Lewis Antcliff

Lewis was the son of Henry Antcliff and his wife Anne/Anna Maria (Maria) née Antcliff. His father Henry was born in Norwell, Nottinghamshire, the son of Henry and Sarah Antcliff, and baptised at Norwell St Laurence on 12 January 1835. However, by 1841 the family was living in North Muskham. His mother Maria Antcliff was born in Bathley, Nottinghamshire, in about 1846. In 1851 Maria's mother Hannah, the widow of an agricultural labourer, was in Upton Union Workhouse, Nottinghamshire, with her four children Annie (12), George (10), William (8) and Maria (5). Henry and Maria were married in 1870 (reg. J/A/S Southwell, both surnames Antcliffe). They had five children who with the exception of the eldest child, Elizabeth, who was born in Bathley, were born in North Muskham. All the children were baptised at North Muskham St Wilfrid: Mary Elizabeth (Elizabeth) b. 1871 bap. 2 July 1871; George Henry birth registered 1873 (J/F/M) bap. 15 December 1872; Sarah Jane b. 1874 bap. 1 November 1874; Frank b. 1880 bap. 7 November 1880 d. 1881 and Lewis b. 1883 bap. 15 July 1883. In 1871, the year after their marriage, Henry (32) and Maria (24) were living on Village Street, Cogley, Bathley, with Maria's mother, Hannah (59). Henry and Maria had moved to Village Street, North Muskham, by 1881; Henry was an agricultural worker. In the home on the night of the census were their four children, Elizabeth (10), George (8), Sarah (7) and Frank (under one year) who died the same year. Lewis was born two years later. Henry and Maria were still at the same address in 1891 but Lewis (7) was the only one of their four surviving children in the home on the night of the census. Elizabeth was at the Nelson Inn, Winthorpe, near Newark, a servant in the household of John Foster, farmer and inn keeper, and his wife, Sarah. Sarah Jane was living in the Broadmarsh, Nottingham, a general servant in the household of Edwin Gray, a butcher, and his wife Mary. George Henry has not yet been traced after 1881. Henry died in 1894 and his widow Maria married Robert Fisher in 1899 (reg. Newark). In 1901 Maria and Robert (48), an agricultural labourer, were living in Hawton, near Newark, with Robert's three children Annie (14), Arthur (11), Amy (9). Of Maria's children: Elizabeth had married Frank Blagg Darwin in 1895 and in 1901 they were living in Ordsall, Retford, with their three daughters, Gertrude, Daisy and Charlotte. Sarah had married Thomas Dove in 1897 (reg. Sleaford); they had five children: Evelyn Jessie b. 1898 d. 1898, Gladys May, Hester, Henry and John. Lewis, a stockman, was living in Eagle, Lincolnshire, in the household of John Parkinson, a farmer. By 1911 Maria Fisher was living with her husband in Bawtry, Nottinghamshire. Lewis, a cowman, was living in Whaley, Langwith, near Mansfield, in the household of farm foreman Robert Chester and his family.

Residence Bawtry, Nottinghamshire. Enlisted Retford

10th Bn Lincolnshire Regiment On the 28th April 1917, the 10th Lincoln's were to attack the heavily fortified town position at Reoux. The attack was started at 4.15 am but was not destined for success. Forming up on the alerted Germans who opened up with mortar and machine guns. The 10th set off already fragmented and the attack was soon broken up, with small groups of isolated men unable to continue. A German counter attack at 8.00 am led to a retreat and was effectively the end of the attack. The losses were high, 420 dead, missing or wounded. Lewis was probably one of those killed in the attack on Reoux; his death was presumed to have occurred on or since 28 April 1917. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, France (Bays 3 and 4). CWGC - History of the Arras Memorial which is in the Faubourg-d'Amiens Cemetery (extract): 'The Arras Memorial commemorates almost 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918, the eve of the Advance to Victory, and have no known grave. The most conspicuous events of this period were the Arras offensive of April-May 1917, and the German attack in the spring of 1918.'

Birth, baptismal and census records: Lewis Antcliff CWGC and military records - Louis Antcliffe Registers of Soldiers Effects: his mother Alice Fisher and sisters Elizabeth Darwin and Sarah Dove were his legatees WW1 Pension Ledgers Index Cards: named his mother Maria Fisher of Westgate, Sleaford. Original research by Colin Dannatt