Private George Moxham (6245)
69th Company Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) Formerly 19063, K. O. R. Lancs Regt.
Pte. George Moxham is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Face 5C and 12C. He is also remembered in the Cemetery Cottages War Memorial, Beech Street, and on the Barrow Cenotaph. A grave, difficult to read and overwhelmed at times by encroaching grass, commemorates him too:
In Loving Memory of
OUR DEAR SON
PTE. GEORGE MOXHAM
WHO WAS KILLED IN ACTION IN FRANCE
ON OCT. 8TH 1916 AGED 21 YEARS
ALSO OF OUR DEAR SON JOHN, BROTHER OF
THE ABOVE, WHO DIED NOVR 18TH 1916
AGED 18 YEARS.
SLEEPING
[Poem can’t read]
ALSO OF THOMAS, FATHER OF THE ABOVE,
WHO DIED SEPTEMBER 22ND, 1919, AGED 66 YEARS
ALSO OF CHRISTINA, MOTHER OF THE ABOVE,
WHO DIED JANUARY 14TH 1930, AGED 69 YEARS.
George Moxham was born in Barrow in Q3 1895.
The Barrow News 28 October 1916, quite soon after his death (in spite of the challenges of war and war-time communications), reported:
TWO BARROW BROTHERS
ONE KILLED; THE OTHER WOUNDED
Pte. George Moxham, whose relatives reside at 32, Beech-street, Barrow, and who joined the King’s Own Royal Lancasters in June, 1915, was killed in action on Oct. 8th. He had been transferred to the machine-gun section, and had been in France between eight and nine months. He was 21 years of age, and before entering the army he had spent practically the whole of his working life at the Steelworks, as a cutter-down in the wireworks. Writing to Mrs. Moxham, Lieut. Graves says: “He was hit by a shell and died instantly. I cannot tell you how distressed I am by his death. Your son had been in my section ever since the company came to France, and I never wish for a better man. In the trenches he always behaved with great courage. He was absolutely reliable, and a truly fine soldier. I was always struck by his cheerfulness in all conditions. We buried him in the spot where he was killed, and put up a wooden cross over his grave.” This site must have been lost in the ensuing conflict, since Pte. Moxham has no grave in France – RMW)
A brother of Pte. Moxham, who joined the Grenadier Guards, has also been in the fighting, and, unfortunately, is now wounded and in hospital in Manchester. The late Pte. Moxham had many friends at the Steelworks, where he was well respected, and his loss is deeply regretted by his former chums.
The brother who served in the Grenadier Guards was probably Private Hugh Moxham (No. 21787) whose Attestation Papers on Ancestry are dated 9 January 1915, became a Lance Corporal on 3 April 1916, but reverted to Private (for improper conduct) on 30 November 1916; transferred to the Reserve on 25 August 1917, and sent to rejoin the Barrow Hematite Steel Coy. on 18 (sic) August 1917. He had been wounded in the arm and a leg on 28 July 1916.
1901 Census
From Ancestry we can know that in the 1901 Census the Moxham’s were living at 94 Blake Street, Barrow. The household contained Thomas Moxham (49) Ironworks Labourer, born Preston, Lancs; Christina Moxham (40) born Scotland; Thomas Moxham (21) Pig Iron Labourer, born Barrow; William Moxham (18) Apprentice Turner & Fitter, born Barrow; Joseph Moxham (15) Apprentice Blacksmith, born Barrow; Hugh Moxham (11) no occupation recorded, born Barrow; Elizabeth H. Moxham (9) no occupation recorded, born Barrow; Mary A. Moxham (7) no occupation recorded, born Barrow; George Moxham (5) born Barrow; John Moxham (2) born Barrow; Robert Moxham (6 mos) born Barrow; and mother-in-law Jane Smith (65) no occupation recorded, born Scotland.
1911 Census
It is possible, but not certain, that George Moxham (Moxam in Ancestry) was in the 1911 Census as a farm labourer, working at Bridge End, Woodland, Broughton-in-Furness. John Garnett (57) Farmer, born Millom, Cumberland, is Head of the household, with wife Elizabeth Ann Garnett (59), born Millom; John William Garnett (22) Single, Farm Labourer, born Woodland; Ferdinando Cole (69) Farm Labourer, born Millom; Edward Roberts (18) Single, Farm Labourer, born Barrow-in-Furness; George Moxam (sic) (16) Single, Farm Labourer, born Barrow, and Sarah Warriner (35) Single, Domestic Servant, born Millom.
The fact that he is absent from the family home is confirmed for the 1911 Census entry for 12 Beech Street, Barrow. Thomas Moxham (Transcribed as Morham in Ancestry) (58) Blast Furnace Labourer, Iron & Steel Manufacturer, born Preston, Lancs, shares the house with wife Christina Moxham (50), with whom he has had twelve children, ten surviving, born Dundee, Scotland; William Moxham (28) Single, Plate Layer, Iron & Steel Manufacturer, born Barrow (as were all the children); Joseph Moxham (26) Single, Blacksmith Striker, Iron & Steel Manufacturer; Hugh Moxham (21) Single, Wireworks Labourer, Steel Hoop Manufacturer; Elizabeth Hannah Moxham (19) Single, no occupation recorded; John Moxham (12) School; Robert Moxham (10) School; and Jane Smith (75) Mother-in-Law, Widow, Old Age Pensioner, born Carnoustie, Scotland.
