with other men from Austwick on 8th September.

William Rawlinson (known as 'Billy'); was 21 years old. His parents lived at Stockbridge Farm, near Bentham, but Billy had been working as chauffeur for Mr. G. Charnley of Brooklands, Long Preston.

While Tunstill continued his campaign in the Settle District, similar efforts were underway in other areas, which would yield volunteers who were eventually to become ‘adopted’ members of Tunstill’s Company. One such was the recruitment meeting held in the Cowling Liberal Club. The details as to who made speeches are not recorded but Mr. H.T. Newman served as the local secretary and Mr. Henry King and the Rev. John Wood (curate of All Saints, Keighley) were in attendance to receive the names. More than twenty young men volunteered at the meeting and several more were reported to have followed them in the next few days.

Monday 14th September 1914

Recruitment Meeting at Bolton-by-Bowland

After resting on Sunday, the focus of Tunstill’s efforts moved further west in the district, towards the border with Lancashire. The meetings resumed on Monday, this time at Bolton-by-Bowland. Here, a public meeting was held in the schoolroom, and, despite pouring rain, there was a good turnout from the locals. The meeting was chaired by Mr. J. Haworth Massey (owner of the Closes Hall estate), and other local dignitaries, including Mr. Charles Booth Elmsall Wright, Canon Wilson and Mr. A.C. Milne-Redhead, were also in attendance. A number of speeches were made, and many patriotic songs “heartily sung” before Tunstill made his address and appeal for recruits. The Craven Herald report conceded that, “there was a slow response at the beginning” but no fewer than fourteen men came forward to volunteer. From the list of those who enlisted it is clear that the local estate workers, whether by inclination, camaraderie or pressure from their employers, were prominent among the recruits from a meeting which was addressed by their masters.

 

The 14 volunteers were named as:

• James Coates (known as 'Jim'); a 27 year-old local man, working as a gamekeeper for Mr. Massey on the Closes Hall estate.
• Robert Singleton; was 23 years old. His family came originally from East Lancashire but had more recently farmed land near Bolton-by-Bowland. Robert's elder brother, Harry, had worked as a gamekeeper with Jim Coates and had already enlisted in the RAMC.
• Edward Victor Grubb (known as Victor); was 22 years old and originally from South Shields. He too had been working on the Closes Hall estate, as a gardener.
• Richard Davies Ellison; was 19 years old. He was originally from Rawtenstall, where his father worked as a market gardener. Richard had recently gone to work as a gardener at Bolton Hall, Bolton-by-Bowland. The Hall was then owned by Mr.Wright, and employed a staff which at times exceeded one hundred.
• Edwin Brotherton; aged 20, also worked as a gardener, though it is unclear on which of the local estates.
• John W. Parkinson; was 18 years old and working as a groom on one of the local estates (though which one is unknown). His father was the village blacksmith.
• Richard Howell; a local man and one of the older volunteers , at the age of 34, he worked as a farm labourer
• Robert Irvine Clark (known as Irvine); was the son of the sub-postmaster in the village. He was actually only 17 years old when he enlisted.
• Joseph Chapman Syers; aged 19, was originally from Hellifield and worked as a farm labourer.
• James Wilkinson; was 19 years old. His father farmed in the area and was also landlord of the Coach and Horses in the village.
• Harold Greenhow; aged 22 and originally from Kirkoswald, near Penrith, worked as a footman for Mr Massey at Closes Hall. He had benn brought up by his great-aunt, having been born to an unmarried mother.
• James Kayley; was 21 years old and working as a farm labourer. He was originally from Long Preston and his elder brother, Job, had enlisted to serve with Tunstill's Company at the meeting held in Long Preston (see 9th September).
• Norman Carey; was 21 years old and worked as a farm labourer. His father Alfred had, for a long time, been butler to the Parker family at Browsholme Hall (Geraldine Tunstill was related to the Parkers of Browsholme), but was now licensee of the Copy Nook Hotel in Bolton-by-Bowland.
• George.Bland; I am, as yet, unable to make a positive identification of this man.

Bolton Hall, Bolton-by-Bowland

 

Sunday 13th September 1914

Rev. W.J. Gomersall

Tunstill’s meetings were suspended on the Sunday, but the effort to persuade men to take up their part in volunteering was carried on from the pulpit. Preaching at Langcliffe, the Rev. W. J. Gomersall**, curate of St John’s, Kensal Green, London and a native of Otterburn in Craven, said that the present war brought a call for prayer, patience and patriotism. There was, he said,

“patriotism and there was patriotism. By patriotism he did not mean pewter-pot patriotism, or profit-making patriotism, or the patriotism that did all the shouting, but none of the soldiering. True patriotism was none of those things. It was not vindictive, but brought calmness, courage and charity to the great struggle. Above all true patriotism never committed the sin of shirking – never shirked the call of duty. The sin of shirking in such a crisis as the present was neglect of duty. It was a sin of omission. Those who did not come to the help of their country were guilty of the sin of Meroz, who “did not come to the help of the Lord” and brought down a curse upon themselves. Meroz was a little place, so was Otterburn, but he would remind them that this “Benjamin of Craven”, had, by the mouth of one of its inhabitants – Mr.H.G. Tunstill – made an appeal for 99 men and that more than half had already responded. The Settle District had, equally with Bolton Abbey and other parts of Craven, always been loyal to the core. History was repeating itself in this crisis and the story of Bible wars presented a philosophy of history applicable to the present time. We were learning our lessons just as the Israelites had learnt theirs and God’s purpose still held good for the training of the human race. We have only shifted the ground of conflict. The particular sin had changed its name, but not its nature, and military despotism had provided the occasion for God’s visitation. But in this, as in all life’s other battles, duty was the great law of the moral world, and there must be no sin of shirking either on the part of those who are left at home, or those who have gone to the front. The curse of Meroz lives in the conscience of those who neglect the call of duty".

 

** For further information on William Joseph Gomersall see:   http://www.gomersall.info/myf/WJG.htm

Saturday 12th September 1914

Recruitment Meeting in Arncliffe

Tunstill held a meeting at 7.30pm in the schoolroom in Arncliffe. "Spirited addresses" were delivered by the Chairman (Canon Shuffrey), Mr. C.A. Milford of Settle and by Tunstill himself. At the close of the meeting "several young men gave in their names as willing recruits".

Two men were later identified with Arncliffe when the final list of Tunstill's recruits was published:

Percy Hodgson; 28 years old, had been working as a farm labourer.

John Simpson; aged 19, had been living with his mother, Annie, and stepfather, Joseph Ibbotson, at West View, Arncliffe. He was employed as a 'mail driver'.

Recruitment Meeting in Grassington

While Gilbert Tunstill was conducting his recruitment campaign, other initiatives were also underway which would eventually yield recruits who would become ‘adopted’ members of Tunstill’s Company. One such meeting was held in the Town Hall in Grassington. The meeting attracted a considerable crowd and speeches were made by Captains Tee, Lansdale and Mercer**. The meeting produced 18 volunteers. 

• John Edward (known as Jack) Airey; was 17 years old, and therefore under-age when he volunteered. The Airey family had lived for some years in Lon Preston, with Jack working as a farm labourer.
• Benjamin Beaumont  (known as Ben); was 21 years old and working as a carter. He lived, along with his parents and elder brother, Fred, at Sunny Nook, Hebden, near Skipton.
• James Boothman; aged 20, he was living with his parents and younger brother at Fell View Farm, Burnsall.
• Willie Burley; had been born in Islington but had been brought to Yorkshire by the Reverend W.J. Stavert, rector of Burnsall. He worked seven years for Rev. Stavert, before leaving to take up a job at a quarry in Threshfield. He had become a well-known member of the local community and was associated with the Golden Fleece Lodge of Oddfellows in Appletreewick
• Thomas Darwin; a 32 year-old married man with three young children. He had been working as a mason’s labourer. The family lived at Low Head in Grassington. His younger brother, Claude, had emigrated to Australia.
• John Dinsdale; 19 years old and working on the family farm near Cracoe. The family was originally from Aysgarth but had been settled in Cracoe for more than twenty years.
• William Eley; was 32 years of age and had been married for five years to Helena (Briggs), with whom he had one child, Frank, who was born in August 1913. He had met Helena when  both were working at The Oakwell Fever Hospital at Birstall, Dewsbury. Eley had been then employed as a Hospital Porter, but the family had recently moved to King Street, Grassington and William had taken up work in the local limestone quarries. He would be one of a handful of men among Tunstill’s recruits with any previous military experience, having served for eight years in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, including serving in the Boer War. On leaving the Regular Army he had remained on the National Reserve and so would have been called up on the outbreak of war.
• Charles Belton Eyre; worked as a quarryman (he had also previously worked as a railway porter), and lodged at the Post Office in Threshfield. He was 19 years old and originally from Lincolnshire. The whole family had moved to Yorkshire with his parents and elder sister all in service with Mr. Clement Holdsworth, at Mile House, Kettlewell. Charles himself was connected with the Arthur Anderton Mechanics Institute in Grassington.
• Robert (known as Bob) Harrison; was 19 years old (born 4^th November 1894) and had left home to work as a farm labourer in his early teens before becoming a joiner. His trade developed from his family background; his father, William, was a head forester and woodsman. He and his wife, Jane, had six children (five of them boys) and all had been brought up at Smelt Mill, Pateley Bridge. Like Eyre, he was connected with the Arthur Anderton Mechanics Institute.
• William Parkinson Inman; only 16 years old, he concealed his true age in order to volunteer. He had been working as a farm labourer. His father had died in 1910 leaving a widow and two other daughters as well as William; the family lived in Linton. In the absence of a surviving service record it has not been possible to establish details of his service record. However, it seems that he left 10DWR at some point, and certainly did not go to France when the Battalion was posted overseas in August 1915. At some point (date and details unknown) he would be transferred to the Labour Corps, with whom he would serve abroad. It is not known when he was finally released from the Army.

• 

  Christopher Kelly's signed attestation
  He gave his age as 35, so as to meet current
  criteria; in reality he was 40.

  Christopher John Kelly; at 45 years of age was among the oldest recruits to Tunstill’s Company. He lied about his age when enlisting, claiming to be only 35. He was an Irishman, being born in Youghal, County Cork in 1874. By his mid-teens he had arrived in England and was living in Settle with his sister Mary, and her husband Edward Ralph. In 1895 he had married Rose Mary Lynch and set up home at first on Taylor Street, Clitheroe, where the two eldest of their four children were born. The family later moved to various locations in the Settle area. By 1914 the family were living at Rock Cottage in Grassington, with Christopher working in the local quarries.
• Walter Limmer; was the youngest of four sons of Robert and Mary Limmer; he was born in Langcliffe in 1896. His parents came originally from East Anglia, but had spent much of their married life in Yorkshire. By 1903 the family had settled at Chapel Fold, Grassington, with Walter’s father working as a bricklayer. His father died in the Spring of 1914, aged 68, by which time Walter was working as a farm labourer, and living in with his employer, Richard Clark, an elderly farmer and his family, at Pyethorns, Wigglesworth, Long Preston. His three elder brothers, William, John and Alfred, were all married and had set up homes in the area.
• William (known as Billy) Oldfield; was born on 21^st August 1889. He was the fourth and youngest child of William and Thirza Oldfield (nee Milner). The family lived in Cowlow Lane, Doveholes, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, with William snr. working as a labourer. However, before young William had reached his first birthday his father had died, leaving his widow with the care of four children under the age of 10. Thirza soon re-married (in 1892), to Enoch Ball, who worked in the local limestone quarries. Together Thirza and Enoch had three more children before Thirza died in 1904. In 1905 William’s older sister, Martha, married William Blagden, who was from another local quarrying family. When Martha and her husband moved to the Skipton area, where William Blagden took up a job as a blacksmith, William Oldfield, and his sister, Kate Elizabeth Oldfield, moved with them.  In 1909 Kate married local Grassington man John Henry Darwin (he was the brother of Tom Darwin, who was to volunteer along with William Oldfield). In 1911 William was lodging with his sister and brother-in-law at Swinden, near Skipton and working as a labourer. He continued to live with the family when they subsequently moved to Grove House in Grassington.
• Arthur Stubbs; lived with his family (parents, four brothers and two sisters) at Bridge House, Grassington. He was 22 years old (b. 16^th April 1892) and worked as a driver for M.C. Chapman & Co. Like Eyre and Harrison, he was associated with the Arthur Anderton Mechanics Institute.
• Tom Swales; born in the Spring of 1898 and just 16 years old when he enlisted. His father, Thomas, had been married to Grace (Bownas) for 22 years and  combined farming with work as a coal merchant. The family lived at Yew Tree Farm, Rylstone; Tom had three sisters and a younger brother. After leaving school Tom took up a job as a postman, working from Cracoe Post Office and delivering to the local rural communities.
• George Edward Verity; was the son of Robert Verity who was originally from Grassington but had for many years worked as a joiner in Keighley. George and his seven siblings had all been born in Keighley. George enlisted in Grassington, even though he was still living in Keighley at the time. He was just 18 years old when volunteering (he was born 6^th July 1896) and had been working as a shop assistant.
• Thomas Stockdale Worsley; at 19 years old, he was the second oldest of the seven children of Nixon and Betsy Worsley who had a dairy farm at Carnshow, Hebden, near Grassington. Since leaving school Thomas had been working on the family farm.
• Richard Harper; he was 21 years old and had been born in Liverpool, though his family had moved (c.1910) back to Sedbergh, where both his parents had been born.

**James Henry Stanley Tee and Stephen Minchin Mercer had already been involved in raising recruits at Addingham (see 5^th September).

Ernest Esau Lansdale was 43 years old and running a business as a wholesale provisions merchant in Ilkley. His two sons, Ernest Conway Lansdale and Herbert Lansdale, both worked in the family business.  Lansdale had held a commission in the ASC (territorials) for a number of years.

Daniel William Paris Foster re-enlisted in the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment at the regimental depot in Halifax. He would become Quartermaster to the Battalion., and, as such, a key figure for Tunstill and his men.

Daniel Foster was 47 years old and had been working as a painter. He had previously served many years with the regiment and had risen to the rank of Colour Sergeant. At the time of his re-enlistment he was living at 1 John Street, Greetland, near Halifax, with his second wife Emily (Oldfield); they had married in 1911 and had one daughter. Daniel already had eight other children by his first marriage, to Emma Catherine (Lawrence), who had died in 1908.

Daniel's second son, Richard Lawrence Foster (b.1893) had been serving as a regular soldier with 2nd Battalion, West Riding Regiment, at the start of the war. He had been killed in action on 24th August near the village of Hautrage, west of Mons. How far this tragic loss influenced Daniel's decision to re-enlist can only be a matter of speculation.

Thomas Lewis Ingram, elder brother of Robert Stewart Skinner Ingram, who was to become one of the original officers assigned to Tunstill’s Company and had written to the War Office in support of his brother’s application for a commission (see 16^th August) was himself granted a temporary commission, with the rank of Lieutenant, in the Royal Army Medical Corps.