Further to yesterday's message re the above procession, the following is an account of St. Patrick's participation in this, as reported in the B.E.N. 8th June 1906. St. Patrick's This school, though numerically small, made a very pretty display. Headed by the Rector the Very Rev. Canon Burke, Mr. O GOSTLING and others, and accompanied by the Tyldesley Brass Band, the scholars were preceded by cross-bearers and acolytes. Floral emblems representing faith, hope and charity were carried by three girls in cream silk followed by the floral motto of St. Patrick, with a group of girls in cream silk carrying harps of flowers. The bodyguard of the May Queen, Miss ANNIE GAVAGAN, consisted of 24 little boys in white, and her marshal was Master JOSEPH KELLY, in cream satin. The Queen was prettily dressed in taffeta silk chiffon with train to match, and her train bearers were Misses MARGARET ALSTON, ROSIE DUFFY, and RITA GALLAGHER in cream silk and green bonnets. Her maids of honour numbered 36. The banner of St. Patrick was followed by the girls of the day school and the banner of St. Agnes was followed by Miss MARGERY SPENCER, the ex-Queen, with her train bearers and attendants in cream silk. The banner of Our Lady was followed by the Sodality of the Children of Mary, and the Boys Brigade of St. Patrick's, the Guild of St. Aloysius with banner and the banner of the Sacred Heart and that of St. Joseph, headed by the men of the parish. Tomorrow I shall follow this by an account of St. Edmund's participation. Valerie

I've been nattering on about trying to find Pretoria disaster burials at Deane and other places, and thanks to Pam Clarke's efforts we made a break-through this week, which I thought worth commenting on to the list. Pam contacted the Vicar of Deane and made an appointment to go and see the burial register - apparently only he and the church warden have access to the safe where the registers are kept. It was a most successful visit, and Pam came away with details of 26 Pretoria burials, and found a handful of gravestones with MIs in the church cemetery. Nearly all lived in the Daubhill-Deane area. Out of the 344 victims we now know where 329 were buried, including those whose bodies were beyond recognition and are in the vault beneath the cenotaph in Westhoughton Cemetery. There were 24 corpses unknown at the time of burial, but half a dozen or so were identified later from items of clothing and body descriptions. Some of the 25 left lived in the Daubhill area, and were probably buried locally, but I have no idea where. Not surprisingly there was confusion at times. One man was identified by a rent receipt with his name found in his pocket. However, his family said they had already identified and buried that person. The men would strip off their top clothes and put them aside when they got to work at the face, and it seems in the confusion and darkness after the blast, someone else had grabbed his waistcoat and worn it for the minutes he had left. In another case, a collier William Lord had left his family and pushed off to Yorkshire. His wife and brother assumed he was down Pretoria and actually identified an 'unknown' body as him. The Coroner issued a certificate and all was set to bury him at Tonge when a telegram from Barnsley arrived with the words - "Alive Woman, Send to pit at once". I actually found his burial in the Tonge Cemetery register; it was crossed out and another name inserted. They must write in the register before burial and have the priest sign off after. Peter Wood

Howdo Peter I was in Farnworth library yesterday and I say a book re Pretoria pit in fre section of local history. I had a quick look and it seemed to give long lists of people and the coroners reports, I will call in tommorrow and have a good look at it Dan -----Original Message----- From: eng-lan-bolton-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:eng-lan-bolton-bounces@rootsweb.com]On Behalf Of Peter Wood Sent: 06 September 2006 10:16 To: eng-lan-bolton@rootsweb.com Subject: [ENG-LAN-BOLTON] DEANE Burials - Pretoria success I've been nattering on about trying to find Pretoria disaster burials at Deane and other places, and thanks to Pam Clarke's efforts we made a break-through this week, which I thought worth commenting on to the list. Pam contacted the Vicar of Deane and made an appointment to go and see the burial register - apparently only he and the church warden have access to the safe where the registers are kept. It was a most successful visit, and Pam came away with details of 26 Pretoria burials, and found a handful of gravestones with MIs in the church cemetery. Nearly all lived in the Daubhill-Deane area. Out of the 344 victims we now know where 329 were buried, including those whose bodies were beyond recognition and are in the vault beneath the cenotaph in Westhoughton Cemetery. There were 24 corpses unknown at the time of burial, but half a dozen or so were identified later from items of clothing and body descriptions. Some of the 25 left lived in the Daubhill area, and were probably buried locally, but I have no idea where. Not surprisingly there was confusion at times. One man was identified by a rent receipt with his name found in his pocket. However, his family said they had already identified and buried that person. The men would strip off their top clothes and put them aside when they got to work at the face, and it seems in the confusion and darkness after the blast, someone else had grabbed his waistcoat and worn it for the minutes he had left. In another case, a collier William Lord had left his family and pushed off to Yorkshire. His wife and brother assumed he was down Pretoria and actually identified an 'unknown' body as him. The Coroner issued a certificate and all was set to bury him at Tonge when a telegram from Barnsley arrived with the words - "Alive Woman, Send to pit at once". I actually found his burial in the Tonge Cemetery register; it was crossed out and another name inserted. They must write in the register before burial and have the priest sign off after. Peter Wood ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-LAN-BOLTON-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.11.7/437 - Release Date: 04/09/2006 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.11.7/437 - Release Date: 04/09/2006

Dan That sounds very interesting. I'd be grateful if you could let me have the full reference and a comment on the sort of material it contains. I am particularly interested in your comment that ir contains coroners reports. Regards Peter At 14:12 6/09/2006 +0100, you wrote: >Howdo Peter >I was in Farnworth library yesterday and I say a book re Pretoria pit in fre >section of local history. I had a quick look and it seemed to give long >lists of people and the coroners reports, I will call in tommorrow and have >a good look at it >Dan >